Lifehacker

Puff pastry is the impressive main element in dozens of sophisticated desserts because of its structure, rich flavor, and versatility. It’s also exactly what I needed to make a thoroughly unsophisticated Halloween dessert. These mummy Nutella tarts require only three ingredients and an oven—you don’t even need any …Read more...

Grocery prices are being what they are in 2022, I’m not looking forward to Thanksgiving shopping. I recently noted my much-needed 12-packs of Diet Coke, which I buy at least twice a week, are costing me around $8 ($3 or $4 more than last year), making my Coke habit a lot harder to budget for. Thus, I began to suspect …Read more...

An insurance policy for your home doesn’t just pay for necessary repairs when disaster strikes, it also can protect you in case of an accident on your property, such as a slip and fall. Peace of mind for major repairs and bad accidents is important—but there are some things you might be doing that can void your…Read more...

Running is a fulfilling hobby, but it can be a tough one. If you don’t run, you may not realize your partner or close friend is facing a whole rollercoaster of emotions every time they go out (from elation to mind-numbing boredom), or that their pastime really does a number on their body—bruised toenails, anyone?

The holiday season is a time for traditions, for casting our eyes back to the comfortable memories of days gone by, for reviving old and questionably beloved IP to stick on your streaming service (see last month’s Disney+ premier of Hocus Pocus 2).

The PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller is my favorite thing about Sony’s newest console. The pad is comfortable to hold, it feels well-made, and its adaptive triggers and haptic rumble add tactile immersion to your gameplay experience. However, Sony is rolling out a new version early next year called the DualSense…Read more...

When we think of farming or gardening for food, we think of the great outdoors. If you want to squeeze a fresh orange or lemon in the morning, you’ll need a certain amount of outdoor space for those trees, after all.

It’s hard to convince people to change at all, but it’s especially difficult to switch to a different web browser. Whether you’re team Chrome, Edge, Safari, or one of the other dozens of options, you like what you like. DuckDuckGo has its work cut out for them if they want users to hop aboard its new macOS browser,…Read more...

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Halloween is fast approaching and after that, we have even more food-centric holidays. From trick-or-treat hauls to Santa’s cookies, chocolate is about to be everywhere for a while—but it doesn’t need to be in your clothes or on your carpet. Stains don’t have to be part of your life, even though what makes chocolate…Read more...

Yesterday, the Daily Mail released an “exclusive” report on the “inside story” of the breakup between Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudekis, filled with text messages and anecdotes from their anonymous former nanny. The whole thing is very messy and sad, and while the couple has denounced these “false and scurrilous…Read more...

Housing prices are finally starting to go down, but thanks to interest rate hikes, monthly mortgage payments are more out of reach than ever before. With all of this financial uncertainty, you may be considering an adjustable-rate mortgage, which are starting to increase in popularity once again. If that term sounds…Read more...

As long as I’ve used iPads, I’ve wondered: Why the camera on the short side? It made some sense in the days before we started using iPads as replacement laptops: If you’re coming from a smartphone, it feels more natural to hold an iPad in portrait for video calls. But times have changed, and many of us keep our iPads…Read more...

If you take a lot of medications, you probably have some systems in place to make sure you won’t miss one—like an organizer that divides pills according to the day and time they’re supposed to be taken or a series of reminders on your phone. But what about when you just have one set of pills, and you don’t need a…Read more...

Even when you’re living on a limited budget, it’s always a good idea to set some money aside for future you. But even as you’re building your emergency fund, you may be wondering if your money would better serve you if you invest it. Whether you’re planning for a vacation next year or your retirement in thirty…Read more...

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While I remain inconsolable in the wake of the recent passing of Dame Angela Lansbury, there’s some solace to be taken in news that the actor, who never formally retired, will appear onscreen one final time in Rain Johnson’s forthcoming Benoit Blanc caper Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which is getting a limited…Read more...

If you’re one of those fancy-pants types with central heating in your home, this article won’t apply to you, but if you’re living in a place with sub-optimal heating—maybe because you’re in a warmer climate and you only need heat a couple of nights a year—there are ways to keep your crib toasty this winter (without…Read more...

November’s nighttime sky will be a treat for star-gazers. There’s a full lunar eclipse on the way, a couple of meteor showers, and the year’s best view of Uranus. Below are all the details, so you can plan your sky-watching schedule and manage your expectations.

I am convinced being rich and famous does terrible things to your brain. It seems to rob you of empathy, especially if you are mid-level celeb with medium-low talent whose only real trick is getting actually talented people to sing with you in a car. Such is the case with James Corden, who has been 86'd from New York…Read more...

Recent studies have suggested that eating late at night may lead to weight gain, so how late is too late to eat? And while we’re asking questions, do we really know that you’ll gain weight if you eat a late dinner?Read more...

Surely you know the disappointment of biting into what you think is a chocolate chip cookie only to discover it’s an oatmeal raisin. But even raisins are better than a bunch of plastic.

It can be notoriously difficult to keep your kitchen organized—the room is nothing but a collection of odds and ends, all of which need to be fairly easily accessible at all times. If you’re struggling to cook through all the clutter, here are several ways you can use ordinary objects to keep clutter down and counter…Read more...

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Cheesecake might be one of my favorite desserts. It foregrounds a top-tier food group (dairy) and it doesn’t require me to make a pastry crust, something I hate doing with every fiber of my being. The iconic cake of cheese typically rests on a crumbled crust, usually made of graham crackers. But it can be nice to…Read more...

It’s ladder season: It’s time to clean your gutters and soon enough, you’ll be putting up holiday lights or even taking on some snow removal. During the fall and winter, you probably spend more time on your ladder, but your high-flying home repairs should be as safe and easy to complete as possible all year round.…Read more...

Given a large swath Americans have been dubbed “Generation Rent” due to the dwindling chances they’ll ever own a home, the recent economic turmoil—with interest rates, inflation, and rents soaring—is only adding further insult to an already grave injury. More people are being forced to get creative to secure housing.…Read more...

When you’re lifting weights, you usually want to do a set of the exercise, rest a minute or two, and then do another. While you can gauge this by feel (just go when you feel ready), a timer can be helpful. It turns out the Apple Watch’s Segments feature can do this with a simple double-tap.

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With millions of Americans eager to apply for Biden’s sweeping student loan forgiveness before the end of the year, the U.S. Department of Education has launched a beta version of the form for federal student loan debt relief. Here’s what to know about the current state of the application process, and whether it makes…Read more...

Although the situation isn’t as dire as it was earlier this year, the unprecedented baby formula shortage has yet to be resolved. And if you have managed to get your hands on some, you’re going to want to check the label: Abbott Labs recently issued a voluntary recall for several of its Similac brand formula products,…Read more...

About 22,000 e-bikes sold online by Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Overstock, and Sears (among other retailers) have been recalled, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced last week. The e-bikes’ manufacturer, Ancheer, said it was issuing the voluntary recall because “the lithium-ion batteries may, in some…Read more...

Dressing up your windows doesn’t seem like it should break the bank, but blinds, shades, and curtains can get expensive quickly. However, an ambitious DIYer can create simple—and inexpensive—window treatments with just a few hours of work and some basic supplies.Read more...

For previous generations, Halloween was generally a pretty low stakes holiday. Parents pretty much just put sheets over kids’ heads and pushed them out the door with the expectation they would return laden with candy at some point. But previous generation parents were kind of psychotic.

“Cake is good” is a statement that needs no qualifying, no couching, no parenthetical asides. Cake does not need me to hype it up. Cake does not need a PR firm. Unequivocally good things, such as cake, should be protected and cherished and, in the case of cake, kept moist for as long as possible.Read more...

In my mid-20s, I was hit by a car while walking to school. The driver, who was elderly, thought the median was an extra turn lane, and in the process, hit three pedestrians, including me. One moment I was a stressed-out graduate student worrying about finishing her experiments; the next moment, I looked over to see…Read more...

When we talk about “downsizing,” it’s usually referring to the size a person’s home. For example, people may decide to sell their larger family home after their children have grown up and moved out, because they simply no longer need that much living space anymore. Others buy or rent a home that initially seemed like…Read more...

Everyone has their own proverbial buttons that, when pushed, really set them off: So-called “sore spots” that trigger particularly strong reactions. People close to us typically are aware of these buttons, but it’s often strangers or others who don’t know us as well who unknowingly push them.Read more...

Blood stains on clothing can be difficult to remove—especially if they’ve had time to soak into the fabric. Fortunately, there are a few techniques that you can try to get rid of them. Here’s what to know.Read more...

For many older adults, the high costs of assisted living and other long-term care facilities, as well as home health aides, are financially out of reach. Others may be able to afford that type of care, but prefer living with family members, or have lived in multi-generation homes their entire life. And some are able…Read more...

As humans, when we don’t know how something is going to turn out, it’s normal for us to worry. Sometimes, that worry takes the form of a general concern that you think about with regularity while still being able to focus on other things.Read more...

Humans aren’t the only ones looking for someone to cozy up with as temperatures drop. Fall is officially deer mating season, making them particularly active this time of year. Unfortunately, as they’re playing the field, it’s not uncommon for deer to wander (or run) into the road and oncoming traffic.Read more...

It’s hard to truly understand what younger people are into these days, because the relentless algorithms that shape our culture have divided us all into ever smaller, ever more insular groups. But on the bright side, that same alienation can provide entertainment that previous generations could never have imagined.…Read more...

We expect our air fryers to cook our food quickly—but not itself in the process. But that’s what the Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning could happen to nearly 12,000 air fryers. The recall is for the Magic Chef Air Fryer Digital Air Fryer oven, in both the black and white models, over a burn and fire hazard…Read more...

Whenever you buy a new Android phone, say, the Pixel 7, you want to get it up and running as soon as possible. Any time you spend working through your old phone is time you could be spending with all the new bells and whistles you paid for. I totally get the excitement, but slow down a moment: There’s an important…Read more...

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For the past few decades, college was seen as the winning choice for anyone who wanted to make a good living. But recently that old wisdom is increasingly under scrutiny. Evidence suggests some college degrees don’t actually pay off, in the sense they will help you get a high-paying, satisfying job, even as the…Read more...

Food waste is a big problem—the United States Department of Agriculture estimates 30% to 40% of our food supply ends up going into the trash, putting unnecessary strain on our land, water, and labor. But even if you’re doing your best not to waste food, are you wasting your food scraps?

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We’ve all felt the impact of inflation this year no matter where in the United States you live—higher gas prices, soaring rent, and spiking utility bills. But how will inflation impact the most sanctified shopping day of the year: Black Friday? Here’s how we expect holiday sales to play out this year—and what…Read more...