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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: 28 hours, Interface: Touch, Microphone: Dual, IP Rating: IP54.

$99.95
at Amazon

$199.95
Save $100.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$99.95
at Amazon

$199.95
Save $100.00

The Sennheiser Accentum earbuds came out in the summer of 2024 with an “excellent” review from PCMag. They stand out in their bass frequency and sound quality as well as their ANC performance, and they use tap controls that are fully customizable in their companion app.

There is also a customizable EQ in case you like your sound signature to sound a certain way. If you’re not sure how to choose your EQ, there is a feature that lets you choose while you listen to different media or genres of music so you can have a set EQ profile for every scenario (like a preset for podcasts, the gym, running outdoors, etc). Combine that with the Sound Zone feature, which automatically chooses an EQ preset depending on your location, and you have yourself a sound set just for you no matter where you go (picture walking into your office and automatically blocking out noise with ANC and setting your preferred EQ automatically).

The earbuds have an IP54 rating for water- and dust-resistance, so you can take them outdoors. Just be aware that these earbuds are bigger than most (some people might find that uncomfortable). The earbuds automatically pause when you take them out of your ears, which is always a nice feature. They have Bluetooth 5.3 with Appex, AAC, and SBC codecs and you can expect about six hours of battery life and 20 hours from the carrying case.

For $100, these earbuds are a great value, and perfect for people who value ANC and like bass.

“Don’t Google yourself” is terrible advice. If there’s personal information about you floating around on the web, you should be aware of it—because, despite common misconceptions, the internet is not written in ink. If your info is popping up on Google Search, you might be able to get rid of it.

On Wednesday, Google announced its redesigned “Results about you” tool. This feature, first rolled out in 2023, looks out for your personal information on Google Search, including your name, phone number, email addresses, and home addresses. The tool then tries to remove any information it does find. Note that this doesn’t necessarily delete that information from the website in question; rather, it affects outdated info that appears in Search. For example, you requested a site take down your address, or you edited a webpage to reflect your new phone number, but that deleted data still shows up when people search your name.

Using Google’s “Results about you” tool

Here’s how the tool works. First, head to the “Results about you” website. If this is your initial experience with Results about you, click Get started. You’ll be presented with a series of pop-ups, walking you through what to expect: You share your personal info, and Google scans the web looking for that info. If Google finds that info, you can ask the company to remove it.

Click Next through each pop-up, then punch in your personal information, which includes your full name, nicknames, home address, phone number, and email. For example, I included my full name, a nickname, two recent addresses, my phone number, and three email addresses. Confirm you are indeed the person who this contact info belongs to, then hit Continue.

From here, you’ll have the option to choose how you want to receive alerts if Google finds your information on the web. You can have Google email you, send you push notifications through the Google app, or both. Once these settings are confirmed, you’re done! Google says the process usually takes a few hours, and the company will notify you when it is finished—presumably via the alert method you previously chose.

Heading back to the Results about you dashboard, you’ll find a “Results found” section, which will list any personal information Google happened to find in its search. There are two categories: “Results to review,” which lists any data Google returns, and “Reviewed,” which stores any results you’ve already checked out. Under Settings, you can change how Google notifies you with its results, as well as any of the data you want Google looking for.

When you do ask Google to remove a piece of personal information from Search, you’ll find that inquiry is added to a section beneath “Results found” called “Removal requests.” Here, you’ll see whether your requests are in progress, approved, denied, or undone (if you decide to undo a request).

You can also send a request to remove a result from the search page itself. Just click the three dots next to any given search result, and choose “Remove this result.” Then, select the reason why—likely, “It shows my personal info and I don’t want it there.”

If you’ve tried to buy or sell a house, you probably worked with a licensed real estate professional—there are more than 3 million of them in the U.S., and their advice and assistance are often invaluable. Real estate agents know the properties in their area and can help you locate them (and weed out deceptive listings) and guide you through every step of the process. A good real estate agent who has your best interests at heart is worth their commission and then some.

But not everyone who has a real estate license is a good agent—or an ethical one. Sometimes the red flags around an agent are big and obvious, but sometimes real estate pros engage in subtle little scams that aren’t obvious at all. These down-low tricks aren’t always illegal, but they’re unethical—and they can cost you big time when it comes to what’s likely the biggest financial purchase in your life. If you’re looking for a real estate pro to help you with your house hunt or sale, watch out for these subtle scams.

Sketchy referrals

One of the most subtly unethical things a real estate agent can do is push sketchy referrals on you. It’s normal for an agent to help you find a mortgage broker, a home inspector, or even a contractor to help you figure out if a house is a good fit for you. It crosses into unethical territory, though, if they try to insist you use their referrals or even push you to use them.

You can defend yourself from this simply by getting other referrals for any services you need, especially when it comes to mortgage brokers. Real estate agents sometimes have what are called “preferred lenders,” and there can be benefits to using them (like a smoother process)—but you never have to use them. Getting a few other quotes will help you figure out if the person your agent suggests is doing right by you.

Buying a listing

If you’re selling a house, you know that one of the trickiest aspects is choosing which real estate agent to work with. Agents know there’s competition for that commission, so there’s always a sales pitch. One subtle little scam some agents pull is simply telling you what you want to hear: That your house will sell for a higher price than what other property experts are telling you.

It’s called “buying a listing.” They know that if they confidently assure you that your house will sell for significantly more, you’ll be enticed to sign with them. And they know that when offers come in lower than they promised they can blame the shifting market or some aspect of the property for the discrepancy—and you will probably not be willing to walk away from an offer even if it’s not as high as you were led to expect.

A good way to avoid this trap is to do your own research. Get several estimates on what your property could sell for, and look for comparable properties in your area that have recently sold. If an agent comes back with a suggested listing price that is way out of line with the rest, be suspicious.

Steering

If you’re working with a real estate agent and you notice that they never show you homes in specific areas, or ignore your preferences and only show you homes in certain areas, you might be the victim of “steering.”

Steering is the practice of trying to steer you into a certain neighborhood or area based entirely on some attribute like race, religion, or gender. It can be very subtle—the homes you’re seeing are in your price range and match your list of must-haves, they’re just always in the same area. Steering isn’t always obvious, either—if you’re single and your agent never seems to show you a large house in a family-oriented neighborhood despite your stated preference for just that, they might be steering you toward what they think of as a more “appropriate” property, your desires be damned.

Some signs that you’re being steered include a lot of personal opinions from your agent on who should live in certain properties and a pattern of ignoring your preferences in terms of property size, type, and location.

Personal property

If your agent sweetens a deal by helping you reduce your future tax burden with a lower official price on the home, you might think you’ve found the brilliant real estate hustler of your dreams. This is usually done by suggesting that a portion of the sales price be listed as payment for “personal property” and not the house itself. This reduces the actual price of the house, which in turn will reduce future tax payments.

It’s true that it’s not uncommon to buy stuff like furniture or appliances from a seller, and these items are usually considered personal property and a separate sale. But lying about this is, of course, illegal, and opens you up to a long list of potential consequences.

Lax marketing

When you hire an agent to help sell your house, they’re not just someone to rubber-stamp paperwork and be there for open houses. They’re supposed to market your home to prospective buyers. When you sign with a real estate agent, they should detail what they’re going to do in that department—from advertising to web listings, staging, and even video brochures or virtual tours.

Some agents will promise the moon when closing you as a client, then actually do very little in terms of marketing, which saves them time and money. They might still sell your home, of course, but they won’t work as hard for that commission as you expected. Your best practice is to make the marketing plan part of the contract—and then follow up to make sure the plan is being followed.

Bait listings

If you landed with your current real estate agent because you spied a listing for a house that was absolutely perfect and much cheaper than you expected—only to be told that the house had already sold—you may have been the victim of a bait listing.

Bait listings are sometimes old listings that saw a lot of interest, so the agent leaves them up in order to attract latecomers, but they can also be deceptive listings designed to lure interest. Once the agent has you in their office or on the phone, they admit the listing is gone—but assure you they can find the right property for you regardless.

Off-market

If your real estate agent tells you that your house isn’t in prime condition and suggests you sell it off-market—without listing it publicly on the multiple listing service (MLS)—they might be setting you up for a subtle scam involving a property investor they already have a relationship with. Once you agree to sell off-market (because the agent has convinced you that sprucing the place up properly is prohibitively expensive), the investor magically appears, offering to buy the place as-is. You wind up selling at a discount, the investor does the sprucing up you could have done, and sells it for a profit—a profit that could have been yours.

Meanwhile, the agent may have gotten away with a triple commission: From you and the investor on your home’s sale, then later when the investor sells the house again. Always be skeptical of an off-market suggestion and drill down into how it helps you to have fewer potential buyers—and get your own estimates on repairs and improvements that will make your home more marketable.

The ghost buyer

Sketchy real estate agents sometimes invent phantom buyers when it serves them. There are usually two basic scenarios:

• When you’re selling your house and looking for an agent, they contact you and tell you they have an interested buyer, or your property fits the bill for someone they know of. Then they push for you to hire them as your agent. That interest buyer probably vanishes—they were just a way to get the agent’s foot in your door.

• When you’re buying a house and you’ve found a property you want to make an offer on, suddenly there’s another interested buyer, and you’re advised to improve your offer on the house to ensure you get the property. It’s entirely possible there is another buyer, of course, but it’s also an effective (if unethical) way of getting you to pay a higher price, with a higher commission.

The best way to defend against ghost buyers is to choose your listing agent according to your needs, and not just because they rang you up out of the blue, and to know at the outset how much you’re willing to pay for a house—and commit to sticking to that.

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Making homemade bread and pizza can be greatly improved with the use of a pizza stone. I’ve used one for years, and it’s the best way to get a well-browned bottom crust. I thought I had it all figured out, until the pizza steel arrived. If you’re getting serious about cooking (and reheating) pizza at home, one of these tools should be in your oven.

What’s a baking (or pizza) stone?

A pizza stone is a plank or circle of ceramic or cordierite (a type of thermal shock-resistant ceramic). They’re typically between a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch thick and can range in size from nine to 20 inches across. 

Compared to a pizza steel, ceramic stones are relatively lightweight, which makes them easy to move around and store when they’re not in use. They can stain (especially if you’ve flubbed a few pizzas like I have), but cleaning them requires little more than a good scraping once the food bits have burnt to a crisp. I use a metal bench scraper to dislodge big chunks, and then simply wipe off the smaller particles with a damp cloth. 

Unfortunately, they are susceptible to cracking or breaking. The material is very brittle, so if you drop the stone or knock it with something hard it could crack. The ceramic material is also porous, which means moisture can get absorbed (that’s why I recommend a dry scrape or damp towel only after you’re finished using it). If the stone has moisture trapped inside, when it goes into a 475°F oven it can crack as the liquid rapidly evaporates. 

Amzdeal Pizza Stone

$19.36
at Walmart

$39.99
Save $20.63

Shop Now

Shop Now

$19.36
at Walmart

$39.99
Save $20.63

Pros: 

• Lightweight

• Thermal shock resistant 

• Easy to store

• Easy to clean

Cons:

• Susceptible to cracking or breaking

• Porous and can absorb moisture

What’s a pizza steel?

Pizza steels aren’t quite as widespread in popularity, but maybe you’ve seen one before. They look like the sexier version of a pizza stone; they have the same shapes, rectangular or circular, but they begin to diverge from there. A pizza steel is made of carbon steel. It’s better at conducting heat and, since it’s more dense, better at heat retention. Which means pizza steels can be effective even when relatively thin. They can range from 3/16-inch to a half-inch thick. But don’t let the thinness fool you—they’re damn heavy. Like a cast iron pan or a heavy Dutch oven, this trade off can be worth it, but it undoubtedly makes it harder to lift, carry, or situate in a low cabinet for storage when it’s not in use. 

Unlike the fussy pizza stone, a pizza steel is robust and relatively indestructible. Water doesn’t get trapped inside, as it’s not porous, and it doesn’t give a damn about temperature shifts. Your pizza steel can last you a lifetime of pizzas if properly cared for. That is, unless it rusts.

That’s right: If you don’t ensure your pizza steel is completely dry before storing it, or if you store it with other wet things, you might be greeted with a rusty mess the next time you take it out of the cabinet. Although this sucks, it’s not the end. You can scrub off the rust with something abrasive, like steel wool, but you’ll need to re-season it with some oil. Here are other tips on getting rust off of your pizza steel. 

Otherwise, you can clean the pizza steel by scraping off the burnt bits with a strong spatula and washing off any grease with warm soapy water—just be sure to dry it completely. I usually dab off excess water with a paper towel (don’t scrub or bits of paper can get stuck) and toss it back into a warm oven to quickly evaporate any residual moisture. I’m a fan of the original Baking Steel.  

Baking Steel – The Original Ultra Conductive Pizza Stone

$129.00
at Amazon

Shop Now

Shop Now

$129.00
at Amazon

Pros: 

• Durable

• Thermal shock resistant 

• Easy to clean

Cons:

• Heavy

• Susceptible to rusting

• Larger sizes can be expensive

If you’re a person who has a small kitchen, makes pizza or bread only occasionally, or has limited mobility and strength for heavy, cumbersome objects, then you might opt for a small pizza stone. If you’re okay with lifting something heavy and you know that baking pizza, bread, or burgers is something you’ll be doing weekly, then a pizza steel might be the better option for you.