Lifehacker

We may be a society (understandably) prone to skepticism and negativity right now, but fear not: Help is on the way, in the form of a restructured boneless pork patty covered in sauce and served with pickles and onions on an oval-shaped bun. That’s right—the McRib has made its triumphant return to McDonald’s. And…Read more...

One Saturday morning, while we were driving home from a karate lesson, my then-nine-year-old son asked me: “Mom, what’s the ‘s-word?’” My husband and I glanced at each other; we had gotten into the habit early on of not cursing in front of him (and by “early on,” I mean it took us the entirety of his first year of…Read more...

If the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday have left you feeling a bit hollow, consider that today is Giving Tuesday, a globally celebrated day of philanthropy. Launched in 2012, the day promotes charitable acts of giving, whether that’s donating your time or your money to good causes.Read more...

Freshly-ground spices simply taste better than their powdered counterparts, but in order to use freshly-ground spices, one has to actually grind them. If you are the kind of person who has a dedicated spice grinder: Great. I love that for you. But some of us don’t have room for two grinders in our lives. Some of us…Read more...

Sometimes a cup of coffee can make the difference between a terrible day and a less-terrible one, and as the number of COVID cases continue to rise and lockdown talks begin again around the country, Starbucks is giving away a cup of coffee during the month of December to anyone who is a front-line worker.Read more...

During the pandemic, video games are more vital than ever to our mental health (and we aren’t just saying that). And as more people are playing video games than ever, controllers are a focal point at many parties and family gatherings—which is why it’s important to regularly clean your controllers and other shared…Read more...

Crowdfunding is a way to fundraise for a specific cause, expanding your reach to excite and motivate a broad base of typically smaller donors. Running a successful crowdfunding campaign takes calculated effort and attention, and after working in fundraising for five years with the largest arts-based fiscal sponsor in…Read more...

The 1960s were a time of great technological optimism and international competition, and space exploration was reason—and the venue—for much of it. Yet everything futuristic will one day pass into history, and it turns out that some of the 20th century’s most sophisticated rocket technology is now little more than …Read more...

A Fortnite Switch console and a Kopari Beauty sale lead Tuesday’s best deals.

If you associate bullies with playgrounds and elementary school, that means you probably haven’t experienced one as an adult. Unfortunately, some people never outgrow being a jerk and continue this type of harassing behavior well into adulthood. Here are some tips for understanding and dealing with bullies, no matter…Read more...

Windows 10 includes a custom volume mixer, which sounds like a great idea on paper—who wouldn’t a way to control the volume of individual apps? It’s incredibly useful when you need to dial back your game audio a bit so you can hear your guildmates on Discord (or the YouTube video you’re listening to in the…Read more...

Nintendo Switch Fortnite Wildcast Bundle | $300 | Amazon

Not only do many kids stop reading for fun around age 9, we’re also in the midst of a pandemic that has brought much of their learning into the virtual space. That has many parents and educators worried about the potential for a “COVID slide,” in which some kids fall behind academically—even more than they would…Read more...

It may shock you to learn this, but I am a woman of several shortcomings. Some are real, some exist merely in my mind. One that always bothered me was my inability to enjoy eggnog. As a lover of cream, eggs, booze, and seasonal fun, it sounded like something I would like, yet I always found the mouthfeel extremely…Read more...

What a world we live in, when Microsoft’s next-gen console has better PlayStation backwards compatibility than the PlayStation 5.

Closing the racial wealth gap is a driving force behind a common phrase you may have heard: support Black businesses. And since the holidays are often about buying gifts and taking advantage of post-Thanksgiving deals, it’s a perfect opportunity to find new ways of supporting those small businesses while finding a…Read more...

Take a glance at anyone’s holiday wish list, and there’s probably a gadget or two somewhere on there. While it’s nice to know exactly what your loved ones want, the prices can get hefty pretty quickly. Days like Cyber Monday can help. but finding the best deals in the flood of bargains isn’t easy. Spare yourself the…Read more...

Holiday tech shopping is always chaotic, but this year is going to be extra busy. Not only are there tons of new smartphones, game consoles, PC components, and smart home devices up for grabs, but COVID-19 also has most of us doing our gift purchasing online. Delays, shortages, and other errors are bound to crop up,…Read more...

It’s not easy to take criticism, especially when it’s about your job performance. Perhaps you’ve put a lot of effort into making your superiors happy, only to fall short of expectations; or maybe you’re in a position that has consequence for millions, beholden not only to people in your immediate sphere, but others…Read more...

Short selling a stock is akin to placing a simple bet that a company’s stock price will go down, and as such it’s often demonized as profiting off of failure. However, academics and investors believe that short selling improves market efficiency by making it easier to trade stocks and by ensuring that a company’s…Read more...

I fully planned on buying a turkey breast for my downsized Thanksgiving this year, yet when it came time to order the main course, my brain shut off, muscle memory took over, and I ordered a whole bird. Luckily, it was only a 10-pound bird, but 10 pounds of turkey is still a whole bunch of turkey for four people (the…Read more...

It’s one of the best times of the year if you’ve been thinking about upgrading your PC. Odds are good that you can score great deals on components from Black Friday through Cyber Monday (even if you’ll never get that flagship Nvidia or AMD graphics card in your holiday stocking). Whether this is your first time…Read more...

I’ve been successful at avoiding all things Black Friday/Cyber Monday this year, save for a small splurge on a cold-brew coffee maker. If you’re looking to upgrade your life in a bigger way—in the form of a new phone—you should know that you can get Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S20 Androids (the S20 and S20+) at their…Read more...

When it comes to kids and teenagers, it’s all about TikTok. Competitors can try to clone it, the president can try to shut it down, but the made-in-China video sharing service just keeps on rolling, with around 850 million people estimated as active users. Even if you don’t like it, TikTok is the marketplace of ideas…Read more...

This week we’re joined by Danielle Belton, editor in chief of The Root, and Maiysha Kai, the managing editor of The Glow Up, to talk all things books. More specifically, how to read more of them in the coming year, and how to upgrade your reading list to get you ready. Listen to hear these two voracious readers talk…Read more...

Lifehacker has spilled a lot of digital ink over the years trying to help you get your browser tabs problem under control. How to use tabs more efficiently on Chrome. How to reopen your tabs after a browser crash. How to get an intervention for your tabs addiction. The best browser extensions to make opening a new tab…Read more...

Even as the pandemic stretches into a nine-month slog, upending lives and shattering economies around the world, a pretty much universally reviled corporate custom still threatens to rear its ugly head: the office holiday party.Read more...

This “year” is drawing to a close, and it seems like people are really leaning into Christmas, even more so than usual. (Their halls are already decked!) This, to me, makes sense: The year of our lord 2020 has been more of an “ordeal” than a “year,” and we deserve all the shiny lights, nostalgic music, and delicious…Read more...

An Anker charger sale, Nixplay frames, and a Fortnite Switch lead Monday’s best deals.Read more...

I can remember, as a small child, thinking it odd that I bought Christmas gifts for my parents from my school’s mini holiday shop, and yet they didn’t buy me any gifts. Sure, Santa brought me plenty, it’s not like I didn’t have a slew of stuff to open, but still...shouldn’t a parent buy their kid a present on the…Read more...

Can you make a living off of TikTok? Yes, but it ain’t easy—the viral video platform offers limited ad revenue to its creators, so you’ll need to rely on sponsored posts, merchandise, and thousands of followers before you can quit your day job.Read more...

I don’t use weed, but the one time I did I ended up in an emergency room.

Nixplay Digital Picture Frame 10.1“ | $115 | AmazonRead more...

The AeroGarden Harvest and Immortals: Fenyx Rising pre-orders lead Sunday’s best deals.

There has already been a significant surge in people taking up various home improvement projects throughout the pandemic, and that’s likely to continue throughout the winter months. As long as we’re stuck at home, we might as well make it a little nicer. Not everyone has the time or budget for a major renovation, but…Read more...

Now that we all basically walk around with digital cameras all the time (courtesy of our phones), we may be in the habit of snapping pictures without thinking about it. That’s not a bad thing—it’s really handy to have that tool to capture unexpected moments, or a receipt that you need, but will probably end up losing.Read more...

As the holiday weekend winds down and we prepare to go back to work for these awkward weeks between holidays when it seems like everyone else is out of the office, but we’re all very much still here, we have another chance to catch something interesting in the night sky. First of all, there will be a full moon. And,…Read more...

Anker AA Batteries (24-Pack) | $7 | Amazon Prime

Though the weather has been unseasonably warm this week in many parts of the country, we know this isn’t going to last. And if you were one of the many people who really embraced gardening during the pandemic (or have been an avid gardener for years), you may find yourself going through winter withdrawal when it comes…Read more...

The holiday shopping season, like everything else, is looking a little different this year. Sure, there were still people at malls at 6 a.m. yesterday for Black Friday sales, but nothing compared to years past. Today, it’s Small Business Saturday, and the perfect opportunity to support independent retailers. Small…Read more...

SE450 Series Desktop Monitor | $69 | HP

Not everyone can afford to buy brand-name clothing and accessories, so when we see outlet versions of our favorite stores, it can be tempting to pop in and look for a deal. And at first glance, it appears that you have: you pick up a top says it retails for $200, but the outlet price is $29. If that seems too good to…Read more...

A simple but noteworthy attack is making the rounds on popular chat service WhatsApp. It’s incredibly easy for someone to pull off—all they need is access to a single account that has you listed as a contact. And if you’re susceptible to a bit of social networking, said attacker can take over your WhatsApp account…Read more...

It’s not only Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas that will look different this year: the whole holiday season will be (or at least should be) much quieter. Remember how December used to be—running between obligatory holiday parties and events for a few weeks, so when it came time to celebrate with the people you…Read more...

One of the first parts of working remotely that got people really excited (aside from being able to wear soft clothes all the time) is avoiding their daily commute. Whether that involved a traffic-filled car trip, or depending on perpetually late public transit, the idea of simply getting out of bed and walking to…Read more...

Are you bored of your usual Zoom backgrounds? Are you tired of panic-cleaning the area immediately behind your desk 30 seconds before a Zoom meeting so your colleagues don’t see the trash heap you call home? Allow us to introduce you to your latest option: Zoom backgrounds that feature home offices designed in the…Read more...

You should be using a password manager, because it’s one of the best things you can do to secure your digital life. With it, you’ll be able to create strong, incredibly difficult to guess passwords that you won’t even be able to remember yourself. Your password manager will store them for you, and you’ll be able to…Read more...

Philips Sonicare 6500 Electric Toothbrush| $90 | AmazonRead more...

Thursday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

Apple AirPods Pro and Mario Kart Live for Switch lead Thursday’s best deals.