Lifehacker

Necessity being the mother of invention and all, it’s not surprising that when the economy turns the screws on people, they tend to get creative about their income sources. When you’re struggling to pay your bills, everything starts to look like an opportunity: You start to price out all that stuff in your garage for…Read more...

A toxic boss can make your work life miserable and cause your mental health to suffer. Working for someone who has a hard time being upfront with you, or who straight-up lies about work-related issues big and small, can leave you either constantly on edge or completely surprised when something goes wrong, like an…Read more...

As the seasons change, variations in humidity and temperature can cause wood to swell or shrink, making wooden doors prone to sticking. Other factors that can cause doors to stick are things like loose hinges, stripped screws, or worn weather stripping. While there’s no universal solution to this problem, there are a…Read more...

Sensory processing disorder (or SPD) is a neurological condition in which someone cannot interpret external or internal stimuli the way a “neurotypical” person would. You know your five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. A person with SPD might not like bright lights, loud sirens, or pungent smells.…Read more...

In today’s busy world of work obligations and family responsibilities, free time can feel like an impossible luxury. You may dream of having long, lazy days to whatever you enjoy. But as enjoyable as all that time may seem, it turns out that there can be too much of a good thing: Too much free time can actually be…Read more...

There’s a reason books about Hitler consistently outsell books about Churchill. As long as it’s kept at arm’s length, abstracted into words or images, and not in our faces or in our houses, evil is way more compelling than good.Read more...

We sometimes get hard, painful, or tender lumps in our muscles. This is pretty common, and we often call them muscle “knots.” Go to a massage therapist and you may be told you have “trigger points” or need “myofascial release.” But is that really what’s going on? The truth is a little more complicated.Read more...

Once all those pretty autumn leaves fall to your yard, they are often treated as a waste product—but these leaves are the beginning of nutrient-rich garden soil, and they make an excellent habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects. Composting your leaves instead of tossing them can save you money on removal and…Read more...

With the exception of corn milk punch, creamy cocktails aren’t really my bag. Adding full-fat dairy to a cup of ethanol can cause some curdling issues, but it’s the heaviness of half & half and cream that make it hard for me to enjoy them. Still, there’s no denying that a hint of creaminess can give a cocktail a more…Read more...

Out of all the purchases we make, there are very few in which haggling to get a better price on the item is acceptable—and most are within the confines of flea markets, antique shows, and estate sales.Read more...

When threatened, some people make inappropriate jokes or act highly confident as defense mechanisms. Skunks, on the other hand, release a foul-smelling spray.Read more...

When it comes to the temperature inside your home, you probably have a decent idea of how warm or cool you need it to be in order to be comfortable, and based on your energy costs, what you can afford. But what about your home’s humidity level? Your thermostat might indicate what it is, but ideally, what should it be?Read more...

For people with sensitive skin, doing laundry can be a challenge. All you’re trying to do is get your clothes clean, but something so seemingly simple can be much harder than it looks.Read more...

As trick-or-treating time approaches, you may have seen reports suggesting that we may face a Halloween candy shortage this year.Read more...

So far, 2022 has been tough on homebuyers. The lack of available housing has sent the prices of the homes that do come on the market soaring. Even traditionally affordable cities and neighborhoods are now out of reach for many people. In fact, the median list price in August was $435,000—a 14% increase from August…Read more...

Horror films aren’t only for October, but if you’re going to release a reboot of Clive Barker’s seminal, franchise-launching, freaky S&M, goopy body horror classic Hellraiser, when else are you going to release it but in the run-up to Halloween? Hulu is doing just that, dropping director David Bruckner’s reimagining…Read more...

Google added a new feature to Chrome for Android that will keep your open Incognito mode tabs hidden away unless they’re unlocked with your fingerprint data. This new feature is similar to the “Privacy Screen” option found in the iPhone versions of Google apps like Google Authenticator, Drive, Fi, and the iOS Google…Read more...

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Buying eyeglasses can feel weirdly similar to buying a new car: Prices are often hidden from you, they cost more than they have any right to—and there are a whole bunch of mysterious upgrades pushed at you. Coatings. I’m talking about coatings: the anti-scratch, anti-glare stuff you can add to your lenses to make your…Read more...

It’s frustrating to take your phone out of your pocket only to realize it’s been on the whole time, draining battery. Pixel owners, in particular, have been complaining about their phones unlocking in their pockets. And while it’s possible that Google will sweep in with a patch in the future, there are a few steps…Read more...

After some 30 films and 16 TV series (depending on how you count them), I am growing numb to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’m no snob, and I still think the movies are fun and that the lore is interesting—I just have trouble caring enough to actually keep pace.

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Last month, the White House announced a sweeping plan to forgive the student loan debt of millions of Americans, canceling up to $10,000 in debt for some borrowers and $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants. If you took out student loans, they have an effect on your credit score no matter what (they are loans,…Read more...

For a while there during the pandemic, TikTok hair gurus were recommending the “no ‘poo” movement, encouraging followers to go without washing for as long as possible to reset the natural balance of oils on their scalp or something like that. (That’s not how it works; hair oils are controlled by hormones, not outside…Read more...

With the Venice Film Festival behind us and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) just wrapping up, film fans are finally getting a clearer picture of the forthcoming movies that are likely be awards-season favorites. Are prestigious awards and film-festival buzz the be-all, end-all when it comes to quality…Read more...

Apple’s iOS 16 brings a host of new features and changes to your iPhone, but it isn’t all for show. A core principle of the company’s mission is privacy, and as such, iOS 16 introduces four new features that should expand your iPhone’s ability to keep your personal information private.

There are 5.3 million podcasts on Spotify. By the time you finish this article, there will be even more. It’s impossible to listen to them all, or to even to know which ones are worth listening to. But I can help—I listen to hours and hours of podcasts everyday, and I have tested heaps of new shows with my own two…Read more...

Traveling for work is one of those things that is exciting in theory but not-so-great in practice, especially for the trips where you spend a bunch of time flying to an exciting destination, only to spend the entire time indoors, staring at pale, windowless walls, drinking bad coffee and eating stale pastries, while…Read more...

When it comes to interior design, you tend to get what you pay for: The expensive-looking rooms you see in magazines and design blogs are, in fact, incredibly expensive. But you don’t necessarily need “hire an interior designer” money to make your home look more expensive. Here are six ways to spruce up your living…Read more...

Cinnamon toast is one of those classics that’s hard to improve upon. It’s got bread, butter, sugar, and cinnamon—what more could you need? Well, according to Jennifer Garner, you need a little heat.Read more...

When you need caffeine, you don’t always have the time or energy to brew a pot of coffee. That’s part of what makes energy drinks so convenient and appealing. But it’s neither convenient nor appealing if they contain metal fragments, and unfortunately, that’s what might be in some ready-to-drink Starbucks beverages…Read more...

Good therapists are out there, and we have some advice on how to find one. You’ll also want to feel out whether the type of therapy your therapist offers is appropriate for the issues you’re going through. But once you’ve gotten through the stage of getting to know each other, you may find yourself wondering: How do I …Read more...

Unpredictability is one of the core challenges of shopping for cannabis. It’s incredibly rare to have a completely custom, controlled experience with weed, and even tougher to duplicate it. To people who don’t already enjoy the herb, these variables can seem too great to navigate, which is why marketing has tried to…Read more...

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there is such thing as a free smart thermostat. Energy companies all over the country are offering rebates to customers that can lower the price of a smart thermostat all the way down to zero, so before you buy an EccoBee on Amazon, check whether you qualify.

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One thing that sets Wordle apart from other games is that you face a grid with no clues whatsoever at the start. You get to make the first move, and gameplay follows from your choices. Your starting word matters—so what do you choose?

I am a fashion-challenged person. My parents trained me to put on pants before leaving the house, but that’s pretty much where my sartorial education stopped. For most of my adult life I have wallowed in fashion confusion, unable to keep track of the rules governing when and where I was allowed to dress a certain way.

Snapchat is the rare social media app that never made the jump from mobile to desktop. Instagram has a web app, WhatsApp has a desktop app, but, until now, you always needed your phone by your side if you wanted to Snap. Starting today, though, you can pick up those conversations on your Mac or PC, whether you’re…Read more...

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain, and I fear I am entering my villain era. Not intentionally, but my brain seems to be gravitating towards stranger and stranger things. Take this dish, which would be considered “a big crime” both by people from the American South and…Read more...

We strongly recommend checkups with your eye doctor and a regular updating of your prescription, but sometimes life gets in the way. You might break or lose your glasses just weeks after your old prescription expired, or you might just want spare glasses or contacts. But to get new glasses or contacts, you usually…Read more...

Gone are the days when having a professional clean your home was a sign that you were rich—like really well-off. With new apps, affordable prices, and so many of us working multiple jobs, hiring a house-cleaner is not only doable, but often necessary. Still, if you’ve never done it, it can be intimidating. What is the…Read more...

Your outfits are awesome. Too awesome, in fact, to hold knowledge of them all inside your head. Posting your OOTDs (outfit of the day) on Insta and TikTok is the traditional way to catalog your daily looks, but, if you have an iPhone running iOS 16, there’s a more effective—not to mention cooler—method you could be…Read more...

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iOS 16 is filled with plenty of major features, but there are smaller changes as well—like the return of your battery percentage, and an option to enable haptic feedback on the stock iPhone keyboard for the first time. But one thing lost in all the news is the addition to Messages’ Filters feature.

The past few years have been incredibly stressful for all of us. From worries about health and safety, to dealing with the death or illness of friends and family, navigating financial hardships due to job loss, or having to constantly adjust for school closures and disruptions in childcare, life has been a nonstop…Read more...

I’m Irish-American, so I should have disdain for the British monarchy from both sides of the hyphen. I had been indifferent my whole life...that is, until Queen Elizabeth II died and the incessant “the Queen is dead” coverage revealed what a bunch of fucking freaks the royal family is. Now I’m obsessed.

The ubiquitous US News college rankings attempt to answer an inherently subjective question—“Where should I go to college?”—with hard numbers. While an admirable goal to some extent, the resulting list is anything but objective, and it certainly should not be make-or-break in your college selection process.

There are many things I wish I’d known before becoming a parent. The incredible volume of Band-Aids that would be wasted. How many photos on my camera roll would be out-of-focus selfies of my toddler’s head. Most of all, the amount of time I’d spend performing mind-numbing logistical acrobatics to manage my family’s…Read more...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently investigating a multi-state E.coli outbreak that has made at least seven people sick—six of whom have been hospitalized. The link between the cases of the foodborne illness appears to be contaminated ground beef from HelloFresh meal kits.Read more...

Whether you like it or not, it is now the norm for kids to have their own iPhones. That can be a terrifying thought: An iPhone is a window into the entirety of the internet through apps, Safari, messaging, what have you. Luckily, your child’s iPhone won’t be that. Instead, you can set things up to make sure their…Read more...