Lifehacker

The World Health Organization recently met to discuss an outbreak of Marburg virus in Equatorial Guinea, in Africa. The virus is related to Ebola and has no known cure. So far the outbreak is small, and scientists are rushing to deploy experimental vaccines and medicines. Here’s what you should know about it.

We’ve already done the math and determined a $60 Costco Gold Star membership is worth the cash—but it’s an even better deal when you get money back for joining. For a limited time, when you sign up for Costco’s basic membership, you’ll receive a $30 “Digital Costco Shop Card,” which is a fancier way of saying $30 to…Read more...

The sign of a truly great invention is a long list of “off-label” uses. These items serve a specific purpose effectively, but can also be used in a wide variety of clever and creative ways. Things like bobby pins, or caulk.

It’s hard to do anything in the modern world without a legal, fixed address—a fact you may never have realized if you’re fortunate enough to never have been unhoused. Without one, you quickly find that everything from applying for jobs to ordering something online is extremely challenging.

Nissan has issued a recall for 404,690 older pickup trucks, SUVs and minivans for a potential safety issue with their airbags. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report says, “the posts of the emblem may develop cracks overtime, and the emblem and retainer components could detach in the event of…Read more...

If you’re not satisfied with how responsive Android feels on your phone, you don’t necessarily need to upgrade—instead, there’s something you can do to make any Android device feel faster. The secret involves changing the animation speed of your phone so elements move faster when you interact with them. A swipe to go…Read more...

Let’s talk about Bar Keepers Friend, the inexpensive, acidic scouring powder in a can that’s been around over 100 years. In that time, people have found loads of uses for the cleaning product, which is why the name is so, well, apt.

Cleaning supplies don’t stay clean for long, but it’s not always clear how often you should clean or replace them. Let’s go over some common supplies and how frequently they need to be tossed.

If your iPhone starts showing random calendar events that read: “Your iPhone is HACKED,” you may have been subscribed to a spam calendar. While scary, it’s nothing you can’t take care of—it’s easy to unsubscribe once you know what to do.

AirDrop is one of the most convincing reasons to go all-in on the Apple ecosystem. When it works, it’s a seamless way to send links and files between your iPhone and your Mac. However, while it’s usually fast, it’s also pretty flaky, and sometimes refuses to work for no discernible reason. I’ve always wanted a more…Read more...

Every part of a video game is designed to evoke specific responses from players. The user interface, the level design, and—most importantly—the soundtrack all impact your emotional state while playing. While that can be great for immersion, high-intensity music elevates the player’s sense of tension, making difficult…Read more...

Preheating the oven is, for the most part, a scam. Unless you’re baking a recipe that includes some sort of leavening agent, you’re wasting the energy being expended by your oven as it works to reach its target temperature. In some cases, gently heating your food along with the oven even offers a few benefits. One of…Read more...

When we head out for a drive, we’re always hoping it will be uneventful, we won’t hit too much traffic, and we’ll get to where we’re going with plenty of time to spare. But sometimes nature, mechanical failures, and medical emergencies have other plans. Read on for some of the life-threatening situations you might…Read more...

Processing fees. Service fees. Hidden fees. Things have never been more expensive, and the addition of a laundry list of inexplicable fee is like rubbing salt in the wound. Whether you’re trying to book a flight, buy a car, or simply withdraw some cash, all these sneaky charges add up.

We all have what are known as “cognitive biases.” These mental blindspots affect how we perceive the world, ourselves, and the decisions we make. The worst part about a cognitive bias is that it’s often difficult to be aware of your own simply because you’re inside it. How can you perceive a bias when you’re steeped…Read more...

Whenever my boyfriend asks me if I want to “make a sauce,” it is implied that it’s going to be an activity. A “sauce” is not a quick supper; it’s a flavor-developing ordeal that includes chopping and sweating onions, mincing garlic, browning sausage, and simmering for at least an hour (usually more). Caramelized…Read more...

A 30 second Super Bowl ad will set you back somewhere in the range of $6 to $7 million, and that’s just for the airtime. You still have to actually make an ad, which is at least a little easier when we’re talking about a movie trailer—you don’t have to pay Ben Affleck a few million to hold a Dunkin’ cup when he’s…Read more...

A trend that started last summer, possibly related to a TikTok challenge, is teaching people how to easily hot-wire Kia and Hyundai vehicles with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released new guidance for Kia and Hyundai owners to take to protect…Read more...

Baby powder has a misleading name. Not all of us have babies, but most of us have a container of baby powder sitting around, probably because it’s great for making you smell better and dealing with chafing.Read more...

My first thought after eating a mound of stir fried leftover linguine was, “I need to do this more often.” Rice noodles, in any manner of preparation–soaked, fried, or tossed in soup–make up a large portion of my diet, but when I cook boxed semolina or durum wheat pasta, I tend to think of it as boiled or bust. This…Read more...

Remember a couple of months before the pandemic when Popeyes’ spicy fried chicken sandwich was such a hot commodity that people lined up for actual hours to snag one? Well, now you can get that same sandwich in their BOGO deal all week long, and you don’t have to worry about them running out of stock again (we hope).

Yesterday, Apple released new software updates for iPhone (iOS 16.3.1), iPad (iPadOS 16.3.1), and Mac (macOS 13.2.1). Unless you keep up to date on your software news, you might not have seen these updates hit your devices, especially since Apple doesn’t send a notification when a new update is available on iOS or…Read more...

Renting a place to live has become increasingly fraught in this country. Long-term renting is often paradoxically more expensive on a monthly basis than paying down a mortgage, putting people in the position of being told by banks that they can’t get a mortgage despite clearly being able to cover the monthly bill. And…Read more...

The iPhone’s Mail and Notes apps have both received several excellent features over the years, but there’s one notable omission—the ability to add hyperlinks. For reasons only Apple knows, Mail and Notes don’t let you embed hyperlinks in text like you can on your Mac. Sure, you can paste a URL and put it in brackets,…Read more...

Fish is a great source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients that we need. It’s also one of the staples in the famously healthy Mediterranean diet. But fish can have mercury in it, and some types of tuna are known for high levels of mercury. So how much is too much?Read more...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer knew more than you or I are likely to ever know about about the line between stupidity and outright evil. The Lutheran pastor and theologian had a front row seat as he watched the Nazis—history’s evilest stupid people (or stupidest evil people)—ascend to power and come to rule through terror during …Read more...

Working within a corporate or office environment can be intense at times, so it makes sense that we gravitate towards the co-worker who helps to alleviate the stress and make our days a little brighter. Some of these connections are simply strong friendships, while others might develop into what’s known as the “work…Read more...

The great thing about Google services is that they are easily accessible and free. The downside is that means they are also accessible to scammers, and they are getting good at exploiting them to rip you off.

I don’t know whether I should blame it on hormones or Valentine’s Day propaganda, but I have been a fiend for chocolate recently. The craving has been so strong, I baked a chocolate cake. (As someone who never bakes, this is an indication that the situation is extreme.) The cake—which is covered in this two-ingredient…Read more...

Situationships are the new “relationship” in today’s dating world. It’s that nice, annoying gray area between a casual hookup and a relationship. A situationship is more than sex but less serious than a commitment, and while it can work for some people, it can also get pretty confusing pretty fast—especially when…Read more...

There’s a difference between cleaning and disinfecting, which means there are different times you’ll need to do both, as well as different products you need to use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, disinfecting kills germs that remain behind after standard cleaning, and the agency…Read more...

If you feed mice less food than they normally eat, they tend to live longer. This mostly consistent finding is the basis for a lot of tech bro “biohacks” about eating less food. But is it really healthy to under-eat?

You can’t blame teens for being super attached to their phones. We gave them technology that provides limitless access to their friends and the entire world, of course they are going to want to use it as much as they can. (Don’t you?)Read more...

Caulk is one of the greatest tools of illusion ever invented. We’ve been using it to stop leaks and hide gaps for centuries, and it remains one of the most useful things you can have in your toolbox.

People are very particular about peanut butter. I like the smooth, creamy “bad for you” kind that’s loaded with sugars and unholy hydrogenated oils. If you want peanut butter to act as a “health food,” the natural stuff is a better bet. Made with peanuts and sometimes a little salt, natural peanut butter doesn’t…Read more...

There’s a long list of food dogs should never eat: Some are widely known (like chocolate), and others surprising, like some raw meats and even popular barbecue foods and party snacks. But it’s especially surprising when you see food specifically designed for dogs turn up on this list, even temporarily. Nestlé Purina…Read more...

Whether you’re making a simple green salad with a tangy vinaigrette or a large, roasted piece of meat with an aromatic, crusty bark, you will, at some point, grab a jar or two from your spice rack. Afterwards, while cleaning up, you will return the jars to their home, be it a highly-organized, alphabetized spice rack,…Read more...

Your credit score makes the difference between getting approved or denied a mortgage, car loan, student loan—or any other kind of loan. With plenty of online tools to check your credit score for free, there’s no reason you shouldn’t know the magic three-digit number. But how accurate are these online tools? Here’s…Read more...

Razor blades seem like a pretty straightforward tool on the surface: You can use them to remove hair from your body or slice open a package or box, and that’s about it, right? Wrong. From removing burnt food from your stovetop to battling stubborn stickers, you can do a lot more with razorblades around your home than…Read more...

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Starting today, Wendy’s is offering you free fries until Sunday, Feb. 19 at an undisclosed time (probably midnight) if you make a purchase via their app. Here are the cheapest and best options you can choose from the menu so you can get a good deal all week long.

Our parents are mere mortals, and never is that more apparent than when we look at how they handled money. Most of our parents’ personal finance advice—solicited or, more often, not—reflects wisdom from a different time. After all, certain money habits only made sense when college was cheap and eggs costed a dollar.…Read more...

I’m a fierce advocate for frangipane. The sweet, buttery, cake spread made from almond flour, sugar, butter, and eggs turns everything it touches into a delicacy. Normally this sweet almond cream is seen behind bakery windows nestled into tart shells, or tucked away between swirls of pastry-making for elegant desserts…Read more...

Casual movie watchers might might assume pretty much everything is available on streaming these days; or at the very least, easy to find on DVD or Blu-ray. Sadly, that’s not the case...not even close.

The humble Finder’s search function is pretty simple on the surface, but it has a few advanced features that are more useful than you realize. When you enable these options, you’ll be able to find files with far more precision than usual.

Tackling a DIY project with kids usually goes one of two ways: Either everyone has fun and learns something new, or somebody loses interest halfway through and has to be dragged kicking and screaming through the final stages. The secret to avoiding the latter scenario is to choose the right project to do with your kids…Read more...

Video games can be utterly engrossing experiences—but sometimes you just want to chill out and play something while listening to a podcast or marathoning a TV show in the background. Unfortunately, not every game makes for a good “podcast game.” You don’t want to watching long cutscenes, read tons of text, or pay…Read more...

It might be the best time of your entire life to quit your job. Unemployment is hovering around 3% (as low as it’s been in like 50 years), employers across the county are reporting labor shortages, and they don’t appreciate you at that rotten place anyway. So get out now, while the getting is good! But don’t be dumb…Read more...

Esoteric U.S. laws can be a pain sometimes—what other country makes it a federal crime to write a check for less than $1? But they can also work in our favor, like that $25 check T-Mobile is legally obligated to send me as part of a class-action settlement for carelessly handling my data in violation of the law.

Do you know what your teenager is thinking, feeling, or doing most of the time? Maybe you sense a sullen attitude one day, but you have no idea if it’s a problem at school, a social schism, or just the demeanor of the day. If you feel like your teen is a black box you don’t know how to open, operate, or interact with,…Read more...