When you’re selling your home, many factors can influence whether it sits on the market for weeks or gets multiple offers right away. Everything from its location to its condition can affect the speed of the sale and the final price, and you don’t always have control over all of them.

One thing you can control—at least to a degree—is the your home’s lighting. “In my experience, buyers aren’t just buying square footage; they’re buying a feeling,” says Jonathan Ayala, a real estate agent at Hudson Condos in New Jersey. “And lighting is a subtle but powerful way to exert that influence. It’s the difference between a buyer perceiving ‘this space needs work’ and ‘I can see myself living here.’

How your house is lit can have a big impact on how fast your house sells—and the price you get for it. Here’s are five factors to think about to improve your home’s lighting.

Choose the right bulbs

Every lightbulb in your home is defined by three measurements: Watts (the amount of energy it uses), lumens (its brightness), and kelvin (its color temperature). When it comes to making an impression on home buyers, you should concentrate mainly on lumens and kelvin. Bulbs with a lumens rating of at least 800 are best to give the house a bright, open feeling—and you can go as high as 2,000 lumens if your home lacks natural light or simply feels dark.

Color temperature is just as important. For reference, the sun at noon on a clear day has a color temperature of about 5,000-6,000k. “Lighting affects both how large and how welcoming a home feels,” notes Ayala. “I put up a three-bedroom ranch about two or three years ago where the insides looked thick and dated. The original owner had [installed] heavy drapes and low-wattage bulbs. Even before putting up a sign in the front yard for sale, I had the seller replace all the bulbs with daylight LEDs, (about 5000k). The change was dramatic: From a dark living room that felt cave-like, the home [became] bright, clean, and modern.”

The home wound up receiving multiple offers in a week and sold for more than $25,000 above asking. “I do not think that it would have happened without those simple lighting upgrades,” Alaya said.

In general, it’s best to choose bulbs that offer higher color temperatures in the “public” areas of the house, like the kitchen or living room, and warmer, lower temperatures in bedrooms, to give them a cozier feel. Temperatures in the 2400-2700k range can have a yellowing effect on white kitchens or furniture that can make a space feel old and worn, so choose carefully.

You should also consider lighting direction, Ayala notes. “Uplighting can highlight architectural features, accent lights would draw attention to art, and ambient lighting would warm up a room—every small thing matters when preparing a home for market.”

“Great lighting makes a space more functional,” adds Bo Belmont, a real estate investor and founder and CEO of Belwood Investments. “For example, lighting over the sink or kitchen counter can make these areas easier to work in. A well-lit entryway can also make buyers feel safer and more secure.”

Keep the style consistent

Lighting isn’t just about light—it’s also about the fixtures. Old fixtures that are showing their age will make a space look dated, even if the light itself is on point. Simply upgrading the fixtures without considering the overall style of the house won’t be effective: If your house has a modern, minimalist vibe and you install ornate brass fixtures, they might appear old to buyers due to the contrast, while slapping modern fixtures in a house with a country chic vibe might look cheap.

First impressions matter

Omer Reiner, a Realtor at FL Cash Buyer’s in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, cautions that you can’t forget the exterior lighting. “If a potential buyer pulls up and can’t make out the house number because lights are dim, they are immediately on alert before they even step inside.” Make sure exterior lights are installed, in working condition, and are bright enough and aimed properly.

This extends to the foyer or entryway. Having a bright exterior feels welcoming—unless the front door opens to a dark, shadowy space. Lighting can elevate buyers’ moods as they enter the house or give them a sense of foreboding, so make sure they make it inside without having to use their phone as a flashlight.

Emphasize natural light

When thinking about your home’s lighting, don’t forget about the most obvious aspect: Natural light. “Natural light is the most appreciated,” says Alexei Morgado, a Florida Realtor and CEO and Founder of Lexawise Real Estate Exam Preparation. “It helps make spaces feel larger and more inviting. Maximizing natural lighting in a home can require expensive renovations, but there are some simple tricks: Opening curtains and blinds before and during showings, making sure windows are clean to allow light to penetrate, and trimming any exterior foliage that may block sunlight.”

You should also consider your window treatments: While opening up the curtains or blinds can let light in, heavy, light-blocking treatments will always darken a room a little. Lighter materials will let more light in and will contribute to a sense of lightness in terms of weight and style as well.

Keep them maintained

Finally, all the right decisions will be for naught if you don’t conduct proper maintenance and upkeep on your lighting. If you’re planning to show your home to prospective buyers, inspect the house and:

• Look for burnt-out bulbs. Dead bulbs aren’t always obvious when you’re living in the home (especially when they’re part of track lighting or back-lit decorations). Dead bulbs convey a sense of disrepair while also subtly darkening the space, directly contradicting your efforts.

• Check for broken fixtures. Cracked, stained, or crooked fixtures will draw the eye and will make buyers think there are other, less obvious problems with the house. Flickering lights or fixtures that spark will need to be repaired immediately, for obvious reasons).

• Make sure everything is aligned. If you have aimed your lighting to accentuate certain features, make sure they haven’t “drifted.”

Several hit Paramount+ shows are returning with new seasons in May. The seventh installment of The Chi, Lena Waithe’s drama about life on the South Side of Chicago, will premiere on May 16. Original crime series Criminal Minds: Evolution (May 8) is returning for its 18th season, along with season three of medical drama SkyMed (May 15), which follows medics and pilots flying air ambulances in Northern Canada, and season 10 of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (May 9).

Paramount+ will also broadcast the American Music Awards (AMAs)—hosted by Jennifer Lopez—on May 26, along with a live studio show hosted by football star David Beckham. Beckham & Friends Live is an altcast of CBS Sports’ coverage of UEFA Champions League semi-final games on May 6 and 7 and the final on May 31.

Here’s everything else coming to the service in May. Note that titles with an asterisk are exclusive to Paramount+ With Showtime; everything else is also available to subscribers on the ad-supported plan. Those with two asterisks are available to Paramount+ With Showtime users streaming live on CBS and to all subscribers the following day.

Paramount+ Originals and premieres coming in May 2025

Available May 1

• The Comeback Trail*

Available May 6

• Beckham & Friends Live, premiere

Available May 8

• Criminal Minds: Evolution, season 18 premiere

Available May 9

• RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, season 10 premiere

• RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars: Untucked, new episodes

Available May 12

• Hard Truths*

Available May 15

• SkyMed, season 3 premiere

Available May 16

• The Chi,* season 7 premiere

Available May 23

• Couples Therapy,* season 4 new episodes

Available May 26

• American Music Awards** hosted by Jennifer Lopez

TV shows coming to Paramount+ in May 2025

Available May 7

• PAW Patrol: Aqua Pups special

• Everybody Still Hates Chris (season 1)

Available May 14

• Air Disasters (season 21)

• First Wives Club (season 1 and 2)

• The Family Business (seasons 1-3)

• Tyler Perry’s Sistas (season 4)

• Tyler Perry’s The Oval (season 4)

Available May 21

• Dora the Explorer: Mermaid Adventures! special

• American Gangster: Trap Queens (season 1 and 2)

• Tyler Perry’s Zatima (season 1 and 2)

Available May 28

• Rock Paper Scissors (season 1)

Movies coming to Paramount+ in May 2025

Available May 1

• A Very Brady Sequel

• Addams Family Values (1993)

• Aeon Flux

• Atlantic City

• Awake*

• Black Rain

• Book Club*

• Bound

• Bride & Prejudice

• Bruce Lee, The Legend

• Charlotte’s Web (2006)

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

• Clueless

• Crocodile Dundee

• Crocodile Dundee II

• Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles

• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

• Cursed

• Days of Thunder

• Dreamland*

• Drillbit Taylor

• Duplex

• Erin Brockovich

• Extraordinary Measures*

• Finding Neverland

• Flight Of The Intruder

• Frank Miller’s Sin City

• Freedom Writers

• G.I. Jane*

• Gandhi

• Green Book*

• Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

• Hostage

• Hotel for Dogs

• I.Q.

• In Her Skin*

• In The Bedroom

• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

• Just Friends

• Just Like Heaven

• Kate & Leopold

• Kingpin

• Last Vegas

• Life of Pi

• Memoirs of a Geisha

• Mercy*

• Minari

• Monster Trucks

• Nebraska

• Norbit

• Oldboy

• Once Upon a Time in America

• Once Upon a Time in The West

• Parasite

• Patriots Day*

• Paycheck

• Pride

• Private Parts

• Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown

• Rango

• Rio Grande

• Romeo Must Die

• Sahara

• Scary Movie 2

• Scary Movie 3

• Some Kind of Wonderful

• Son of Rambow

• Southside of You

• Spell

• Stardust

• Terminator: Dark Fate

• Texas Rangers

• The Addams Family (2019)

• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl

• The Brady Bunch Movie

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

• The Edge of Seventeen*

• The Four Feathers

• The Ghost and the Darkness

• The Last Airbender (2010)

• The Last Castle

• The Mist*

• The Prince and Me

• The Queen

• The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

• The Two Jakes

• The Weather Man

• Things We Lost In The Fire

• Top Five

• Trading Places

• We Were Soldiers

• Yours, Mine & Ours

Available May 14

• Assassin Club

The Department of Education announced Monday that the FSA will finally restart collections on defaulted student loans beginning May 5, 2025, following a five-year pause that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision affects approximately 5.3 million borrowers who were in default before the pause. For these borrowers, the government can soon begin collecting repayments from tax refunds, withholding Social Security benefits, and even garnishing wages (up to 15% of disposable income).

How do you know if you’re already in default on your loans, or if you’re at risk of defaulting soon? Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming changes, and how to prepare for them.

What the end of the pause means for you

This change primarily impacts borrowers who were already in default before pandemic protections began. That amounts to around 5.3 million people, according to the Education Department. In this case, “in default” means a borrower failed to make a loan payment for at least 270 days (about nine months).

To determine if you’re affected, log into your account at studentaid.gov. (Note: This is not the same portal you may typically use to make student loan payments, e.g., through a servicer like Sallie Mae.) Your dashboard should show your total debt amount, the name of your loan servicer or servicers, your monthly payment amount, and, most importantly, a warning message if you’re in default.

What to do if you’re in default on your student loans

Borrowers in default have three main options.

1. Repay the loans in full

I know, I know. While this is technically an option, most borrowers in default aren’t in a position to pay off their entire loan balance at once. Still, it is the quickest and most effective option to deal with your debt.

2. Consolidation

This process combines and simplifies your existing federal student loans into a new Direct Consolidation Loan. Consolidation can lower your monthly payment, but increase the period of time you will have to repay your loan—resulting in more payments and more interest overall than if you didn’t consolidate. You can log in to studentaid.gov to access the online direct consolidation loan application.

3. Loan rehabilitation

With consolidation, the fact that you were once in default stays on your credit report. With rehabilitation, you can remove the default status from your credit history. To do this, you have to make a certain number—typically nine—consecutive on-time payments. The exact amount of each payment is usually based on your income.

How to choose the right repayment plan for your student loans

Once out of default (or if you’re at risk, but not yet in default), you’ll need to select an appropriate repayment plan. The first step you can take here is to find out exactly how much you’re expected to pay. On studentaid.gov, select “My Aid” in the dropdown menu under your name. Your loan servicer(s) should appear in that section. Clicking on “Loan Breakdown” will show you a list of the loans you received, including loans you have paid off or consolidated into a new loan.

Once you confirm your loan company, visit that servicer’s website and log in to your account to ensure all your contact information is up to date so you don’t miss any notifications from them as you take the next steps. (Do the same on studentaid.gov—make sure your contact information, including email and physical address, is current so you receive all important communications.)

Remember that you can change your repayment plan as your circumstances change. For instance, if you’re experiencing financial hardship, several options can help lower your payments:

• Income-driven repayment plans that cap payments based on your income

• Economic hardship deferments if you recently lost your job

• Other deferment or forbearance options for temporary repayment relief

What you can do about your defaulted student loans right now

The Department of Education should alert all borrowers in default before May 5, via email and social media posts. They also said they will send notices of wage garnishment “later this summer.”

Whatever your status, don’t wait for collections to resume to take action. With not a lot of time between now this summer, it’s important to get your repayment plan in order as soon as you can.

If you’re in default, here are the immediate steps you can take:

1. Confirm your status on StudentAid.gov and update your contact information so that you don’t miss any communications.

2. Contact your loan servicer to discuss repayment plans.

3. Consider seeking advice from a financial counselor if you need additional guidance.

Even if you’re not in danger of default today, you could be soon. Student loans have a chokehold over millions of Americans, but you have a little bit of time to put yourself in the best position to tackle yours. By taking proactive steps now, you can avoid the more severe consequences down the line.

While no one is entirely immune to the threat of malware, you can certainly minimize your risk by following good digital hygiene practices when browsing the internet, downloading apps, and engaging with emails or messages with links or attachments.

That said, if you notice your PC is running slowly, programs or apps are crashing repeatedly or unexpectedly, or you see software or processes you don’t recognize, you may have a malware infection. To identify malware and remove it from your PC, follow these steps.

Disconnect your device from the internet

First things first: cut off any internet connection to your computer. This prevents malware from spreading through your network to other devices or receiving updates from its source that may cause more damage or make it more difficult to contain or delete. If you end up needing to download software—such as a malware removal tool—disconnect as soon as you’re done.

Reboot in Safe Mode

Restarting your PC in Safe Mode minimizes the number of drivers and services running so you can isolate malware and reduce the risk of damage. Safe Mode is the bare minimum, while Safe Mode with Networking will allow you to access the internet if needed (to download and install malware removal software). To restart your machine in Safe Mode (on Windows 10 or 11), follow these steps:

1. Hit Windows + I to open your settings.

2. Click Update & Security > Recovery or System > Recovery.

3. Under Advanced Startup, select Restart Now.

4. On the Choose an Option screen, which appears after restart, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart.

5. After the second restart, select 4/F4 to go into Safe Mode or 5/F5 to enter Safe Mode with Networking.

Once you enter Safe Mode, avoid logging into any apps or services, as some types of malware include key loggers or other ways of stealing your credentials from your screen or clipboard.

Monitor your PC’s activity

There are a few ways to see activity and processes on your PC to identify anything suspicious. First, review the apps and files that have run recently under Settings > Privacy & security > Activity history. Event Viewer shows detailed logs of security and system activity and can be launched by searching Event Viewer in your Windows search bar. Expand Windows Logs on the left sidebar and select the category to view events.

Finally, Task Manager shows you everything that’s currently running and what resources are being used. Open it with the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + Esc or from the Start menu. Look for processes that are resource-heavy or that have suspicious names. You can select and end tasks from the Processes tab.

Remove temporary files

Malware may install temporary files on your PC that allow it to hide or spread—you can find and delete these under Settings > System > Storage > Temporary Files. Click Remove Files to clear out some or all of the files. Windows also has a built-in tool called Storage Sense that will automatically clean up temporary files on a set schedule, which you should enable if you haven’t already, or you can run it on demand. Under Settings > System > Storage, toggle Storage Sense on, and click Clean now to use it immediately.

Reset your browser

You can also reset your web browser to its default settings to address any modifications resulting from a malware infection. On Chrome, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner of your browser window to open Settings. Tap Reset Settings in the left toolbar and select Restore settings to their original default. Confirm with the Reset settings button.

On Edge, the process is similar: Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their default values > Reset. On Firefox, go to Menu > Help > More Troubleshooting Information and click Refresh Firefox > Refresh Firefox > Finish.

You should also clear your browser’s cache, cookies, and history (and maybe check out our guide to the best internet browsers for privacy).

Run a malware scan

Malware scanners can identify, quarantine, and remove threats from your PC. Windows has built-in antivirus software with Microsoft Defender—via the Windows Security app—but if you suspect an infection, it may be a good idea to run a second-opinion scanner or other third-party program to detect anything that was missed.

Lifehacker sister site PCMag has a list of their favorite malware scanners. Avast was their favorite free option, while Malwarebytes (also free) was their choice for fighting persistent malware. Again, you can download software if you rebooted in Safe Mode with Networking.

Restart (or reset) your PC

Once you feel confident you’ve isolated and removed any threats, you can restart your PC. If the malware removal process is unsuccessful, you may need to start from scratch by reinstalling Windows and all apps (i.e., resetting your PC). If you restore from a backup, make sure it was created before the malware infection.

No matter what you’ve heard, Macs get viruses too. There are a handful of indicators that your Mac may be infected by malware: your computer running slower or working harder than usual (or overheating), apps or programs crashing unexpectedly, or unfamiliar software or processes running on your device.

Here’s what to do if you suspect a malware infection on your Mac—and how to get rid of it.

Disconnect your Mac from the internet

An active internet connection may allow malware to spread across your network to other devices or communicate information to and from bad actors, ultimately making it more challenging to isolate and remove. If you need to download any programs to address a potential infection, such as a malware scanner, do it quickly.

Otherwise, cut your device off from the internet, and don’t reconnect until you are sure the threat is gone. You should also avoid signing into any accounts that require credentials, as some malware includes keylogging capabilities that steal your passwords.

Restart in safe mode

When you restart in safe mode, your Mac prevents some software from loading and runs a check on your startup disk, allowing you to isolate and address potential issues. The process for entering safe mode depends on whether you have an Intel-based Mac or a Mac with Apple silicon. If you aren’t sure what you’re running, click on the Apple in the top left of your screen, then choose About This Mac to clarify. Apple silicon will be labeled as Chip, followed by an M-series processor (e.g. M1 or M2 Pro), while Intel Macs will be labeled as Processor.

To restart an Apple silicon Mac in safe mode, go to the Apple menu > Shut Down and wait for your device to turn off completely. Then press and hold the power button until Loading startup options appears. Select a volume (likely Macintosh HD for most) then press and hold Shift and click Continue in Safe Mode. When your device restarts, you’ll see Safe Boot in the menu bar.

For an Intel-based Mac, restart your device and press and hold Shift until the login window appears. Log into your device, and you should see Safe Boot in the menu bar.

You can also confirm that you’re in safe mode by pressing and holding Option, then choose Apple Menu > System Information > Software. Under System Software Overview, look for Boot Mode: Safe. If it says Boot Mode: Normal, you are not in safe mode.

Run a malware scan

Apple has built-in antivirus software called XProtect, but you can’t run manual, on-demand checks with it. It may be best to use a second-opinion scanner to identify, quarantine, and remove whatever XProtect may have missed. Lifehacker sister site PCMag recommends BitDefender as the best antivirus software for Mac. If you’re looking for free solutions, PCMag also recommends Avast and Malwarebytes for addressing malware infections.

Monitor your Mac’s activity

Activity Monitor on macOS shows you real-time information about processes running on your device, including memory usage and activity across disks and networks. This is a good way to identify suspicious programs or processes that may be malware.

To open, go to Launchpad and search for Activity Monitor. Look for any unusual names or processes that are hogging CPU or memory, then double-click and quit them. You should also quit any applications that are currently running until you identify the source of the problem.

Reset your browser

Malware can also modify browser settings, so you should reset any browsers on your Mac to their defaults. Safari doesn’t have a singular restore settings button, but you can manually reset it to its default by clearing browsing data.

On Chrome, open Settings from the three dots in the upper-right corner. Tap Reset Settings in the left toolbar and select Restore settings to their original default. Confirm with the Reset settings button. On Firefox, go to Menu > Help > More Troubleshooting Information and click Refresh Firefox > Refresh Firefox > Finish.

Also consider disabling and removing extensions you may not recognize, or believe may be slowing down your browser and Mac. You’ll find them in Settings > Extensions (Extensions & Themes on Firefox).

Remove temporary files

Malware may install temporary files on your Mac that allow it to operate or hide, so you can consider deleting these from your device. However, a good malware scanner should find these types of files on their own, so you shouldn’t need to delete them yourself. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you might end up deleting files that help your Mac run smoother.

If you want to delete these temporary files yourself, however, here’s how: Open a Finder window and press and hold Shift + Command + G. Type ~/Library/Caches into the search bar to pull up temporary files, select any you want to delete to open them in a Finder folder, and press Command + Delete (or Control + click > Move to Trash) to move to Trash. You’ll also want to empty the Trash to delete the files permanently from your device.

Restart (or reinstall) macOS

Once you are confident the malware threat has been eliminated, you can restart your Mac in its normal mode. However, if you believe or worry any remnants of malware are still present, you may need to get a fresh start by reinstalling macOS from Recovery.

While you can restore from a backup to make things the way they were before the reinstall, note that you should only do so if you are sure the backup was made before your device was infected with malware. If there’s a chance you made a backup with the malware infection in place, don’t use it.

Blue Shield of California shared the protected health information of 4.7 million individuals with Google over a nearly three-year period, a data breach that impacts the majority of its nearly 6 million members, according to reporting from Bleeping Computer.

This isn’t the only large data breach to affect a healthcare organization the last year alone. Community Health Center records were hacked in October 2024, compromising more than a million individuals’ data, along with an attack on lab testing company Lab Services Cooperative, which affected records of 1.6 million Planned Parenthood patients. UnitedHealth Group suffered a breach in February 2024, resulting in the leak of more than 100 million people’s data.

What happened with Blue Shield of California?

According to an April 9 notice posted on Blue Shield of California’s website, the company allowed certain data, including protected health information, to be shared with Google Ads through Google Analytics, which may have allowed Google to serve targeted ads back to members. While not discovered until Feb. 11, 2025, the leak occurred for several years, from April 2021 to January 2024, when the connection between Google Analytics and Google Ads was severed on Blue Shield websites.

The following Blue Shield member information may have been compromised:

• Insurance plan name, type, and group number

• City and zip code

• Gender

• Family size

• Blue Shield assigned identifiers for online accounts

• Medical claim service date and provider

• Patient name

• Patient financial responsibility

• “Find a Doctor” search criteria and results

According to the notice, no additional personal data—Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and banking and credit card information—were disclosed. Blue Shield also states that no bad actor was involved, nor have they confirmed that the information has been used maliciously.

What to do if your information was leaked

Blue Shield of California has begun notifying members of the breach, though the company is unable to confirm whether any specific individual’s information was compromised. Blue Shield is not offering credit monitoring or identity protection services to affected members at this time. If you have questions about the breach and how you may be impacted, you can call the support line at 833-918-5064 Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT.

That said, as with any data breach, you should continue to monitor your credit report and financial accounts for any suspicious activity. Request a free copy of your credit report (available weekly), freeze your credit and place a fraud alert, and take steps to protect your Social Security number from being used fraudulently.

WhatsApp is adding a new privacy feature that will allow you to block others from exporting chats, automatically downloading media, and using your messages for AI features, among other limitations. All of this is a part of a new option called Advanced Chat Privacy, which is currently rolling out to WhatsApp users worldwide. 

How to block people from exporting your WhatsApp chats

To use these features, make sure you are running the latest version of WhatsApp on your device. Then, open a private chat or a group in WhatsApp, tap the name of the contact or group, and scroll down until you see Advanced Chat Privacy. This button is located near the Lock Chat option on this page. Note that it may not appear on WhatsApp immediately since it’s being rolled out in batches worldwide. If you don’t see this feature, sit tight, as it should roll out to you soon.

Once you enable Advanced Chat Privacy, others won’t be able to export your chats from WhatsApp. You can also block others from enabling automatic media downloads on their device or using your messages for AI features in WhatsApp. Notably, the company is calling this the “first version” of Advanced Chat Privacy, and says it will add more features to this setting in the future. 

You should know that enabling this setting doesn’t make it impossible to export your chats or save media. If someone is determined to export data from WhatsApp, they can easily take screenshots or manually download media. This privacy feature will make it a little harder to export data, since users won’t be able to rely on WhatsApp’s built-in options, but it won’t really be able to stop someone who is determined to bypass these restrictions. 

The latest update follows a slew of new WhatsApp features, including the ability to see who’s online in a group chat, more control over group notifications, a built-in document scanner on WhatsApp for iPhone, and many more.