Lifehacker

We’re all used to the ChatGPT protocol by now. You boot it up, write your query, and the AI reacts accordingly—accuracy not guaranteed. While chatting with ChatGPT is surprisingly human-like, you’re really just texting at the end of the day. The chatbot isn’t at the point where you can have a spoken-word conversation…Read more...

With the never-ending prospect of a recession hanging over our heads, building out your savings is a mental challenge. A tough economy is exactly when building up your savings should be a priority, but a tough economy is when finding the funds to save is most painful.Read more...

We’re in the final countdown to Tax Day (Tuesday, April 18), which means you should be thinking about filing your 2022 tax return and paying your bill if you haven’t already. Most people are eligible to do their taxes for free, and if it turns out you owe money, there are a handful of ways to avoid any processing fees…Read more...

Almost everything you do on your phone is tracked. That data is collected and used to sell you targeted ads, which can be fine—but more often than not, they products are lower quality than what you would otherwise buy. A new study published this week from researchers at Carnegie Mellon and Virginia Tech shows how…Read more...

Hello from day 1,113 of isolation. It’s me, your immunocompromised friend in hell. Most days, it feels like the entire world wants you to eff off and die before they’ll just strap a mask to their flappers. As masking in doctors offices ends and everyone is slowly being forced back into offices and conferences, the…Read more...

Your Twitter Circle is your inner sanctum: While your average tweets might be suitable for public consumption, your private thoughts are only for your confidants. So, if your Twitter Circle tweets were being seen by people outside your Circle, that’d be bad, and a breach of the Twitter Circle circle of trust. Perhaps…Read more...

If you’ve been hanging out around these parts for the last few weeks, you have probably noticed I’ve been into wrapping things in crispy cheese, such as pickles, and french fries. I’ve also been busy disrupting the mozzarella stick sector, so it was only a matter of time before I wrapped cheese around a mozzarella…Read more...

Painting doesn’t have to preclude creativity: You can do so much more than putting a solid color on your wall. From adding textures to designs, you can give your space more character with less trouble than you might think.

In many ways, it’s great that we can do just about anything we need to on our smartphones. However, that convenience creates a single point of failure that could lead to big losses if something were to go wrong. Case in point: Reddit user Whippity, whose iPhone and credit card were recently stolen. The thieves used…Read more...

Over half a million Honda vehicles have been recalled after multiple reports of a rear part detaching due to corrosion, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall mentions that salt-belt states, which use de-icing salt to reduce snow from the roads during winter, are having problems…Read more...

When a child fails to meet their developmental milestones when it comes to big muscle groups, it can be cause for concern and an indication that your child may have a gross motor delay. Most kids develop these skills through usual play, like climbing around on pillows or passing and eventually throwing a ball.…Read more...

Remember back in 2021, when people were willing to do anything to find a COVID test? In response, the government started sending out free tests, and then mandated that insurance had to reimburse you for eight tests a month. If you had private insurance, you could drop into Walgreens, ask for a script for COVID tests…Read more...

Sonic is currently giving away free cheeseburgers with any purchase. Which doesn’t sound like that exciting of a deal—but when they say “any purchase,” they really mean it. So if you don’t want to splurge on fries or a soda, you can buy a “mini cup of ice” for around $0.09 and still get your free cheeseburger. Toss…Read more...

Out of all the different ways one can cook an egg, poaching gives people the most trouble. Poaching an egg isn’t impossible, but there is a steep learning curve, despite a lot of little tricks designed to make the task easier (a clear indication it’s not that easy in the first place). Poached eggs need to be coddled,…Read more...

Job hunting has never been easy, but in recent years, the process has become a dystopian nightmare. Gearing up to look for a new position requires the sort of planning once relegated to military campaigns, and the sheer number of video interviews, live projects, and other work required of you before you get an offer…Read more...

You probably think of your bank as a place to stash your money, and it’s easy to forget that the bank is only happy to take it because they can use it to make more money. Mostly they do this by using your deposits to make profitable investments, paying you a tiny interest rate for the privilege. But that’s not the…Read more...

Window management has come a long way (especially in Windows 11), but I still don’t like having two browser windows open side-by-side, essentially duplicating the entire browser experience. It’s easy to forget which window you’re in, where you’ve opened a particular tab—it’s just a headache. I’m not the only one…Read more...

Even if vacuuming is one of you least-favorite chores, when you consider what life was like before the appliance existed—beating rugs and sweeping floors manually—you have to admit its ability to make messes disappear is pretty amazing.Read more...

Thanks to centuries of folklore linking bats to vampires, these nocturnal winged creatures have long been considered spooky and something to fear. But the ones that live in our backyards are nothing to be afraid of: In fact, they can be helpful to have around. Here’s how to attract bats to your yard, and why you’d…Read more...

In addition to being a delicious and portable snack, oranges—or more specifically, their peels—have a second life as everything from candy, to pest control in your garden, to an egg cooker. They also come in handy for keeping your kitchen clean and smelling fresh.Read more...

Keeping your home tidy and organized is a chore regardless of where you reside, but it poses a particular challenge to those living in smaller spaces. While people with larger houses may have spare closets or even entire rooms to dedicate to storage, the rest of us have to get creative when it comes to finding places…Read more...

Want to add a bit of greenery outside your home, but don’t have the time or space for a full-blown garden? A small-but-mighty pocket garden may be the solution. Here’s what to know about pocket gardens, including how to make your own.Read more...

Even if you don’t celebrate the Easter holiday, you’ll still need to eat at some point this weekend. Fortunately, plenty of restaurants—including the ones below—have food deals lined up to keep you fed, while saving you money. As always, this isn’t an exhaustive list of every dining offer available during Easter…Read more...

Post-Easter festivities might have you swimming in a sea of colorful eggs. In case your boiled egg bounty is getting monotonous, I’ve got a surefire way for you to spice things up: Drag you sanctimonious eggs to hell with hot chili-garlic oil.

If you’re among the many fantasy fans blown away by Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, there’s now an easy way to bring the film’s characters and magical items into your own pen and paper D&D campaign. Wizards of the Coast has released movie-accurate character stat blocks. magic items, and a set of digital dice…Read more...

Easter eggs are safe to eat, provided you follow a few safety rules (and don’t try to eat the plastic kind). If they weren’t, my mother would be dead: When my sisters and I were gorging ourselves on bunny-shaped chocolate, that woman was peeling and eating our dyed eggs, determined to not let a valuable protein source…Read more...

Every coconut lover knows the homely drupe packs big flavor inside its hairy shell. It pairs well with other ingredients, but is strong enough to play a starring role, especially when that role is cake. This flourless coconut cake is moist, tender, and downright snackable. It’s gluten-free, Easter-worthy,…Read more...

As it stands, AI is not a reliable source of information. But while AI bots like ChatGPT are known to hallucinate and offer false information, there is one task where it truly excels: summarizing.

As you’re preparing your yard for spring, you may have no reservations about throwing out the stiff, cracked old hose that sat out all winter—but instead of tossing it, consider repurposing it for use elsewhere in your yard. Here are four practical ways to do just that.

Security breaches suck. Unfortunately, they’re quite common. As reported by The Washington Post, the latest high-profile ransomware attack hit Dish and its subsidiaries, Sling TV and Boost Mobile, six weeks ago, and customers are still having issues getting through to customer support. While the company has not…Read more...

When you’re shopping for a leather jackets, shoes, purses, or other items, you may come across a stamped label noting the item is “genuine leather.” If you know nothing about leather grades, you’ll think that’s a good sign. If you know a little bit about leather grades, you’ll think that’s a bad sign. Today, my…Read more...

This week’s Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide explores two of the main forces shaping young people’s lives in 2023 America: Corporate-created culture like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Barbie, and grassroots expressions of shared humanity like TikTok’s “mouse moments” and being shot in the stomach while making YouTube…Read more...

TikTok is Pinterest for the younger generation. It’s where they go for recipes, product recommendations, and tips that will “change your life.” TikTok is their Pinterest, and cottage cheese ice cream is their banana ice cream.Read more...

Ideally, the prospect of saving lives and the personal satisfaction of helping others would be motivation enough to get us to donate blood regularly. But the Red Cross knows that while we can sometimes be driven by altruistic motives, at other times, it helps to sweeten the pot with a giveaway—be it a gift card, a…Read more...

Working out is hard—that’s the whole point. So we understand if you’re staring down the day’s workout thinking how am I going to get through this? and looking for something to give you a little extra energy to make it through. If you lift in the morning, that something may be a preworkout supplement with a huge dose…Read more...

Every day is a new thing with Twitter. Recently, the site lumped verified users and Twitter Blue users together so no one can tell them apart (at least not without an extension). And now Twitter replaced its iconic bird logo with, of all things, Doge. It’s stupid, and just another example of how far the site has fallen…Read more...

Sorry Android users, this deal is for the people who like to overpay for their phones. McDonald’s is currently offering a free six piece order of Chicken McNuggets when you spend at least a dollar while using Apple Pay to check out on the McDonald’s app.

The first time I ordered a Blizzard and the employee asked me to flip it upside down, I reacted with a combination of fear, anger, and even disgust. That this person would tell me to risk my ice cream treat for a marketing gimmick! This month, Dairy Queen will celebrate their 39th year of making kids (and probably…Read more...

AirDrop has been a source of pride for Apple users for more than a decade now, and a sore point for many who want a simple solution for sharing files between Windows and Android. But after years of struggling with different standards and technologies, Google and Microsoft have finally figured this one out: Google’s…Read more...

Tree sap can get on your clothes, car, shoes, deck furniture, and countless other places you might not expect it. Here’s how to clean it off.

If you’ve spent any time on social media this week, you’ve probably see tons of memes in which people have photoshopped themselves (or anyone else, from Succession characters to Lydia Tár to Donald Trump) into a poster for Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie. The thing is, you don’t actually need to know how to use …Read more...

When you shop for a swimsuit for your kid, don’t buy them a blue one. The simple reason: The color can make it difficult, even impossible, to see them underwater.

Wireless earbuds, like AirPods, are all the rage. But as convenient as these tiny headphones are, they have a fatal flaw: When the batteries degrade, it is extremely difficult to replace them, and stores like Apple won’t do it for you, either. When the charge inevitably doesn’t last long enough anymore, most of us…Read more...

From the most thorough travel plans, to excruciatingly detailed journals, to elaborate to-do lists: My life motto is that you have a goal, your goal needs a spreadsheet. And when your goal is to manage your money better, a customized spreadsheet can be your number one budgeting tool.Read more...

When your phone’s screen breaks or your laptop stops holding a charge, your first instinct might be to take it to the company that produced it—they made the thing, so they should be trusted to fix it. While that isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s not always the best course of action. Your repair experience (and what you’ll…Read more...

Matzo crunch is a sweet treat that’s all about the texture. As the name implies, it’s a crunch-fest. Between the crisp, airy matzo, melty chocolate and crackling caramel, there’s never a dull moment (in your mouth). The beauty of this Passover-friendly dessert lies in its simplicity and decadent flavor. There’s no…Read more...

Back in my college days, my roommate and I frequently ordered something we called a “hangover pizza.” There was nothing remarkable about the pizza. It was almost always a pepperoni pizza from Papa John’s, because we loved the garlic sauce, but also because the local greasy pizza place (Five Star), was rough on an…Read more...

Packaged, processed, and semi-prepared foods are convenient and economical, but sadly, cooking with peel-apart biscuits and microwaveable pastas has endured a host of disparaging titles, including “cheap,” “low-class,” or “gross,” depending on who you’re talking to. My advice? Don’t talk to those people anymore.…Read more...

There are not many handheld dishes that are socially acceptable to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that give you the variety in ingredients and space for creativity that burritos do (except maybe a sandwich?). And with national burrito day coming up on April 6, there are enough deals to help you get your fill of…Read more...

The hopeful, heroic people you see above are the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will fly by the moon in November 2024. Artemis III, planned for 2025, will actually land on the moon, and Americans will…Read more...