Lifehacker

This week’s exploration of the underbelly of young people culture takes us to surreal and terrifying imaginary spaces and invites us to have a heart-to-heart talk with a cartoon dog from a nearly forgotten app. I hope it doesn’t give you the ick.

Showering is one of the biggest uses of water in a typical residential home, according to the EPA. You don’t want to use too much water in your shower, but you do need more than a few minutes to get fully clean. So where is the balance?

Beer is one of mankind’s greatest achievements. We’ve been brewing it according to various recipes for thousands of years—the ancient Egyptians were brewing up a storm, and we can actually replicate their recipes in the modern day. While beer is often associated with alcohol and inebriation, people who love beer…Read more...

If you’re rocking AMD components in your desktop PC, take a moment to make sure your CPU isn’t unintentionally overclocking itself. A bug in a recent AMD graphics card driver update is automatically triggering the “Auto Overclocking” option on AMD CPUs, even if users don’t explicitly turn it on themselves.Read more...

It’s strong, it’s stretchy, it’s lightweight. Sometimes, after a dentist’s visit, it’s even free—and it can do a lot more than prevent cavities and halitosis. Turns out, dental floss isn’t just for removing plaque, spinach, and those blasted popcorn kernels. With many unique uses, from gardening and sewing to…Read more...

Fans of raw oysters: We’re afraid we have some bad news. You know that little voice in the back of your head that whispers “let’s hope eating this probably-still-alive sea creature that spent its life filtering dirty ocean water isn’t going to make me deathly ill” every time you slurp one down? Well, you may want to…Read more...

I am a huge fan of the butter-baked onion: soft, savory, and comforting. There’s no char and no browned bits, just soft layers of allium that melt in your mouth.Read more...

You have some choices when it comes to iPhone photo management. Apple Photos is the built in choice, and is generally good. Google Photos is an optional app, and is also generally good. Using both at the same time, however, is not good, and should be avoided. That said, if you’ve already mixed the two, there’s a way…Read more...

With the season of baseball games, barbecues, and outdoor potlucks nearly upon us, it’s time we had a refresher on how to remove some of the most popular condiment stains from your clothes. Because, while pool parties and cookouts are fun, coming home with bright red blotches on our favorite shirts is not. Here’s how…Read more...

The Brave Browser promotes itself as a Google Chrome alternative focused on privacy, but its default settings aren’t the most privacy friendly. If you need to use a Chrome-based browser, Brave is definitely a better option than what Google offers, but with a few tweaks, you can make it even more private.

The war on wires is ongoing. The modern home is absolutely infested with them—power cords, Internet cables, HDMI cables, drawers and drawers full of random USB cords we’re terrified to throw away—despite the proliferation of wireless technology. Even our beloved Wi-Fi pretty much always starts with a cable of some…Read more...

Broadly speaking, Good Samaritan laws give legal protections to people who assist someone who is hurt, sick, or incapacitated. These types of laws exist in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. They even exist in the airspace over the country, so no doctor or well-intentioned and qualified person has to think twice about…Read more...

If you’ve ever watched your not-so-sure-footed kids ascend a tall—very tall—rope climbing structure at the playground, or hoist themselves atop a large, wobbly log in the woods, or attempt the monkey bars alone for the first time (at breakneck speed), you may have felt the urge to call out, “Be careful!” And why?…Read more...

Sometime in the last decade, Google Docs became the default word processor, and chances are pretty good that you use it at least some of the time—particularly when collaborating with others at school, work, or even within your own family. Chances are also good that you already know how to navigate the basics of…Read more...

Walking around a strange city can be fun. It can also be intimidating, especially when you’re alone, even more so after dark. No one wants to look like they have no idea where they’re going, and staring at Google Maps on your smartphone is often a dead giveaway. If you want to confidently get to where you need to be…Read more...

Easter is on the horizon, which means it’s an eggs-cellent ideal time to stock up on Peeps (as if you needed a reason to do so). These vibrant marshmallow creations somehow manage to embody the best of all sugar-spun worlds, an irresistible blend of the gooey-ness of marshmallow, the rough texture of sugar, and …Read more...

Streamer’s fatigue—in which you jump endlessly from one streaming app to another, trying to figure out what to watch—is real. Or you come across something online you know you want to watch, but you don’t know where to stream it. This is a problem that companies like Apple and Google have tried, but failed, to solve.…Read more...

April 15 is not tax day this year—that’s on April 18—but it’s the first day of Passover, Good Friday, and National Glazed Spiral Ham Day. Most financial markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, will be closed for the day, but banks will be open and mail will be delivered. Most stores will be open, but many…Read more...

Baking can be a near-meditative pursuit, the minutes (or hours) spent in the kitchen mixing and measuring dropping you into a state of purposeful calm, or serving as a bonding experience when you’re working with others. Baking can also be a downright tedious chore—it’s tough to keep it interesting when you’re…Read more...

We’ve all been there. You watch one viral TikTok, and before you know it, you’re sitting in your tub while wearing a pair of jeans, because, well, even though those jeans definitely fit you before the pandemic, they are now too tight. They’re also soaking wet because, again, you are wearing them in your bathtub.

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“Everybody loves baseball,” an aunt once told me. I don’t know about that. Lots of people really like baseball, but I think she was delusional about the sport’s power to win over every audience. What can be said with certainty is that baseball is inextricably linked with American history, particularly in the 20th…Read more...

In case you haven’t choked on your own gasps after seeing the price of bacon recently: Groceries are expensive right now. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that “food prices increased 7.9% for the year ended February 2022, the largest 12-month advance since July 1981.” That’s the highest rate of…Read more...

A strong relationship is built on trust, but that trust is also fragile—if you’ve been deceived before, you know how hard it is to regain it. Even if you think you’ve moved on from someone betraying you in the past, you might still struggle with trust issues in less noticeable ways.

The Windows 11 taskbar is one of the new operating system’s best features—elegant, minimalist, and visually distinct. Yet while we’re generally fans of the redesign, there are ways to make it better. For example, by default, you can’t move the taskbar to any position you want, or even change its size. But you don’t…Read more...

A couple of years ago, I saw a video featuring a British sandwich artist named Max Halley who refused to put cheese on any of his sandwiches. “No,” I mumbled, as I closed the tab and moved on with my life. “I am not engaging with this.”

Airplane mode is baked into nearly all of our devices, ready to be toggled on whenever we board an aircraft. Usually when you’re not flying, it’s of limited utility (unless you really don’t want someone to call you). After all, why would you purposely disconnect yourself from the internet ? Well, a couple reason,…Read more...

Large outdoor woodworking projects, from fences to picnic tables, can present a challenge because the wood you choose will need to be able to withstand the elements. Choosing the right kind of lumber will help furniture and structures hold up better against moisture, temperature changes, and pests. Here are some…Read more...

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Passport and driver’s license photos are notoriously bad—about as far from glamour shots as you can get. The only upside to braving the DMV to get a renewed license is the chance to swap out your outdated or unflattering photo.

Recently, I wrote about some of the lesser-known cleaning applications of dishwasher tablets around the house. In the comments, someone asked, “What’s the difference between dissolving the pods in warm water and using that to clean instead of...you know, soapy water?”

Of all the Wordle variations, only a few have stuck with me. I play original Wordle the most regularly. Dordle and Quordle are a nice addition to the routine. When I’m bored, the larger multi-Wordles are fun, and it’s really satisfying to tussle with the AI that runs Absurdle and back it into a corner. But when I just…Read more...

Dress shirts for men can be complicated. Most of us grow up with a very laissez-faire attitude towards dress shirts—especially when it comes to fit and length. Wearing shirts untucked might look a little sloppy, but when you’re younger you don’t care too much about looking a little sloppy, unless you were one of those…Read more...

We generally try to cast a wide net at Lifehacker.com, covering topics that will improve the lives of millions, maybe billions, of people. But that puts us at risk of missing the niche-dwellers and oddballs who would benefit from specific, targeted tips (those of you who might want to steal a relative’s remains, for…Read more...

You and your future roommates have successfully found a new apartment. Congrats! Now, the hard part: Who gets which room? And how will that impact how you split the rent?

Last week, as I was preparing my grill to cook this lamb shoulder, I faced a crisis: I could not find the little metal clips that came with my grilling thermometer. If you are unfamiliar with these clips, they are meant to hold one of your thermometer probes above the grill grates so it can measure the ambient…Read more...

It’s an old cliché that Americans are prudish and shy about nudity while Europeans just strut about half-naked all the time, being all sophisticated and worldly, but there is a healthy Naturist community right here in the U.S., whether you realize it or not. And there are actually fewer rules against taking off your…Read more...

Back in the ‘90s, you needed to have powerful hardware to use an operating system as advanced as, oh, Mac OS 8. Nowadays, you can run the whole thing in a Chrome tab. It’s easy to forget just how far computers have come in a relatively short time. In case you want a quick reminder, you can try running these two old…Read more...

To start with, I used to hate front squats, too, so I don’t want to hear any “but they hurt my wrists” business, OK? Front squats are an amazing exercise for your legs and—secretly—for your back. They have great carryover to other things you might want to do in the gym or in life. And they really, truly do not have to…Read more...

I’m not sure when I had my first un-casseroled green bean, but I don’t remember being particularly impressed. I actually don’t think I was impressed by a green bean, casseroled or otherwise, until I had them blistered and seasoned with Szechuan spices from a Chinese restaurant. Those are still my favorite green beans,…Read more...

Are Macs good gaming machines? Sorta. Macs, and MacBooks especially, aren’t optimized for gaming to say the least, and many games simply do not support macOS. That said, Mac gaming has come a long way in the past few years, and it’s easier than ever to find and play games on an Apple computers (you know, relatively).

April’s full Moon rises on Saturday, April 16, and reaches peak illumination at 2:57 p.m. ET. Lifehack: Enjoy the Pink Moon’s peak illumination while listening to Nick Drake’s seminal, bittersweet 1972 album Pink Moon—there are way worse things you could be doing at 3 a.m. in the springtime.

Your living space may be smaller than you want it to be...but it doesn’t have to look that way. There are several relatively easy to grasp design principles—centering around the concepts of scale, light, and movement—you can employ to trick the eye into perceiving a greater sense of space.

My religious upbringing was, in a word, confusing, so the Easters of my youth were very basket-focused. My mom still send me Easter packages, but I have not been inside a church in I don’t know how many years. I do appreciate Easter food, however, and Passover food, for that matter. I just like food, especially when…Read more...

Food allergies suck, whether you have them yourself or you have to watch out for a child or loved one to make sure they don’t eat the wrong thing. They can fall anywhere on the spectrum from merely annoying to life threatening, and while some are lifelong, others can be temporary. Some mild allergies can be managed,…Read more...

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The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily reduced the amount of weddings, causing people to reschedule or postpone their big day, but weddings are back in a big way now. According to The Knot, 27% of last year’s weddings were ones that had been pushed back, and guest list amounts climbed closer to the pre-pandemic average.…Read more...

Movies seem to be getting longer, but TV shows are getting shorter. As recently as 10 years ago, it was the norm for top-rated shows to produce 22 episodes or more every season. These days, that’s more or less a thing of the past, and only broadcast network shows even seem to bother with a consistent annual release…Read more...

Security updates are not something to be ignored: They patch critical issues with your tech that could compromise your privacy, security, and data. So when a company, like Google, drops a new security update for a device, like your Pixel, you should take note and install the update as soon as possible.

Remember when our minds were all blown when we discovered we could move the cursor on our iPhones by holding the space bar? Well, there are more hidden shortcuts like that—some of which are, admittedly, more useful than others, but all of which are worth a test drive to see if they, too, can become your new favorite…Read more...