If you’re the kind of person who gets nervous or squeamish at the doctor’s office, you might find that collecting your own samples doesn’t freak you out as much as someone in a white coat doing it.

Depending on where you live and your transportation situation, at-home STD tests might be more accessible than visiting a clinic or making a doctor’s appointment. And you can pay for them out of pocket, which might be a better option based on your health insurance.

Finally, and unfortunately, sexually transmitted infections have a stigma attached to them. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of checking up on your sexual health—far from it, in fact—but at-home tests might be a better option if you’re concerned about what others may think.

The Cons of At-Home STI Tests

At-home STI tests are expensive. Depending on your specific health care situation, they might be more affordable, and many of them are FSA- and HSA-eligible or may be covered by insurance. But if you live in an area where there’s free testing through your city or state health departments, or a third-party clinic like Planned Parenthood, those options are likely going to be much cheaper than testing at home.

There’s also the risk of you collecting your samples incorrectly, which can lead to false negatives. Depending on the test you choose, if you do get positive results for a sexually transmitted infection, you might still end up having to go visit a doctor in person to get it treated. While many tests are reputable, it’s still important to ensure that the lab analyzing your results is well-regulated (and that the test itself comes from a reputable company). “It’s important to follow the kit instructions exactly and collect the sample properly while avoiding contamination. You should also follow the warnings and avoid factors that can interfere with results, including incorrect kit storage or use of certain products in the last 48 hours,” says Dr. Gary Schoolnik, Chief Medical Officer at Visby Medical.

Your individual health and timing can impact the accuracy of at-home tests, too. For example, if you’re on your period or have recently used antibiotics, those variables might affect the quality of the samples you can collect. A health care provider can take these things into account and adjust your testing protocol accordingly.

If the situation is urgent—for example, if you’re experiencing physical symptoms that raised concerns, or you’re immunocompromised, or you’re pregnant, or you know you were exposed to an STI—it’s important to actually visit a health care provider rather than trying to treat your condition at home. “I still recommend people who’re having symptoms or know they’ve been with someone that has an STI to seek professional sexual health care to be completely sure, as a false result from a do-it-at-home-kit can make you think you’re okay and therefore dismiss or overlook symptoms,” says Roos.

If privacy is a concern, it might actually be more beneficial for you to go to a routine doctor’s appointment rather than having the packaging for an STD test in the trash. And if you think you might test positive for something, it might be beneficial for you to hear that news from a health care provider rather than finding out while opening the mail in your kitchen. It’s something that’s important to think through before you decide to go with testing at home.

Going online in 2026 means subjecting yourself to a relentless bombardment of generative AI tools. How about a few AI agents to get you started? Do you want to use this chatbot sidebar? Would you like every search query to be answered with an AI summary? While there’s no off switch to avoid this smorgasbord of AI tools entirely, there is one keyboard trick you can use to dodge Google’s AI Overviews for a brief respite.

If you don’t want to see an AI-generated summarization of webpage links when you use Google Search, you can type “–ai” at the end of your query. It’s an option WIRED readers highlighted under a recent article about scams found in Google’s AI Overviews. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using this nifty addendum over the past week, and I wish Google offered a permanent toggle with similar zapping capabilities.

“People find Search more helpful with AI Overviews, and they’re coming back to search more as a result,” a Google spokesperson tells WIRED. “We offer a ‘web’ filter to see links only, but people only use it for a tiny fraction of searches.” The spokesperson compared AI Overviews to other features baked into the search results, like knowledge panels, that can’t be removed.

If you want to try this out, you can put any combination of letters or numbers attached to an en dash, like “–1” or “–z,” at the end of your Google search, and it works just the same, as reported by PCMag. It prevents AI Overviews from appearing completely. The en dash function in Google is designed to remove whatever topic you attach to it from the search results. The removal of AI Overviews seems incidental, and it’s unclear how long this trick will stick around. After typing in a result, you can also tap on the “Web” tab—sometimes hidden under “More”—right below the search bar to see site links.

In my tests, the –ai trick appears to be limited to search queries in computer browsers. When I tried it in the Safari and Chrome apps on iOS, Google’s AI-generated “web guide” still popped up prominently in the results. However, Google does offer a Classic Search button on the right side of these results. After clicking that button, the results will reload and show you a mix of website links and short-form videos. The exception seems to be on Android—at least on a Google Pixel phone we tested with, using “–ai” removed AI Overviews.

It’s a nice change from the current default when I’m using my laptop, and I’ll likely continue typing “–ai” at the end of every search until it becomes muscle memory, just like I add “Reddit” all the time to my queries. Even so, I feel nostalgic for the minimalist Google I grew up with and the utter simplicity of those top 10 blue links.

If you’re looking to switch search engines to a service without any generative AI, DuckDuckGo and Brave are two solid options worth considering. Both search engines allow users to toggle AI summaries on and off in the settings. You don’t need to change browsers to use a different search engine, as Google lets you swap the default search engine in Chrome’s settings menu.

When Google launched AI Overviews in 2024, it was a major turning point for the search engine. But AI Overviews was widely mocked on social media for incorrect answers, like an infamous result that suggested baking pizza with glue. It didn’t stop Google, though, as the company has continued to lean further into AI tools since the initial release of AI Overviews and has kept iterating on the user experience.

While Google claims the accuracy of these results has improved over time, generative AI tools still sometimes insert inaccuracies when summarizing information. So, it’s always worth clicking through and double-checking anything you read in an AI Overview. All the more reason, I think, to cut out the middlebot completely and visit those dang websites directly.

We’ve tested oodles of noise-canceling headphones and the Sony WH-CH720N might have an unfortunate name, but they’re the best budget-friendly pair we’ve tried. They usually offer good value when selling for the full $178 MSRP, but right now they’ve fallen to $95 shipped on Amazon and $100 on Best Buy.

These headphones are well-built and well-designed, with great active noise cancellation and robust sound. They don’t fold up and they don’t come with a case, but you can get a case as a separate purchase if that’s a deal-breaker for you.

These are lightweight, with adaptive sound that can adjust itself to suit your environment. Moreover, if you want a pair of over-hear wireless headphones with active noise cancellation, it’s very difficult to get that in a package this affordable. Tack on the long-lasting 35-hour battery, and paying under $100 becomes a no-brainer if you’re in the market and on a tight budget. We haven’t seen them drop this low in price before.

We’re nowhere near a shopping event like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday, but this is just one of several headphone deals we’ve spotted recently. Check those stories out if you’re on the hunt for wireless gaming earbuds or open earbuds.