Lifehacker

Ribs are a “project” dish—or they have that reputation. Perhaps it’s their intimidating appearance: a big rack of bones. Perhaps it’s because they’re part of that culinary tradition know as “barbecue,” which can be overwhelming if you are used to doing all of your cooking indoors or don’t have a grill. But you can…Read more...

Fake abortion clinics are, often, easier to find than real abortion clinics. They advertise online with abortion-related search terms, and give themselves names and logos that look confusingly like those of actual healthcare clinics. But they don’t do abortions, they won’t help you get one—and they may not have any…Read more...

Getting a new boss can be tough. The person who trained you is likely gone, and someone with limited knowledge about your company, team, and job is about to be in charge of your daily work life. But before you update your resume and start searching for a new gig yourself, consider these ways of approaching the new…Read more...

We kick off “spooky season” (eye roll) with a something that will surprise no one: October means a new slate of horror and Halloween-themed entertainment across all the major streaming platforms. But if genuinely-scary streaming is not for you, this month seems to be a particularly strong one for family programming…Read more...

Puff pastry can transform even the simplest ingredients into a dazzling meal or dessert. Sadly, there always seems to be useless scraps leftover. This precious, all-butter material is not cheap to buy, and certainly not easy to make. Instead of tossing out the odd ends of laminated pastry gold, use the excess for…Read more...

A house isn’t just four walls and a roof—it’s a complex system of infrastructure, most of which is hidden away (behind those walls, the floors, and ceilings) for aesthetic and safety reasons. Most of us don’t dig into our home’s wiring beyond (maybe) labeling the breaker or making sure all the outlets work, but we …Read more...

Read more...

Bad news for fans of soft cheeses: Brie and camembert products from more than 20 brands sold across the United States and Mexico are part of a massive recall over concerns that the cheeses are potentially contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, according to an announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration…Read more...

It’s frustrating when our PCs do things we don’t expect them to (looking at you, sudden software updates). The only thing more annoying than a rogue computer, however, is when the problem is our own damn fault. One such self-imposed issue occurs when you accidentally reboot your computer. This sometimes happens when I…Read more...

There’s never been a better time to teach yourself to play the guitar than now. The number of free (or practically free) guitar resources online is staggering, from gamified learning systems to YouTube gurus to apps that help you keep in time and on tune. But if you’re going to jump in without an instructor, you’re…Read more...

Everyone knows that moisture is the enemy of the Maillard reaction, which makes it tricky to brown ingredients that release water as they cook. But strangely enough, the secret to better (and faster) sautéed mushrooms is cooking them in water: Boiling your shrooms before pan-frying actually helps them brown.

A child’s short attention span can be something to behold. One moment, they are playing with their train, the next moment they’re spinning in circles, and now they are asking to watch a TV show, when all you want them to do is put their shoes away like you asked. However, as a recent study suggests, this wandering…Read more...

Communication is key to a solid relationship, but does it matter how it takes place? While sharing your thoughts and emotions with your partner via text message may be better than not expressing them at all, many relationship experts and therapists make the case that serious arguments are best left for face-to-face…Read more...

When you finish up painting a room, piece of furniture, or other project, the last thing you want to do is clean up the mess you’ve made. But if you’ve invested in decent-quality paint brushes and rollers, you probably want to use them more than once. And taking a few minutes to clean them right away will save you a…Read more...

Knowing when to buy or sell a house is tricky. Sure, particular periods of time are labeled either a “buyer’s market” or a “seller’s market,” but aside from making a broad statement about who has the upper hand, what do these terms actually mean? And what should you do if you’re a buyer in a seller’s market, or vice…Read more...

TikTok and Instagram are awash with accounts featuring DIY and furniture flipping instructional videos that make refinishing thrift store finds into expensive-looking pieces look quick and easy. (Of course, when you edit four hours of paint-stripping and sanding down to two seconds, you can make any project seem quick…Read more...

While many dogs today enjoy a pretty cushy life full of belly rubs, daytime naps, and treats galore, that wasn’t necessarily the case for previous generations of their family, who may have been put to work hunting, on a farm, or in a household.Read more...

Pumpkins are everywhere this time of year—perhaps even if your own garden. At this point, you’ve probably picked and pruned the other fruits, vegetables, and plants that you’ve grown this year, but what about everyone’s favorite orange winter squash? Here’s how to know when it’s time to harvest your pumpkins, and how…Read more...

What’s your favorite thing about AirPods Pro? For those of us who need to stay alert while listening to music, Transparency Mode might take the cake. And fortunately for us, Apple has made Transparency Mode so much better that it might be worth picking up a pair for this feature alone.

When I’m writing, I make my own rules. The words and the punctuation marks do what I tell them to, and I don’t need The Man imposing limitations on me. I’ll use punctuation marks you’ve never heard of. Look: ❦ That’s a hedera! I don’t even know what it means!

Read more...

Companies use a wide variety of techniques to convince us to buy their wares, and one of the most confusing is often the warranty—basically a guarantee that a product will work as advertised for a specific period of time. While paying extra for an “extended” warranty is often a waste of money, and warranties can…Read more...

What does “healthy” mean, exactly, when applied to food? It’s a tougher question than you might think. The FDA has been trying to answer it for years now, and they announced that they finally have a rough definition.Read more...

The transition from September to October brings cooler weather, changing foliage, and a slew of new games to play on PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass. Sony and Microsoft tend to space out their announcements for which new games are coming to their services each month, and so far, October’s lineup feels a tad…Read more...

Read more...

It’s easy to check how long it takes to watch a movie or a TV show, so why shouldn’t it be the same for video games? No one wants to spend $70 on a game that’s too short, or accidentally start a 200-hour JRPG when time is limited and precious. The next time you’re considering whether you should pick up a game or not,…Read more...

When you’re packing for your trip, you may be thinking about the best ways to get foreign currency to spend while you’re traveling, but you’re probably not thinking about what to do with your leftover bills and coins when you come home. The last thing you want to have to do is exchange back to U.S. dollars and lose 2…Read more...

One of the most divisive topics in education is gifted education. Even the word itself—gifted—has caused debate. The efficacy and equity of gifted programs came under fire in 2021 when New York City mayor Bill De Blasio rolled out a plan to phase out the city’s gifted program completely—a plan that was later quietly…Read more...

Much like pickles, onions are usually thought of as a sandwich topping rather than the “meat” of the dish. But (also like pickles) onions can be the star of the sandwich show—if you take a little time to prepare them correctly.Read more...

If you are prone to getting headaches, you may be wondering about the difference between a regular headache and a migraine. Both suck, but a migraine is definitely worse. So how can you tell which kind you’re suffering from?Read more...

As adults, it’s impossible to escape the use of screens, both at work and at home—and for kids, it’s increasingly no different. Given how much more screen time kids engage in today as compared to the past, it’s certainly an issue that most parents should—and do—take seriously. However, as research is showing, when…Read more...

This week, young people everywhere are experiencing the pain of finding out someone you admire is actually a hypocrite and a cad. Older people like us don’t care because we’ve seen it happen a million times, but to kids whose hearts haven’t been broken, learning that “Try Guy” Ned Fulmer cheated on his wife feels…Read more...

Maybe it’s the long, sleepless nights or the never-ending temper tantrums, but many new parents believe the most demanding days of parenting are in their child’s early years. It can be a long adjustment period for mothers and fathers to change their behaviors around the newest (and loudest) family member. But…Read more...

Helping your parents with their iPhone is the bane of your existence. They can’t figure out FaceTime, they expect you to know all of their passwords, and, of course, they never quit their apps. After all, swiping up on your apps is the best way to make sure your iPhone runs fast and uses less battery, right? Actually,…Read more...

October 2022 is overflowing with fright flicks, like ten pounds of guts in a five-pound bag. There’s something for every kind of horror fan. If you’re into making discoveries, there are obscure-but-promising, streaming-only flicks like Deadstream and Piggy. If you’re a more mainstream fan, there are new entries from…Read more...

Even though countless experts, including the American Association of Pediatrics, say that high schools should not start so ding-dang early in the morning, many still do. That means teens are commonly sleep-deprived, with 70% getting less than the recommended amount of sleep.

We’ve previously written about why people shouldn’t overthink their running shoes. At the same time, knowing your body and finding the right shoe fit could make the difference between lacing up for a run and staying home.Read more...

The CDC recently issued an alert to healthcare providers about enterovirus D68, which has turned up in children who were hospitalized with severe respiratory illnesses. This virus can also cause a form of paralysis known as acute flaccid myelitis. Most illnesses with this virus do not cause the paralysis, but it’s…Read more...

Although the stigma surrounding mental health and therapy is fading, it’s still there. Many people think of therapy as something you turn to only when you’re actively struggling with your mental health, or as something only weak and unsuccessful people use. For folks who do go to therapy for one reason or another, one…Read more...

“The internet has a privacy problem,” isn’t a statement that’s likely to shock you. But just because we’ve all lost a lot of what we traditionally think of as privacy, doesn’t mean we need to resort to bad behavior. Case in point: If you’re sharing screenshots of people’s dating app profiles, you need to stop.

Read more...

Cardamom deserves more love as a baking spice. It’s unique yet versatile, warming and bold, and fit for both sweet and savory foods. Although you may not have cooked with cardamom yet, you’ve likely had it before, hidden in a sauce or mixed into a dough, and wondered how exactly the chef achieved that particular…Read more...

Working on my book Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the rise of Japanese RPGs in the West took me back through the annals of JRPG history. Along the way, I was reintroduced to many of the classic titles that defined the genre—from its earliest days on the NES, to the golden age …Read more...

Tech is awesome, but let’s be honest: Sometimes it gets a bit boring. Computers and smartphones change incrementally from year to year, software switches to subscriptions, and innovation, in general, isn’t so common. Every once in a while, though, a new tech development is actually surprising and exciting. That’s how…Read more...

Read more...

A study that’s in the news right now claims that people who drink two to three cups of coffee per day live longer than people who avoid coffee. So should we all be drinking two to three cups? Not necessarily. Let’s take a look at where these numbers come from.Read more...

For a patio build, stepping stones, or pathways, concrete tiles can be an affordable option—and some ambitious DIY enthusiasts even make indoor floor tiles themselves. Making your own concrete tiles can give you lots of latitude on your design; you can use a pre-made mold or make your own sand mold from a tile you…Read more...

Gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts nearly two decades ago and across the U.S. back in 2015, yet somehow Bros, which opens this weekend, represents the first mainstream gay romantic comedy ever released by a major studio—or so the marketing department of distributor Universal Pictures would have you believe.Read more...

If you’re looking to take an iconic vacation in October—and you’re not centering it around Oktoberfest—we’ve got ideas that span the globe, from a popular hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, N.M. to a literature festival in England, a fireball festival in Thailand, and the world’s largest Halloween parade. Plan a…Read more...

Weekday breakfasts have to meet three major criteria to be considered “good.” They must be easy and quick to prepare, filling enough to keep you going until lunch, and tasty enough that you don’t start your day off on a depressing note. Oatmeal breezes by the first two, but usually needs a little help to hit the…Read more...