Lifehacker

It’s the stuff of disaster movies and sensational headlines: An asteroid, meteor, or comet is headed toward Earth. Are we doomed? Isn’t this what took out the dinosaurs? Will we have enough lead time to put our differences aside, come together as a species and mount some kind of technological defense and/or effort to…Read more...

The key to giving a great speech is actually writing a great speech. All the speech-related advice out there focuses on our collective (and completely rational) fear of public speaking. What if I told you that delivering a speech is a whole lot easier when you know that the writing is airtight and kick-ass? Welcome to…Read more...

Do you love cheese? Do you love nuggets? Do you love tossing things in your air fryer and seeing what will happen? Well then, let me introduce you to Cheese Nuggets, also known as “air-fried halloumi.”Read more...

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Egg wash is a culinary backup singer—you don’t notice it when it’s there, but you sure do notice its absence. Yet there’s always the moment mid-bake when you read ahead in the recipe and grunt, “Ugh, do I have to do the egg wash?” Yep, you kinda do. The egg wash is one of the most important steps in some recipes, and…Read more...

Last month, a federal judge in California approved a $45 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit a group of consumers brought against Monsanto for promoting and selling Roundup and other weed killers without disclosing that they contain an ingredient that has the potential to cause cancer.Read more...

If you have a food allergy or a medical condition that you might need to explain to others, traveling abroad brings new challenges. You have to figure out how to explain yourself in a language you may not speak well (or at all) to ensure you don’t eat something you shouldn’t. That’s where translated medical cards come…Read more...

Looking for a summer vacation destination? Why not visit one of Canada’s beautiful national parks? Sure, the United States has a bunch of them, too, but maybe you’re not feeling too keen on the U.S. right now (relatable). Further burnishing Canada’s rep as the North American land of plenty: You can even visit said…Read more...

It’s easy to assume the files we download and install to our computers are exactly what they say they are. After all, an app with a high quality icon and a correct name to match looks legit: Why wouldn’t it be? Malware—and malware developers—thrive under these assumptions, since the goal is for you to open these…Read more...

Space is always going to be at a premium; as Mark Twain once said, “buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” That sentiment hits differently, though, when you’re living in a small urban apartment and your only private “outdoor space” is a balcony that can theoretically accommodate two people if they both hold their…Read more...

Inflation? What inflation? Depending on how you look at it, traveling to Europe is now cheaper than it has been in quite some time, as the Euro and the U.S. dollar are close to parity for the first time in approximately 20 years. As recently as 2020, the Euro was worth more than $1.20; today, the exchange rates stands…Read more...

A trustworthy password manager is practically a must-have these days to keep all of your passwords saved and secure in one location. But if you’re a frequent traveler, you might find you need something that goes beyond simply storing your frequent flyer numbers and account passwords. You’ll want to easily track your…Read more...

No one has ever said, “I think we have enough cookie varieties, let’s stop.” Even with a cookie as simple as the buttery shortbread; yes, it’s excellent in its purest form, but I won’t be mad if you squeeze in some chocolate chunks and espresso powder. The Scottish kind may be crisp and buttery, but the Indian …Read more...

Lawyers make an assload of money because legal stuff is complicated. They learn our legal system so that we don’t have to. Still, there are a few key terms that everyone should know—and don’t need a pricy degree to learn—for when you inevitably have to maneuver our confusing legal system.

Getting divorced has long been recognized as one of the most stressful life events, up there with the death of a loved one and a major illness. Divorce can cause or exacerbate health problems, lead to psychological trauma, cost you a lot of money, and make you all mopey and weird at barbecues for at least a year. So…Read more...

Some scientific ideas are complex, and we only learn about them in school when we’re old enough to handle the details. Others are seemingly straightforward—stuff that surely our cave-dwelling ancestors took for granted. But many of these things took a surprisingly long time to figure out—things like germs, vitamins,…Read more...

Every year, with each new iteration of its mobile operating system, Apple adds new accessibility features to the iPhone, and iOS 16 is no different. This time, Apple is adding Live Captions to FaceTime calls (taking cues from the third-party Navi app, which we have covered before).

Although we’re not the biggest fans of traditional green grass lawns, we know that such a longstanding norm of American homeownership won’t go away overnight. But regardless of you feel about lawns, if you’re stuck maintaining one, you’re probably open to any strategies for reducing the amount of work it takes to keep…Read more...

Hot water heaters are one of those household appliances that you tend to forget about until something goes wrong. It’s easy to let years—maybe even a decade or two—pass without paying much attention to it. But if you have a traditional hot water heater (not one of the newer tankless models) and it’s getting up there…Read more...

You may have done your planting in the spring, but that doesn’t mean the work in your garden is finished. In fact, now’s the time for some mid-summer maintenance. To make things as simple as possible, here’s a checklist to walk you through some essential midseason tasks.Read more...

One of the first things people learn about driving is how important it is to pay attention to what you’re doing. This means not only keeping your eyes on the road (and the vehicles around you) and watching your speed, but also being aware of how a particular vehicle normally feels when you drive it. (Is it a smooth…Read more...

There is a lot of mythology baked into drinking culture. You might believe, for instance, that once you pee during a night out, you’re doomed to make nonstop trips back to the bathroom because you “broke the seal,” but that’s not true. You might also believe that the “hair of the dog” will help you get over a…Read more...

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If it’s been years since you’ve broken out the first aid kit, let me congratulate you on your long string of good fortune. But in an attempt to help your good luck streak continue, let me also say this: You should go check your kit and make sure none of its items have expired. Several products in a standard first aid…Read more...

In order to eat broccoli, one must chop broccoli, and chopping broccoli requires two things: A (sharp) blade and (stable) surface. In addition keeping your knives sharp, stabilizing your cutting board is a key part of a safer slicing, dicing, chopping experience. Cutting on a wobbly, sliding surface is dangerous, but…Read more...

Try as Google might, it seems there’s no stopping malware-infected apps from sneaking their way onto the Play Store. We’ve covered plenty of cases in the past, including the recent “toll fraud” malware targeting older Androids. Now, the scammers behind a new strain of malware have tricked users into downloading it…Read more...

You may have heard that there is a sriracha shortage due to a chili pepper shortage. Short of going out and buying every bottle that you can find (which many people have already done), one option for satisfying your urge is to make your own. Although it’s a fairly easy process, it does take time, as sriracha’s funky…Read more...

Apple often implements features to keep the average user’s personal data secure, but preventing sophisticated cyberattacks from state-sponsored hacking groups is much harder. To combat these high-level threats, Apple is rolling out a new “Lockdown Mode” for iOS/iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura. But does it mean anything for…Read more...

Buying a house is always a fraught, stressful experience. For that reason, some buyers opt for new construction when house-hunting. They rationalize that new construction means more control over the style, floor plan, and features of the home—but also that a newly-built home will need less maintenance and present…Read more...

The Mail app on the iPhone is a workhorse, but it rarely gets much love from Apple. With iOS 16 though, Apple is bringing many quality of life improvements to Mail, like email scheduling, recall, and reminders, to make the app more competitive with feature-rich email clients like Spark.

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but everything happening in pop culture this week fills me with ambivalence. I appreciate that you’d want to raise an army of frogs, but am aware of the potential environmental impact. It’s funny to ask your child if they’ll fight alongside you, but fighting is bad. The big telescope is…Read more...

The summer heat is overwhelming, and hot times call for cold foods. Grab some ice cream, you say? A popsicle? That’s quaint. Instead, reach for the unexpected. Although frozen liquids will always have an icy place in my freezer and a warm place in my cold heart, it’s time to embrace a new frozen dessert: the Pop-Tart.

By now, you may have seen the news that a breeding facility in Virginia was inspected and shut down after authorities discovered abysmal conditions for the dogs—which means 4,000 beagles are in need of adoption or fostering. According to the New York Times, the authorities have about two months to find homes for all…Read more...

Spam texts are an unfortunate fact of life now. Looking at your phone to see a strange number or email address with an equally strange message attached is par for the course. However, not all strange texts seem like spam: Sometimes, you receive a message that looks totally legit, just clearly not meant for you. A…Read more...

Sore throats are pretty common and usually nothing to worry about. Sometimes, though, they can point to something pretty serious. I, for instance, had a very dramatic tonsillectomy at the big age of 17 after a year of near-endless sore throats—no amount of at-home remedies could have fixed what ended up requiring two…Read more...

When it comes to eating animals, most white Americans seem to favor muscle and flesh over innards, heads, tails, tendons, and anything that isn’t, well, muscle and flesh. That’s too bad, because those are some of the best bits with the most flavor, particularly in the case of shrimp.Read more...

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The FDA just authorized a COVID vaccine called Novavax, and the government has secured 3.2 million doses. That gives us a fourth option for getting vaccinated against COVID. So what is it, how effective is it, and who should consider getting it?

Hot sauce on eggs is the perfect way to light a fire under your ass in the morning. The best choice for my eggs has long been Trader Joe’s jalapeño pepper hot sauce (which, according to Reddit, has been discontinued, and I hate that they did this to me); the flavor is bold and a bit fruity, with heat that kicks but …Read more...

The new Consumer Price Index was released this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the results weren’t pretty. According to their report, the CPI-U went up 1.3% in June, beating out last month’s poor performance of an increase of 1% for May. While inflation continues to impact the average consumer’s wallet,…Read more...

Buying a car with a bank loan is so common most of us don’t even think about it—and these days, you increasingly need a bank loan to buy a used car. When you take a loan for a car you’re signing an agreement that says you’ll make the required payments or the lender can come and take the car away from you, but car…Read more...

The Photos app is getting many updates with iOS 16. Between Shared iCloud Photo Library and the new batch-edit feature, it’s easy to lose track of the smaller, quality-of-life features that make their way to your iPhones and iPads. A new Duplicates album is one such feature. Apple now automatically scans your library…Read more...

One of LinkedIn’s most notoriously annoying features is its insistence on snitching. Anytime you visit a person’s profile on LinkedIn, the site lets that person know, which goes against most other social media platforms’ philosophy of, “Sure, check out their page—they’ll never know.” LinkedIn tries to sell you on the…Read more...

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In 2021, buying a house felt like war. In 2022, it’s hell. Though the madness of last year—when the pandemic sales boom coupled with record low mortgage rates led to massive price spikes and cutthroat competition among buyers—has eased somewhat, inventory is still historically low and prices are still elevated (if …Read more...

A friendly solar-powered glow is a welcoming addition to any porch or patio—and since the components of solar LEDs have become relatively cheap, it’s not hard to find affordable solar walkway lights, string lights, or other small solar fixtures. They often don’t come in a lot of varieties, though, beyond the usual…Read more...

Commercial lobster diver Michael Packard claims he was scooped up by a humpback whale while he was out for a dive last summer in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Speaking about his experience, he told a local Boston television station, “I felt this huge bump and everything went dark. Then I felt around, and I realized there…Read more...

This week, NASA released the first images from the Jame Webb Space Telescope, giving us a never-before seen view of the cosmos. This towering achievement for humanity allows us to see further out into space, and further back in time, than we have ever been able to before. We can now see the first stars to ever exist,…Read more...

I take wedge salads seriously and treat every ingredient with the respect it deserves. I’m usually not opposed to a store-bought bacon bit or tub of pre-crumbled blue cheese, but that all changes when I build a wedge. I cook and crumble bacon, pull some chives from my garden, and crumble blue cheese that I buy from a…Read more...