A set of origami-style lights illuminate the cozy setup of Instagram user @mrisad, an integration delivery manager. The Nanoleaf lights floating above his dual monitors evoke the control panels from some ’70s sci-fi show. And they’re integrated with HomeKit, Apple’s home-automation platform.

The heart of his rig is a beautiful pair of screens. The large main screen is a $1,000 curved, 38-inch screen from LG. The second screen is a 28-inch Asus gaming monitor. He hooked them both up to a Mac mini, and elegantly suspended them in midair by an inexpensive ($40) but fully articulated desktop stand.

To round out his setup, @mrisad has a Magic Keyboard and Trackpad from Apple, and a trio of chargers for his iPhone, iPad and AirPods. As for audio, he has a HomePod and a pair of Sennheiser noise-canceling headphones.

If you live in an older house where places to plug in are few in number, you begin to appreciate the idea of a charging station for multiple devices.

Pitaka’s Air Omni is a wireless charger for up to six devices that does away with multiple chargers and cords. And it will prevent you from having to cut additional sockets into the walls of your vintage digs.

Apple is promising us a lot of iPhone for the price. The new iPhone SE is a bargain with expensive specs for $399.

But with a little shopping, a bargain can be more of a steal.

Apple and Google have given further details on their plans for a joint contact tracing technology to combat coronavirus, saying the program will focus on privacy, will be voluntary, and that data will only be shared with public health organizations.

The world was starting to develop a healthy skepticism for tech companies and their claims of making data privacy a priority. The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal seemed to get our attention and we began to understand how easy it is for groups to track our digital lives.

Then COVID-19 spread with bullet speed across the world and now surveillance of our movements to track the virus is sounding to many like a good idea.

Apple and Google revealed Friday that they’re teaming up to take on one of the most colossal tasks in the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19: contact tracing.

If you’re like me, you probably hadn’t heard about contact tracing until the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s proven to be an important tool in countries that have seen a drop in their reported cases of the coronavirus.

With a little background, here are the basics of contact tracing and what you need to know.

In a rare moment of collaboration, Apple and Google said Friday they have teamed up to create a contact-tracing program that uses smartphones to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The privacy-focused solution created by the companies will use anonymous Bluetooth “chirps” from phones as a way to tell where an infected person has been and who they’ve come in contact with.

Apple has created a $50 million advance fund to help independent music labels and distributors pay their artists and keep operations afloat.

The global lockdown in an effort to slow the COVID-19 outbreak has been particularly brutal to independent labels. Music stores, in-person venues and TV/movie productions are all closed, killing sales, licensing income and anticipated revenues from shows now canceled.

A group of U.S. Senators is requesting assurances from CEO Tim Cook that Apple has privacy protections built into the company’s new COVID-19 screening app and website.

Senators Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal, Bob Menedez and Cory Booker sent a letter addressed to Cook on Friday voicing concerns about the private health data of Americans.

Apple may eventually offer hyperlocal, down-to-the-minute forecasts.

Dark Sky Weather, the popular weather app, announced Tuesday it was acquired by Apple.