Lifehacker

Some decisions require a lot of thought—weighing pros and cons, and trying to reach the best possible outcome. But some people are indecisive about pretty much everything, big or small. Whether you’re dealing with an ambivalent person, or you are an ambivalent person yourself, you know that it can be annoying.Read more...

If you read a lot of gardening how-to articles—including the ones on this site—you’ve probably noticed that mulch comes up a lot. Its ability to help your plants hydrated, as well as to keep weeds a bay make mulch a popular (albeit stinky) gardening supply.Read more...

Summer hasn’t even officially started, but many parts of the country have already seen soaring temperatures and extreme heat. Hot weather is annoying—and potentially dangerous—for many reasons, and one of the irritating parts is what it does to your skin.Read more...

It’s easy to compare yourself to other people—especially ones you’re around a lot, like your co-workers. And while no one sets out to be envious of a colleague, sometimes it just happens. But, the good news is that you can use that feeling to improve your own performance. Dr. Camille Johnson, an associate dean and…Read more...

That green stuff that grows on old bread—that’s mold, right? What about the black coating on damp parts of a basement? Which one has that musty smell? Basically: what’s the difference between mold and mildew? That’s exactly what Michael Rubino, author of The Mold Medic: An Expert’s Guide on Mold Removal, addressed in…Read more...

This week’s out-of-touch guide is a snapshot of a sleepy week in youth pop culture. Nothing too groundbreaking went on, just a great new show about an all-Muslim, all-female punk band, a debate over popcorn buttering, and an Xbox branded mini-fridge.

It’s Father’s Day once again, which means you’re seeing ads for all the types of gifts that a dad might like: wacky golf balls; knives that open up to reveal other knives; neckties covered in pictures of hot dogs and footballs. Maybe you know a dad that loves all of that. Maybe your dad loves all that. But fathers,…Read more...

Few dishes are as political and polarizing as cornbread. If you think the pineapple on pizza debate is heated, whoo boy, ask someone from the American South if cornbread should be sweet or savory. Much like the great Sugar in Grits debate, the topic of cornbread often elicits a visceral reaction, especially among…Read more...

It’s customary in countries around the world to remove your shoes before coming into the house. Some households do it for practical reasons while others remove shoes for religious reasons. In the United States, conversations around shoes in the home are often tied to bacteria and filth. While it is a valid concern,…Read more...

If you live in an apartment like mine, dust builds up as soon as you wipe it down, so sometimes you just don’t bother—but we really should do it, and probably more often. A build-up of dust can cause serious respiratory problems, and regular dustings can help you avoid severe illness down the road. Here are 12 fun and…Read more...

The June Xbox system update for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles isn’t as big as previous months, but the latest firmware adds two important accessibility features for players with hearing and speech disabilities, along with new parental controls and a new way to organize your games and apps page. We’ll go over…Read more...

It’s a stereotype to say that all dads like craft beer, grilling meats, and shaving kits, but then again, a lot of dads do. To make Father’s Day a little easier on you—because it’s two days away and apparently you forgot to shop—here are 6 dad-friendly gifts that are totally cliché, but only because there’s a good…Read more...

When you find a new partner you really vibe with, it’s supposed to be all sunshine and rainbows. But for people with trauma in their pasts, there’s a dark cloud hanging over every new relationship: Inevitably, they will have to tell their new love about the horrors of their past.Read more...

The out-of-office message is one of the most formulaic functions of the modern workplace, so much so that most of them seem to have been derived from a game of Mad-Libs: “I will be away from the office from [date] with limited access to email. If your message is urgent...” etc., etc.

Chances are, no matter where you live, you live in tick country. These parasitic arachnids love to crawl onto our bodies, explore for a bit, and then settle down and bury their little heads into our skin. They can transmit illnesses like Lyme disease, making them a safety issue in addition to simply being gross. But a…Read more...

Lemons are one of the few—or maybe one of two—fruits with peels as valuable as their juicy flesh. Lemon zest is one of the quickest ways you can add the essence of sunshine to your dish, but sometimes you don’t need juice and zest at the same time, and these out-of-sync moments can leave you with a whole bunch of…Read more...

Prime Day is fast approaching (again), and maybe you’re planning to spend it scouting good deals on off-brand tech like wireless earbuds and phone cables. But for all its convenience, online shopping’s biggest shortcoming is still the inability to see or test products first-hand before buying. So to feel like we know…Read more...

A Dad Joke is something to be appreciated any day of the year, but as we approach Father’s Day, it’s especially important to honor this specific genre of “humor.” If we can call it that.Read more...

Nothing finishes off a bowl of pasta like grated parmesan or pecorino—unless you’re vegan. Good vegan hard cheeses are probably out there somewhere, but I have yet to find a brand or recipe that comes close to the real thing. Instead of going broke betting my dinner on one failed contender after another, I gave up and…Read more...

Not all advice need be professional. Sometimes your problems merit a bit of unvarnished honesty from a dude equipped with nothing more than a computer and a conscience. Luckily for you, I’m that guy. Welcome back to Tough Love.

We’ve talked in the past about the need for parents to be more thoughtful or cautious about what we post about our kids online, particularly once they’re old enough to have a say in the information and images you release into the digital world. But there’s one area in which you may be disclosing too much information…Read more...

You could say the difference between investing and speculation is simply a matter of risk tolerance, with speculation being closer to gambling. The truth, though, is that there’s no clear cut line between them, as all investing carries risk. Still, there are differences worth knowing about, no matter what your…Read more...

An unfinished build of what is assumed to be Windows 11 leaked online, and people are installing it. Based on early impressions, it looks like Windows users are in for a big overhaul: Screenshots show off an all-new macOS-like desktop layout, a redesigned Windows Explorer interface, new Start menus, and some of the…Read more...

The pantheon of movies about a pair of dimwits with an ampersand in the title (see: Dumb & Dumber, Batman & Robin) grew by two in 2020 with the pandemic-impacted direct-to-digital rental releases of Barb & Star Go to Vista del Mar and Bill & Ted Face the Music. This month on Hulu you can live like it’s summer 2020 all…Read more...

Bidets are an everyday bathroom appliance in many other countries, but in the U.S. it’s hardly commonplace and has only recently become more commonly considered (in part from the pandemic and a perceived shortage in toilet paper). If you haven’t considered getting a bidet yourself...well, you should. Here are a few…Read more...

A solid-state drive is one of the best upgrades you can make for your desktop computer. And it’s not very hard to set up: Physically install it, connect the right cables, and reinstall Windows from scratch.

Who among us has not endured a restless night (after night after night) of sleep? When you can’t fall asleep, all you can think about is how you can’t fall asleep. You might even be constantly recalculating how much sleep you’ll get if only you could fall asleep right now. Or now. While we know all that kind of…Read more...

Despite the upheaval of the last few presidential election cycles, the most common U.S. electoral format is inarguably simple... in theory: voters select the candidate they like the most, and whoever has the most votes at the end of the counting wins. (Unless they don’t.)

If you were thinking of traveling to Asia soon, your options are limited, unfortunately. Much of Southeast Asia has undergone a spike in COVID cases recently, prompting new restrictions in many countries. That said, there are a few countries open to American travelers—here’s where you can go:Read more...

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

We may pay more attention to our biceps or our butts, but every part of our body is full of muscles that can benefit from exercise. Our necks are no exception.Read more...

Planning a full-fledged garden doesn’t happen overnight. Everything from the best ways to prep the soil to what to plant where takes careful consideration—and perhaps no factor is more cirtical than figuring out the timing.

Pain in your butt or groin from cycling is common, even if you’re indoors on a Peloton or Airdyne, or even your DIY bike trainer. A little discomfort your first day may be normal, but if it persists or grows severe, you may need to make some changes to your bike and how you ride it. Here are some things you can try.Read more...

It seems like we’ve been waiting forever, but finally, the day has almost arrived. Yes, Disney Plus is finally premiering Turner & Hooch, a new TV series based on the quote-unquote classic 1989 Tom Hanks film about a police officer and his canine partner. Oh, also you can watch some kinda new Marvel movie too, if…Read more...

When your career is just beginning—or even once you’ve got some experience under your belt—it can be daunting to speak up when you disagree with a manager. Your boss’ authority is unimpeachable, or so you might think, so even if their directions are unclear or you struggle to wade through their unreadable emails,…Read more...

We know Mr. Clean “Magic Erasers” as the white pads with a shiny bald man telling you to remove scuff marks from walls.Read more...

When the pandemic hit last year, the first thing many parents did was abandon any rules they had in place about screen time. It’s not because the pandemic made us lazy parents; it’s because so many of us suddenly needed to work in the same spaces where our children were learning, playing, and arguing with each other.

If you’ve never heard of Amazon Explore, you’re not alone—it’s a relatively new service that connects you to interactive, one-on-one virtual experiences around the world, whether that’s a shopping session, a cooking lesson, or a “walking” tour. Launched during the pandemic, Explore is Amazon’s bid to, “complement,…Read more...

Eating a sandwich on the beach or near a nice tree is a simple but profound pleasure, but one that can be easily ruined by soggy bread or, conversely, bread so crusty and chewy that it hurts one’s tender mouth. Fortunately, the sandwich considerers at America’s Test Kitchen have isolated the perfect bread for picnics,…Read more...

In my career a parent, I can boast very few untarnished wins—namely, they are: making my daughter believe that frozen grapes are a totally acceptable dessert, teaching her to love Swiffer-ing, and potty training her in three days flat. That last one was my biggest surprise success, as I was fully prepared for…Read more...

Instant ramen may be the perfect cheap food. It’s good by itself, but there’s always creative ways to transform it into something better. My favorite thing to do is to crack an egg into the pot while my ramen is cooking.

Fertilizer can help promote healthier and stronger plants by giving them a well-balanced level of nutrients, encouraging root strength and longer blooms. The general consensus is that you should fertilize your plants during the growing season, which is early to mid-spring, but in reality it’s not that simple: Each…Read more...

You don’t have to go far to find conflicting advice about what to do in the gym. Some people will tell you not to do certain exercises at all; others will debate minutiae like how straight your elbows should be at the top of a press. Encountering diametrically opposing viewpoints can be frustrating when you’re just…Read more...

Spend enough time online and you’ll start to recognize the buzzwords currently standing in for broader social conflicts—maybe even before they enter the mainstream via cable news punditry and hot takes. A new “moral panic” looms with every feed refresh; commentators rail at the rise of “illiberalism”; “wokeness” is…Read more...

Yesterday the IRS launched a portal to service those who aren’t normally required to file taxes but are still eligible for the expanded child tax credit worth up to $3,600 per eligible dependent. The tool is meant to bridge the gap between low-income earners and the IRS, which can’t provide the benefit without a…Read more...

All babies cry. But some babies cry a lot. A colicky baby—defined as a healthy baby who cries for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week—presents a mental, physical, and emotional challenge for new parents beyond what most of us can fathom. To be tasked with consoling a seemingly inconsolable infant…Read more...

Apple shared a bunch of big reveals at this year’s WWDC presentation, most of which were promptly overshadowed by the parade of new iOS 15 features. One of the biggest was the announcement of Private Relay, a new service coming for iCloud+ subscribers that promises to make Safari even more private once you upgrade to…Read more...