Lifehacker

It’s becoming an annual holiday tradition—the Better Business Bureau has once again issued a warning about the “Secret Sister” gift scam. Stay away from Facebook posts asking for “six ladies to participate in a Secret Sister gift exchange,” as it’s a pyramid scheme that relies on unwitting people to promote the scam…Read more...

Turkey gravy is not hard to make, but that does not stop some people from feeling very anxious about it. This actually makes sense to me: If you’ve never taken a thin liquid and made it thick, the process is quite mystifying. In reality though, it’s one of the easiest components of the Thanksgiving menu—the key lies…Read more...

Several video chat apps are making big changes in order to help families hold virtual holiday gatherings this year. Zoom, for instance, will lift its call time limit for free users on Thanksgiving Day. Free Zoom meetings are normally restricted to just 40 minutes, but calls can last as long as you want from 12 a.m.…Read more...

I was recently introduced to Yubo, which is advertised as the “make new friends” app for teenagers, but is often described as “Tinder for teenagers.” The app enables teenagers (or adults pretending to be them) to find others with similar interests and chat through private messaging or via public live streams. They can…Read more...

The Roomba i3+ robot vacuum and Hallmark holiday gift wrap lead Monday’s best deals.

Even if you do everything right, there’s still a chance your pet could come home with fleas. The good news is that there’s something you probably have on your sink right now that can help get rid of them: dish soap.Read more...

I have never been much of a smoothie drinker. It just isn’t my vibe. I don’t like to drink my fruit (unless it’s blended into a cocktail); I like to eat my fruit, and I like to drink Diet Coke (and cocktails). This is all to say I may not be the target audience for Tasty’s warm smoothies, though I’m honestly not sure…Read more...

As I often say, I’m the world’s worst Fortnite player. Unless I can catch someone standing still for an extended period of time and snipe them from an ungodly distance, I take shotguns to the face and build about as well as a three-year old. However, Fortnite is more than just running-and-gunning; there’s a big social…Read more...

Thanks to the pandemic and it being an election year, 2020 has been a rough year for people with anxiety—whether they had an existing diagnosis, or are experiencing that unwanted feeling (and its many side effects) for the first time. A lot of that stems from all the uncertainty we’ve been facing: Not knowing when…Read more...

A TCL 65" Android 4K TV and a sale on character pillows lead Sunday’s best deals.

With Thanksgiving happening in a few days, you may find yourself having to make a grocery store run. (Of course, we’re assuming that it’s for a dinner solely for the people in your household.) Given the whole pandemic situation, you’ll probably want to minimize the time you spend inside the supermarket. And thanks to…Read more...

Not everyone is exchanging gifts this holiday season, but if you are, you may want to consider shopping at local small businesses. After eight months of the pandemic, our neighborhood shops and restaurants could our support more than ever. In fact, between 1.4 million and 2.1 million U.S. small businesses could close…Read more...

A 50-inch TCL 4K smart LED tv and a SodaStream sparkling water making kit lead Saturday’s best deals.

With fewer in-person holiday gatherings and obligatory gift-giving situations this year, you may not get your usual supply of candles. And if you’re someone who actually keeps and uses these gifted candles (instead of passing them along to the next person you have to buy a generic present for), you may need to…Read more...

Dyson V10 Absolute (Refurbished) | $270 | NeweggRead more...

Sure, you’ll be able to squeeze in a slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving after a big dinner. Or maybe, given that things will look a little different this year, you’ll skip the turkey and make a pie your main course. Either way, you’ll want to make sure that you end up with the best pumpkin pie possible.Read more...

Every year, the United States Postal Services (USPS) asks us to send our packages and greeting cards as early as possible in the holiday season. But this year, they’re really serious about it. This is always a very busy time of the year for mail carriers, but throw a pandemic and an already difficult year and it’s a…Read more...

It can be nearly impossible to get credit if you don’t have already have a credit score, or if your score is too low. So what are you supposed to do if you want to show potential creditors that you can use credit responsibly? A secured credit card might be the answer.Read more...

Twenty-twenty hasn’t taken everything from us: Macy’s historic annual Thanksgiving day parade has somehow not been canceled this year. With safety precautions in place, the fully televised event will take place on schedule, as it has for nearly a century. This year it just might look a little different.

The strict barbell overhead press is a glorious lift, but as we work on it this month, it’s good to know there are other options. Maybe you don’t have a barbell. Maybe you don’t have high enough ceilings to pull it off in the place where you lift. Well, don’t worry; try one of these alternatives.Read more...

Everyone is focusing on the sad, bad parts of not having a proper Big Thanksgiving, but having fewer people at a Thanksgiving gathering means there are fewer people to argue with. This makes the dinner table a safer space, imbibement-wise, leaving you free to get even drunker than you normally would. Luckily, I have…Read more...

The Go SMS Pro texting app has over 100 million installations from the Google Play Store, but popularity doesn’t matter: You need to stop using it and delete it from your phone now. Cybersecurity firm Trustwave recently discovered a major security loophole in the app that makes all photos, videos, and other media…Read more...

If you’re lucky, you have a brand-new iPhone 12 to play with. If you’re unlucky, your device’s OLED screen has a mysterious green tint to it. You can see if this is the case by turning the lights off in your room and restarting your iPhone, viewing a darker image, or pulling up an all-black background. If your device…Read more...

It’s been a busy month for coronavirus vaccine news. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen announcements of interim phase 3 trial results, final phase 3 trial results, an FDA application, and phase 2 results. By my count, that’s five news events about three vaccines. It’s a bit confusing.Read more...

iPhone owners with the new iOS 14 can now enjoy a customized home screen with widgets and downloadable templates. Android users may feel that they are missing out on the opportunity to make their home screen look like Windows 95 or Animal Crossing, but just like Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, they have actually had the…Read more...

As interest rates for personal loans tend to be lower than credit cards, you might wonder why people bother with credit cards at all? Personal loans have their own limitations, however, making them better suited for targeted spending—typically to fund unexpected expenses, home improvements, or to consolidate debt.

Yesterday, the Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani held a press conference and unintentionally redefined the notion of a public meltdown. Facing the cameras, Giuliani began to sweat, causing what many journalists and fascinated onlookers thought to be a torrential downpour of the former New York City mayor’s hair…Read more...

During a recent interview, Dolly Parton found herself answering a question that she has been asked countless times over several decades: Why doesn’t she have children? Sure, she has written more than 3,000 songs, provided nearly 150 million books for children through her Imagination Library, and recently helped fund…Read more...

Of all the things that need to be cleaned in your home, your mattress is probably the one you think about the least. As long as you use a mattress cover and change the sheets regularly you should be fine right?

Earlier this week I received a package from Taco Bell. Within this package, chaos reigned. There were Taco Bell-branded mini pumpkins, a Taco Bell Jenga-style game, a Taco Bell Friendsgiving wreath, a very flattering hot sauce packet track suit, and a bunch of plates and glasses (all Taco Bell-themed). It was a…Read more...

Here’s a question I ask my 10-year-old son on frequent occasion: “How many LEGO could one child possibly need?” (I know, I know, you’re going to scroll down right now and tell me that no amount of LEGO is too much LEGO, and I’ll be honest with you: I’m only typing “LEGO” to keep you all off my back; I definitely still…Read more...

A sale on PlayStation 4 games and a MAC frosted lipstick gift set lead Friday’s best deals.

Remember that old curse about living in “interesting times?” Well, we’re there, but I had no idea that interesting times would be so damn boring, though. While history-defining events are unfolding daily, I’m over here getting into making homemade pickles and bingeing entire seasons of 60 Days In. If I wasn’t eight…Read more...

A full year since it launched, Google Stadia finally has its first publicly-available free-to-play game, and it’s a good one: Destiny 2.Read more...

The ideal Pandemic Thanksgiving dessert is fancy enough to feel special while remaining as low-effort—and delicious—as humanly possible. This year, more than ever, you deserve freedom from complicated recipes that yield underwhelming results. You deserve a cranberry tarte tatin.Read more...

Inflatable Dinosaur Costume | $38 | Amazon

I’m a bit forgetful, which is why I always use a password manager to remember all of my quirky and complex passwords for everything. Even then, I occasionally type in the wrong password to access it, even though I’ve been using it for years.Read more...

Gift giving can be hard at the holidays, but it can be even harder when you haven’t spent any time with your intended recipient for the past nine months, won’t be there to explain the gift, and just don’t know what it is your sister’s kids are into anymore. That’s why we put together a special gift guide for this…Read more...

Rust removal has been my specialty ever since I moved to Michigan in 2013 (out of necessity). My normal method for getting rust off my cars is simply to lightly blow on their chassis or to drive over small bumps. But last week I tried a more effective method of rust removal: electrolysis. And it is glorious.

Next month, the classic mystery solving bunch The Hardy Boys is coming to Hulu. For you ‘80s and ‘90s babies, this is a TV adaptation of the longstanding children’s novel series, which dates back to the ‘20s... the 1920s. The books follow brothers Frank and Joe Hardy as they delve into dangerous and spooky mysteries…Read more...

We’ve covered a bunch of anti-fog hacks here ever since masks became commonplace, but a doctor recently tweeted an even simpler one than folding the top of the mask, using a piece of tissue, or coating your lenses with anti-fog spray. It’s a band-aid.Read more...

There’s a school of thought in the United States that says the only practical path through higher education is to earn a degree that immediately makes money. Or, at least, one that forges the beginnings of a successful career. In a certain, siloed way, this makes sense: It’s good to not spend outrageous sums on…Read more...

Nvidia’s cloud streaming service, GeForce Now, is now live on iOS and iPadOS. It offers a browser-based format that allows it to circumvent some of Apple’s streaming restrictions, and the craftiness pays dividends. It’s a great way to streams games from the cloud or your local gaming PC on your iPhone.

Thursday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

Come Christmas day, we will officially be two Pixar films deep into quarantine.

We talked earlier this week about how our own parents helped shape—in ways both good and bad—how we parent our own kids. But the truth is that we are not influenced solely by our own upbringing; no, we are also influenced by the fictional parenting of some of our favorite TV and film characters.Read more...

If you’re still planning to go to some kind of in-person Thanksgiving event, otherwise known as a COVID feast, I’m not going to judge you. I will, however, do whatever I can to convince you that you’re making the wrong decision, and that includes sending you off to the handy “COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning…Read more...

If you’re waiting out the pandemic and, say, watching a lot of Antiques Roadshow on PBS because it has nothing to do with 2020, you might be thinking about the old items in your home and what they’re worth. Maybe that vintage Garfield phone is valuable, but how do you know for sure?

A recent study of mask wearing in Denmark is being shared as if it proves that masks don’t protect us. That’s not what the study actually says.Read more...

Technology has taken us from tapes to DVDs to digital streaming in just a few decades. But while a teenager today may have no idea what a VHS tape is, many of us who were around between 1977 and the rise of DVDs in 1997 might still have old VHS tapes laying around and taking up space. If you’re ready to get rid of them…Read more...