Lifehacker

During last year’s stretch of record-high gas prices, a lot of people were rethinking how and when they used their car, and considering alternative options. Not everyone is able to walk to work and to run errands, and outside of major cities, there’s not much in the way of public transportation in the U.S. So…Read more...

Using houseplants to add a bit of greenery to your bathroom isn’t anything new. But more recently, there’s a trend that takes it one step further: Growing plants directly inside the shower.Read more...

With airline prices predicted to remain high for the rest of 2023, even the most basic economy tickets will feel like a (financial) splurge. But many airlines now have programs in place that allow passengers to bid on upgraded tickets in premium economy, business, or first class. Here’s what to know.Read more...

Air travel was a total mess this holiday season (looking at you, Southwest). Then this week, more than 10,000 flights were delayed—with another 1,300 cancelled—thanks to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system outage.Read more...

Unless something goes wrong, or you’re in the middle of a renovation project, it’s pretty easy to ignore your walls. Sure, they’re integral to the structure and layout of your home, but play more of a supporting role.Read more...

Halo Top is kicking off the new year by offering up an accountability goal tracker that gives you rewards as you accomplish your goal—and the first prize is a free tub of Halo Top ice cream. Once you claim that reward, you’ll be entered to win additional sweepstakes as you continue making progress.

Once again, we regret to inform you that a cleaning hack you may have seen online is maybe not a great idea. This one involves sprinkling bicarb—or baking soda—on your carpet to remove stains or odors, which certainly sounds promising considering all the wonderful cleaning uses baking soda typically has. But cleaning…Read more...

Most roofs constructed after modern regulations were passed in the U.S. in 1988 are built to withstand a certain amount of extra weight in the form of snow. Even older roofs usually have some extra capacity to allow for snow. But sometimes, larger amounts of snow, or wet or compacted snow can exceed the capacity of…Read more...

If you’re tired of music streaming apps deciding what you should listen to, you can take back the power. PlaylistAI is an app that uses AI to help you create playlists easily, and it is compatible with Spotify and Apple Music. It lets you specify the kind of music you’re looking for and creates custom playlists for…Read more...

You met someone great. However, they are newly single. So how soon is too soon to date someone who just got out of a relationship? After all, isn’t it wise to let someone grieve and process their breakup? And if they haven’t fully done that, wouldn’t it spell trouble for your budding romance?Read more...

With a debacle at Southwest Airlines leading to more than 3,000 flights canceled on Christmas day, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s computer outage leading to more than 1,300 flights canceled (and 10,000 delayed in the U.S. on Wednesday), it feels like an on-time flight is an increasing rarity. Clearly, you…Read more...

If you’ve been sick with a cough and a sniffly nose for a few days, you might show up at the clinic desperate for something that will make you feel better. But if all signs point to your cold being an ordinary virus (or even a nasty virus like COVID or flu), antibiotics won’t help. Here’s why.Read more...

On Monday, Bloomberg reported the Consumer Product Safety Commission would consider a ban on gas stoves, causing everyone from Republican politicians to cooks on Twitter to promptly lose their minds and begin insulting electric stoves. If you were among them, don’t panic: A gas stove ban is unlikely, especially in…Read more...

Television rewatch shows are taking over the podcast zeitgeist. It’s kind of an easy sell—creating content around something that has already won the hearts of a dedicated audience, hitting us with nostalgia feels and offering a chance to reflect on the evolution of pop culture and TV—bonus points if anyone who made…Read more...

This week’s out-of-touch guide features three prominent young influencers: One may have abandoned a pig, one is accused of being a pig, and the third is MrBeast. Plus, TikTok’s death row meals trend is dissected, as is the anger of our nations’s nerds.

Open up whatever drawer you keep your trivets and hot pads in and count them up. Count your trivets. Count your hot pads. How many do you have? I have four. Usually that is enough.Read more...

If you’ve ever walked by a pretzel stand and witnessed the absolute magic of a pro slinging a strand of dough into the perfect twist, you may have been slightly intimidated by the process. To the untrained eye, that string weaves a confusing path. You don’t need that level of dexterity to make pretzels at home; even…Read more...

It’s often not too big a deal when your boss occasionally asks you to take on a little more work than in your original job description. This request is typically wrapped up in notions of “a great opportunity for growth” and “being a team player.” However, there comes a tipping point where taking on additional…Read more...

A divorce is typically an emotionally draining and difficult process that’s rife with negativity. But some people are using the dissolution of their marriage as an opportunity to celebrate—by throwing a divorce party.Read more...

For some people—like my wife, who is fancy in her heart—a chandelier is the height of elegance. When we moved into our current home, she launched a scorched-earth campaign to have a chandelier installed somewhere, despite the fact that this quirky house has exactly zero appropriate places for one. I once joked that…Read more...

We spend a lot of time on our iPhones doing simple, repetitive tasks we shouldn’t have to do. In fact, those simple, repetitive tasks can and should be handed over to your iPhone, so you can get back to tasks you really want to do, like scroll Instagram and TikTok. If you’re willing to spend a couple of minutes on…Read more...

Like everything else in the modern age, car headlights have enjoyed a steady advance in terms of technology and function. Back in the earliest days of cars, headlights used to be called headlamps because that’s what they were—gas-fueled flames inside a glass enclosure. Eventually, car makers migrated to electric…Read more...

While it’s true that inflation seems to be coming down since its peak in June, some things are looking to continue to increase in price this year. To start, it’s helpful to know what it actually means when the experts say “inflation is easing.” The 6.5% inflation number you see in headlines is the average price of…Read more...

Everyone wants to be healthier and live longer, which can often translate into indulging in trends that promise to make us thinner, healthier, and happier, whether it’s a fad diet or a fad piece of workout equipment. Sometimes this stuff even works—but most of the time these health trends and products wind up having…Read more...

Potato chips are thin, crispy reminders that sometimes too much salt is just enough. Although they are flawless as-is, and serve their purpose when expedited directly to your mouth, the humble potato chip can enhance a meal, and even provide some mechanical help with your pizza making. Here are some of the best ways…Read more...

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For a while now, our tech has run on rechargeable batteries, and that’s great‚ until we plug in a device and discover it won’t charge. Alternatives like wireless charging can help, but a dead charging port on any device is no fun. But if the charging port on your iPhone, Android, computer, Switch, or what have you…Read more...

There is a certain genre of food that is adored by people who are complected in the way that I am complected (very lightly): Food that is often loaded with a lot of dairy, be it sour cream, heavy cream, or cheese. Food that is beige, orange, or brown. Food that is at home on a TV tray. It’s comforting, if not super…Read more...

Like many veteran internet users, I have had my Google Account for a long time. More than a decade in, I’m running out of my free 15GB of storage, and most of that space is taken up by Gmail. While the majority of those messages are junk and spam, some are important to me, so I don’t want to delete things…Read more...

Getting your door locks to work like they should isn’t just a matter of convenience, but of safety as well—taking the hassle out of dealing with your door locks will make you more likely to practice good locking habits. But sometimes your locks can become uncooperative, requiring you to set down your bag of groceries…Read more...

Home remodeling projects can be (sort of) great. You work hard and make a massive mess but hopefully create something beautiful and get to bask in the fruits of your labor (after spending a ton of money and exhausting yourself). You know what’s also great and—dare we say—better? Watching someone else do all of that…Read more...

AirPlay allows you to stream music from an Apple device to your HomePod, or mirror video content from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac to a bigger screen. As long as all devices are connected to the same wifi network, AirPlay works really well within the Apple ecosystem. But even if your primary computer is a Windows PC, you…Read more...

It’s a universal law that a lovely loaf or bundt cake must be topped with a simple icing drizzle. Although simplicity doesn’t have to mean flavorless, most powdered sugar icings are, sadly, completely flat. Don’t let this be your cake’s fate. Treat your icing as a flavor opportunity, and don’t squander it with water…Read more...

If you’ve ever looked up at the lights in the nighttime sky and wondered if there’s life up there, rest assured that there is. The third brightest object in the heavens is the International Space Station where seven people currently reside: three NASA astronauts, one person from the European Space Agency, and three…Read more...

Big-budget movie spectacles tend to open in the summer, when there’s less chance bad weather will ruin critical opening weekend grosses. Movies with awards on their minds tend to come out in the fall, so that they’ll be fresh in the minds of critics and viewers as voting deadline approach. So where does that leave…Read more...

I don’t know how or where you were raised, but I was raised by Southern people, both in Mississippi and Los Angeles. My people are iced tea drinkers, which makes having a steady supply of frozen water very important, especially when it’s hot out, which was almost always.Read more...

Apparently, Wendy’s really wants to get your attention this month and make you forget all about your health-related New Year’s resolutions. Earlier this week, they started giving out $1 BOGO chicken sandwiches. Now, Wendy’s is giving out free French fries for a week. Mark these days on your calendar so you can take…Read more...

When you’re just getting started with squatting movements, a goblet squat is easy—just pick up a tiny kettlebell (or dumbbell). At that stage it’s light enough that you can simply bend your arms to raise the bell to chest level. But as you get stronger, that isn’t going to work anymore. What then?Read more...

Coachella just announced the lineup for 2023, and it’s killer: Frank Ocean, Korean superstars BlackPink, and Bad Bunny are headlining, and you can catch both GloRilla and Gorrilaz. If you’re planning on attending Coachella (or the Gathering of the Jugglaos, or any other festival), I put together a list of some of the…Read more...

If you’re not approaching getting your new January gym membership with the same mindset you would use for a car dealership negotiation, you’re probably not getting a good enough deal. January is the Black Friday of gym memberships, and you need to strategize accordingly and go in with a plan: You need to know what you…Read more...

Nearly six years after its launch and with a sequel just around the corner, Breath of the Wild is still a wildly popular game among Switch players of all kinds. You’d think gamers would have learned everything there is to know about this great adventure by now, but new things pop up all the time. Now, we know about a…Read more...

They say that everything that goes up, must come down—but inflation has made that hard to believe last year. While not all the prices that went up in 2022 are expected to come down this year, some will. In 2022, inflation peaked in June at 9.1%, and has gradually been coming down since. Along with inflation, the…Read more...

If a baby is one of the sweetest, cutest, most precious things we could ever imagine taking up space in our homes, their diaper pail is the exact opposite. If you have one, I don’t need to tell you how horrifically odorous it is; you’re well aware. There are several ways to wrangle their smell into submission,…Read more...

I am, as I write this, very cozy. With the weather being what it is (cold), it’s the only way to be. Being cozy is related to being warm, but it’s more about being comforted in a warm way. Soup, for example, is cozy. It warms from the inside out, but it also nurtures, satiates, and fills the home with delicious and…Read more...

For decades, video game companies have given players a choice in how to position their consoles. The PS2, Wii, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS4, and more all let you decide whether to position them horizontally or vertically, with some even including a stand. The PS5 doesn’t buck this trend, and Sony encourages you to orient it…Read more...

The one drawback to egg white wraps is they’re rather bland. In my very important opinion, a huge reason diets and health food kicks fail is because the meals can lean a little one-note. To avoid searching for flavor in the arms of sausage and ciabatta rolls, blend high-impact roasted red peppers directly into egg…Read more...

You don’t need me to tell you that the Ancient Aliens series, which somehow airs on a network called History, is utter bullshit. Its whole gimmick is that it’s silly and “just entertainment,” and yes, probably most viewers watch it that way. But I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about what’s layered just…Read more...

Long-exposure photography lets you take some truly stunning shots if you want to capture light trails, a starry sky, or exaggerated motion in your pictures. While your iPhone won’t give you the same long-exposure tools a DSLR would, there are multiple ways to take a long-exposure shot with either the Camera app or…Read more...

Companies want you to buy their products, Samsung included. Whenever the company drops a new product—like, say, the highly anticipated Galaxy S23—it hopes you’ll ditch your old smartphone and upgrade. And now, aside from offering a device with enticing new features like improved cameras and hardware, Samsung has…Read more...

We commonly think of YouTube as a platform for sharing videos with large public audiences, but it can also be a great way to back up or share videos privately, as long as you follow the platform’s copyright rules.