Lifehacker

The past year saw a number of cleaning trends, hacks, and tips come from across TikTok, Facebook, Reddit, and, of course, us. Some were wack, but others turned out to be great. Here are ten of our favorites, for the next time you need to do a massive clean-up.

As 2022 turns into 2023, it’s prime time to set up your work schedule for success in the new year. Previously, we reminded you to start planning your travel around long weekends in 2023—the logic being you can maximize your paid time off by working around federal holidays. For both saving money on travel and managing…Read more...

After watching a TikTok on pancake flipping, I got to thinking about whether or not I had been doing it wrong my whole flippin’ life. I turn with my wrist but I don’t get a horrible splash, like in the video. It turns out, it’s more about the power behind the move than if you’re using the correct part of your arm. A…Read more...

Traditions surrounding the Christian religious holiday of Christmas may seem to be age-old and time-honored, but many are newer than we’d think. What’s even more surprising is that the stories we tell each other about the traditions are also, themselves, a bit mixed-up. Read on for several myths about Christmas…Read more...

Like a narrative embodiment of one of those “do you want to feel old?” memes, That ‘90s Show—the decades-later followup to the hit Fox sitcom That ‘70s Show (which actually premiered in the ‘90s)—arrives on Netflix on Jan. 19. As I was basically an adult throughout the entire run of the original series, I am not OK…Read more...

There’s an old saying that “the internet is forever,” but it’s a damn lie. Ideas, memes, and subcultures can proliferate online and seem to be everywhere, only to disappear forever when someone deletes their account or stops paying their web hosting for a day. The following trendlets caught on briefly in 2022—…Read more...

When your smartphone starts to slow down, you may wonder whether it’s the beginning of its end. However, it could just be digital junk accumulated throughout the year gumming up the works. As 2022 comes to a close, now’s as good a time as any to clear the clutter from your Android and start the new year with faster…Read more...

It seems like just yesterday we were anticipating all the high-profile video game adaptations coming to movie theaters and streaming services in 2023, and one of the biggest is already almost here: HBO Max’s The Last of Us, based on the 2013 PlayStation post-apocalyptic zombie-adjacent survival adventure...thing.Read more...

Menorahs can get messy. And on top of whatever dusting you need to do for a decoration that spends most of the year in a box, candle wax is just a pain to clean up. Here’s how to clean all the different kinds of menorahs.Read more...

I used to think Paramount+ would only be defined as the home of Star Trek—in addition to the catalogue series, it’s the only place to see newer spinoffs like Discovery, Strange New Worlds, Picard, and Prodigy. But over the past year, another burgeoning franchise: The Tyler Sheridan Television Universe.Read more...

When most people plan for retirement, they’re making plans around their 67th birthday. Proponents of the FIRE movement, however, believe that retirement can be achieved decades earlier than the official retirement age. Here’s what to know about the elusive promise of Financial Independence/Retire Early and what it…Read more...

The other day, I got to introduce my father to babka, a delight he had never experienced before. “I like that pretty well,” he kept saying, which sounds like faint praise but—for him—is actually rather enthusiastic. The babka loaves (one chocolate and one cinnamon) were sent by a friend as an “I hope your bones heal”…Read more...

With more than 400 national parks scattered across the United States, it can get pricey to try to visit them all. While some are free, about a quarter of them charge from $10 to $20 per person to enter, which can add up for a family. But if you’re planning to hit up the parks next year, there are several days when…Read more...

It’s less than a week before Christmas, which marks the official start of “Amazon and Starbucks gift card” season. There’s nothing wrong with gift cards per se, but these two in particular are so commonly gifted that they practically scream “I panicked and got this at the last minute”—which is exactly what you don’t…Read more...

It’s a classic holiday scene: You unwrap a brand new game console, complete with all the games on your wishlist. After weeks of waiting, it’s time to sit back, cocoa in-hand, fire up the machine, and...wait for all of the updates to load. Maneuvering through setup screens and software updates is the worst part of…Read more...

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game—and never let the fear of donating the wrong thing keep you from giving generously whenever you can. Truly, when you’re giving from the heart, there is no “wrong” donation, but there are certainly some that are more useful than others, so if you’re…Read more...

PlayStation 5 DualSense wireless controllers are selling for $50 right now at Walmart, and it’s the lowest price since their release. If you’re the only PS5 player in your family, consider this your Christmas present for yourself. You deserve it.

We all fell in love with Wordle this year, and by “we” I mean all of us nerds who have five minutes to kill over coffee each morning and choose to do so with a word game. I’ve personally spent most of the year perfecting my Wordle strategy, and finding alternative games to occupy me once I’ve completed that day’s…Read more...

As one year end and a new one begins, there’s always the resolution to vaguely “travel more.” I’ve never known anyone to resolve to “travel less,” but when it comes to sticking to your resolutions—including those related to travel—specificity is key. If you’re going to “travel more,” you need to plan ahead now and…Read more...

When you’re moving from Windows to Mac, it’s a challenge to get used to macOS’s way of quitting apps. On Windows, you click the red X button in the window to quit most apps. On your Mac, it’s a crapshoot. The red X may close the app, but it could also just close the window, leaving the app running in the background.…Read more...

Pickling is an ancient art of preservation. Without it, many of our ancestors would’ve died of starvation or malnutrition, especially in the dead of winter. That’s particularly true in the Baltics where freezing temperatures wreak havoc on the soil and vegetation as early as November. So it’s no surprise that some of…Read more...

The rise of unlimited data plans means fewer of us are desperate for wifi. Mobile hotspots make it easy to pass a smartphone’s data plan over to wifi-only devices, but that isn’t the case for everyone: Wifi is still important for many of us. Not all of us have unlimited data plans, and cell reception also isn’t…Read more...

The cheese selection should be center stage on a cheese board, but ample consideration must be given to the crackers. Maybe it’s the sleeve of Club crackers you grew up with, crunchy slices of baguette, or an untameable pile of Pretzel Crisps, but consider pairing your cheeses and dips with something unexpected. Try…Read more...

There’s a pretty nifty document scanner built into your iPhone’s Notes app. It’s great at automatically figuring out the edges of your doc, and it will even detect text for you. But the problem is, the scanned text will save to the note itself as a PDF, meaning you have to then manually export the document to do…Read more...

You may have noticed an increasing number of websites that now display a “Sign In With Google” pop-up every time you open the page. While it can be helpful if you use your Google Account to log into that site, you likely have plenty of sites (if not the majority) you don’t use “Sign in with Google” for, rendering…Read more...

Money causes major stress to many of us individually, and it’s no secret that problem multiplies when you’re in a relationship. From rent, to a mortgage, to the costs of child-rearing, or perhaps how you plan to spend your child-free savings: Different approaches to money can lead to conflict in relationships.Read more...

The naughty Christmas movie is a venerable sub-genre, going back at least as far as 1974's Black Christmas, a movie that scandalized audiences with the dual ideas that not only are people super horny during the holidays, they also are occasionally contemplating murder.

I predict 2023 will be the year video game adaptations get good. Narratives based on games have been on a rocky road since the first major film based on a game, 1993’s Super Mario Bros., was released, and there have been way more misses than hits along the way.

Lemon bars, citrusy cocktails, lemonade, and the like may seem out of place during the winter months. But with the sun setting by 4:30 p.m. or so every day, I personally need a bit of edible sunshine, be it in a baked good, cocktail, or glass of seasonally incongruous lemonade. Most lemon-based recipes call for…Read more...

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Your Christmas shopping deadline is approaching ever more quickly, but you can still give the gift of a nice set of (affordable) headphones in time for the big day. These are the best deals out there right now for headphones under $100, most of which can still be delivered in time for Christmas. There’s an option for…Read more...

Cheese is crowdpleaser—a perfect product that can be sliced, melted, or otherwise manipulated into something that is a little more involved, like a dip or a cheeseball. Because it’s so good in its own right, it doesn’t need a ton of futzing. You can turn a log of goat cheese or pile of shredded cheddar into an elegant…Read more...

Windows themes offer a unique mix of wallpapers, sounds, and colors to switch between. Many of them come by default, and there are more themes to download from the Windows Store. But you don’t need to look elsewhere to find more themes for your PC. Some of the best Windows themes are just hidden.Read more...

Cycling shoes are a must if you own a spin bike, and they’re extremely common on road bikes, too. The shoes are stiff enough to properly transmit force to the pedals, and the cleats lock you securely into the pedals so that you don’t slide around. With the right shoes, you can efficiently turn the pedals in circles…Read more...

Bubble wrap is the best. It can obviously help you move to a new place without breaking stuff, and of course it’s fun to play with. But it can also do so much more than you might think. Put it in the category of things like vodka, hair conditioner, dryer sheets, and nail polish remover, which all have one stated…Read more...

Your iPhone has some excellent anti-theft features that make it difficult for thieves to use the device. Even if someone wipes your phone, they’ll still need your Apple ID and password to get into it and turn off “Find My”—which they’ll need to do if they ever want to sell it.

Getting hacked sucks. The invasion of privacy is bad enough, but when hackers decide to lock you out of your account entirely, that’s just cruel. Losing access to your years of Instagram photos, stories, and DMs can be heartbreaking, and, until now, it was usually permanent. Luckily, that might not be the case anymore.

In addition to being a global disaster in many ways that matter a good deal more, COVID took a wrecking ball to the film industry, and Hollywood is still cleaning up the debris. Countless films have been re-edited, delayed, and outright cancelled as a result of necessary COVID restrictions, illnesses, financial…Read more...

Oatmeal is one of the great underrated foods for athletes, whether you’re a runner, a weightlifter, or just somebody who wants a filling breakfast before hitting the gym. If you want more whole grains or fiber in your diet, congrats—oats have plenty. If you need carbs to fuel you, oats come through there, as well. And…Read more...

Google annually goes though its web store to find the best and most popular Chrome extensions of the year. It’s no Spotify Wrapped, but it’s a good way to know what made this year special (as far as internet browsing is concerned, anyway). And in 2022, it’s no surprise that AI shows up in a lot of the extensions.Read more...

The first season of Prime Video’s Hunters, a late-’70s action drama about a group of Nazi hunters tracking down surviving members of the Third Reich, premiered in late February 2020. I used to walk by the subway ad for it every day while dropping my kid off at school. Then the school shut down, along with everything…Read more...

A classic tarte tatin is sweet, stuffed with apples, and requires a bit of fussing over a caramel sauce. It’s worth the effort when you’re looking for a sweet dessert, but you can also use the same technique for a dish that’s superbly savory. For a simple, shareable, and rather impressive plate, make a gorgonzola and…Read more...

I don’t know that I’ve ever had a bad spinach and artichoke dip—it’s hard to make something with that much dairy and salt unappetizing. But things that are good can always be great, and I have taken the liberty of compiling four upgrades that can be applied to any spinach and artichoke dip recipe.Read more...

Research on New Year’s resolutions shows that 80% of them fail in the longterm. Given the difficulty of self-improvement, I find a 20% success rate encouraging, but that still means almost everyone who bothers to try doesn’t live up to their own goals. Avoiding these seven New Year’s resolution mistakes won’t…Read more...

For many, the words “office politics” conjure images of manipulating, back-stabbing, or slippery co-workers who kiss-up to the boss and flaunt their influence to get what they want. The words reek of unfairness and are almost always used to refer to the underbelly of the workplace. Many employees flat out refuse to…Read more...

With less than a week to go before Christmas, the kids are probably off from school, high on sugar, and getting antsy for presents, or whatever your family does to celebrate the holidays. At this point, you may be running low on cash and out of options for keeping them entertained while you’re still working.Read more...

During the Great Depression, peanut butter’s low cost and high protein content made it an indispensable ingredient in countless meals and sandwiches. The nut spread—and newer, more allergy-friendly variantions—remain a popular food to this day.Read more...

It’s been nearly 20 years since Keurig machines and K-Cups became a countertop staple in countless American homes (though they’ve been available for offices since the 1990s). And while some find the single-use pods convenient, their relatively high cost and the mediocre flavor of the beverages they result in have made…Read more...

Despite the season’s reputation as a magical time of year full of love and happiness, the holidays can be tough for a lot of people. Sometimes it’s clear why Christmas and the other end-of-year festivities are mentally taxing—like if you’re grieving the loss of a loved one.Read more...

Whether your seasonal affective disorder has kicked in, or you’re feeling the pressure of the holiday season, chances are you could use some comfort food. And if you’ve already gone over your yearly budget, it would be even better if that food was available at a discount, or perhaps even for free.Read more...