Editor's note: Every week The Week's editors survey product reviews and articles in websites, newspapers, and magazines, to find cool and useful new items we think you'll like. We're now making it easier to purchase these selections through affiliate partnerships with certain retailers. The Week may get a share of the revenue from these purchases.
TurboTax typically isn't the cheapest tax-filing software available, but it "asks all the right questions" and provides "the easiest and most painless way to file your taxes online," said Kevin Purdy at The Wirecutter. The $55 price quoted here is for 1040 filers; for certain users, it's free. Get it at TurboTax.
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2. Swingline Style + Super Cross-Cut Shredder ($64)
"If ever a document shredder could be called stylish," said Tony Hoffman at PC Mag, this Swingline is it. Though a bit noisy, it's inexpensive, "wicked fast," and holds more paper than its compact dimensions suggest. Buy it at Amazon.
3. LAMPAT Dimmable LED Desk Lamp ($32)
When you're perusing documents for hours, "a good desk lamp will make the job much easier on your eyes," said The Street. This one has four lighting modes, five levels of brightness, and an arm that can be set at any angle. Buy it at Amazon.
4. Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i Portable Scanner ($249)
No other portable scanner matches the combination of speed, accuracy, and portability offered by this Fujitsu, said Amadou Diallo at The Wirecutter. When you're digitizing receipts and other documents, its user-friendly software will spare you many panicked hunts for the owner's manual. Buy it at Amazon.
5. Lorell File Cabinet ($68)
This simple two-drawer file cabinet topped 29 other choices in a recent test. Though it was among the least expensive, "it had the smoothest drawers and stood sturdily even when fully loaded," said Nick Guy at The Sweethome. Buy it at Amazon.
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The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
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‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
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Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
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Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
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Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
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Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
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China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
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How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
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One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
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What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
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Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
