Lifehacker

At this point, the statement “Google is creepy with your data” isn’t a shocking one. We know that Google and companies like it compromise our privacy and security every day in the name of business and profit; we just sort of, you know, deal with it? However, there’s some extra creepiness going on with Chrome…Read more...

The “Signal for Help” is a simple gesture—display your hand, palm out, then close your fingers over your thumb—but it could save your life.

If you don’t normally file a tax return and haven’t received your child tax benefit yet, it’s not too late to receive a lump sum advance payment of $1,800 per child in December. However, you’ll have to act fast to get that money before the holidays, as the deadline for the advanced payment expires in one week. After…Read more...

If you get the dry, itchy patches of skin known as eczema, you’ve probably noticed that they’re more likely to flare up as the weather gets cool. Here are some tips for preventing those flare-ups, and for managing when they do happen.

Butt-dials can range from slightly embarrassing experience to downright mortifying, but they are, at least, blessedly rare. Unless you have multiple contacts telling you that you have recently called them unexpectedly—that’s no mere butt-dial. If this situation is happening to you, and you happen to be rocking a Pixel…Read more...

The second week in November is a weird one. Thanksgiving looms, but it’s still too early to shop for perishables. You could probably do absolutely nothing to prepare this week and be totally fine, but it’s a great time to set yourself up for stellar success.

Disney+ is having a party, y’all, celebrating two years of owning the streaming world, along with pretty much everything else. While you’ll be able to enjoy most of the celebration just by logging in to your Disney+ app on Friday, November 12, the company is hosting events across its various platforms and networks,…Read more...

A movie doesn’t have to be a special effects extravaganza to be worth watching, but it seems like we’re increasingly uninterested in going to the theater to see one if they’re not. And if we’re going to pay good money, we want to those special effects to look special. The move away from practical effects over the past…Read more...

If you’re only an occasional baker, you might find yourself wondering what the difference is between all of the different pie pans. How will it affect how the pie turns out? Will you need to adjust your recipe? What about the bake times—does the type of pie pan change that?

Since forever, philosophers, economists, and conspiracy theorists have devised any number of elaborate theories on the nature of society and the motivations of human behavior. From the ideas of Adam Smith to Karl Marx, most of these models depend (at least somewhat) on the idea of rational human actors working to…Read more...

Well, it’s been a year. Or has it been two? Oh yes, it has. And even though Thanksgiving is officially back on, you may not be up for planning, prepping, shopping, and cooking for days to make it happen. Thankfully, there are alternatives. We’ve gathered some of the tastiest places you can pick up an entire…Read more...

Many moons ago, my wife bought a pair of rockin’ cowboy boots. The boots were undeniably cool, but they sat in their box for years: untouched, unloved, frequently forgotten. When she finally decided to sell the boots, we were quickly and rudely reminded that selling your old stuff is a tremendous hassle, not to…Read more...

At the risk of sounding British (one of my greatest fears), I find myself saying “it’s tea time” no less than eleven times a day. Especially when the leaves change colors–literally or metaphorically, depending on where you are–there’s nothing better than curling up with your warm drink of choice.

Twitter is one of those apps that can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. You can use it to tune in to a stream of news updates and call it a day, or you can really get into it by creating and curating lists, bookmarking Twitter threads, and hosting Twitter Spaces.

When we think of depression, we tend to imagine a person who is sad for an extended period of time. And although it’s true that sadness is often a key symptom, depression can also present itself as irritability. The same is true for your teenager, although in their case, because they are also experiencing mood swings…Read more...

If you hate digging through Windows 11’s menus to find a tool or setting tucked away in the Control Panel or System Settings, try turning on the hidden Master Control Panel feature—or as it’s better known: “God Mode.”Read more...

For months on end, WhatsApp has teased its multi-device feature—a feature that will let you use WhatsApp on your computer even if your phone isn’t constantly connected and nearby, with up to four devices. (And all your messages will still be protected using end-to-end encryption.) WhatsApp has been taking its sweet…Read more...

Facebook has become so omnipresent, it’s hard to gauge exactly how much data you’re inadvertently sharing with the social network. The company keeps adding pages upon pages of preferences and settings that make it nearly impossible to keep an eye on who can see your posts and who can access your private information.…Read more...

The IRS announced last week that workers will be able to set aside an extra $1,000 in their 401(k) accounts in 2022. The change was made as part of cost-of-living adjustments to retirement accounts; although, if you have an individual retirement account (IRA), you’re out of luck—contributions will remain unchanged at…Read more...

As the weather turns cold, you may find that you prefer holing up in your house instead of braving frigid temperatures. Turns out, bugs feel the same way. (About your house.) They’re also looking for somewhere warm and cozy to spend the season, and your home has everything they want (i.e. not being outside).Read more...

It’s not looking good for 2021 holiday travel season. Even if you’ve booked flights, rental cars, or hotel rooms months in advance, the speed at which things are changing in the travel industry means that having a ticket or reservation isn’t necessarily a guarantee that your trip will take place as planned.Read more...

Those who are new to gardening and live somewhere with winters that can get pretty cold and/or snowy may have been surprised to find out that some of the plants they grew during the early part of the pandemic did not live to see what should have been their second spring. In these cases, the deceased plants should have…Read more...

When something around your home looks or feels a little bit off, it could be nothing to worry about at all, and something simple like the house “settling” or “breathing.” But, on the other hand, it could also be something that looks small, but is the sign of a larger problem.Read more...

Even if you genuinely love your job, there will always be aspects of it that you dread more than others—whether it’s responding to a certain category of emails, returning phone calls, or logging expenses. Maybe you knock those all out in the morning, or have some other system. Or maybe you put them off until you can’t…Read more...

Picture this: You’re in the process of searching for a new home to purchase, but anything that meets even some of your criteria is listed for far more than your budget allows. Then, one day you spot it: A house within your price range that ticks all (or at least some) of your boxes. Sure, it looks a little rough…Read more...

Exercise is hard work, but it also contains its own antidote: The harder you work, the easier things should feel, and the more often you lift, the less often you’ll get sore. That means if you feel tired and sore all the time after working out, something is going wrong. Let’s figure it out what that it—and what to do…Read more...

Many modern operating systems and apps include settings that make them more accessible to users who are colorblind (or color deficient)—here’s how you can set up these options in the four most recent versions of Windows: 11, 10, 8 and 7.Read more...

I realize the world’s oceans provide half of the oxygen we need to survive as a species, but the these eleven undersea creatures and facts are so terrifying, I sort of want to get rid of the oceans anyway.

My husband arrived home from work yesterday with a little white box adorned with a sticker that read “Allie’s Cookie Co.” A colleague, grateful for his help on a recent project, had gifted him a collection of some of the largest, most decadent cookies I’d ever had the pleasure to behold. (For a better experience,…Read more...

We all know you don’t buy a Mac for gaming. Sure, it’s possible, but you don’t buy Apple exclusively to play games unless you only play Apple Arcade. But with Apple’s new MacBook Pros, complete with the beefy M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets, could the Mac finally be a viable option for gaming?

Instagram started out as a simple photo-sharing app. Now, it seems like it’s anything but. Over the years, it has added so many new features—Stories, IGTV, Reels, and messaging—it can feel like you’re using six different apps at once.

The holiday season is known for evoking thoughts of family, both good and bad. Although most of us have a complex relationship with our family—including those we enjoy spending time with and those we don’t—there are many people for whom the subject of family evokes more pain than most.Read more...

Starbucks pumpkin loaf is a street drug for dogs. At least, it is if you’re my dog—so much so that when my last girl, Lucy, stopped eating in her last days with cancer, I ran around town desperately trying to track it down, doing my best Shirley MacClaine while careening, “she needs her pumpkin loaf!” But I digress.Read more...

With major software updates, developers add new wallpaper choices for users to try, while entire forums online are dedicated to creating and sharing the best-looking images for your phone’s lock screen. If you’re on Android, however, beware, because switching your wallpaper can force your apps to restart.

TikTok is having an identity crisis. Once almost exclusively the home of teenagers making up dance moves and worshipping Satan, this week, both job-seekers and swingers are having moments on the site, pointing to (gasp) maturity.

A hike can be as easy as a walk in the park (literally), but when you start covering more interesting terrain, you’ll quickly meet challenges. Maybe you’re out of breath when you head up hills, or maybe you never manage to pack the right things or wear the right clothes. Here are 10 tips for becoming a more confident…Read more...

While you might think of credit scores as the make-it-or-break-it measure in qualifying for mortgages or car loans, they also an impact in other areas of your life as well. Here’s a look at some lesser-known ways a bad credit score or spotty credit history can end up costing you more money.

Buying a bottle of liquor for someone when you don’t know much about that particular alcohol ranks just slightly below public speaking on the pressure scale. Liquor is a combination of history, chemistry, and culture, and the result is a baffling array of choices in any category. It’s so baffling that you can’t even…Read more...

While 401(k)s plans are often seen as “set it and forget it” investment accounts, they’re not always guaranteed to cover all of the costs of retirement. With contribution restrictions, fees, taxes, and mandatory withdrawals, 401(k)s do have their limitations. This is why putting money into other types of investments…Read more...

While certain aspects of pandemic air travel—like wearing masks onboard the plane when you’re not eating or drinking—are still very much in effect, others are slowly transitioning back to their pre-COVID iterations. Take in-flight meal service, for example: There was a period of time when it was significantly scaled…Read more...

An individual Brussels sprout is not much to look at. It’s green, round, and cabbage-like. It looks like a vegetable, and that’s fine. But a whole stalk of sprouts is visually arresting, almost otherworldly. And, when roasted whole and served as the centerpiece for a vegetarian Thanksgiving (or a stunning side at an…Read more...

I come not to damn Eternals (as I haven’t seen it yet), but the mixed reviews so far suggest that it could well be the film that dulls our collective love affair with Marvel movies. We’ll see: Chloé Zhao is as good a director as superhero movies are ever likely to see, and the cast here is probably the best that…Read more...

Amazon is so deeply entrenched in our lives that we all have a ton of info connected with the company. Even if you somehow haven’t directly used Amazon for shopping, you probably have used a Kindle, an Echo, or simply asked Alexa a question or two.Read more...

Despite approaching five years in the gaming marketplace, the Nintendo Switch remains in hot demand. The three models—the original design, the Switch Lite, and the OLED Switch—are selling off shelves, the latter of which appears sold out all the time. However, if you want any one of them for Christmas, you should…Read more...

The ever-increasing number of devices in our homes may have you worried about your overall energy consumption. While there is no perfect solution or one-size-fits all approach to reducing your energy use, if you have a tool like a Google Home Hub, you can better track your consumption to look for ways to improve.…Read more...

You usually want a response when asking your Google Home device a question. When you issue a command, however—say, telling your Google Assistant to turn on the lights—you don’t really need a vocalized answer. If you find it distracting when your Google Home responds out loud to every command, there are a few ways you…Read more...

Exchanging gifts should be the most enjoyable part of the holidays, but anyone who’s gotten roped into a shitshow of a “Secret Santa” gift exchange knows better. Even a well-intentioned gift swap can easily turn into the kind of stressful, tedious, expensive headache that puts you off the idea for life.Read more...

The fifth of November is Britain’s Guy Fawkes Day—a national holiday that memorializes a revolutionary group’s plot to blow up Parliament and bring down the government. But who was Guy Fawkes? And why is there a day in his honor? Let’s explore.Read more...

Diwali, a five-day-long “festival of lights” that celebrates the triumph of good over evil, began today. The holiday emerged from the Hindu religion, but has become a cultural event around the world. And who couldn’t use a little triumph over evil?

Dogs often crave a sense of purpose when they’re spending time with us as we putter around the yard or garage. If you have a helpful hound who prefers to stay within a few steps of you at all times, you can give your best bud a helpful (and adorable) job—by making them their very own tool bag.Read more...