Lifehacker

Once you’ve set up your brand new Mac, or done a clean install of macOS on your machine, you can save yourself a lot of time by automating the app install and update process. If you’ve ever used Ninite on Windows, we’re going to show you how to use its alternatives for Mac.

The days when we all thought ebooks were going to make print a thing of the past are long gone—while ebooks remain popular, people still love the feel of a printed book. But many book lovers have an ereader as well, and a good percentage of those are Amazon Kindles.

With utility bills on the rise, you may be looking for ways to save on energy costs for heating and cooling your home. While there are all kinds of expensive improvements you can make to cut your monthly bill, weatherstripping is a cheap and simple step you can take to make a difference in how much energy you use…Read more...

With the Windows 11 update, Microsoft’s Windows Store experiment is finally gaining some steam. But not every app is available on the Microsoft Store Preview. If you’re setting up a new Windows PC, or want to create a workflow that will update all your apps with one click (not just Microsoft Store apps), there are…Read more...

If you’re looking for an online version of a yard sale, chances are Facebook Marketplace has been your go-to hub in recent years. But there’s some growing competition on the block: Nextdoor. Both platforms are popular, localized alternatives to marketplaces like Craigslist or eBay, which have a wider reach but are…Read more...

Ask five people with dogs how often they wash their pet’s food bowl, and you’ll probably get five different answers. While there are likely several reasons for this, one is that despite the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued hygiene protocols on dog food dish contamination, not many…Read more...

There are probably certain goods or services that you’ve been purchasing on a regular basis for years, if not decades. And over time, you’ve likely become familiar with how much these things cost, and, in turn, whether something is inexpensive, overpriced, or seems about right.Read more...

Wasps have a public relations problem. Sure, there are probably plenty of people out there who aren’t big fans of bees—especially if they’ve had an allergic reaction to being stung by one—but ultimately, most would make their feelings known with the caveat that they realize that bees are important for pollination and…Read more...

Last weekend we talked about home bathroom sizes—as in, what you get in a half-bath versus a 3/4-bath or a full-bath. And while that information is necessary for decoding that terminology in real estate listings, there’s another part that isn’t exactly straightforward either: The total number of bathrooms in a home.Read more...

One of the perks of living in a major city like New York is having access to cultural institutions like the New York Public Library (NYPL). Even if you’re not really into books, a visit to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the library’s flagship location (aka the one with the two lions out front), is worth it for…Read more...

When it comes to cutting your grass, you have several options (including not planting and maintaining a traditional American lawn to begin with). The decision may be easier for those with larger yards, as using anything other than a tractor is going to be pretty time consuming.Read more...

If there’s a better way to spend time than smoking weed and playing video games, I’m never going to know about it because I’m too busy smoking weed and playing video games.Read more...

Let’s talk about free speech: It is, after all, our constitutional right to talk about whatever we want, but since the Constitution imposes few limits on what we can say, people say inaccurate things all the time—including about the First Amendment. Let’s clear some of that up since we’re, you know, allowed to.

I thought Waffle was unique: six Wordles in a grid, solvable in 10 to 15 guesses. But after I wrote about it, reader Carl Knecht tweeted that “Waffle gives you the letters, Squardle makes you work for [them].”Read more...

Terminal on your Mac can do some surprisingly useful things, such as check your internet’s speed, change which kinds of apps you see in the dock, and help you shut down your Mac at a scheduled time. There are also some features that can only be accessed using Terminal, so if you haven’t bothered using it much until now…Read more...

Over the approximately 18 years it takes to raise a child from infancy to a person somewhat ready for life outside your protective bubble, you (and other relatives, friends, and neighbors alike) will make all kinds of mistakes. We speak so many words throughout those two decades that some of them are bound to be…Read more...

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I love a good theme park. Take a lot of stuff that people enjoy but can’t replicate easily on their own (enormous thrill rides, disgustingly delicious junk food, and bored teens in elaborate costumes) and put it all in one place for easy enjoyment—what’s not to like? Especially as, once the domain of children and…Read more...

If you think you’re experiencing deja vu after reading this headline, you’re not: Google has reported another zero-day vulnerability affecting Chrome, and, by extension, all of its users. Luckily, there’s now a patch: Google issued a security report Thursday, April 14, stating the company had updated Chrome to a new…Read more...

When it comes to kitchen appliances, we typically don’t think of refrigerators posing the biggest threat to our safety. (We’re looking at you, stove.) But recently, owners of six GE refrigerator models have had a different experience, thanks to a faulty freezer handle that detaches when used.Read more...

April is nostalgia month at HBO Max, with the streamer premiering two new crime dramas that seem to be striving to recapture the grit, style, and cultural relevance of...a pair of old crime dramas. But the biggest news is that The Batman finally has a premiere date on the streaming service.

If you’re a weed beginner about to celebrate your first 4/20, you’d be forgiven for thinking dabbing is just a dated dance craze. Outside of cannabis culture, dabs are rather obscure. That is likely to change as cannabis creeps into the mainstream, as the culture and benefits of dabbing are part of its potent…Read more...

If you’re desperately trying to stay afloat in the churning ocean of information and ephemera that young people seem to swim in so effortlessly, please enjoy my meager attempt at a life raft. This week, a killer from OnlyFans bobbed to the surface, as did a perplexing hand gesture, an alternative use for pregnancy…Read more...

Twitter has had the ability to add alt text to your images for years, but if you don’t use a screen reader, you probably weren’t able to read what anybody else’s alt text says. Recently, though, the “ALT” icon began appearing in the corner of images, and now anyone can tap it to see the alt text for an image. So what…Read more...

Easter is weird.

A good grilled cheese is one of life’s simplest and most indulgent pleasures. It’s got a low ingredient count; all you need is bread, cheese, and some sort of fat, but those variables can all be manipulated to create very different sandwiches.Read more...

The family of Gilbert Gottfried announced on Tuesday that the comedian had died following a long illness, later revealed to have been myotonic dystrophy type II, a rare form of muscular dystrophy. He’d maintained a performing schedule, and recorded episodes of his podcast in the weeks prior to his passing. Since at…Read more...

In the market for your first Apple Watch? You might be tempted to go for the company’s cheapest offering. If you don’t know whether you’ll enjoy having a mini iPhone strapped to your wrist, the $199 cost of an Apple Watch Series 3 might look more tempting than dropping $399 on the latest Series 7. If this is the train…Read more...

Houses are frustratingly permanent. A home with two bedrooms and one bath might seem palatial when you first buy it, but add in two kids, a dog, and a DVD of Frozen that never stops playing and you soon realize how small it really is.

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Fuck kale. Once a year, my gardener friend will earnestly encourage me to grow the filthy veg, and every year I remind her that my opinion on the matter has never wavered. (“I know, I know, but the rabe is so good!”) While I will, ‘til my dying breath, extoll the lack of any virtue in godforsaken kale, I can concede…Read more...

We’ve all heard about Andy Warhol’s old declaration that in the future, everyone would be famous for 15 minutes—except that wasn’t really something Warhol said. The late artist has been famous for decades because of his work, but that quote had real staying power, too, and that’s how these things work: People become…Read more...

So far, all my favorite Wordle variations have kept the same shape of game board as the original: Five letters, each guess appearing as a new row in a grid. You can see what you guessed before, and you can see how many guesses you still have left. Waffle changes the game in interesting ways, and for that, it intrigues…Read more...

Remodeling or renovating your house yourself can be an affordable and deeply satisfying journey. You’ll learn practical skills, beautify your living space for less, and feel a sense of accomplishment. You may also slowly lose your sanity as you discover why people hire professionals.

As long as social media has existed, there have been people asking, “Can you see who looked at your profile?” For the most part, the answer has been, “No.” The anonymity of the internet has made browsing other people’s profiles an easy thing, and unlike DMs, the user usually won’t know whether you peeked their account…Read more...

It’s officially road trip season, and according to a recent survey, 80% of Americans are gearing up to hit the open road this summer. But road trip or not, it’s best to stay on top of things when it comes to the safety of your vehicle. In addition to regular maintenance, this also means paying attention to any…Read more...

This month, Netflix released your new favorite show: Old Enough, an imported-from-Japan documentary program with a simple, perfect premise: In each episode, a different child is given an errand to run, alone, and we get to see how (and if) it is completed. Watching babies navigate something complex for the first time…Read more...

Recently, my stepmother made a batch of pepper jelly I can only describe as “violent.” “Yes. I should have warned you,” she texted when I told her the jelly had hurt me physically. “It’s a ‘slap your (step)mama’ kind of thing.”Read more...

If you like planets (and who doesn’t these days?), the solar system has a gift just for you. Beginning on April 17 and continuing through July, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter will be lined up diagonally in the pre-dawn sky and visible without a telescope or binoculars. Later in their run, they’ll be joined by the m…Read more...

It is 2022, and there are still people out there saying that exercises like running or squatting will “ruin your knees.” And this bullshit needs to stop. That’s not how knees work. That’s not how anything works.

One thing I have enjoyed about owning a house is finding all sorts of plants—that I did not plant—growing around the property. One of those surprises is an asparagus bed. It’s not a particularly productive asparagus bed, but it is delightful. Three or four stalks poke up at a time, not enough for a meal, but more than…Read more...

There’s a new strain of malware floating around the internet, and it’s looking to control your Android device. Once installed, “Octo,” as it’s colloquially called, can both remotely see your screen and control your device, all without you knowing. Let’s examine where Octo came from, how it works, and how you can avoid…Read more...

If you’re a homeowner, you’ve no doubt checked out your home’s estimated value on Zillow a time or two (or sixty). And while that dollar amount can paint a general picture of your home’s worth based on its square footage, number of bedrooms, tax records, and recent homes sales in your area, it can’t account for the…Read more...

In the animal kingdom, eating poop is a common occurrence that happens on a spectrum. Bunny rabbits, for instance, have to eat some of their poop. It’s a natural part of their digestive process, and while we bunny people are fewer and less represented in media than our dog- or cat-loving counterparts, we have no…Read more...

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The logic of film marketing suggests we need to know everything about a movie before we’ll pony up for a movie ticket—but that doesn’t mean that’s the right way to see every movie. There’s a lot of competition for our attention these days, meaning many of us do a lot of vetting before we’ll actually sit down and watch…Read more...

Pruning is an important garden task. Besides simply keeping growth in check, proper pruning also keeps trees and shrubs healthy by ensuring that light and air can reach all the branches. Pruning at the right time can also encourage more flowers to bloom, so it’s a good skill to master if you want your yard to look its…Read more...

Spring is in the air, flowers are beginning to bloom, and 420 is right around the corner. You don’t want to find yourself scrambling at 4:19 on April 20 only to discover that your stash has gone dry. When weed dries out, it loses its potency—not to mention how harsh it feels on the throat and lungs.

Cybersecurity is constantly in the news, and for good reason. Bad actors are always on the lookout for vulnerabilities in software to exploit for personal gain: Your PC, running Windows and an assortment of apps, is in the crosshairs, so when Microsoft drops updates to patch security flaws and vulnerabilities as…Read more...

After the winter months of rain, snow, ice, and frost, your driveway might not be looking its best—especially now that spring has sprung, and the weeds are further highlighting all its newly formed cracks. Repairing cracks in your driveway is important to keep them from getting larger, eventually requiring repaving or…Read more...