Lifehacker

Labor Day has come and gone, which means it's now time to lean into fall, including cooler weather and changing leaves-and enjoy it while it lasts. To that end, SmokyMountains.com puts out an annual fall foliage map, which indicates when fall colors are likely to be at their best across the country, broken down to the...Read more...

If you're looking for the Connections answer for Tuesday, September 5, 2023, read on-I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 5, NYT Connections #86! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to...Read more...

This refurbished 2019 Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is on sale for $399.99 right now (reg. $899). It has a 7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, an 8MP rear camera, a 1.2MP front camera, and up to 10.5 hours of battery life. It's been cleaned, professionally tested, and certified to work...Read more...

Every house is a complex system. When all the parts are working correctly you'll have a dry, warm place in which to weather a storm. When parts of that system stop working correctly, you'll have a very, very long night instead. Keeping your house in working order sometimes requires expensive repairs, replacements, or...Read more...

A little one doesn't come when you call them, but they're probably just distracted, right? You are constantly asking older kids to turn down the volume on the TV, iPad, or Nintendo Switch, but they are just really absorbed in their activity, right? Maybe-but these are also signs of hearing loss in kids.Read more...

Birthday parties for kids can get way too expensive. I know this isn't exactly a hot take-we've all been to over-the-top parties with clowns and petting zoos-but I still wince when I think about the Benjamins I dropped this year for pizza and video games at what I believed would be an affordable affair to celebrate my...Read more...

This refurbished Macbook Air is on sale for $399.99 right now (reg. $575). It's originally from 2017, but it has been refurbished with a Grade B" rating, which means there may be faint scuffs that don't affect its performance. It has a 13.3-inch display with 1440 x 900 resolution, a full-sized backlit keyboard, and...Read more...

I'm a 70s baby, and the badge of my people is our incredibly strong feelings for fondue. And, you know, talking cars and Care Bears and an unwilling affection for the Bee Gees. But fondue endures in a way K.I.T.T. can't.Read more...

Having separate types of paint for indoor versus outdoor use may sound like a marketing ploy to get us to buy more paint-reminiscent of when advertisers a century ago tried to convince women to switch from a single all-purpose skin cream to using separate products for day and night. However, in this case, there are...Read more...

I have (somewhat infamously) written about recipes you should never make. As I jotted down this recipe for cheese curds, I genuinely assumed no one would follow my lead; it was simply too laborious for such chaotic times. I'll let you in on a secret: I don't even like cheese curds, or at least I thought I didn't.Read more...

Cheesemaking can be really labor intensive, with a lot of time spent stirring, standing, and waiting around for milk to fulfill its curdy destiny. But then the workload drops off, and you have to transfer your efforts to a cheese cave and wait while it hangs out in Tupperware or a vacuum-sealed plastic bag.

Bloomy cheese is the reason to start cheesemaking. It encompasses the best parts of cheesemaking: You get to watch impossible clouds of fluffy curds condense into adorable wheels of cheese with fabulous patterns, and gaze upon the fuzzy mold as it blooms-mold you put there, yourself, on purpose. And after many weeks...Read more...

It's hard to talk about cheese without mentioning balls-big, white, wet balls. Mozzarella isn't the easiest cheese to make, but it's the one people often start with. In the world of cheese appreciators, there are those who enjoy your hard classics: cheddar, muenster, a big lacy Swiss. And then you have the gourmands...Read more...

It's now September, which means that it's time to start planting spring-flowering bulbs like daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips. If you're new to gardening, it can take a while to get used to thinking so far in advance, but if you time it out right, you can ensure you have something blooming-or at least green-year-round.Read more...

Feta is already pretty perfect. It has a crumbly, moist mouthfeel, a good bit of salty umami, and a great shelf life, but you can take it one step further by preserving your homemade (or even store-bought) feta in oil.Read more...

Here's the downer about fresh cheese: It has a shelf life. Sure, you can extend that shelf life in the freezer, but those icicles don't do our curdy friends any favors. You can have a brief romance with a brie (about a week or two), and a gruyere can offer you a committed month of intense adoration, but for the most...Read more...

Ricotta doesn't get enough airtime. It's a perfect food, capable of handling both savory and sweet, and it lives in that space between smooth and silky and toothsome. I challenge you to find a cheese with as much potential as ricotta.Read more...

At some point in your cheesemaking journey, you'll need a cheese press. But before you run off to the big warehouse in the cloud to get one, you should know a few things about cheese presses, so you buy the right one. (Hint: I couldn't find one on Amazon that met the grade.)

Chevre is one of those fantastical cheeses that plays both sides of the fence-the sweet and the savory. This flexibility explains why it's so easy to find in the grocery store deli. Often, you'll find logs of the goat cheese with some sort of flavoring, because chevre is highly receptive to that sort of thing. The...Read more...

As extreme weather is becoming increasingly common, so too are the power outages that often accompany it. From downed power lines following a strong thunderstorm or blizzard, to the grid getting overloaded as people crank the air conditioning to stay cool during a heatwave, we're losing electricity more frequently,...Read more...

I engage in a lot of high-risk activities. Not doing drugs or jumping off cliffs so much, but fermentation, pottery, and gardening, the sorts of hobbies that have a high failure rate that you just have to accept as part of the game. Cheesemaking is like that, and even now, many years into my journey, I occasionally...Read more...

While you really don't need a special location or kitchen to make cheese, you will need some equipment-and, most importantly, a deep appreciation for cleanliness. I thought I knew about sterilization from my many years of canning, preserving, and fermenting, but I was in no way prepared for how diligent you must be...Read more...

Humans can live without a lot of things, but clean water isn't one of them. And while you may have a few jugs of water stashed in a closet or your basement for emergency situations, would it be enough to sustain all the members of your household? And is it safe to drink? Here's what to know about storing your...Read more...

When we enter the workforce, we all come in with different life experiences, maturity, emotional intelligence, and understanding of longstanding power structures and systemic inequities. This is often most visible when it comes to entitlement.Read more...

While most of us reach for a vacuum when we need to clean up a non-liquid spill on the floor, there are still times when it makes sense to grab a dustpan and brush. Whether your vacuum's battery needs to be recharged, or it takes less effort to use a dustpan for smaller messes, it helps to have one handy.Read more...

Buying, maintaining, and insuring a car can get pretty costly, so it makes sense to save money when you can-including when it comes to putting air in your tires. As we discussed in a previous Lifehacker post, while there's been some hype about filling your tires with nitrogen, its marginally better performance isn't...Read more...

Even if you spend hours scrolling through Instagram posts featuring expertly decorated homes, that doesn't necessarily mean you know how to bring those design elements into your own home-or where to start. For many people, that entry point is creating a gallery wall: A collection of (usually) framed art, photos,...Read more...

At a time when there are countless ways to exchange information, having an actual conversation with another person-whether they're a colleague, a family member, or someone you encounter socially-may be the most powerful. That's because conversations are about more than what is said: They also affect how we navigate a...Read more...

If you're looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, September 2, 2023, read on-I'll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 2, NYT Connections #83! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to...Read more...

This Lifetime Learning Subscription bundle comes with Rosetta Stone and StackSkills Unlimited, and it's on sale for $159.97 right now with promo code ROSETTA through Labor Day, September 4. Rosetta Stone comes with all the beginner and intermediate language lessons for 24 different languages (including French,...Read more...

Chocolate magic shell does seem like something of a miracle. A saturated fat (usually coconut oil) and chocolate are melted and stirred together, and the shiny sauce is poured over something cold (usually ice cream) to make a hard candy coating that you crack with your spoon. It's fun, interactive, and delicious.Read more...

You probably learned to tie your shoes as a kid and haven't given the method of tying a second thought since then. But if your shoes are always coming untied, maybe we should revisit that shoe-tying lesson. You see, there are two ways to tie the standard shoelace knot, and only one of them will hold reliably.Read more...

To retain what you've studied or learned, you should try active recall. This technique is all about actively retrieving content from your memory instead of just reviewing it passively. That sounds easy enough until you try to think of ways to do it. Besides simply re-reading your notes over and over, here's what you...Read more...

This factory remanufactured Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 is on sale for $425.99 right now (reg. $844). It's originally from 2019 and has been tested to work and look like it's brand new. The laptop has a 10th Gen 1.2GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor and 8GB of RAM. The 13.5-inch PixelSense touchscreen display has a...Read more...

If you're thinking about investing in a home security system, you don't have to stick with expensive options that cost an arm and a leg. Instead, you can go with one of the many DIY security options available: These services allow you to pick and choose what kind of protection you need, so that you can personalize...Read more...

Do you want to learn the material you're studying-like, really learn it? Then what you need to do is overlearn it. One learning theory suggests that if you overlearn, you'll attain automaticity-or the ability to do something without having to think about it-and ultimately retain more knowledge. Here's what...Read more...

After nearly three decades of eating (and making) shrimp cocktail, I have come to an inescapable conclusion: The best cocktail sauce recipe" is a combination of Heinz cocktail sauce, horseradish, and several dashes of Worcestershire sauce. I've tried fancier, more expensive brands of cocktail sauce, and I've made my...Read more...

If you only go by stock images, buying a house is a pleasant if not serene experience filled with shiny, happy people finally living life to the fullest. If you have actually bought a home some time in your life you know this is a lie: Buying a house is stressful to the point of abject misery. Aside from the incredible...Read more...

The first time I saw one of these videos on TikTok, I couldn't bear to look too closely. A doctor was cutting a man's pants off, and asking him what happened; under the pants were dozens of dark, oval lumps embedded in his skin. They almost looked like ticks-but not ticks. Something else. I flicked the video away, not...Read more...

You arrive at your destination, ready to finally unwind on your long-awaited vacation, only to find that your suitcase hasn't made the trip with you. While it's not the end of the world, it's not a fun circumstance to find yourself in. Before you panic, keep in mind that you have rights as a flyer, backed by the U.S....Read more...

You can turn any vegetable into a crunchy snack. Yes, even the weird ones you would never consider snacking on. They just need a thin, crispy, buttery partner to really shine.Read more...

Labor Day has a complicated history. The working class already had a day celebrating the worker before this one came along-May 1, International Workers' Day, which the rest of the world recognizes as Labor Day-but Mr. Grover couldn't leave well enough alone. All that aside, I'm glad you have the day off, and I think...Read more...

Without ongoing education, our knowledge about birth control is frozen in time. In The State of Your Birth Control, Lifehacker follows the history of contraception in the U.S. and explains what everyone needs to know about their options, recent medical advancements, and legal access. Follow the complete series here.Read more...

Without ongoing education, our knowledge about birth control is frozen in time. In The State of Your Birth Control, Lifehacker follows the history of contraception in the U.S. and explains what everyone needs to know about their options, recent medical advancements, and legal access. Follow the complete series here.Read more...

Without ongoing education, our knowledge about birth control is frozen in time. In The State of Your Birth Control, Lifehacker follows the history of contraception in the U.S. and explains what everyone needs to know about their options, recent medical advancements, and legal access. Follow the complete series here.Read more...

Without ongoing education, our knowledge about birth control is frozen in time. In The State of Your Birth Control, Lifehacker follows the history of contraception in the U.S. and explains what everyone needs to know about their options, recent medical advancements, and legal access. Follow the complete series here.Read more...

Without ongoing education, our knowledge about birth control is frozen in time. In The State of Your Birth Control, Lifehacker follows the history of contraception in the U.S. and explains what everyone needs to know about their options, recent medical advancements, and legal access. Follow the complete series here.Read more...

Without ongoing education, our knowledge about birth control is frozen in time. In The State of Your Birth Control, Lifehacker follows the history of contraception in the U.S. and explains what everyone needs to know about their options, recent medical advancements, and legal access. Follow the complete series here.

The Pill" is not a monolith: There are hundreds of birth control pills out there, and they're not all the same. But many people are never given a choice. They walk into the clinic, ask for the pill," and get a prescription that may or may not be the best one for their particular situation. Given how common this is,...Read more...

Without ongoing education, our knowledge about birth control is frozen in time. In The State of Your Birth Control, Lifehacker follows the history of contraception in the U.S. and explains what everyone needs to know about their options, recent medical advancements, and legal access. Follow the complete series here.Read more...