Lifehacker

When my daughter decided she wanted to give her brother a homemade tie-dye shirt for his birthday, my first thought was Cool! What’s better than a hand-made gift? My subsequent thoughts included: But how the hell do you do tie-dye? How much time do we need? That sounds messy.

Getting a toddler to eat anything other than chicken nuggets and French fries can feel like a superhuman, almost mythical feat of parenting. Sure, you know they should be eating a healthier, more well-balanced diet, which all the Instagram parenting “experts” would have you believe is totally possible right up until…Read more...

The White House announced on Monday that tens of millions of American households will now be eligible for subsidized high-speed internet, thanks to the creation of the Affordable Connectivity Program, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Biden administration has secured commitments from 20 of the country’s…Read more...

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Getting your gardening equipment in shape for summer sometimes includes replacing a hose that froze and cracked over the winter, or has sprung a leak. If you have an old hose you need to replace, don’t simply toss it—there are lots of uses for hose material besides carrying water. Here are some ways you can up-cycle…Read more...

For five seasons (and counting), Selling Sunset has been a solid performer for Netflix, evolving from a reality show ostensibly about the high-power, high-profit world of big-money real estate in Los Angeles to a veritable meme factory filled with pretty people fighting over nothing in particular and occasionally…Read more...

As we’ve mentioned before, dental floss has many practical uses beyond getting crud out from between your teeth. You can use it as thread, a stand-in for picture-hanging wire, and to support “climbers” in your garden. This pillar of proper oral hygiene can also cleanly and effectively slice certain soft foods—minus…Read more...

If modern life is defined by anything, it’s stuff. We all have a lot of it, and we will acquire more of it. The moment you move into your first grown-up apartment, you start to experience firsthand how stuff just creeps into your living space, eating up your shelves and your drawers and eventually spilling out into…Read more...

Pop culture-themed weddings may seem cool in theory, but can be so unbearably wack in practice. Forcing your friends and family to LARP through a ceremony and reception is almost cruel, especially when you remember they’re likely already spending money just to be there on your big day. Unfortunately, there’s been a…Read more...

Yesterday (May 10) was Microsoft’s “Patch Tuesday,” and it’s not one to be ignored. The new system update patches 75 Windows security vulnerabilities, including three zero-day flaws—one of which has been actively exploited, making it imperative you safeguard your computer as soon as possible.

Buying a home in the current market requires every competitive advantage, and when you’re battling it out with other prospective buyers, it seems like there’s not a moment to waste. That means attending open houses and showings rain or shine.

Dip can be a meal, a snack, even a party theme. Dip is a perfect food, and dipping things into dip and then putting them into your mouth is the perfect food delivery system. Dips needn’t be complicated; plain sour cream can be a dip, especially if you eat it with a flavored chip. But there are three ingredients that…Read more...

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We’re officially entering into a period of collective belt-tightening as the economy is going through some stuff. Everything suddenly seems more expensive, wages aren’t exactly shooting up across the board, and old-school money-saving techniques are springing from the depths of our memories. But what if you’ve cut all…Read more...

Nonstick pans are useful kitchen items. Our senior food and beverage editor Claire Lower won’t cook an over-easy egg or a thin pancake without one. But do you need to worry about the coating being bad for your health? Not exactly, but it’s important to know how to handle a nonstick pan properly.Read more...

Yakamein is a fascinating dish. Believed to be a fusion of Chinese and/or Korean and Creole cuisine, the beef noodle soup has often been referred to as New Orleans’ “best kept secret,” or at least it was until the late Anthony Bourdain featured Chef Linda Green on an episode of No Reservations. I was born and…Read more...

Thanks to its convenience, precooked chicken breasts have become a lunchtime (and dinnertime) staple, allowing people to add some lean protein to their meal without the hassle of cooking meat. And of all meats, chicken breasts in particular have to be carefully monitored to ensure that they reach a temperature of 165…Read more...

Everyone has awful days, sad days, and even terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, but depression is a mental illness classified as persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or lack of interest. The pandemic saw an uptick in this disorder—the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) says 21 million adults…Read more...

Are you constantly worried about dropping your phone or it getting stolen? Maybe you already pay out of pocket each month for cell phone insurance, which at least gives you peace of mind. But you might be spending money on something your credit card will give you for free.Read more...

Flying coach in 2022 is an annoying and wallet-emptying experience. Depending on which airline you fly, you may have to pay for everything from WiFi and headphones to apple juice and the privilege of advance seat selection. And it’s a rare flight indeed when you can get away without paying any baggage fees, whether…Read more...

It’s that time of year again: Google is ready to make some announcements, and what better way to do so than using its famous Google I/O platform. The conference is about to get underway, and we’re ready to see what new features might be announced for Android 13, whether we finally get to see the Pixel Watch (not left…Read more...

Planning your garden can be a challenge when it comes to weighing both form and function, but you don’t have to choose between a flower garden and an edible one. You can get the best of both worlds by planting an edible flower garden, which is perfect for adding a splash of color to your plate, as well as your yard.Read more...

The ever-volatile cryptocurrency is currently experiencing some of its patented volatility. Bitcoin has reached a ten-month low, falling below $33,000 for the first time since July of 2021, down 50% from its peak price. As of this writing, the price of one Bitcoin is hovering around $30,000—but even at half of its…Read more...

More than 50 million Americans are expected to try online dating at some point this year, and most of them will be bad at it. It’s hard for many people to reduce themselves to a few pictures and lines of text, but the urge to connect with other people is strong enough that they’ll try anyway—and end up being brutally…Read more...

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal initiative designed to help low-income Americans access more food. Formerly (and still casually) known as the “food stamps” program, there is often confusion around what SNAP can be used to purchase. There are the things you’d expect, like fruits,…Read more...

There are two types of people in the world. The type who thoughtlessly store their toothbrushes out in the open, in the same bathroom that harbors a fecal-matter-spewing toilet (gross, right?), and the type who takes pains to cover their toothbrushes when not in use, and even periodically disinfect them in the…Read more...

Recently a family in Kentucky has found itself in the center of controversy for allowing their 6-year-old son to participate in the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati last Saturday. Many were put off by the idea of a child that young running a distance that long, questioning if it was safe for his health. Before we…Read more...

Over the last few decades an increasing amount of our lives has been moved online. With the advent of social media and cloud storage, things that were once analog or physical have become digital. In most ways, this is terrific: we can share and communicate effortlessly, creation has become simpler and more powerful,…Read more...

Properly caramelized onions—deep, sweet, and soft—cannot be rushed. You can cheat with a little sugar and baking soda, but if you’re a purist, you’re going to be hanging out at that pan for at least 45 minutes, probably more. While you’re there, you might as well make a lot, and freeze the leftovers.

The wine world is famously mystifying. Legs? Tannins? Why is everyone slurping? So it makes sense that when it comes to caring for your wine glasses, a lot of people have a lot of different opinions. In fact, when you look up the best methods to clean wine glasses, you might find more questions than answers. Different…Read more...

Think about the tech in your life. Your phone, full of messages and photos; your computer, a perfectly balanced chaos of work and entertainment; your game console, with half-played games maxing out the internal storage. Your tech is well-used, and that’s a good thing. Now, delete it. Nuke your hard drives. Reset all…Read more...

While looking into the best free route-building tools for cyclists and runners, I couldn’t help but lament the fate of Strava’s Route Builder. Long a favorite feature of the social app, the route builder gave runners and cyclists ability to create and customize routes before setting out. Tragically, this feature moved…Read more...

If you have parented children—especially young ones—during the past two years of the pandemic, you are likely feeling, shall we say, tired. All parents have felt the enormous stress of trying to raise decent, well-adjusted humans while fear and isolation skyrocketed, the structures and resources we rely on became…Read more...

Summer is on its way, but the weather here in the PNW is doing its hardest to convince me otherwise. Constant drizzle punctuated by torrential downpours, grey skies, and hail of all sizes are the consistent, oppressive norm. The only evidence the seasons are changing is found in the produce aisle. Spring alliums,…Read more...

The amount of Americans flying has finally returned back to its pre-pandemic numbers, which means that on any given day, there are nearly two million people in the sky mindlessly scrolling through whatever apps still work on airplane mode. A handful of airlines are doing their part to create a better flying…Read more...

We live in an advanced consumerist society, which means the vacuum, like all other products, has reached a high level of product differentiation. Which is to say, there are a lot of different kinds of vacuums out there. If you’re not the type to casually read vacuum reviews and cleaning strategies, you might find…Read more...

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Most of us are surrounded by flammable objects that we willingly paid for. Be it smartphones, laptops, or literally any gadget that has a battery, they’re all vulnerable to catching fire. (Samsung Note 7, anyone?) Your devices are unlikely to catch fire and explode without warning, but you should understand when…Read more...

As we all know, some password options are obviously better than others—starting with a trusted password manager. Sure, Apple users can get away with using the built-in password manager, as it’s secure and supports two-factor authentication; and there’s nothing inherently wrong with storing your passwords in something…Read more...

Pokémon is one of Nintendo’s cash cows. Sword and Shield are among the best-selling games of the Switch, which itself is one of the best-selling systems in video game history. So when a rare sale on Pokémon games comes around, you better be on top of it.

When it comes to our health, we like definitive answers—there’s a lot on the line, after all. We are constant victims of personal biases, and we should be most skeptical of the things we’re most sure of—but we can’t necessarily look to others for the truth either. Crowdsourced conventional wisdom about health doesn’t…Read more...

Ugh, here it comes. You feel kind of hot and sticky. Your stomach churns. Your mouth tastes funny. You know you’re going to throw up—imminently. Can you stop it before it happens? Or at least make it less terrible than it needs to be? Whether you’re battling morning sickness, food poisoning, or a stomach virus, here’s…Read more...

So you’re sneezing and rubbing your eyes this allergy season. Who isn’t? Allergies are common enough that many of us can manage our symptoms with over-the-counter medications and avoidance strategies like spending less time outdoors on days with a high pollen count. But when are allergies bad enough that you should…Read more...

Turns out, the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding was right. Windex can do way more than just make your windows spotless. (But don’t spray it directly on your skin—he was wrong about that part.)Read more...

If you and your partner ready to start a family, you might be wondering what you can do to increase your chances of getting pregnant sooner rather than later. From taking care of your own health to the timing (and position) of sex, here’s what you need to know as you start trying to conceive.Read more...

Your iPhone is water-resistant, and its IP68 rating means it can survive a swim in up to six meters of water for as long as 30 minutes and things should still be fine. In theory. (This doesn’t mean you should use your phone as an underwater camera; if water does make its way inside, you’ll still face a huge repair…Read more...

If you have a tough time taking care of your business in a public restroom, you’re not alone. According to the International Paruresis Association, an estimated twenty-one million Americans suffer from paruresis, or what is colloquially known as “shy bladder syndrome.” People who suffer from paruresis find it…Read more...

Have you ever been in the middle of composing a text message and scrolled through the emoji selection only to find that the one you need to express your emotion or situation seemingly doesn’t exist? If so—or if you simply have a great idea for a new emoji—now’s your chance: Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit…Read more...

For those new to composting, figuring out what goes in and what to leave out can be daunting. And if you’re composting, chances are you’re also doing other things in your yard, like gardening or landscaping—which means you’re dealing with weeds.Read more...

Even before the pandemic changed the way we work and what we want out of a job and a workplace, people were opting to leave their 9-5s and going freelance in increasing numbers.Read more...