Setting Up Your Home Office

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. It can get a bit confusing to decide between the standard iPad, the iPad Air, and the iPad Pro. For the most budget-friendlyoption, the iPad 10th gen is your best bet. For those looking for top-of-the-line specs, the iPad Pro is the way to go. If you're somewhere in between, that's where the iPad Air's sweet spot is. Right now, the latest 11-inch M2 Wifi iPad Air is $499 (originally $599), and the Wifi + Cellular version (if you don't want to rely on wifi) is $649 (originally $749)—for both models, those match their lowest-ever prices, according to …

Planning to express your love with flowers this Valentine's Day? While the gesture is timeless, the pricing certainly isn't. Waiting until Feb. 14 to purchase that perfect bouquet could cost you nearly double the regular price. But there's a smart solution that can help you save money while still delivering that heartfelt message. Here's why you should order your valentine's flowers as soon as possible. Order Valentine's Day flowers right nowThe bad news: Ordering back in January could've help you snag the lowest prices of the season. Nevertheless, the sooner you order, the less likely you are to pay the top-dollar prices the last-minute shoppers will shoulder. When prope…

Every part of life has its lingo, and the gym is no exception. We’ve collected a list of the lifting-related words that most often confuse beginners, so read on to learn what you might be missing. EquipmentBarbellsA barbell is the bar that you load the plates on, either empty (the “empty bar”) or loaded (for example, “a 225 pound barbell”). A standard Olympic-sized barbell is 20 kilograms, or in many American gyms, 45 pounds. (20 kilos is 44 pounds, so it doesn’t really matter which is which.) There are a variety of other barbells that exist, including Olympic women’s bars that weigh 15 kilos, EZ-curl bars with an ergonomic curve to them, and more. We have a guide to al…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you're looking for a new show to watch this week, I got your back. I've scoured the schedules of Netflix, Prime, Max, Hulu, and other streaming platforms to bring you the best and most notable shows streaming this week. The Traitors, season 3 From its top notch host Allan Cummings to its cast of hardcore reality show veterans, to its classy Scottish castle setting and stylish presentation, reality TV rarely rises to the heights of The Traitors. If you like conniving on a grand scale, and you didn't come here to make friends, check out The Traitors. Where to stream: Peacock SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own. I’ve reached a state of eating that I shall call “Deep Winter.” I know there are much colder environments in the world, but my weak New York City constitution makes it impossible to have fun out in the 20-degree weather. I prefer to stay indoors, comment on the snow like a Progressive commercial, and cook hot comfort food. If you share any of these inclination…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is a tablet/laptop hybrid that came out last summer and quickly rose to become one of the best laptops for college students. It is sleek and has a long battery life, and its comfort and ease of use as a tablet make it great for hands-on learning. It starts at $799.99 (originally $999.99) for the most basic version (which is powerful enough for most people), $879.99 (originally $1,199.99) if you want to double the storage to 512GB, and $1,399.99 (originally $1,699.99) to max out the storage with 1TB. With either, you'll …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Pixel 9 Pro is the latest, most premium model in the Pixel lineup. It was released in August 2024, and already the unlocked 128GB Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is discounted to $799 (down from $1,099). That's the lowest price it has yet reached on Amazon, according to price-tracking tools. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Operating System: Android 14, Ram Memory: 16 GB, Memory Storage: 128 GB, Screen Size: 6.8 Inches. …

As with other AI bots like ChatGPT and Copilot, there are free and paid options for Google Gemini: For $20 a month, you can upgrade to a Google One AI Premium plan, which includes Gemini Advanced. Chances are you're already signed up to a host of digital subscriptions, so is Gemini Advanced shelling out even more cash? Here's how the features on the free plan and the Google One AI Premium plan stack up against each other right now—bear in mind the paid plan includes some extras beyond the Gemini Advanced AI, which I've listed at the end. As a Google One AI Premium subscriber, I've talked a little bit about my experience of these features, too. Comparable features …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. People tend to start gardening the same way: They grow their first plant outside, feel the pride of eating their own sun-ripened tomato, and decide to plant two plants the next year. Most of those plants are bought from a nursery, but as you build a garden, buying starts from the store begins to make less sense. If you’re at the point where you’re considering planting, say, eight tomato plants, it might make sense to start growing your own. And you should. You can save a lot of money by growing your own from seeds. Buying garden starts makes sense at firstPeople buy garden starts for simple reasons: By the time the weathe…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you're looking for a flexible option for streaming your favorite content, you'll want to consider a portable streaming device, like a streaming stick or a streaming box, over a smart TV. Narrowing it down from there depends on a few different factors, so I've broken it down into six different categories to help you choose what makes the most sense. Device typeMost streaming devices fall into one of two categories: streaming sticks (like the Fire TV Stick 4K and the Roku Express 4K+) and set-top boxes, such as the Apple TV 4K and the Fire TV Cube. Streaming sticks are a little larger than a USB drive and plug directly i…

Lock screens are a good way to protect your data, but thieves stealing your smartphone when it's unlocked (or after seeing your passcode), and then resetting everything in just a tap is still a real security risk. Apple deals with this vulnerability using its Stolen Device Protection feature, and now, in Android 15, Google has a similar feature called Identity Check. Identity Check ensures strangers out in public can't change your Android smartphone's account settings without first passing a secondary biometric authentication. First, you set up one or more trusted locations, like your home. Then, if someone outside of one of those locations has your phone and tries to acc…

Do sweet and salty foods taste good to you? Is your sleep maybe not the best? Do you have some belly fat? The answer to these questions is probably yes, because you are human, but that’s not important right now! TikTok influencers would like you to consider another possibility: that your cortisol is too high, and that you should buy their supplements (link in bio!) to control it. Then you’ll be relaxed at night and energetic in the morning, you’ll enjoy the taste of kale, and—most importantly—you’ll become thin and beautiful. This cortisol dysregulation idea has become a sort of mega-phenomenon, absorbing the power and anxieties of anything it touches. If you look up cort…

For over a year, I’ve been on a mission to declutter and elevate my wardrobe by replacing all of my cheap accessories with nicer versions—my own spin on the “one in, one out” cleaning method. Since I’m not made of money and largely stick to buying pre-owned luxury goods, it’s extra sustainable, which makes me feel good about the whole thing. The problem with buying pre-owned stuff, though, is that it’s usually pre-worn—like, really worn. I don’t blame my items’ previous caretakers when I get shoes, a bag, sunglasses, or a scarf that looks like it’s seen some horrors in its prime; if I spent top dollar on something, I’d run it into the ground to get every cent's worth, to…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. From viral hacks to your grandmother, someone or something has, at some point, told you to clean with baking soda and vinegar. Even I have told you to clean with baking soda and vinegar. Yesterday, sadly, I learned that this approach isn't all it's cracked up to be. Let's discuss. Why you shouldn't mix baking soda and vinegar to cleanThe good news is that this mixture isn't toxic or dangerous in any way. You're not poisoning yourself over time if you mix vinegar and baking soda to get a bubbly paste to scrub onto your walls, countertops, or tile. The bad news is that it just doesn't do much. See, yesterday, I wrote about…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. After the release of the Google Pixel 9 last fall, the Pixel 8 lineup dropped in price, as was expected. While the Pixel 8 Pro isn't the latest Pixel, it is still considered one of the best Android phones for 2025, according to CNET. The unlocked 128 GB Pixel 8 Pro is currently $599 (originally $999), a 40% discount. That's matching the lowest price the device has reached, according to price-tracking tools. Google Pixel 8 Pro …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. We might not live in a Jetsons-like future with robot maids and flying cars, but we do have the technology to transform our standard houses into futuristic smart homes. There are some very compelling reasons to do that, including having more control over your environment, increased automation for repeated tasks, and even improved security. But smart homes—and the devices that comprise them—have one enormous downside: privacy. Smart home devices work by allowing access over a network, and as a result, every single smart device in your home, from the lock on your door to the light bulbs in your fixtures, is a potential weak …

I'm sure you've received a random text from a supposed employment recruiter recently—we all have. These texts, you likely realize, are scams. No company is so desperate for workers that they’d message random numbers with job offers. According to the Federal Trade Commission, you shouldn't respond to these texts or click on any links on them—the smart thing to do is to block these numbers and get on with your day. But I wanted to see what happens to people who follow through and actually try to get the job, so I answered a scam text, and it led me down a surprisingly long road that included bogus online piecework, a discussion of the nature of labor itself, and repeated r…

There are a lot of music streaming services to choose from right now. Many of us subscribe to Spotify or Apple Music, but still others may use YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or Tidal. They all have their pros and cons, but if price is the most important factor for you, it's a good time to check out Apple's offering. Apple Music usually costs $10.99 for individual users, $16.99 for families, and $5.99 for students—pretty standard for music streaming pricing. Today, however, Apple announced an impressive deal for eligible new subscribers: Six months of Apple Music for $2.99. That's not three dollars per months, but three dollars total. Who's eligibleThat's a pretty great val…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The market for earbuds can be hectic if you're not on top of it, with many brands and new models coming out regularly. I do keep up with them, though, and can tell you which ones are worth your money. The Sennheiser Accentum earbuds are a great value right now, after a 50% discount that lowers their price to $99.95 (originally $199.95), the lowest price they've ever been, according to price-tracking tools. Sennheiser Accentum Earbuds ANC: Yes, Battery Life:…

One of the annoying things about using PowerShell in Windows, if you're used to Linux, is having to run it as an admin in order to make system changes. The simplest way to do this is right-clicking the application in the start menu and clicking "Run as administrator," which isn't exactly elegant. It's particularly frustrating because most Linux distributions fixed this a long time ago: the sudo command. Basically, on Linux, if you need to run a single command as an administrator you can just put "sudo" at the beginning and run it—you're asked for an administrator password and the process runs. It's such a useful feature that it even inspired one of the most famous XKCD co…

Part-time work is great for increased flexibility, but a significant bummer when it comes to benefits. Luckily, a new rule now opens the door for millions of part-time workers to start building their nest eggs earlier through employer-sponsored retirement plans. This rule—part of the Secure Act 2.0 passed in 2022—reduces the waiting period for part-time employees to join their company's 401(k) or 403(b) plans. Here's what you need to know to take advantage of this change and maximize your savings this year. How part-time workers can save more for retirementUnder the new rules, part-time workers can qualify for their employer's retirement plan after just two years of servi…

The new iOS 18.4 beta is still missing an AI-overhauled Siri, on-screen awareness, and the app integrations feature we were promised all the way back in June at WWDC. If you're waiting for those features, try your luck with iOS 18.5. However, 18.4 isn't an empty update. The first beta introduces Priority Notifications, and Apple Intelligence now supports more languages—which is great news for Apple users across the globe. In addition, Apple Intelligence is now accessible in the European Union for the first time. Here's everything that's new with iOS 18.4. Priority NotificationsOne of the new highlight features in iOS 18.4 is Priority Notifications. When enabled, your iPho…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Doomsday prepping—making yourself and your home ready for some amorphous “stuff-hits-the-fan” event—has gone mainstream. About 20 million Americans are actively “prepping” for the apocalypse in some sense, which could come in many different forms. No matter how the world as we know it ends, the thinking goes, folks with enough food and water, gold (or crypto), and ammunition salted away will survive to help rebuild society. Or fight zombies. A lot of doomsday prepping is kind of silly, of course. You’re probably not going to be fighting those zombies (or hordes of Mad Max-style warriors), and having a thousand cans of bean…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When it comes to upgrading your home's aesthetic, you don't need to spend a lot of time or money to have an impact. In addition to inexpensive improvements that increase your home's comfort and efficiency, there are a number of small swaps that can have a big impact without busting your budget. All of these swaps are renter-friendly—they are unlikely to cause damage in the installation process and are easy to return to their original state. Simply save what you remove and replace when you leave. Get new switch plate and outlet coversRemove the cheap plastic light switch and outlet covers around your home and replace them…