Lifehacker

Fresh flowers—whether picked directly from your yard or garden, or coming via a professional bouquet or arrangement—have a relatively short shelf life. No matter how clean you keep the water, or how many of those little packets from the florist that you add to the vase, part of the novelty is knowing that they won’t…Read more...

There’s a difference between something being dirty and discolored—and plastic vent covers can be both. While many homes feature vent covers made of metal, plastic is also relatively common. And one of the downsides of white plastic vent covers is that they yellow over time, ending up discolored.Read more...

One of the perks of friendship is having someone to confide in, share your news with (both good and bad), and turn to for support. But sometimes, if may feel as though a friend thinks of you not only as their pal, but as their therapist as well—constantly turning to you to listen to their problems, and, in some cases,…Read more...

So, you had to cancel your summer vacation for the second year in a row because of the pandemic. For a while, this year was really looking good—what with the vaccine rollout and declining cases and all—but the Delta variant had other plans (ruining ours).Read more...

People tend to have strong opinions about snakes—usually either finding them fascinating (in some cases, enough so to keep one as a pet), or absolutely terrifying and repulsive to the point of getting (bad) chills just looking at a photo of one. But feelings aside, for some people with yards, snakes are very much a…Read more...

In the two weeks since the Taliban took hold of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, roughly 105,000 people have been evacuated, in one of the largest airlifts in U.S. history. While an estimated 5,100 evacuees are American citizens, the rest are Afghan individuals and families, many now facing housing insecurity.

There are plenty of ways to take beautiful screenshots on your Mac, but there’s a catch—the mouse cursor is missing in all of your screenshots by default, which may be a dealbreaker for some purposes. Sometimes you may not want to bother annotating screenshots, for example, so you could quickly show the mouse pointer…Read more...

Though I’ve been an Apple TV+ subscriber for going on a year—mostly because a free year came with my iPhone 12 Mini—I still don’t quite understand it. A streaming service with almost nothing on it except for the scant original content Apple has managed to produce doesn’t make sense to me, not in the era of a billion…Read more...

Like the Nintendo Switch and Sony’s PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles, the Xbox Series X|S and its older sibling the Xbox One are region-free devices. That means you can buy and play Xbox games released in other countries and play them on your console.

When you’re trying to wash, dry, and sort through pile after pile of your family’s laundry, an organized and functional workspace can make all the difference. And yet, when we think about the rooms we want to remodel or redecorate in our home, our minds first wander just about everywhere else—the kitchen, the bathroomsRead more...

Wednesday morning, I got in a rental car and drove from Montreal (where I live) to New York City, having recently decided to dip my toe in the waters of societal reintegration. It’s been 17 months since I left Montreal. That’s 75 weeks. That’s 527 days. That’s 45,499,949 seconds of not doing what I used to do with…Read more...

Your Mac makes it pretty easy to take screenshots, but soon enough you’ll end up with a desktop that’s overflowing with them. That’s because the default save location for Mac screenshots is the desktop. But if you’re like me, you like to keep your desktop clean, and to do that you have three choices: Stop taking…Read more...

When the season changes and your summer plants are gone, your soil begs for some sort of protection from the cold weather to come. Harsh winds, freezing temperatures, sleet, and snow can reek damage on the soil without most of us realizing it.Read more...

Even before the pandemic kept us locked in our homes for weeks at a time, the delivery and takeout business was booming thanks to apps that make it super easy to see restaurant offerings, select a few, and get them delivered in under an hour.Read more...

For those who have spent the past 18-or-so months working remotely, the transition out of the home and back into the workplace may be (or has already been) a challenge. It’s not necessarily a concern about working longer hours—if anything, it may cut down on the amount of time we spend working—but more about losing…Read more...

We’ve talked about the joys of getting out on the water, and explored the world of inflatable kayaks (a great option for kids or casual boating, but not for serious kayakers). Now it’s time to check out the watercraft that’s fast becoming the most popular at my local lake: the inflatable paddleboard.Read more...

Did you know National Lazy Mom’s Day was a thing? Likely not, because you’re a mom and far too busy with your 287 daily responsibilities to keep track of newly invented occasions. But since some of us barely get the pleasure of relaxing on Mother’s Day, when we’re often required to organize and attend group functions…Read more...

I wasn’t exactly surprised when, in the midst of a recent disagreement, my 11-year-old son expressed how upset he was by telling me that he believed I love his younger sister more than him. That’s a pretty common go-to move that most parents hear at some point, and I certainly remember breaking it out on at least a…Read more...

When we talk about cheating—and we do talk about, it a lot—we typically focus on the two people in the affected partnership. There’s the cheater and the cheated-upon, yes, but so often overlooked is the cheated-with, a person who may or may not know they’re the “other” in a crowded relationship.Read more...

You spend countless hours weeding, watering, pruning, and nurturing your garden into a space you enjoy; so it’s easy to forget that the rich vegetation we take so much joy and pride in is also meant for the local wildlife. Wildlife gardens can attract butterflies, birds, and small animals to your backyard oasis. And…Read more...

We recently talked about how you can hide your browsing history from ad trackers in Safari, which is great, but one reason many people have been hesitant to use Safari is simply because it looks a bit boring compared to other browsers. But Apple is trying to change that in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15. Now you’ll have a…Read more...

The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 are popular all over the world, but not every game is available in every country at the same time. There are plenty of games that never leave Japan, or that release in the UK or Europe before the U.S. (or vice-versa). Some countries, like Australia and Germany, have strict content…Read more...

This week the kids are debating whether COVID is a thing and falling off milk crates. I know Whitney Houston said, “the children are our future,” but I’m not so sure.

I am going elk hunting next week. This will be my first time doing any sort of hunting—and my first time camping since I was a child—and I did not realize it would involve so much planning (or spending so much money). I knew it would involve some planning, obviously, but the number of tiny details I have to remember (…Read more...

There are endless hacks about how to keep your white clothes clean without hard chemicals. Some suggestions include baking soda, vinegar, and even aspirin—which, fine, we’re hardly opposed to getting creative. One option, though, involves boiling your whites with lemons, and while citric acid really is a good way to…Read more...

Listen, we’re not here to judge or ask questions. You need to clear your recent browsing history—and fast. Lucky for you, we can help. Whether you use Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Brave, there’s a keyboard shortcut to help you delete your most recent web history as fast as possible, should you need to do so for reasons…Read more...

The last time I left my apartment with a wallet in my pocket was March 11, 2020 (guess why). I don’t carry one anymore, because wallets are bullshit, and you should stop using one, too. (If you are someone who prefers to carry a purse, this same advice probably broadly applies—unless you have kids, in which case you…Read more...

If you’ve ever called 911, you know that one of the first things they ask you—often before you’ve even said why you’re calling—is your location. So when you’re teaching your kids how to dial emergency numbers on your phone, make sure they know their address, too. A sticker can help.

There is always some new trend cropping up on Instagram or TikTok that, upon further investigation, isn’t very new at all. Angel numbers are one such “trend.” Have you being seeing digits like 333 and 777 all over your explore page or hearing people mention angel numbers like they’re some serious thing everyone just…Read more...

My grandfather knew what he was doing when he told me to “always carry a pocket knife.” Spending the last few weeks of summer at the beach? You should take a knife. Traipsing off to a cabin the mountains? Take a knife. Spending some time in a luxurious hotel in the middle of a bustling city? Take. A. Knife.Read more...

We’ve all said it. When our child climbs a rock wall for the first time, does a cartwheel, or brings home some less-than-stellar art, it’s almost instinct to toss out an enthusiastic, “Good job!” And while it seems like we’re doing the right thing—offering encouragement and positive reinforcement—parenting experts…Read more...

Booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines might be available this fall, depending on what data is available and what judgment calls government officials decide to make. Third doses, on the other hand, are already available to people with weakened immune systems. So, what’s the difference?

Whether you use an iPhone or Android, or whether your computer is a Mac, PC, or Chromebook, Google is likely a big part of your digital life. Unfortunately, Google has made location tracking part of that deal; the company monitors and stores huge amounts of your location data across different apps and devices. Cutting…Read more...

Poor, poor Paramount Plus. In the Peak Streaming Era, someone has to be on the bottom, and it’s definitely you.

Trees are a desirable element for most yards in that they create shade, provide privacy, and—obviously—add greenery. But certain trees can also offer up a sweet-smelling fragrance, in addition to their other benefits. Here are some trees you might consider planting, depending on the type of aromas you like.

New cars lose value relative to their purchase price the minute you drive them off the lot. While the exact amount varies with the year, make, and model, Kelley Blue Book estimates vehicles will lose 20% or more of their value in the first year, and around 60% in the first five years.

There are many reasons to change your Nintendo Switch’s system clock. Maybe you play with friends in another timezone and don’t want to do the mental math when scheduling multiplayer sessions, or you take the handheld console with you while traveling and need to adjust the clock as you globetrot.

If you have young kids, chances are, you’ve got some squeeze pouches in your house. While their mess-free convenience, light weight, and packability make them a parents’ dream, knowing how to responsibly dispose of them is not as dreamy.

Those of us fully entrenched in the Apple ecosystem have a lot of batteries to think about; you might have a MacBook, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods to boot, all of which are consuming precious portable power by just sitting there. Instead of constantly jumping among products to know whether you need them to…Read more...

Rejoice, at least partially vaccinated doughnut lovers, for Krispy Kreme is doubling down on their free doughnut program, giving away two doughnuts to anyone who has had at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot from Aug. 30 through Sept. 5.Read more...

Sure, maybe you wish you had thousands of dollars to pour into updating your living room so that it sports a new—massive—TV (plus surround sound), new recessed lighting, a large leather sectional to relax on, and a handmade coffee table from your favorite local craftsman. That does sound nice. But if your budget is…Read more...

There are so many games available for digital download on the Nintendo Switch, but the library varies depending on where you live. Tons of fun games are only officially on sale in Japan and Europe, and every now and then a country will get early access to an upcoming global release before other parts of the world.

In case you somehow missed the memo, big, bushy brows are in and have been for a few years now. There are all manner of makeup products and procedures that can help someone with even the sparsest of facial hair achieve full, luxurious brows—or the illusion of them—but how do you even know where to begin? Let’s start…Read more...

There are times when backgrounds sounds can help you sleep or calm you down—like sounds of the ocean or even static noise. There are many websites and iPhone apps that can help you play a wide variety of background sounds, but if you’re running iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, you can just use the built-in Background Sounds…Read more...

I’m not one of those people who uses their cast iron pan for everything. I understand that it can be done, and I understand that a properly seasoned cast iron pan is a thing of slippery beauty, but I’m kind of lazy and will always have a nonstick pan in my arsenal, mostly for egg-making purposes.

There was a time when you could count the big, blockbuster action films starring women on one hand. In a stunning reflection of how things are changing in Hollywood, now you’d probably need to use two hands—and in fact, we’ve progressed so much that women can now lay claim to an extremely problematic, culturally…Read more...

You should think twice before giving out your real email address to a random business or a website. Not only can it lead to spam, but your email address can also end up in a marketing database.

You might have a kid who loves bath time from start to finish—who giggles at the bubbles and merely blinks when they get doused with H20. Or you might, dear reader, you have a child who howls like they’re having their toenails pulled off when the shampoo touches their heads.Read more...

Picture-in-picture (or PiP) is a feature that iPhones have had since iOS 13, and iPads since iOS 9. YouTube, being YouTube, is arriving fashionably late to the PiP party; it announced in June that it would bring the feature to Apple devices for both Premium subscribers and regular users, and just started rolling out…Read more...

Nostalgia for the ‘90s is big right now, so it’s probably not a huge surprise Candyman is coming back. The love-lorn killer with the haunting bass voice and hook hand never had quite the box office cred of a Freddy, Jason, or Michael Myers, but Tony Todd’s performance—and his signature vocal rasp—made him an instant…Read more...