Lifehacker

We live in a world that’s full of wheat-free and alternative flours, and you don’t need gluten to have fun. You can have your cake and get a dose of beans in too. But sorting out the difference between spelt, buckwheat, and oat flours can be confusing, and some wheat flour replacements can still contain gluten.…Read more...

Babies don’t just explore the world with their hands and eyes. These curious creatures also learn about it with their mouth and will put anything in it to learn more about everything around them. Dirty old pennies? Yep. A television remote? Sure! Old food from under the couch? Of course. The items toddlers will put in…Read more...

Sometimes, when someone says, “That professor was so unfair. I should have had a better grade,” what they really mean is, “I didn’t do the work and I got what I deserved, but I’m blaming someone else.” Other times, though, it’s true: You can read a professor’s reviews before signing up for their class, go over the…Read more...

With plant swaps and compost exchanges in full swing, it’s important to keep an eye out for invasive jumping worms. These critters will leach nutrients out of the soil so quickly they can kill local plants, unlike regular earthworms that are considered beneficial for the soil. Luckily, there’s a simple trick to help…Read more...

PlayStation 5 owners, listen up: You’re about to lose your chance to play a collection of classic PS4 games on the cheap. Sony is pulling the plug on its PlayStation Plus Collection, a group of games released between 2014 and 2019. If you want to play 2018's God of War or Bloodborne for “free,” or for at least as…Read more...

Bundt cake pans have many uses beyond baking cakes, from using it as a roasting pan to serving as a vessel for baked bread or lasagna. But even after a Bundt pan has outworn these traditional and semi-traditional uses, an old one can still be repurposed—say, as the Byrd Nest Studio blog suggests, as a flower pot that…Read more...

When you’re working out and aiming for a particular goal, it’s smart to pull the big levers first. Getting enough food, enough sleep, and enough training time will have the biggest impact on your results. But once you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to learn how to properly time your nutrition throughout the day.Read more...

If you’re tired of watering your lawn to keep it alive, or if you live somewhere with water use restrictions, you may have given up on having a garden. In places where it’s hard to keep traditional landscaping plants alive, or for people who want a low-maintenance, cost-effective alternative to a lawn, a gravel garden…Read more...

Have you ever suffered creative mortification? Coined by educator Ronald Beghetto, the term describes losing your willingness to pursue a creative avenue following a negative outcome. Maybe you gave up on stand-up comedy forever after your set at the open mic night was met with murmurs instead of laughs, or you burned…Read more...

Eating chips and dip is a streamlined activity. There’s no need for utensils or plates, as the delivery system for your dip is, itself, entirely edible, and the dip comes in its own bowl. With the exception of a napkin with which to wipe your greasy hands, all you need is a bag of chips and tub of dip—until you get to…Read more...

It always seems to happen at the worst time: Our kids get into some mischief just as things get stressful or busy. And because we’re so occupied with our careers, making dinner, or simply trying to relax or unwind after a tough day, we overlook the reason behind this misbehavior: Their need for our full attention.

Live Nation’s “Concert Week” is a music-lover-on-a-budget’s dream: over 3,800 concerts all over the country for $25 a pop. From May 10 to May 16, you can catch many artists like Beck & Phoenix, Fall Out Boy, and Snoop Dog in your local venue (if you’re lucky enough to have them be performing there) for less than the…Read more...

It’s happened to the best of us: We fall in love with an item of clothing, buy it, and don’t bother to read the label with care instructions until it comes time to wash it. Although it’s not as bad as the dreaded “dry clean only” warning, finding out the garment is “hang dry only” can also be a bummer.Read more...

Vehicles are among the biggest purchases many people make, and it’s worth putting time and effort into getting the best possible deal. If a brand new car isn’t a financially feasible option, but the uncertainty of buying a used car makes you anxious, you’ve probably considered buying a certified pre-owned (CPO)…Read more...

Gardening may be a relaxing hobby for you, but horticulture is also a science—complete with its own set of terminology. This is hardly surprising, given how much precision is required to create the conditions necessary for some plants to survive.Read more...

Rose bushes have long been a popular foundation plant, often positioned in front of windows so that people inside can enjoy the blooms—which often appear in the spring and stick around until early fall. While the hardy plants do require care and attention, taking the time to remove dead or dying flower blossoms—a…Read more...

When it comes to your ability to save money, where you live may have more of an impact than you think. So which states make it easier to stash more cash? That’s exactly what a new report from Forbes Advisor aimed to find out.Read more...

Whether you spend the day celebrating, grieving, or acting like it’s any other Sunday, you can take advantage of this year’s Mother’s Day food deals and freebies, like the ones below. As always, this isn’t an exhaustive list of every restaurant offer available for Mother’s Day—just a few of many.

We become desensitized to the common sounds around us—car alarms, chattering squirrels, the mechanical functions of modern living kicking on and off throughout the day. If you had asked me a week ago what kind of birds live in my neighborhood, I could have confidently said “cardinals” (because they are pretty easy to…Read more...

You’re reminded of it every time you move: You have too much crap. It piles up in closets, under beds, in storage units, and inside garages. And dealing with all that clutter is bad for your mental health. The psychological weight of hoarder-level clutter and mess is easy to understand, but it can affect you even if…Read more...

Family Dollar is voluntarily recalling multiple Advil products from an undisclosed number of their stores across the country. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement, the recall is due to the drugs being improperly stored outside of the recommended room temperature by Family Dollar.

If you saw “lemon curdled cream” listed on a dessert menu, you’d probably pass over it in favor of lava cake. Understandably: “Curdled” is an inherently unsexy word. But while not all curdling is desirable, there are many instances in which curdled dairy is a good thing. Cheese is a big one. This sweet, creamy, four…Read more...

The Inflation Reduction Act has more than just tax breaks in it. For big home upgrades that use less power, it has some hefty rebates you should take advantage of. From cooktops to HVAC, the two rebate programs that most homeowners can qualify for are called HOMES and HEEHRA. These two federal programs can save you…Read more...

We love an update—new features, new stability, a fresh look at the apps we use each and every day. Now, it’s WhatsApp turn once again to add new changes to the messaging app virtually everyone with a smartphone uses. This time around, we see updates to two major tentpoles in the app: polls and captions.Read more...

Recently, on a question-and-answer thread on Reddit, somebody asked about the exact heel height of a discontinued weightlifting shoe. “I’ve looked everywhere, but not even ChatGPT knows,” I remember them saying. It was true that the information was hard to find, but that’s all the more reason to not use ChatGPT. If…Read more...

There’s a bit of everything going on this week on the young people’s Internet, from popular YouTubers vying to date a robot, to the surprisingly profitable enterprise of smuggling Fruit Roll-Ups across international borders, to stanning for a free streaming service you’re probably overlooking. There’s also a cat in a…Read more...

Depending on where you live, knowing what the most cost-effective mode of transportation is for you could save you hundreds of dollars a month. But is that public transit, using a ridesharing app like Uber or Lyft, or actually buying a car? It depends—and there are tools to help you figure it out.

Spring means flowers, and where there are flowers, there will be bees. These pollinators are a crucial part of the ecosystem, facilitating reproduction for many plants and playing a crucial role in the food chain. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that most bees don’t live in hives. Seventy percent of bees…Read more...

Solo travel is on the rise. Google trend data shows that solo travel has increased by 761.15%, while Booking.com reveals that solo travel has nearly doubled since the pandemic. If you’re in a relationship, you might assume a solo vacay isn’t in the cards for you. After all, so many of us feel like we need to do almost…Read more...

There is no shortage of advice and research that points to the benefits of having mentors. They are advisors who can offer support to you throughout your career. In doing so, they may improve your job experience, introduce new people to your network, or help you build new skills. Also, mentors are people who have more…Read more...

You may think cornbread is the best of what cornmeal has to offer us in terms of baked goods–it’s sturdy, gritty, and great with chili–but this crunchy bit of maize has a sweet side it would like to show you. (And we’re not talking about sweet cornbread, an abomination.) This dish veers away from bread and straight…Read more...

Do enough cooking, and you will eventually injure or irritate some part of your body. Between sharp blades, hot burners, dirty ovens, and ornery onions, there are many ways to aggravate one or more of your senses. The eyes are particularly vulnerable to abuse, as they are quite delicate. (Though they are less likely…Read more...

If you’ve ever struggled to match a paint color, buy the right lightbulb for your refrigerator, or remember where you buried a drip line outside, you need a house diary. It’s a simple compendium of all the things you don’t really consider important enough to save in your jumbled file of “house stuff” (admit it, you…Read more...

Corporations are people. The Supreme Court said so. Basically—back it 2010, when it clarified that businesses have the same First Amendment rights as actual people. It kind of tracks: a lifetime spent swimming in brands has made our relationships with corporations as vital as any we share with flesh-and-blood humans.…Read more...

Humans are predictable: When we want to know something, we’re probably going to google it. Companies (including digital media sites like Lifehacker) know this, and often try to “game the algorithm” by producing content they know will match with common searches. The problem is, scammers know this too—and are happy to…Read more...

Been to Italy? Or know someone who has? They probably talk about aperitivo. It’s a tourist rite of passage, well known by students who just got back from their first semester abroad and seasoned travelers alike. With similarities to tapas, happy hour, or even a buffet, this uniquely Italian tradition brings people…Read more...

Typing on a modern Apple keyboard isn’t a silent experience by any means, but it certainly doesn’t compete with a mechanical keyboard. There’s something satisfying about the clicks and clacks produced when typing on one of those specialty keyboards, an experience you miss out on when writing on your MacBook or iMac.…Read more...

One of the few silver linings of the pandemic has been the flexibility that airlines now offer. With the hectic logistic changes that COVID brought, many airlines decided to allow customers to change or cancel their plans for free, with many waiving their change fees permanently. When you combine this perk with many…Read more...

Let’s start off by acknowledging that just because a problem is small doesn’t mean it’s not worth solving, and I am here to remove one minor indignity from your life: When you pull a wet wipe out of the package and two wipes come out because the first one didn’t detach from the one underneath? Maddening. But it…Read more...

We all know we should exercise to improve our physical life. But if you needed even more incentive to hit the gym, how about the fact that exercise can also improve your sex life? It seems almost fairly obvious. As Karla Robinson, medical editor at GoodRx, puts it: “Exercise increases blood flow throughout your body,…Read more...

Heating and cooling units increase in efficiency every year, but most of us are living with older units and in leaky, older buildings or in new “open floor plans.” At the same time, global warming and environmental change means we’re dealing with more extreme temperatures every year. These are a recipe for nightmarish…Read more...

Even when you’re overwhelmed by looming tasks, there’s an easy way to knock out several of them to gain momentum. It’s called the “two-minute rule” and it can help you be more productive in school, work, and at home.

Have you tried AI yet? If you have, you’ve probably used ChatGPT, or maybe Snapchat’s “My AI” (if you don’t hate it, that is). Microsoft’s version of artificial intelligence, Bing Chat, is also powered by ChatGPT’s GPT-4, but until recently, the feature was locked behind a waitlist.

Although we increasingly live in a world of portable, rechargeable gadgets—not to mention a world increasingly traversed by battery-powered cars—there are still wide swaths of our lives that are stationary and connected to our homes via cords. And those cords get tangled, get in the way, that make our countertops look…Read more...

It won’t be news to longtime Lifehacker readers, but a recent study confirms that a lot of us are likely training with weights that are too light. Coach and author Greg Nuckols wrote a commentary about this study, sparking a flurry of discussion online. My biggest takeaway from the reactions: Lots of people are…Read more...

Google has made a stride towards a password-free future by integrating passkeys directly into Google Accounts. The change means you no longer need to memorize a strong and unique password to protect your Google data, nor do you need two-factor authentication as a backup in case someone steals your password. It’s the…Read more...

This week (and every week) people are wrong about dangerous TikTok challenges. This tragic story of a teenager in North Carolina burning himself with an aerosol can flamethrower is all over the media, with news outlets from Chicago to India reporting that Mason Dark was engaged in a TikTok challenge when he lit…Read more...

The best part of making brownies isn’t the brownies, it’s the clean up. That’s when all that gooey remnant batter has nowhere to go but in the trash or in your belly. Obviously, the planet needs you to reduce waste, so you have a duty to perform. While I would never stop you from eating the fudgy scrapings straight…Read more...

Buying the “right” amount of ingredients for recipe testing can be challenging. Sometimes I buy too little, and have to haul my butt back to the store, and sometimes I’ll nail something a little sooner than expected and be left with leftovers. Such was the case when making these grilled sausage sandwiches; I was left…Read more...

We know getting out in nature is essential for growing humans. But maybe you are an indoor cat like I am and struggle to get yourself and the kids outside for even a few minutes every day. Here are some suggestions that make outdoor time quick and easy during one of the most delightful months of the year.Read more...