Lifehacker

As a new owner of a fine leather sofa, I am constantly worried about keeping it in pristine condition. Should I sit on it? What if I spill something? How can I keep it from flaking? So, here are the tips I’ve learned to take care of leather that would make Tobias Fünke proud.Read more...

I’ve heard fall is coming, though I must say it does not feel like it. (The high here today is supposed to be 106℉! In Portland, Oregon!) This shift in seasons means a shift in food content, and I’ve already seen a couple of articles and ads promoting “moving your grilling indoors” with a grill pan. Don’t do it. Grill…Read more...

We all have accounts we no longer use, but some apps and websites make deleting your profile a pain. In those cases, simply ignoring them is an easier option. However, unused accounts are a major security threat—all it takes is one successful data break or credential-stuffing attack to potentially compromise your…Read more...

During stressful times, people tend to react in one of two ways: Either by over-functioning, and kicking into high gear to solve all of the problems; or by under-functioning, and freezing up to the point they can’t handle what is going on. Neither of these responses is ideal, as an over-functioner is prone to burnout,…Read more...

TikTok is flooded with cleaning hacks, but not all of them are tried and true. One viral hack, for example, is about boiling your wooden spoons to keep them clean...but you really shouldn’t bother. Here’s why you shouldn’t boil your wooden spoons.

People can go to great lengths to avoid speaking with each other. On the train, in a museum, or waiting in line at the grocery store, we often retreat inward, keeping our faces buried in books or screens. As a result, many people tend to drift through their solitary days unaware of the benefits that random—and even…Read more...

Making iPhones and Android devices work together isn’t quite the challenge it used to be, but it can still be frustrating. Apple’s ecosystem is locked; FaceTime, iMessage, and weird file formats make iPhone-to-iPhone communication a breeze, and iPhone-to-Android communication a chore. That said, it doesn’t always have…Read more...

Due to compound interest over time, a dollar saved in your early twenties is worth $10 at retirement. Therefore, with consistent saving early in adulthood, it’s more than possible to become a millionaire when you retire, even if you make an average salary. Here’s a look at how to make it happen.Read more...

The microwave is a useful little appliance that you can make many fine things with, including lemon curd, mashed potatoes, prosciutto crisps, or an entire croquembouche. You can also use it to cook a wide variety of eggs, but some styles turn out a little better than others.Read more...

Ultra-short exercise protocols tend to have a life cycle like this: First, a researcher comes up with a question to which an unbelievably short workout might be an answer. Then, they do a study that shows people improved some aspect of fitness while doing it. Next, the New York Times writes about it. And last of all,…Read more...

Housekeepers and pro cleaners know the best tricks when it comes to cleaning hard-to-reach places, and sometimes they use platforms like TikTok to help the rest of us. But the best hacks get mixed in with a lot of bad ones that don’t actually work, so we sorted through and found some of our favorites. Here are some of…Read more...

Algorithmic recommendations work in mysterious ways, and they don’t always get it right. Every Spotify user has wondered how the hell this song wound up on that playlist—or why a song they accidentally thumbs-upped once two months ago keeps popping up again and again.Read more...

As part of what’s been dubbed the Great Resignation, 95% of workers are thinking about quitting their jobs, with a third citing burnout as a primary factor, according to a recent survey. If this describes you, you’ll want to have a financial plan in place before you jump ship, especially if you aren’t leaving for…Read more...

With COVID cases on the rise, travel may not be high on your priority list. But if you’ve simply had enough of being cooped up in your abode with nothing but your plants, cats, or children to look at, the CDC has released a helpful map of COVID-19 Travel Recommendations by Destination.

Your iPhone’s camera is chock-full of different modes and settings: Live Photos, slo-mo video, panoramic landscape shots, the list goes on and on. More often than not, you use the camera the same way, with the settings you like most, every time you snap a pic. Unfortunately, your iPhone seems to reset all of those…Read more...

According to a recent article published in the Washington Post, the phenomenon of the “workcation” is on the rise. These hybrid work-play trips promise to combine the best parts of a productive workday with a relaxing vacation. A “best of both worlds” pitch is always tempting—but what if it’s a total lie?Read more...

Tonight, or in the small hours of tomorrow morning, you’ll be able to see the best of Perseid meteor shower. The summer’s best and longest celestial spectacle is peaking August 11-13, bringing screaming rocks through the ether at a faster clip than at any other point during the six-week shower.

Loaf cakes and quick breads taste pretty good no matter their appearance, but sometimes you want that perfect, professional looking line down the center, signaling to everyone who gazes upon it that you’re a baker who knows what they’re doing.Read more...

It’s natural to wonder whether your therapist actually likes you, but “getting your therapist to like you should never be the goal,” according to Sean Grover, a Manhattan-based author and psychotherapist who spoke with Lifehacker. “The goal is to form an authentic, honest working relationship.”Read more...

There are a lot of misconceptions about what it looks like to live with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The phrase might bring to mind an image of a little boy who can’t sit still, and the prevalent idea is that children eventually outgrow their ADHD symptoms. But in reality, ADHD is a complex disorder, one…Read more...

Spacing out your plants is important for their seeds to germinate and roots to grow, but depending on how much space you have and the plants you’re looking to grow, it’s hard to tell just how far apart they need to be. Thankfully, there are tools to help you figure it all out before you start your next garden project.…Read more...

English is a tricky language. Our “ph” sounds like “f” and our idioms often make zero sense. (The cat’s out of the bag? Who was keeping a cat in the bag?)

Google Photo’s Memories are one of the fun consequences of handing our photo collections over to AI; the feature groups photos and videos together to give you a unique look at a certain day, time of year, or event in your life. The only problem with this feature—in the past, anyway—was that you needed to leave the…Read more...

To effectively negotiate a salary, you first need to know what’s considered a reasonable wage for a given job. But that information isn’t always available, either for confidentiality reasons or because most companies prefer not to list salaries in their job postings. Fortunately there’s a workaround that could come in…Read more...

With the exception of lobster and certain crabs, few foods of the sea feel as decadent as scallops. They’re like little ocean marshmallows—soft, white, and sweet. If you are a regular visitor at seafood counters, you’ve probably noticed they mostly come in two sizes: little and not so little. The little ones are bay…Read more...

It’s not hard to identify a thing if you almost know what it is—maybe you’ve got a field guide for birds or a repair manual for car parts you can cross reference it against. But when you truly have no clue what you’ve got, or when the options are all too confusing, you need human help. Fortunately, Reddit is on the…Read more...

Beware, Android users—a new trojan malware is infecting smartphones worldwide, stealing thousands of users’ personal data and compromising their Facebook accounts.

This week we’re raising our haggling game with help from negotiation expert Dr. Victoria Medvec. Vicki is the Adeline Barry Davee Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the CEO of Medvec and Associates, a consulting firm focused on high-stakes…Read more...

“Leftover french fries” are a divisive topic. Some people claim to have “never heard of them,” while other, more realistic people (begrudgingly) accept them as a takeout eventuality, and love to argue over the “best” way to reheat them.Read more...

When you’re getting to know someone romantically, you should be able to expect them to be honest about their feelings for you—otherwise, why bother? But sometimes, you’ll meet someone who seems interested in you, but unwilling to actually commit to anything approaching a real relationship. If this sounds familiar,…Read more...

If you’re considering an international trip any time soon, your first stop should be the CDC’s Travel Recommendations by Destination map. There you can see how your destination country ranks in terms of COVID cases.

As the Delta COVID variant spreads, an increasing number of employers are requiring employees to be vaccinated. As we’ve seen in some high-profile examples, non-compliance has led to employees either getting fired or quitting their jobs to avoid the jab. But does that mean they’re still entitled to unemployment…Read more...

Android 12, Google’s next big smartphone update, is focusing strongly on design. Chief among that focus is “Material You,” a new design language that merges simple, engaging graphics with color themes that can be generated from your phone’s wallpaper. You can try out the new Material You design with Chrome, if you’re…Read more...

Deciding where to plant your garden depends a lot on sun exposure—where the sun hits your yard, and for how long. But shade can be more helpful than you might think, protecting your plants from the summer heat and preventing them from sunburn or getting too dried out. Some plants even love the shade more than the sun.Read more...

When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, I am an equal opportunity eater. Give me a hot mass of dough that’s been cooked just long enough to hold its shape, or a thin and crispy disk, and I will be more than happy. I even like those pale, cake-y things halfway between a cookie and a brownie. I will never fail,…Read more...

You can get lots of free stuff from hotels, from the absolute basics all the way up to luxurious perks that make you feel extra fancy. Some are obvious, like free tea bags and those little bottles of shampoo and lotion, but others you may have never thought to ask for.

Perhaps the last thing you think of when it comes to a full moon is a very large fish, but August’s full moon is primed to change that. This month’s full moon is alternatively known as the Sturgeon Moon, which should evoke images of large, aquatic vertebrates enjoying life beneath the surface of a gleaming body of…Read more...

We all hopped on the group video game train early in our transition to remote-work life—and while Jackbox parties are a pretty poor replacement for “socializing” with our coworkers (and family and friends), they’re at least a little better than hours of endless Zoom meetings focused strictly on work.

Usually, it’s not easy to install spyware on smartphones and tablets, and especially on the iPhone or iPad. But Pegasus spyware is an exception. In July 2021, researchers found that Pegasus had infected the smartphones of some journalists, activists, and politicians.

When you’re wearing a mask outdoors, it becomes almost impossible to unlock your iPhone with Face ID. Technically, Face ID is doing its job—if you’re wearing a mask, you’re hiding your face and that’s why your iPhone can’t be unlocked. But it’s still annoying to enter your passcode every time like you did in 2012. To…Read more...

Microsoft is testing a “Super Duper Secure Mode” (or SDSM) for the Edge browser that targets the bane of all browser security: Javascript. Specifically, enabling SDSM mode disables the Javascript Just-In-Time (JIT) compilers, which websites use to optimize Javascript code running on the page.

If you’re an Apple devotee, there’s a good chance the company’s Messages and FaceTime services are two of the key features that keep you locked into the Cupertino ecosystem. But now, Apple has opened the floodgates just a crack, allowing us to invite anyone to a FaceTime call—even those on Android and Windows.

With more and more cities and business considering demanding proof of COVID vaccination before allowing you to do fun pre-pandemic things like see a movie or eat at an indoor restaurant, you have probably already thought about what you would do if you lost your vaccination card. However, what about the records of all…Read more...

The first year of college is a lot of adulthood all at once, so it’s easy to make mistakes right out of the gate—especially when it comes to money. Tens of thousands of dollars in credit can be easily wasted, credit scores can be ruined, and the debt accrued can stick around for decades. With that in mind, here are…Read more...

There are plenty of plant care techniques that help growers yield greater gains, like wiring and “screen of green” netting that help plants grow higher and reach more sun. And of course there’s pruning, which involves cutting a plant to size to promote new, fuller growth. But a similar process is called “deadheading,”…Read more...

I used to use “ego lifting” as an insult. Some dude is loading all the plates onto a bar, and deadlifting with a rounded back? Curling and putting his hips into it? He’s obviously doing it wrong, making me the superior one, even if I can’t get even half his deadlift off the ground.

Have you heard the news? Earth is fucked. And unless you’re a reckless billionaire, chances are good you will never go to space. Only a handful of humans have ventured outside Earth’s atmosphere and lived to tell about it, and none of those lucky and extremely well-prepared souls (around 574 of them) has ever come…Read more...

As a lover of the brined and the heavily salted, I appreciate the many gifts the caper bush bestows upon us. From it, we receive not only capers, but caperberries—two things that sound like they might be the same thing, but are in fact quite different.Read more...

If your Google Drive is constantly, inexplicably overflowing, you maybe be among those users may be losing out on their storage space due to a glut of hidden, “orphaned” files. Files become orphaned when their parent directory is deleted but the file itself is not. For example, if you upload a document to a folder in…Read more...

Cold pressed juices have a healthier reputation than just throwing a few fruits and veggies in a blender. They’re expensive, they need to be eaten fresh, and juice sellers and devotees sing the praises of their supposed health benefits. But how different is a juice from a smoothie, really?Read more...