Life Style

Image: TP-LinkI have purchased countless smart plugs, and configured an embarrassing number of strip octopi to be able to control what I want from my phone or hub. The Kasa Smart Plug Power Strip HS300, which is on sale right now for Amazon’s “Prime Big Deal Days,” would have saved me so much work.Aside from being a surge protector, which is never a bad thing with the instability of power grids these days, it has six (count ‘em, six) smart outlets. I know it sounds like I’m making a lot of this feature, but there’s good reason. You can give each of them a different function and I don’t know of anyone else making a smart strip with this many smart outlets. Imagine a light display for the holidays or your office setup or a greenhouse. I can come up with twelve situations I’d use this strip i...

If you plan to ride your e-bike during the winter months, or if you plan to store it when it gets cold, there are some simple maintenance tasks you should check off your list to keep your e-bike running smoothly. While it might not be obvious, a little bit of TLC as the seasons change will improve the performance of your bike and make the battery, brakes, and frame last longer. Whether or not you plan to ride your e-bike during the winter, fall is a good time to do some lubrication, cleaning, and routine maintenance. Here’s what you should do in the fall as a part of your regular maintenance schedule.Wipe off exposed parts and apply a rust prevention product to cables and other exposed metal parts.Wipe down the frame with a microfiber cloth. Getting rid of dirt and grit will help keep the ...

iPhone accessibility features are designed people who live with disabilities, but they can make the smartphones better for everyone. With iOS 17, Apple has brought several accessibility enhancements to iOS, including creating a voice that sounds just like yours, phonetic corrections for Voice Control, and speeding up or slowing down Siri.If you want Siri to talk slower or faster, you can reduce or increase the speed of its speech. To do so, head to Settings > Accessibility > Siri, then, under Speaking Rate, move the slider to adjust its speed. You can slow it down up to 0.8x of the original speed or speed it up to 2x the speed it originally had. Apple claims Siri now sounds better at high speech feedback rates.A new accessibility feature called Live Speech allows you to type what yo...

Photo: Product image courtesy of Amazon (Shutterstock)Introducing a smart speaker to a room can be a real quality-of-life upgrade. You can use it to play music, set a timer, control smart lights, or ask any question that comes to mind (which usually means “Hey, what’s the weather today?”)And if this is your first time buying a smart speaker, you can’t go wrong with Amazon’s Echo range, which is deeply discounted right now for the October Prime Day sale. The Echo Dot is Amazon’s smallest and cheapest smart speaker with Alexa built-in. It retails for $49.99, but is currently discounted to just $22.99. It’s available in three colors: Charcoal, Deep Sea Blue, and Glacier White. For less than $25, you get a full-fledged smart speaker that can play music, control smart lights, and talk to other ...

Imagine, if you will, a time of wild economic inequality, global conflict, and Donald Trump every time you turn on your TV. But all of that in neon, and with a way cooler soundtrack. I’m talking, of course, about the ‘80s: the decade that gave us Spike Lee, Hayao Miyazaki, Tim Burton, John Hughes, and serious-actress Cher. Arnold blew up a whole bunch of stuff; Michael J. Fox went back in time to avoid sleeping with his mom; Eddie Murphy made cops seem fun and approachable; and people went around asking “Where’s the beef?” for reasons that remain unclear. It was quite a time.It was also an era when beloved blockbusters could come in all shapes and sizes, and there were nearly 100% fewer Marvel movies. The massive hits of the decade include action movies, but also romantic comedies, horror...

Photo: New Africa (Shutterstock)Woot is having a sale on several ergonomic office chairs until Oct. 16, going for up to 66% off. All of these chairs are new items, not refurbished. Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll be $6 to ship. Woot products come with an assigned manufacturer warranty or Woot’s 90-day warranty program, in case you have a problem with a product.Here are the best deals on office chairs available.Top of the list is the Flash Furniture Kelista Office Chair at $119.99. Depending on which retailer you want to believe, the listing price for this office chair is anything from $209 to $348. No matter what the original price, Woot has the best price for it at the moment, according to Honey’s pr...

Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez (Getty Images)Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days are in full swing, bringing deals on everything from Pelotons, to Android tablets, to robot vacuums. For Apple fans, it’s a great time to pick up some new earbuds: The AirPods 2nd generation are currently going for $89, matching the low they reached during this summer’s Prime Day sale.The second-generation AirPods were released in 2019 and have rarely been sold for much cheaper. They don’t have all the same bells and whistles, but are significantly cheaper than the new USB-C AirPods Pro, which are also discounted for Prime Big Deal Days, but will still run you $189 at Amazon. If you wait until Black Friday, you might see a match for last year’s all-time low of $79, but if you don’t want to wait until then to save $10, y...

Photo: Malikov Aleksandr (Shutterstock)Exercise is so weird. We have to block off time, put on special clothes, and invest in expensive equipment or a gym membership just so we can possibly live long enough to see a colony on Mars. But the benefits of regular exercise are compelling, so most of us make at least some effort to stay fit, and with so many of us still working from home at least some of the time, the home gym remains a pretty popular option.All that effort results in a healthier you, so it’s not wasted time—and yet your workout could be a more efficient experience. For one thing, you could be reading or even doing your job while pedaling an exercise bike. For another, you could make your home gym a more sustainable one by generating electricity while you work out.Power-generati...

Photo: Chendongshan (Shutterstock)Amazon’s fall Prime Day isn’t just for people; your dog and cat friends can enjoy bargain prices, as well. Whether you want to hook Mittens up with a self-cleaning litter box or find out about Bandit’s distant ancestors, there’s a consumer product for you, available at a low(er) price, for a limited time.Photo: AmazonThis highly rated Amazon automatic electronic pet feeder can change your pet’s life—and yours. It helps prevent gorging and gluttony by timing each portion to your specifications, dispensing dry and semi-moist food six times a day. The precise timer guarantees that lunch will be served right on time, every time. All that for only $32.48 (was $39.99). Photo: AmazonYour purring pal will feel like the queen of the house when you gift them this Ca...

When you have a lot of work to do, a short attention span can be disastrous to your productivity. So instead of fighting it, you can use it to your advantage by working in “sprints” rather than trying for a marathon session. Like the Pomodoro technique, the sprints method has you work in a series of shorter bursts, so you can get your tasks done without your attention or productivity lagging. Here’s how to try it out..When using the sprints method, you’ll be doing short bursts of work with breaks in between. That’s really all it is, but since taking breaks is fundamental to being truly productive, it’s effective. Though, as noted, the sprints method has some elements in common with the popular Pomodoro method—which sees you work in tightly timed bursts interspersed with breaks that are als...