Lifehacker

Flexible spending accounts are the shit. It’s pre-tax dollars you set aside through your employee benefits to cover medical expenses, primarily. You can polish off co-pays and meet your deductibles with it, and you can pay for medications and other health-related essentials—all without denting your checking account. …Read more...

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Whatever you think of the so-called “Great Resignation”—a trend some believe actually started well before the pandemic, and others think doesn’t actually exist—many working people are currently planning to make a career change. What’s more, according to a recent Bloomberg article, this is a smart move, as some experts…Read more...

Even if you’ve never heard the term “executive function,” you may be painfully aware of how important it is for everyday life. Executive functioning is often described as the management system of the brain: This is the portion responsible for planning, prioritizing and executing tasks.Read more...

When the last episode of Game of Thrones aired, the audience response was as brutal and exacting as trial by combat with the Mountain—the hot takes not only killed the show’s online reputation, they crushed its head and gouged out its eyes. Ever since, the internet at large has held a grudge like Cirsei, the general…Read more...

Miniature meatballs are undeniably charming. Whether they’re beef, turkey, Impossible meat, or covered in grape jelly—I love them all. They come in big, glorious batches, and eating several at a time is highly encouraged. In fact, the servings are pleasantly deceptive. Eating eight ounces of Swedish meatballs is much…Read more...

The last few years have been one wild ride for most everyone, with just about every aspect of our lives transformed in ways great and small. This kind of chaos is hard enough when you’re flush with cash, but when money gets tight, inflation soars, and an emergency suddenly presents an enormous bill for you to pay,…Read more...

It’s a classic tale that plays out in rom-coms and, often enough, in real life: Two people are friends, their feelings deepen, there’s some will-they-or-won’t-they tension, and they end up together. If you’ve ever crushed on a friend, here’s some guidance on turning things romantic—but understand that every…Read more...

As we all await the horrible heat wave that will burn our flesh and destroy our crops, young people are trying to appease the Sun God by putting Pink Sauce all over their food, playing a game where you’re a cat, and intentionally inflicting period cramps on themselves.

Animals can teach us many things—how to chill out and not worry about anything, how to taste delicious when grilled correctly—but maybe the most important lessons we can learn from our fellow creatures are about parenting.

Apple’s headlining iOS 16 feature stares you in the face every time you pick up your iPhone: For the first time ever, you can customize your iPhone’s Lock Screen, and boy, is it a welcome change. You can even set multiple Lock Screens for different purposes or times of day, each with different wallpapers and widgets…Read more...

People still like to filter their searches through Reddit because it’s an old-school holdover from the hairier days of the Internet in the sense that it’s still driven almost exclusively by real people—people who are genuinely interested in a subject and want to discuss it. With a refreshing lack of influencers, paid…Read more...

When I visited a friend in India a few summers back, I wanted to cram as much tourist-y stuff into each day as possible. My friend, however, had a key piece of insight. They pointed out to me how, for most of the afternoon each day, the only people you’d see out and about were foreigners.

Working out in the heat can be miserable—which is why you already know to do outdoor exercise in the early morning or late evening, stay hydrated, and all that other good stuff. But what if you have the safety angle covered and you’re willing to brave the heat? Here are our top picks for ways to stay active when it’s…Read more...

Back in the day, phone keyboards were actual keyboards. When you typed, you had to press physical keys, which provided tactile feedback as you texted away. Touch screens changed all that; now, we tap on unyielding slabs of glass. If you keep your iPhone on silent, you won’t even have the sound of fake keyboard clicks…Read more...

Heavy whipping cream is a fantastic liquid. Even un-whipped, it can add cold, creamy luxury to a bowl of berries or seasonal stone fruit, and whipping only heightens the experience. But aerating cream isn’t the only thing you can do make it feel luxurious. You can take it even further with a few choice, unexpected…Read more...

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Living without an air conditioner in the summer is miserable, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t misery associated with having one, either. The necessary devices require maintenance and care, but even with proper upkeep, there is one gross thing about them that seems inevitable: They’re wet. And they drip. And…Read more...

Prunes are mistreated. We don’t treat other dried fruits with nearly the same kind of blatant disrespect. OK, their high fiber content might make you poop, but since when was this a bad thing? It’s time to embrace the dried plum for what it is: an enjoyable treat that’s packing nutrients and sweetness in a single…Read more...

Let me be the first to point this out: It’s too hot. With many areas of the country suffering through excessive heat warnings, it’s crucial to make sure your air conditioner runs as effectively as possible. This is assuming, of course, you already took the steps to get your AC unit ready to run all summer long. After…Read more...

Alien abductions aren’t in the zeitgeist they were in the ‘90s, when The X-Files propelled little green (or gray) men into the pop culture mainstream. The age of the cell phone has highlighted the dubiousness of the idea that flying saucers are constantly buzzing the earth on the hunt for human rectums to probe: with…Read more...

A lot of advice about how to deal with tantrums says the first step is to remain calm yourself—that losing your cool when dealing with your kid will not make the tantrum go away and will actually make things worse. A small problem, though, is sometimes it feels impossible to stay calm when the person in front of you…Read more...

MultiVersus is Smash Bros. if Nintendo had the license to the most iconic non-video game characters of the last few decades that also happen to be owned by Warner Bros. The vagaries of IP law aside, any brawler that lets you pit Batman against Arya Stark is offering a unique experience. If you’re interested in…Read more...

I took a botany class once, which involved a literal field trip: walking around a wildflower meadow for hours in the summer heat. There was no shade, no breeze, just sweltering misery. But when my carpool partner and I got back to the car, I had a surprise: I had packed an insulated lunchbox with an ice pack, and a…Read more...

A home equity line of credit—or HELOC for those of us who like sounding smart—is a fantastic financial tool. If you’ve heard the old line about how paying rent is throwing your money away but paying off a mortgage builds towards something, a HELOC is an aspect of that: Once you’ve built up equity in your home…Read more...

Not all recipe testing turns out the way you expect it to. Sometimes you want cake, and instead you end up with a new type of muffin. Although I could regale you with a few surefire ways to not turn pudding cups into cakes, I thought a great little muffin tip might be more helpful. For a textural boost on a breakfast…Read more...

As the weather heats up in the back half of summer and you do whatever you can to keep out of the heat, it’s easy to forget some of the essential tasks that will keep your plants plugging away well into fall. But trimming hedges and perennials, pruning your herb garden, and watering and mulching right now will help…Read more...

It’s summertime, so naturally you’re looking for fun things to do outdoors with your partner—and camping is one of those pastimes that not only gets you outside but also provides time and space to connect deeply with each other. But camping is also one of those activities that can go sideways quickly (Mother Nature…Read more...

Just about everyone in the gaming world (and their cats) are enjoying cyberpunk-meets-kitty-cat video game Stray, but it’s not the only game that lets you play as a realistic animal. The sub-genre dates back to the early days of gaming and includes all kinds of animals, from mischievous geese and terrifying sharks to…Read more...

“Where do you get your ideas?” is a question I get fairly often, and one I do not have one answer for. Some of them, like duck fat magic shell, come from my weird little brain; some of them, like cucumber spaghetti, are inspired by the work of others; and some of them are straight up suggestions that I try and taste,…Read more...

If you lift heavy weights, you’ll get stronger. That’s the principle of progressive overload in a nutshell. As you get stronger, you need to lift heavier weights to keep getting stronger. The numbers go up and up forever, like Milo of Croton carrying a calf every day until he was able to carry a full-grown bull. Or do…Read more...

Storage management is a chore, no matter the context. Google Photos is no exception: While the service once allowed unlimited photo backups, Google now counts all new photos and videos against your overall storage limits, regardless of their quality. That poses a problem for all users, but especially for those on…Read more...

Reconnecting with an old friend you’ve lost touch with might sound like a challenge, but a recent study says it might be worth the effort. According to new research published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the science actually says you should. You might think…Read more...

Cybersecurity researchers at Zscaler ThreatLabz discovered yet another batch of Android malware that was openly available on the Google Play Store and downloaded by hundreds of thousands of users before it was removed. This group includes dozens of apps that hid three major malware strains: Joker, Facestealer, and…Read more...

While every month of Netflix arrivals includes a little something for everyone, the most obviously anticipated August release is the big-budget, star-studded adaption of Neil Gaiman’s seminal comic The Sandman (Aug. 5). The cast features Tom Sturridge, Jenna Coleman, Gwendoline Christie, Taron Egerton, as well as the…Read more...

I love putting powders on popcorn, whether the powder is of the cheese persuasion, or simply fine, pulverized salt. So when I saw this Cook’s Illustrated article about caper (and miso and scallion) powder, I did not think of rice or vegetables or chicken or fish—I thought only of popcorn. But caper popcorn was not…Read more...

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Parechovirus isn’t a new virus, but it is the subject of a recent CDC health alert due to a possible uptick of cases in infants. The virus can cause serious illness in very young babies. So how worried do parents need to be?Read more...

Potato dishes are a year-round staple. In the summer, various potato salads and low-country boils steal the show. During the colder months, we snuggle up to warm mounds of mashed potatoes and cheesy gratins. The practice of prepping spuds and storing them in the fridge the night before might be convenient, but it can…Read more...

Usually the whole point of making a new installment in a long-running franchise is to cash in on the name recognition, so consider me confused as to why Hulu is hiding the fact that they are releasing a new spinoff of the 1987 sci-fi horror classic Predator by calling it, simply, Prey.

Samsung wants you to buy its new stuff, as all companies do. What’s interesting about Samsung’s latest tactic, however, is the company’s offer to hand potential customers up to $200 in savings in order to buy its new stuff—and there’s no commitment required to qualify. If you’re even thinking about picking up a new…Read more...

Is Microsoft Teams slowing your Mac down to a crawl? You’re not alone. The app is so bloated that even people with M1 Macs have seen their machines become almost unusable. Quitting Teams fixes the problem, but if you need to use the app for work, we’ve got a couple of workarounds for you.

Job search anxiety is painful enough. Then there’s the gut-wrenching process of constantly checking your inbox, finally seeing an email from a prospective employer, trying and failing to keep your hopes in check, only to open it and read, “We regret to inform you...” or the dreaded, “You were a great candidate. …Read more...

Alternative flours aren’t going anywhere, nor should they. As tradition would have it, alternative ingredients are stupid…until they’re the best thing ever. Oat products fall in line with that trend: It’s finishing its hater-stage, and now there are loads of recipes that use oat flour instead of wheat flour. You can…Read more...

Joy-Cons are great for what they are, but they have some big faults. Aside from their infamous drifting issues, the controllers are less than ideal to hold, especially if you have large hands, and have tiny buttons that make precise gameplay difficult. The Switch Pro Controller fixes many of those issues. At $70, it’s…Read more...

By now, you’ve probably heard that the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline recently got a new, three-digit phone number: 988. For understandable reasons, this easier-to-remember code has gotten a major media push as advocates seek to make sure anyone who needs the lifeline will have the three digits top of mind in…Read more...

When the COVID-19 vaccines first became available, some people noticed unexpected menstrual bleeding after they received their vaccines. Some trans men were among those affected, which has got to be weird as hell if you thought you were done having periods and then all of a sudden you start menstruating.Read more...

Despite constantly hearing about all the benefits, it’s hard to actually get into meditation. Many people who try to meditate feel as if they failed. I’m one of those people. What do you mean you’re supposed to “clear your mind?” That’s where I keep all my thoughts!

We’re rapidly reaching the point where 1080p PC gaming is considered “outdated,” and many players are looking to upgrade. Most people likely assume 4K is the natural next step; that was the upgrade path for most TV owners, after all. However, 4K monitors are more expensive and harder to come by than 4K TVs, so many PC…Read more...

Tech moves fast. New products hit the shelves each year, each bigger and better than the ones that came before. Unless you resell all of your devices before buying a new one, it’s likely you have at least one old smartphone or tablet gathering dust at the bottom of your junk drawer. It doesn’t have to, though: Older…Read more...