Lifehacker

Whatever your experiences with own mental health, it’s daunting to find the perfect thing to say when someone you care about is struggling with depression. But it’s easier to figure out what not to say.

A cooldown is part of every workout, in theory. Whether it’s a session with weights at the gym, or a run outdoors, you’re supposed to do some kind of slower-paced activity at the end, and maybe even stretch a little. But honestly, I don’t always have the time. And when I skip my cooldown, nothing bad happens. What…Read more...

I’m an Apple fan. I’m pretty much entirely enrolled in the ecosystem, working between my iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch throughout the day (sadly, no iPod). However, there’s one aspect of the Apple universe that I don’t subscribe to, and, in fact, make an effort to steer away from: accessory loyalty.

Cyberattacks are a huge risk, and they’re on the rise. College students—especially those who are away from home, bringing their devices to class, or frequently connecting to public wifi—may be particularly vulnerable to hacks and cybercrime. Here’s how they can avoid becoming a victim of a cyberattack.

As far back as the 1930s, when manual typewriters walked the Earth, people have been predicting that some future generation will no longer need to write with a pen and paper—and these days, it’s true that most communication involves a keyboard of some sort. And yet, longhand is making a comeback. And that’s a good…Read more...

Not all leftovers are on the same level. There are tiers. At the top, you’ve got your pasta sauces, your stews, your chili—the stuff that actually tastes better after a night in the fridge than it does straight off the stove. Then you have your mid-tier, which is most leftovers: mashed potatoes, steak, roasted…Read more...

We live in magical times. Sure, the world’s on fire, but our devices can tell you the name of just about any song playing in your vicinity. The future is now! Solutions for this problem have existed for a while in various apps and built-in services, but now, a new solution comes to Chrome: the next time you hear a…Read more...

As beloved ‘80s/’90s sitcom dad Danny Tanner, Bob Saget dispensed wholesome wisdom with a smile, soaking in the “awwwws” from an audience who loved and appreciated the gentle hijinks of the Full House family. During the same era, he hosted America’s Funniest Home Videos, providing amusing commentary over…Read more...

No one likes a big ego, and the ability to laugh at yourself is an important skill. On the flip side, humility has its limits, too. If you’re someone who really can’t accept a compliment, or you’re constantly downplaying everything about yourself, then your self-deprecation is likely doing more harm than good.

Remodeling evokes a lot of contradictory emotions, from excitement over the possibilities to dread concerning the time, trouble, and mess—and few places are as anxiety-inducing to tackle as a bathroom. But if you’re considering retiling your shower, it may be easier than you think; you probably can do it without all…Read more...

I cleaned out my pantry over the weekend and it led to a lot of existential questions, mostly about sprinkles. In addition to my normal stash, which I’ve had for numerous holiday cookie decorating seasons, my sister gifted me an assortment of pastel eggs, lime green sugar, and other bonbons de décoration that she…Read more...

With COVID case counts still high and potentially more-contagious variants spreading, it’s time to up your mask game. Doubling up is one solution, but N95s and other high-quality masks still provide the best filtration.Read more...

Many of us have goals we want to achieve, whether it’s to eat healthier, work out more, read more books, or other things that we feel we should be doing. Usually, when we think about working toward our goals, we imagine making hard sacrifices along the way—waking up early to go to the gym, spending extra time…Read more...

Got yourself a maxed-out 16" MacBook Pro with Apple’s latest and greatest M1 Max processor? You should know that there’s a hidden “High Power Mode” on your laptop that you can enable when you’re tackling resource-intensive tasks like 4K or 8K video editing. Here’s what the 16" MacBook Pro’s High Power Mode does, and…Read more...

Reddit allows more anonymity than most other social media websites, particularly by allowing burner or throwaway accounts without using an email address. Lately, though, Reddit has made it harder to spot how to create these anonymous accounts—but you can still create throwaway Reddit accounts on desktop and on mobile.

I thought paying for access to hotel wifi was a practice that died a decade ago, but alas, there are still places that charge you to connect your devices to the internet. Some hotels also tack on supplemental charges for other amenities, like pools, bicycles, and beachfront yoga, that you may or may not use and that,…Read more...

Free unlimited cloud storage is typically a myth. If someone sells you on it, it usually comes with many caveats—usually with privacy concerns. But there’s actually a totally free, unlimited cloud storage that is pretty legit, so long as it lasts. And it comes via Telegram.

High-intensity emotions like anger, fear, anxiety, and despair are straight-up exhausting. It’s only natural to want to keep them to ourselves so as not to upset others—or come off as an uncouth over-sharer. But going too hard in the opposite direction is just as harmful in its own way. Here’s what chronic…Read more...

When it comes to terrible things that could happen to you, dying from heart disease is way more likely than a snake crawling out of your toilet, but the snake is scarier anyway. It’s not logical, but a beast slithering out of the sewer while you do your business is just wrong. But don’t worry. It’s not likely to…Read more...

When you fire up a video on reputable streaming services like Netflix or HBO Max, you don’t have to think much about it; you just press play and enjoy. However, if you are (ahem) pirating that video, you might notice that you have a variety of video options to choose from: Bitrate, resolution, and frame rate. What are…Read more...

I only have one fitness goal for 2022: Get real swole. This, of course, involves eating a lot of protein, and sea creatures are a great source. For most of my life, fish was something that was battered in cornmeal and deep fried. If I had to pick one fish to eat for the rest of my life, catfish, prepared as I’ve just…Read more...

We all know the glories of dish soap when used to fight hardened food, grease, and grime on our plates, pots, and utensils (y’all love your Dawn). But are you aware of its myriad potential other uses around the house? From stain-lifting to fruit fly control, behold the many blessed miracles of liquid dish detergent.

Last week it was flurona. This week it’s something called “deltacron.” We’re primed to go “oh shit” when we hear about a new variant, because we’ve been burned by quite a few of them by now. But the scary names outnumber the things we actually need to be scared of.

There’s a good chance you were gifted a number of wine bottles over the holidays. There’s a greater chance that you’ve already worked your way through them, and it’s time to hit the wine store for your next event. Whether you’re hosting a fancy dinner party or you’ve been assigned “wine duty” for a casual…Read more...

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on sports betting, leaving wagering rules and regulations to the states. Since then, sports betting has taken off all over the country, but not in every state. Below is a list of where you can legally bet on a game and where you cannot.

Bahamian-American actor, director, and cultural ambassador Sidney Poitier died last week at 94. Though he retired from filmmaking nearly two decades ago, he remained one of the most influential people in Hollywood: The child of potato farmers in the Bahamas who became a wildly consequential figure in American film and…Read more...

I love nonstick pans. I use mine mostly for frying eggs, pancakes, and breakfast potatoes—three of the stickier breakfast foods. I buy ‘em cheap, rarely wash them, and never run them through the dishwasher, and I’ve found they last a pretty long time, provided no one takes any metal utensils to them. (I’ve heard tell…Read more...

Accidentally deleting stuff is not fun. It can be all too easy to mistakenly erase photos, files, and conversations from your accounts, sometimes without even realizing it. Many of these platforms, luckily, have some type of “trash” system, which allows you to save your info before it’s permanently deleted. Believe it…Read more...

Not-so-recently built homes are often described by realtors as having “good bones,” meaning a strong structure and high level of quality and craftsmanship at their core. Of course, you can’t see beneath the paint and drywall when house-hunting, so how can you tell if the home you’ve got your eye on has this desirable…Read more...

You may have noticed that the dollars in your wallet seem to suddenly be worth something less than a dollar. For that, you can thank inflation, a measurement of decreasing purchasing power. The current U.S. inflation rate is 6.8%, which is the highest it’s been in forty years. What that means in practical terms is…Read more...

Ground beef accounts for 46% of all retail beef consumption in the United States in 2020. You probably have some in your fridge right now. If that’s the case, you’re going to want to check the label to see if it’s part of a multi-state recall of ground beef products because of possible E. coli contamination. Here’s…Read more...

Every time you open the Music app on your iPhone, there’s a good chance that you’ll be staring at a loading icon for a lot longer than you’d like. Apple Music may be a great service for streaming and discovering music, but it iPhone app tends to be much slower and buggier than your expect from a flagship Apple product…Read more...

Exposed brick walls can give your room a warm and rustic feel—but maintaining them can be more daunting than you might initially realize. You can bring them back to their former glory, though—or update them with some paint—by following these simple steps.

In honor of the late, great Betty White, why not take inspiration from her most iconic acting role and add some Golden Girls dazzle to your home? While we might not all have the fortitude (or the desire) to go full-on ‘80s Miami retiree, we can all take some pointers from their enthusiastic tropical flair. Here are…Read more...

Celebrations aren’t complete without dessert. Even on a normal day, dinner is just a little more special when you know there’s going to be cake. But the three things that make them downright irresistible are the same things we have to watch out for—fat, sugar, and carbs. What a glorious combo! Responsible for hundreds…Read more...

Everyone approaches relaxation in their own way: Some view having—and taking—the time to relax as their right, and something they prioritize. Others see it as something that must be earned, and is only taken after a particular amount of work, or certain tasks are accomplished (and no sooner). But what most approaches…Read more...

It’s no coincidence that Marie Kondo’s show “Tidying Up” premiered on Netflix on January 1st. The year was 2019, and even though that feels like a different era, some people still start the new year with the urge to purge their home of clutter and unwanted items.

When buying a new car, it can be easy to get caught up in all the special features and amenities, or mentally calculating how much money you’re going to save, thanks to the vehicle’s superior gas mileage. But over time, both the excitement and that new-car smell wears off, and the most important feature becomes…Read more...

It’s a new year, but so far it’s looking pretty similar to 2021. And 2020.Read more...

Winter may not be everyone’s favorite season, but it does produce some of the best (or at least cutest) content on the internet: Videos of puppies playing in the snow. But a quick romp in fresh powder is one thing—what about staying outside or longer periods of time?Read more...

With winter setting in across the country, and the COVID-19 pandemic still going strong, it looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time indoors for the next few months. Though it can be tempting to crank up the thermostat inside your home when it’s cold outside, doing so on a regular basis throughout an entire season…Read more...

Capturing the natural beauty of a snowy winter day seems like it would be fairly straightforward, but it’s (usually) not as simple as grabbing your phone or camera, heading outside, and immediately getting the perfect shot.Read more...

There is likely to be a lot more erratic weather in our climate-changed future—more storms, more droughts, and more drivers stuck in their cars in horrendous blizzards, like hundreds of motorists in Virginia were this week. It’s probably too late to do much about climate change, but you can at least be prepared for…Read more...

COVID-19 and the flu are both respiratory viruses that can be anywhere from annoying to life-threatening, and public health experts have been worried about what might happen if both become widespread at the same time (the dreaded “twindemic”). Besides their individual tolls on the healthcare system, there’s also the…Read more...

You could get away with not knowing much about cryptocurrency in 2021, but it’s a new year, and with the crypto market now worth $3 trillion, you’ve got no excuse not to become crypto-literate. Here are some of the year’s biggest buzzwords you should know—and a couple less-new ones to make this brave new monetary…Read more...

There are a lot of reasons you might prefer to keep your religious beliefs—or lack thereof—to yourself. In a society that typically defaults to faith of some kind, it can be feel daunting to “come out” as a non-believer. Atheists can sometimes be stereotyped as jerks who want to debate or discount other people’s…Read more...

It’s frustrating when your computer doesn’t do what you ask. If you no longer need a disk image connected to your Mac, and you go to eject it, it can be frustrating to be met with an error: “The disk couldn’t be ejected because the Finder is using it.” Using it for what?Read more...

Didn’t we just have an Olympics? Yes—but the 2020 Summer Games were booted into 2021 by COVID, so we’re back here again already. The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics (or the Second Global Pandemic Games, if you prefer a bit of post-apocalyptic flair) kick off on Friday, Feb. 4 and run through Sunday, Feb. 20, and are set…Read more...

In a country that seems more divided than ever, Americans remain united on one subject: Air travel sucks. From the ever-shrinking legroom to the ever-growing list of fees for basic amenities, it’s a deeply unpleasant experience. But another reason we all despise air travel so much: fear.Read more...

Young people are all over the place this week, recreating the meals on doomed ocean liners, eating Oreos with mustard, and getting all twee with each other. Here’s everything you should know about.