Lifehacker

Bed frames and headboards can be expensive, but a comfy, inviting bedroom is a must for even the simplest decor tastes. You can get the best of both worlds with a DIY faux headboard, whatever your decorating tastes and budget are.

Gardening may seem like a warm-weather activity, but for best results, it’s actually a year-round endeavor. Just because the ground is frozen and very little is blooming right now doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. Use this time—while you’re not overwhelmed with planting, watering, managing, and harvesting—to set…Read more...

Browsing on dating apps can be fun, but the chat box can also be intimidating. How much is too much small talk? What’s a good way to make your intentions clear without being too direct? How long do you have to keep up the digital banter before you can just go on a damn date?

Whenever you’re cooking or baking with eggs, good food safety practices are of the utmost importance. Sometimes, though, laziness wins: At one point or another, most of us have set a spent eggshell back in the carton rather than finding a more appropriate receptacle. Even if you’ve never sent anybody to the hospital…Read more...

Our digital lives are heavily intertwined with our “real” lives, and Apple is finally starting to acknowledge that. The data that lives in our iCloud accounts is not only important to us, but also to our family members. Now, there’s a way for our loved ones to access our digital data when we no longer can.

The annual tradition of picking out garish sweaters for a holiday party is past its cultural sell-by date, but maybe your friends or bosses haven’t received the memo. If you’ve been invited to an ugly sweater party this year, here are some thoughts on how to navigate it.

Spoilers ahead for And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City reboot on HBO Max, although this news has been hard to ignore whether or not you even watch the show.Read more...

The Apple Watch is an excellent health tool. It tracks your steps, keeps count of your expended calories, and helps you check in on your heart rate. While many of its excellent features work out of the box, one option is often turned off by default, and it’s the one option that could very well save someone’s life.

Fans of TV shows featuring house-hunting, flipping, flopping, or home improvement may have noticed a new term popping up in more recent episodes: “primary bedroom.” It’s also slowly becoming the norm in real estate descriptions, and even if the term is unfamiliar at first, context clues will tell you that “primary…Read more...

Apple pulled off a neat trick on the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max; it added a surprisingly good Macro mode to the Camera app, without even adding a separate Macro camera (like Android phones do). The Camera app automatically switches to a cropped version of the Ultra-Wide camera once you got closer to an object.…Read more...

Warm cocktails are tricky for me. I have an overactive internal furnace, and hot ethanol tends to waft in an aggressive manner. (I even chill my mulled port.) But, at lest once a holiday season, when I’m nice and high on nostalgia, I give into the warming promise of a toddy, a mulled something, or a boozy coffee, and…Read more...

Lifehacker is looking for a Senior Finance Writer, which means we’re looking for a particular kind of person: Our finance writers cover specialized topics, but those topics need to be explained in an approachable, down-to-earth way. In other words, you’re not writing for the Financial fucking Times, and you should be…Read more...

The idea that once something hits the internet, it’s there forever, isn’t true. Things disappear from the internet all the time, from once-thriving online communities being killed when their hosting company goes under, to publications that have their archives wiped, to personal sites that vanish when their owners stop…Read more...

To quote Parasite director Bong Joon-Ho, “...once you overcome the 1-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

If you’re looking for some help from a hardware store employee, the advice you get can vary depending on the knowledge and experience of the person helping you. Most of the time, salespeople at hardware stores will offer good-intentioned suggestions, but sometimes even advice made with the best of intentions can be…Read more...

Charcuterie boards are fantastic in a million ways, whether it’s taking one on a camping trip, assembling one for your kids’ lunch, hosting a party, a last-minute dinner when you’re too tired to cook, or even giving one as a Valentine’s Day gift. The classics are classics for a reason, and charcuterie boards are no…Read more...

If you want to check how fast (or slow) your internet is, the usual method is to go to speedtest.net, fast.com, or any of the bajillion other internet speed test sites. But if you have a Mac running macOS Monterey, you don’t need to visit any website to check your internet speed. There’s now a built-in tool in macOS,…Read more...

Of course you need a passport to cross international borders, but they’re more than a required travel document: They keep track of your globetrotting, and there’s nuance to both the design of your passport booklet and the access it provides. Here are 12 interesting facts you may not know about your passport.Read more...

One of the big shifts between our parents’ generation and ours is the increasing number of families who are choosing to raise their children without religious beliefs. In a 2019 survey that was conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, only 42% of families with children under the age of 18 report attending…Read more...

Got an Android device? If so, Google’s got a great selection of apps and games for you to check out. At the end of each year, both Apple and Google award the best apps and games on their respective app stores. (If you have an iPhone, you should check out our best-of Apple list.) And if you haven’t had the time to try…Read more...

On Christmas morning breakfast should be fairly hands-off and immensely forgivable, which is why I usually favor a combination of out-of-a-tube cinnamon rolls and bacon or a bag of sausage biscuits from McDonald’s. I realize, however, that some red-blooded Americans need eggs to get their day going, even if that day…Read more...

The 2020 holiday season was no picnic, but it looks like 2021 will have its own challenges. Although vaccines are available for the vast majority of Americans who want them, we are still very much in the middle of a global pandemic, battling the latest new, concerning variant. Although things don’t quite look like we…Read more...

If a straight-up snitch like the Elf on the Shelf can become a holiday mainstay, literally anything can—and many stranger things have. I’m here to argue that the following activities, ideas, and traditions that were once annual winter traditions somewhere, can be again if we all believe hard enough. And believe, I do.

Socks may come into this world as a pair, but they almost always leave this world alone. Luckily, you don’t necessarily need to toss out socks that are missing their perfect match, or stretched-out, or threadbare, or hole-y. From cleaning your home to craft supplies for your kids, there are plenty of ingenious ways to…Read more...

I know I’m not the only one who learned to count “one Mississippi, two Mississippi” as a kid. The idea, of course, is that when you insert those words between your numbers, the pace of your counting will roughly match the seconds on a clock. But Mississippi can’t be universal around the world, can it? A redditor asked…Read more...

If you’ve got one, it’s probably your most expensive piece of jewelry: That gleaming stone that says “I do” (or “I did”), that shimmering token of commitment you rarely take off, that bijou that cost some major coin—your engagement ring. Considering the average couple spent close to $4,000 on engagement rings in 2020…Read more...

When it comes to candy making, I tend to favor confections that can be made without a candy thermometer, and ideally in the microwave. Haystacks, cheater’s fudge, lazy caramels, and gin balls are a few of my favorites treats to make, eat, and give, but this year I’m adding peanut brittle to my repertoire (and to my…Read more...

Whether you’re heading back to your hometown like a Hallmark movie or just feeling lonely in general, the holidays are a prime time for that creeping feeling that you ought to text your ex and see what they’re up to. It’s easy enough to get lost in nostalgia about good holiday seasons past and wish you had that old…Read more...

As the year comes to a close, Apple has one last surprise for all of us. No, it’s not another Apple event—it’s a new point release for iPhone and iPad. iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 dropped today, and they finally bring some of the features that were first promised to us in June 2021 at WWDC, even if there’s still no sign…Read more...

If you’re planning on bringing a live evergreen tree into your home to celebrate the holiday season (and haven’t already done so), you may find that the pickings are slim at the usual spots (like street corners, otherwise vacant lots, and dedicated Christmas tree farms). But even if that’s not the case, you may be…Read more...

Attention soda and juice drinkers: If that beverage you’re about to crack open is a Coca-Cola product, you’re going to want to check the label before taking a sip. That’s because some Minute Maid juices, Sprite, and Coca-Cola are part of a company-issued recall.

Remember that thing you like? From before? Well, it’s back.Read more...

Are you balancing your intake of Christmas cookies by ordering Uber Eats for tacos and Pad See Ew (my personal holiday tradition)? Well, you can now keep that app open to get some holiday shopping done, too. Here’s how you can use the food delivery service to shop for your holiday must-haves—including stocking…Read more...

Is someone copying my Instagram? It’s a more common concern than you might think. Scammers sometimes impersonate legitimate accounts on Instagram to fool friends and family or catfish unsuspecting strangers. If you come across an account impersonating you or someone you know, you can take action and request the…Read more...

There are certain things in this world whose appeal is mysterious: Jake Paul. Caesar salads without anchovies. Dubstep. The popularity of the poinsettias plant this time of year is nearly as mysterious—their bright red and green coloring makes them absolutely ideal for the holidays, which explains why they’re easily…Read more...

Hanging plants are a great addition to your home, but watering them can be a hassle—especially if you have high ceilings. To save yourself the trouble, you can make a hanging system that allows you to lower plants easily to watering height and then raise them back up without any step stools required, and with no…Read more...

While machine tattooing is considered the norm in the tattoo industry, another tattooing technique—the “stick-and-poke” method—is becoming increasingly popular. There are some similarities and differences between the two types of tattooing methods to consider before getting inked, and knowing the finer points of both…Read more...

The OG fact-checkers at Snopes have compiled the year’s best and worst holiday rumors, social media glurge, and questionable email forwards. Here’s a quick guide so you’ll know how to respond when they come across your aunt’s Facebook feed this holiday season.

As a kid, I couldn’t get enough of Rice Krispies treats. The gooey texture of marshmallows. The crunch of rice cereal. It was exactly what I wanted, and I wanted it all the time. This was hard, as I had parents who refused to allow them in the house.Read more...

I learned that I had ADHD late in life. It became funny when I went from hesitatingly revealing it to close friends to realizing literally every single woman I know (and most of the rest of the people I know, too) all have ADHD.

Generally speaking, technology is improving all the time. And yet, strings of holiday lights—whether they’re for an indoor tree, or the outside of a house—never seem to get better. Sure, there are different varieties, but the same problems seem to pop up year after year.Read more...

For most of the year, deciduous trees get all the attention. To their credit, though, they do put on quite the show: Blossoming in the springtime, providing shade in the summer, and then pulling out all the stops for their final number—having their leaves change colors, and then falling off their branches.Read more...

For a few weeks each year, some people make the decision to adorn the outside of their home and yard with strings lights and face a higher-than-usual electric bill in order to spread some holiday cheer in their neighborhood. But sometimes the most elaborately decorated houses aren’t located on main roads.Read more...

After you’ve cleaned up the beds and put the hose and most of your tools away for the season, you may think that there’s nothing else you can do to set your garden up for success in the spring. But that’s not the case.Read more...

Pigeons are pests. There are reasons city-dwellers call them “rats with wings”: They multiply quickly—reproducing over the course of just a few weeks—and drive away other bird species. Their droppings are gross, and they can carry and spread a range of parasites and diseases. They can also cause problems around your…Read more...

Within every dating app’s direct messages is a delicate dance. You want to be forward without coming on too strong. You want to play it cool without losing someone’s interest. You want to be flirty without scaring someone off.

If you’re like me, remembering to eat your leftovers is a losing game. Every week, I diligently scoop uneaten tilapia, sweet potatoes, pasta, meatballs—hell, even a half-eaten avocado—into airtight Tupperware containers. And every week, I toss those suckers in the disposal then descend into a low-grade shame spiral…Read more...

Taking stock of your finances at the end of the year is always a smart move, but it can feel overwhelming—which makes it all too easy to put off. If a full postmortem of your 2021 budget is just too much right now, here a few quick ways to get started.Read more...

Snacking is an art, and some people are more artistically inclined than others. Children usually have a natural aptitude for snacking, which forces people with kids to develop snack-building skills out of necessity, so if we were to trace the history of the snackle box back to its inventor, I’m sure we would find a…Read more...

When you first buy an expensive new Apple product, AppleCare+ might seem like an unnecessary added cost. After all, you’re going to treat this shiny piece of tech with the utmost care; you’re not going to let anything happen to it! Inevitably, you realize your folly, either because you shattered your iPhone’s display,…Read more...