Lifehacker

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Prix Fixed, Lifehacker’s new menu-planning advice column.Read more...

Even before the pandemic, much of a teenager’s social life played out online. Socializing with friends (and frenemies) didn’t stop when the final bell of the school day rang—it carried over to Snapchat, TikTok, or Instagram throughout the evening, so it’s not surprising that the reliance on social media only grew…Read more...

For those prone to wanderlust, the loss of the option to freely travel has been one of the hardest parts of living through the pandemic. But even amid shutdowns and border closures, there was a spike in solo travel, as travel companies began to cater to people who found the socially-distanced lifestyle appealing (and…Read more...

When you think of Pride month, colorful images of rainbows, parades, and parties probably come to mind, as the month of June is a time for the LGBTQ community to celebrate the freedom to be themselves. It’s also a time to honor gay, lesbian, and transgender activists who made these celebrations possible by fighting…Read more...

The iOS 14.6 update introduced cool new stuff like unlocking your iPhone with voice commands and new Apple Pay features for Family Groups. It also appears to ruin your iPhone’s battery performance.

With news of Amazon’s Prime Day being slated for June 21-22, one of the biggest sales of the year is suddenly three weeks away. The only catch is that the sale is for Prime members only…or is it? There’s actually a way to get Amazon Prime deals without paying for a membership—here’s how you do it.Read more...

When was the last time that you had overproof rum? Most likely, it was either during an ill-advised, 151-fueled Spring Break bender or while lounging on a Caribbean beach. (Or, if you’re me, it was during the first phase of the pandemic when hand sanitizer was as rare as single-origin saffron.) For so long, overproof…Read more...

When we perform exercises of any kind, there’s often an instructor or coach in the background telling us to “engage our core.” But what does that really mean? It turns out there are two different ways of doing it and they produce opposite results, so it’s important to know which one you need to work on to accomplish…Read more...

Everyone loves a dog in a pool. Watching a pup paddle around, snout just above the surface, is a pastime so adored we’ve even named a swimming stroke in its honor. However, that doesn’t mean you should assume you can toss any dog into a pool without a life jacket, thinking natural instincts will take over—it turns out…Read more...

So it turns out that when everyone wants to travel at the same time, travel gets more expensive. And after more than a year of pent-up demand, the U.S. Travel Association Travel Price Index is showing a 9.5% year-over-year increase in prices versus April 2020. Supply chain issues, labor shortages, and, yes, increasing…Read more...

All of planting is dictated by the time until the first frost. Cold weather kills growth and causes plants go dormant; seedlings planted too close to the first frost won’t grow. (This is why indoor gardens are so appealing.) Similar rules apply to the hottest parts of the year—while I personally love basking in the…Read more...

A well-organized kitchen makes the endless cycle of cooking, cleaning, and repeating a whole lot easier to manage. Earlier this week we did our best to convince you that it’s finally time to figure out how to organize your fridge like an adult, but you can do so much more. Here are 10 tips for making the entire heart…Read more...

My previous, pricier Portland neighborhood was quite walkable. I could set out on foot and find nearly anything: groceries, cocktails, Pad Thai, antiques, coffee; it was all right there. What I could not find was a good bagel. The best I could do was a “bagel place” that had cute t-shirts and very mediocre bagels, …Read more...

Today is Global Running Day, a worldwide event created to celebrate running and get more people moving generally. This year, all of the official events are virtual, so here’s our rundown of the different ways you can participate. Some are just for today, and others give you the option to participate any time this week.

Next week, Apple will again hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event. Like last year, WWDC 2021 is online-only due to the ongoing pandemic, but you can still expect the tech super-giant to make some big announcements, including our first good looks at iOS 15, macOS 12, and—if the rumors are to be…Read more...

When you hear the phrase “Bonsai tree” you probably think of those tiny, ornate trees that people often keep as a sort of desk ornament. But in fact, Bonsai is not a type of tree at all—the word “Bonsai” refers to the art form and horticulture method of growing miniature landscapes. The art of Bonsai originated in…Read more...

My son was seven or eight years old when he asked me about the “S word.” My husband and I had decided early on that we wouldn’t curse around him, so he was genuinely unfamiliar with most, if not all, of the biggies. (Side note: This is what we believe infancy is for—it took us the first full year of his life to break…Read more...

It’s officially summer (okay, not officially) and with the warm weather and weekend block parties come some unwanted kitchen pests. Yes, as your kitchen grows more hot and humid, tiny fruit flies will inevitably start showing up.Read more...

“I’m just sick of feeling worthless,” I said, my head in my hands and holding back tears. I had spent the entire day in bed, the result of a panic attack at work the day before. In addition to feeling paralyzed by the sadness that permeated my life, my body was too sore to move.Read more...

Gird your bank accounts and steel your nerves, folks: Amazon’s Prime Day 2021 is mere weeks away.

The shishito pepper is a very fun pepper. Most of them are mild and bright, but every once in a while you’ll get a very spicy one, and it’s that tension that makes shishitos alluring. That, and they are excellent dippers.Read more...

It’s a quirk of post-pandemic travel: Companies are increasing prices for airfare and hotels due to pent-up demand, but they’re also offering record-setting sign-up bonuses for their loyalty credit cards. As these bonuses can offset the increased costs of travel, you might want to consider an airfare or hotel credit…Read more...

Today, even as you struggle to focus on work after the extended weekend you hopefully enjoyed, a giant space rock is screaming through space within a “potentially hazardous” distance of Earth. The chances of a resultant armageddon are (and always have been) exceedingly thin, as the asteroid 2021 KTI is passing within…Read more...

If you’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you’ve probably breathed a sigh of relief. But how long can you expect that feeling to last? The CDC has yet to hazard a guess as to the durability of post-vaccine immunity on their website, but a few studies have given us some clues.Read more...

Much like chemistry, getting “good” at cooking is really about consistent, reproducible results, which usually requires a fair amount of measuring (at least at first). The more you cook, the less you’ll have to measure—but it is always best to arm yourself with more knowledge rather than less.Read more...

Microsoft’s Edge browser has become a major rival to Google Chrome, providing users a similar browsing experience that exists (mostly) outside of Google’s tracking and advertising infrastructure and which carries lower resource requirements. One of Chrome’s lingering benefits, though, is its built-in Google Shopping…Read more...

We organize storage areas like our closets, drawers, and garages, but the refrigerator tends to be neglected. Of all the spaces to keep organized, though, the refrigerator is the only one that’s time sensitive.Read more...

I love plants and I love pets, but unfortunately for me, the two don’t mix. For starters, I’m terrible at keeping plants alive—and a lot of plants are toxic to my cats. Recently, though, I vowed to finally bring some greenery into my space without poisoning my pets. To my surprise, there are several solid,…Read more...

This week we’re taking baby steps toward living a greener lifestyle with help from activists and filmmakers Laurie David and Heather Reisman. Laurie is an environmental activist and an award-winning documentary film producer, having produced the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, and Heather is the CEO of Canada’s…Read more...

I have never bought—never imagined I would buy—a seasoning blend that bragged about being “salt-free.” (“Couldn’t be me,” as the kids say.) I love salt—and have an ever-growing collection of sodium chloride to prove it. So I was slightly shocked and mildly scandalized when not one, but two BBQ guys suggested I use a…Read more...

We know it’s important to have not just one talk about sex with our kids, but lots of micro-talks: talks about their bodies, puberty, sex, and consent, starting when they’re young and expanding upon these topics as they get older. However, even if we’re open with our kids from the very beginning, and even if they know…Read more...

By law, companies are supposed to give you an opt-out option for unsolicited emails using an “unsubscribe” button or link. The only problem? Scammers do the exact same thing—except the button or link contains malware that will steal your personal information. Here’s a look at how to spot the difference, and whether…Read more...

If you’re something of a stargazer, you’ve had little respite from the jam-packed celestial calendar lately: Between last month’s Super Flower Blood Moon, and both of April’s meteor showers, the stargazing industrial complex has been operating at full tilt, giving people plenty of reason to stay up into the small…Read more...

Ever sign up for a free trial of an app because you’re curious about what it’s like, but you really don’t want to be locked in to paying for it? If you’re smart, you’ll take our advice and set a calendar reminder to cancel just before the trial period is up. But there’s an even smarter hack: cancel it immediately.Read more...

Now that we might actually be able to do a few things this summer outside of our own homes, we can go back to worrying about normal, non-pandemic parenting concerns, such as: How can we find our little kids if we lose them in a crowd? One parent on TikTok has devised a solid solution in the form of a wristband.Read more...

If you have a home full of plants, it can be hard to have friends reliably take care of them while you’re gone. Plus, what if no one is available to come by every day to give your plants the specific care they need? Here are a few hacks that will keep your plants happy and healthy while you take time away.Read more...

On June 8, Amazon will launch a new feature called Sidewalk that creates small, public internet networks powered by Echo smart speakers and Ring home security products in your neighborhood. Yes, including yours—unless you disable the setting, which is turned on by default. That means if you don’t want your devices…Read more...

You might be familiar with the idea of a singular credit score, but there’s actually two major credit score providers that rate your creditworthiness: FICO and VantageScore. While FICO is used for 90% of all lending decisions, VantageScore can still play a role in whether you get approved for a loan. Here’s what you…Read more...

As helpful as (we’d like to think) reading articles about plants and gardening can be, it’s also nice to have an online community that can answer questions, give advice, and provide some horticultural inspiration. Fortunately, there are plenty of subreddits—some with hundreds of thousands of members from all over the…Read more...

With plenty of American flags proudly displayed today for Memorial Day, it’s a good time to take a look at how to properly display, store, and dispose of Old Glory. For all the rules and regulations, we’ll turn to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for guidance. Here’s what to know.Read more...

When starting a garden, you have two choices: planting seeds or seedlings (and other transplants). Those looking to have a close-to-instant garden will likely want to begin with already-sprouted plants. But if you decide to go the seed route, you may want to pick seeds that will produce at least something green as…Read more...

The events of the past year or so has made a lot of people rethink how they want to spend the rest of their lives. For a variety of reasons, not everyone has the option of starting over or training for a new career, but one vineyard in California is offering one person the chance to do just that. Here’s what to know…Read more...

When you think of gardening tools, items like gloves, spades, and pruning sheers probably come to mind. But it turns out, there’s something else that can be extremely valuable for your garden: a journal. In an article for Food52, Master Gardener Nadia Hassani explains why. Here’s what to know.Read more...

Attention race fans (and those who live with them): As you likely already know, today the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pre-race coverage begins on NBC at 11 a.m. EST, and the race itself starts at 12:45 p.m. EST. Here’s how to watch.Read more...

Fans of the Golden Girls should be familiar with the type of natural, woven style of furniture in the photo above. But what’s it called? The Girls refer to it as “wicker,” but it also looks a lot like the trendy rattan furniture we’ve been seeing so much of lately. Is “rattan” just a fancier way of saying “wicker,” or…Read more...

When we think about the night sky, most people likely picture constellations, planets, the moon, or even meteors, on occasion. But the third-brightest object in the sky doesn’t fall into any of those categories. Plus, it’s constantly moving. If you guessed that it’s the International Space Station (ISS), you’d be…Read more...

If your idea of a relaxing weekend includes playing countless hours of video games with a friend while eating delicious snacks, then have we got a job for you. FrontierBundles is looking to pay a pair of friends $1,000 each to play 21 hours of video games per person, and report back on their experience. Here’s what…Read more...

Lost of us have spent the past 15 months fantasizing about all the amazing things we’ll be able to do once the pandemic’s marathon slog has reached its end. Perhaps we’ve even made tentative plans to finally get together with too many people to count. But truthfully, it’s possible that you’ve heaped your plate with…Read more...

There’s been a pretty broad consensus among scientists who study viruses that the one that causes COVID-19 arose naturally and passed from animals to humans sometime in late 2019, in or near Wuhan, China. But an alternate hypothesis—that it escaped from a lab in that city—has been tossed around like a political…Read more...

It’s been a few years since Beyond Meat introduced their line of plant-based meat substitutes, but if you have yet to sample their wares, a chance to do so for free is nigh: the company has launched a month-long giveaway, pledging to hand out 100,000 free Beyond Burgers. Here’s what you need to know.Read more...