Lifehacker

Whether you’re in the market for tools for yourself, or to give to others as gifts, you’re probably keeping an eye out for sales and special offers—especially over the next week or so. But unfortunately, not all tools sold online are what they say they are.Read more...

Thanksgiving leftovers are more fun to eat than the actual, proper Thanksgiving meal. The leftovers are where you can get creative, inspired, and unhinged. Sandwiches, soup, fried rice, and pot pies are all fine and delicious, but they’re almost as traditional as turkey and dressing. If you’re looking for new and…Read more...

Many people think of their furry, four-legged friends as being part of their family, so it can be hard to leave them for the holidays. But with holiday travel being hectic enough on its own, it’s not always clear whether to add your mutt to the mix.

Not everyone is on the same page when it comes to food allergies and intolerances, and dietary restrictions and preferences, and that’s never more evident than at a holiday meal. While your immediate family may know you’re vegan or lactose intolerant, that’s not necessarily the case with extended family, friends, or…Read more...

Having people over is always more work than you think it’s going to be. Even if you go in with the intention of keeping it casual, there’s usually the moment about a half hour before guests are set to arrive that you realize that your home—which you initially didn’t think was that bad—actually looks pretty sloppy.Read more...

Hopefully, we all know to avoid politics and religion at holiday social occasions where guests of varying ideological and spiritual leanings have gathered, for a good, festive time. But there are plenty of other verboten subjects and lines of questioning from which you should probably steer clear—that is, unless you…Read more...

The line between private and public information has never been more blurred, whether you blame reality TV, social media, or perhaps a global pandemic steadily chipping away at all of our emotional states. Chances are good that at one point or another, you’ve been guilty of oversharing, which the New York Times…Read more...

Dinosaurs have been extinct for over 65 million years, but scientists just can’t let them rest in their colossal graves. Instead, they’re digging up fossils, conducting research, and otherwise changing our understanding of dinosaur biology and culture. Please enjoy these ten newly discovered facts and theories about…Read more...

The word “affair” makes us think of fiery, passionate, physical flings, but not every affair is an in-person tryst. Some are emotional affairs and, unlike their physical counterparts, they can be trickier to identify. Are you getting way too personal with a colleague? Are you making up excuses to see your kid’s cute…Read more...

Sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk are two distinct products, but it’s easy to get them confused. They’re both milk that comes in cans, and they’re usually stocked right next to each other, often with the same cute little cow on the label. Grabbing one when you meant to grab the other is not outside of the…Read more...

This isn’t a post about how to avoid scammers on Black Friday (though, there will be plenty of those, so watch out). It’s about how the whole event is an over-hyped, panic-inducing marketing blitz to which we should not subscribe. (You hear me, Big Retail? I don’t believe those LEGOs will only be $9 off for one day.…Read more...

Home improvement projects can be daunting, both in scale and in cost. But if you’re looking for small ways to make your home more comfortable, more efficient, or safer for you and your guests, you don’t have to go broke. Here are a few of our favorite home improvement projects that will yield big results, even on a…Read more...

We all know that the internet isn’t a “private” place. When you search for something on Google or download a new app, there’s an understanding that some of your data is likely going somewhere. That said, what’s especially creepy about the state of our privacy online is how invisible tracking can be. You can think…Read more...

The weirdest thing about the Peak Streaming Era is that there are TV shows that have been running for years that I, a person who reads entertainment websites for fun and listens to podcasts about TV, have never heard of.Read more...

As much as we may wax nostalgic about what the holidays were like for us growing up, being a parent during this time of the year isn’t exactly easy. There’s the nonstop sugar, the disruptions to your child’s schedule, the heightened anticipation about presents, and all the other overstimulating festivities.

This article from the BBC made me feel so relieved at my loathing of altruists that I can finally say what most of us have been thinking: Selfless people are the absolute worst.

Although Black Friday isn’t the be-all-end-all shopping day it once was, for some people, hitting the stores at the stroke of midnight, after downing a plate of Thanksgiving leftovers, has become a tradition.

For many of us, Thanksgiving is centered around a huge meal. But let’s say you don’t feel like spending much, if any, time in the kitchen and would rather be on the couch watching TV with takeout. Or maybe your food prep doesn’t go quite as planned and you need a last-minute backup dinner. Or you’ve realized you…Read more...

It’s always the little things that make me snap. A spouse breathing too loudly, a dish left in the sink, a stranger’s bad parking job: Suddenly my whole day is ruined, and everyone I know is lucky enough to be subjected to my Larry David-like rants.

After a holiday season during which many of us stayed close to home (ahem, 2020), Thanksgiving 2021 is expected to be busy for travel of all kinds. That means highways and airports are likely to be more crowded than at any time in recent memory, and delays and disruptions are inevitable.Read more...

The biggest eating holiday of the year is upon us. You’ve brainstormed the menu, shopped for sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and thawed the turkey. (You have thawed the turkey, right?) With all the fanfare and preparation around the main event, it’s easy to give short shrift to the canvas that will display the…Read more...

When it came to coffee, for ages I was a milk and “Sugar in the Raw” girl. Just one packet at most, or ideally half a packet—but that was the absolute minimum amount of crystals required to make it palatable. (Before that, I vacillated between Sweet ‘n Low and Splenda, two artificial alternatives I was never happy…Read more...

Even when you’re not feeling your hottest, your partner in a good relationship is still attracted to you. It can feel unbelievable, but it’s true. It doesn’t matter if you’re feeling uneasy about your looks, if you’re going through a sad period, or you have a health issue—there are plenty of reasons you might feel…Read more...

Everyone knows that a chef’s kiss-worthy pie crust requires cold butter, which is why most recipes recommend chilling the dough twice: Once after mixing, and again after assembling the pie. The downside is that rolling out cold dough sucks, so you’ll have to wait for it to warm up first (or smack it around a little), …Read more...

There’s never a bad time to apply for a new job, but updating your resume can begin to feel like a big task (especially if you’re already overworked). If you’ve got a LinkedIn profile though, you can use what you’ve already written to build and customize a strategic resume, as well as speed up your application…Read more...

I am too dumb to figure out “analytics” but I suspect “what wine pairs with turkey?” is an oft-Googled search term this time of year. Pinot and Beaujolais are popular options but they are, in my highly valued opinion, not the best bottles to bring to a Thanksgiving or other seasonally festive dinner. That distinction…Read more...

We currently have more broadcast and cable networks and streaming services that any one person or household or possibly small village could possibly watch, and all of them are desperate for content. That means that shows come and go faster than they used to, but it also means there’s more hope than ever that your…Read more...

Feeling our feelings—contrary to long-held popular opinion that it is somehow weak—is remarkably hard work. Which is why we engage in frequent avoidance techniques so we don’t have to feel them: drinking, binge-eating, gambling, and staying excessively busy, to name a few. But as it turns out, learning how to feel (…Read more...

Inadequate as I am to properly articulate what loss feels like, I turn to the poets. So in the words Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.” I am, of course, talking about…Read more...

Considering that it’s one of the few things unaffected by supply chain issues, you might be want to consider gifting friends and family cryptocurrency for the holidays this year. Of course, cryptocurrencies are risky investments due to their volatility, so you’d have to be comfortable with crypto as a “fun” gift that…Read more...

Netflix apparently doesn’t want you to go outside again before 2022, given how much stuff they’re cramming onto their service in December: with new seasons of past breakouts, star-studded original films, comedy specials, and so much reality TV, who needs reality? Reality is depressing!Read more...

Is your Roku giving you issues? Maybe you sat down to watch some HBO Max, or started looking forward to Hawkeye on Disney+, but something’s wrong with your Roku. As the holiday breaks approaches, we’re all going to have more time to spend watching TV, but you won’t be able to enjoy it if your Roku apps don’t work.…Read more...

In a simpler, more innocent time, limiting screen time was cited by many parents as one of their major parenting concerns. In a 2019 Pew Research Center poll, 71% of parents with a child under the age of 12 said they were concerned about the amount of time their kids spent in front of a screen.

There is no rule that says you have to be with family during the holiday season, but it feels like there is. There are loads of reasons you might find yourself flying solo on Thanksgiving. Maybe your family is toxic. Maybe you don’t have the money to fly home. Maybe you’re burned out and want a year off from all the…Read more...

There’s a little game I like to play sometimes, and it seems to be popular with other folks who tend to work out at home: What equipment would I buy if I were starting a new home gym from scratch? Or you can play the advanced version: if you already have (insert common items here), what would you buy next?

The holidays approaching, which means if you have kids and a mailbox, the latter is filling up daily with toy and children’s clothing catalogs. While witnessing your kids’ unbridled excitement at paging through them may generate nostalgia-fueled forgiveness of this influx of direct marketing, such holiday catalogs, if …Read more...

Being a Thanksgiving guest is an easier gig than being a Thanksgiving host, but the best guests always contribute in some fashion. Bringing a side dish the most classic move (bringing a bottle of wine is a close second), but there are lots of practical, non-edible things you can bring if you find yourself invited to a…Read more...

We’re surrounded with loaded language. Whether it’s mass media, politics, or the people around us, someone is always trying to use words and phrases to support their agenda and to change our minds in bad faith.

High intensity interval training packs a hard workout into a short period of time, which makes it sound like it should be an efficient, superior way to work out. But HIIT doesn’t have as many advantages as we’re led to believe, and often steady-state cardio is the better option. Let’s look at a few factors to keep in…Read more...

As I’ve mentioned previously, my 2021 Thanksgiving guest list is chockfull vegans, vegetarians, people with dairy allergies, and the lactose intolerant. I am none of those things. I love butter, I love cream, and I love animal fats—but I also love a challenge, so I have been enthusiastically tweaking my recipes to…Read more...

My favorite game to play over the holidays is one in which I am my own competitor, testing my own limits, pushing myself to see how much food I can eat without putting myself in a position of serious discomfort. How do I win? Well, it’s a delicate game that involves careful strategy (and Lactaid). Still, I am not…Read more...

Much as how The Wheel of Time was the result of Jeff Bezos really, really wanting Amazon Prime Video to have its own Game of Thrones, December’s original film offering Being the Ricardos (Dec. 21) seems the answer to his request that an Amazon-produced film bring home a Best Actress Oscar.Read more...

After weeks of preparation and planning, we are just days away from cooking The Bird, as well as all the other sides and pies required by the holiday. I, for one, am excited.

‘Tis the season to gather, make merry, and peace out early so you can get into your fleece Snuggie and watch Money Heist before bed? While this may not be the official motto of the holiday season, it sure is for me. I love mingling, toasting, and being festive—up to a point. And that point is usually well before the…Read more...

When you pick up your AirPods or your Beats, you expect them to play your favorite music, podcasts, movies, and more. What you might not expect to hear are random, unexplained alert tones. These sounds can be distracting and confusing, and can affect the way your headphones and earbuds function. Here’s what these…Read more...

In early 2003, it seemed like The Matrix was poised to become the next Star Wars—a sci-fi franchise with enough fan enthusiasm and in-universe lore to endure for decades. The first film, a box office hit in 1999 that only became more popular on DVD (becoming one of the first “must-own” titles and arguably, and…Read more...

As console game prices keep heading north, preordering games or buying them on launch date makes less and less financial sense. Especially when the same game could be available for 30% or more off the list price in a few months—by which point those game-breaking bugs will also have been fixed. If you’ve been feeling…Read more...

Traditionally, Mac’s window management features have lagged behind Microsoft Windows. And with Windows 11's new Snap Layouts feature, it might seem like Windows is racing forwards yet again—but that’s not entirely the case. The Mac offers pretty good window management features; they’re just not as obvious as the…Read more...

Oven resource management is one of the hardest parts of cooking a Thanksgiving meal. If you’re fresh out of oven space and still have one pie left to bake, it’s only natural to start making eyes at your trusty countertop convection oven. “After all, why not?” you may ask yourself. “Why shouldn’t I bake a pie in my air…Read more...

Over time, a vehicle goes through a lot—between things breaking under the hood, scratches and dents on the body, and wear and tear on the interior. This includes rips and holes in the seats, which can happen regardless of whether they’re made out of fabric, leather, or vinyl.Read more...