Lifehacker

Friday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

Last Wednesday, in an act of bored desperation, I went live on Instagram and mixed a few cocktails for an audience of 10. I made a pickletini, then I mixed some shitty rosé with a blackberry shrub, then I just started pulling random bottles from my bar cart and demanding the viewers “give me a liquor” on which to…Read more...

N95 respirator masks are more effective at stopping coronavirus-containing droplets than disposable surgical or cloth masks. But since they’re in such high demand, there’s a booming market in counterfeit and mislabeled masks. Recently, authorities in Hong Kong seized 100,000 fake N95s that they say were intended for…Read more...

Starbucks is selling pumpkin spice lattes. The days are getting shorter. America is slipping into a chaotic death spiral from which it may never recover. In other words, it’s fall! So put on a cozy sweater and get ready for an Out of Touch Guide that’s positively autumnal.Read more...

As many Lifehacker readers know by now, I love a good operating system beta. Risking life on the wild side in return for early access to new features is a trade-off I’m always willing to make, and it generally hasn’t been an issue on my Windows PC or various smartphones. My friends, however, haven’t always been as…Read more...

My son is a person down to eat dinner basically at any point. It’s just before 10 a.m. as I write these words, and I bet he’d be game to eat dinner right now if I asked him. (He’d be surprised at the offer, but I’m almost certain that surprise would quickly be replaced by excitement.) This isn’t the case for all kids,…Read more...

Look, if coffee is one of the small daily habits that brings you true joy, we’re not here to tell you to cut back or spend less. The cliché that money spent on avocado toast and lattes is what’s holding you back from being a millionaire is oversimplified and, well, silly. So drink what you enjoy, and pay for the…Read more...

Yesterday, Netflix announced its first price hike in nearly two years. (Adam Sandler originals like Hubie Halloween don’t pay for themselves.) The new plans have changed to:Read more...

Apparently wearing a small piece of fabric affixed to your face has caused such fervent debate in our society that companies are trying to find new and “innovative” solutions to shield your face. Author Celeste Ng uncovered a real gem when she tweeted about these personal social distancing pods:Read more...

Halloween is my favorite holiday, but just like everything else in 2020, this year won’t be as festive for most of us. If you’re starved for some good-natured spooky vibes, you can try banishing the blah by summoning a ghost or reanimated skeleton to dance for you—digitally, at least.Read more...

As you may have heard, Tuesday, Nov. 3 is Election Day. Maybe you’ve already voted by mail or stood in line to hit the polls early, or perhaps you’re gearing up to cast your ballot on the day itself. Regardless of your chosen method, a bunch of companies are offering Election Day deals and freebies as a way to…Read more...

For members of a certain generation, Hocus Pocus is among the most iconic Halloween-themed films ever made. These fans will definitely want to join their coven as the three Sanderson Sisters—played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimi—get together tonight for a live-streaming charity reunion show.Read more...

Outside of chicken and dumplings and matzo ball soup, you don’t see many recipes for humble blobs of boiled dough. This is a huge missed opportunity. Fast, simple, comforting, and cheap, dumplings are the ultimate home cooking hack, and as we round the corner on Soup and Stew Season, it’s the perfect time to get…Read more...

I’m not saying that we, as parents, should always use our kids to do our dirty work. I’m saying that it would be pleasing to see a four-year-old walk through the grocery store or past a crowded restaurant and stop to point and loudly proclaim, “Mommy, why isn’t that person wearing a mask?”Read more...

The Apple Watch SE and an iTeknic water flosser lead Friday’s best deals.

So you’ve had an encounter with a ghost. All of a sudden the air turned cold; a light flickered; a shadowy figure floated in a dark corner; when you asked if you were in the presence of a spirit, the Ouija planchette in your shaking hand dragged itself toward “YES.” Naysayers be damned, you know you’ve been contacted…Read more...

With the full moon come “the crazies.”Read more...

Whether you’re looking to explore virtual worlds for the first time or you’re the proud owner of a PlayStation VR headset looking to game on your brand-new PlayStation 5 console, you’ve got a little work to do. Right now, your PS VR headset won’t work with Sony’s next-gen machine—but you can fix your problem without…Read more...

Ever since Sony put a DVD player in the PlayStation 2, video game consoles have been expected to pull double duty as gaming systems and entertainment devices. These days, many of us use our PlayStations, Xboxes, and Nintendo Switches to stream TV, movies, and music when we’re not using them to play games. The upcoming…Read more...

When you’re building a PC, you probably get really excited about the CPU, graphics card, and maybe the case—but the power supply is the least sexy part of any build. It is, however, one of the most important—so it requires just as much deliberation as your other components.

The pandemic has people exploring debt payment options they haven’t considered before—like paying off their student loans with a credit card. Is it possible? Yes, but it’s generally not a good idea.

I love reading, but I love telling people what to read almost as much. For five years, it was basically my job. And because reading the right book at the right time—to suit a mood, answer a question, or satisfy a craving—is definitely a hack, I want to keep doing it. If you’re looking for just the right book to read, …Read more...

Thanks to the miracle of modern refrigeration, we’re able to keep perishable foods longer and no longer have to go shopping every single day for fresh food. Though most of us probably don’t think about how amazing that is on a regular basis, we definitely pay attention when something goes wrong. If you’ve ever gotten…Read more...

Thursday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

Fitness Instagram, like every other place or population on earth, contains multitudes. There are athletes working their butts off, coaches promoting their business, models making a living. Not all of these people are legitimate fitness professionals, so if you look to Insta or YouTube for workout advice you need to…Read more...

Google’s call recording feature is a helpful perk for Android users, but it’s only available on some devices. There are third-party apps that can do the same thing, but many of them require root access to your phone. Luckily, if your phone runs Android 11, the OS’s built-in screen recorder can record phone calls with …Read more...

Toyota recently announced that they’ve added approximately 1.52 million vehicles to a safety recall the company issued earlier this year, bringing the total to 3.34 million. A defective fuel pump is the reason for the recall, which impacts several makes and model years of both Lexus and Toyota vehicles. Here’s what…Read more...

I’m going to make a radical statement: I think Halloween will be more fun for kids this year, not less fun. Of all the things this year has taken from us and our kids, I am feeling a true revolt out there against the idea that social distancing will also take away the joy our kids find in this particular holiday.Read more...

Winter is coming, as they say. And as the pandemic continues to rage, we’re all preparing (or we should be) to hunker down at home even more so for the next few months. This creates both a need for basic winterization as well as an opportunity to tackle DIY projects while you’re stuck inside.

Many months, moons, and news cycles ago, one of my (and many others’) main concerns was “running out” of food before the pandemic was “over.” Honestly, were we ever so young? The idea that a single, ambitious trip to Costco would be enough to last us through the pandemic seems laughable now, but having that as a goal…Read more...

Finding a job is not easy, but for once there’s some good labor market news as many large companies are hiring hundreds of thousands of temporary workers across the country for the holiday shopping season.Read more...

So far, 2020 has been a never-ending cycle of bad headlines and distressing news articles, the next arriving before you’ve even had a chance to process the one before it. Whether it’s an alert about another instance of police violence, an update on spiking cases of COVID-19, or the ceaseless tumult of presidential …Read more...

Children—especially the young variety—tend to be inconvenient in most situations. I’m not blaming them for this, I’m just saying that a person doesn’t realize how easy it is to do something as basic as, like, walk out the front door until they have small children to drag along with them. Everything is harder and…Read more...

There’s really no reason to have Adobe Flash sitting around anymore. Nobody uses it, modern web browsers will rid themselves of it by the start of next year, and it’s been a perpetual thorn in the side of device security for years—even though, yes, it allowed us to have a lot of fun on Newgrounds back in the day.Read more...

“I know a lot of people think you’re quirky,” my dad told me, “but I need you to know that you’re just a redneck.” This comment came shortly after I sent him a picture of the newest addition to my taxidermy collection, a mule deer mount my boyfriend gave me for my 32nd birthday.Read more...

Daylight Saving Time ends early this Sunday. (Here’s our post on the history of the time change.) Aside from changing your clocks, there’s another reason it’s worth noting the change, particularly if you’re an hourly employee.

Now that no one is cashing in their travel rewards anymore, credit cards issuers are increasingly offering at-home benefits to their cardholders. Amex just announced a one-year Uber Eats Pass for its card members—the latest in a trend of cards offering food delivery app perks.Read more...

When you ask someone how they’re doing, if they don’t throw out the usual “I’m fine,” they’ll probably mention that they’re tired, or even exhausted. So what’s going on? Are we all actually that tired all the time? Have we just stopped sleeping? Though it’s different for every person, if you find that you do get what…Read more...

Wednesday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

Edge’s experimental sidebar has been available in Edge Canary since August, but the highly-requested feature is now live in the browser’s developer build. This brings it another step closer to the stable version most of us use. Until then, you can get an early look at the feature in Edge Chromium’s Dev and Canary…Read more...

On October 2, 2020, Merriam-Webster.com reported that searches for the word “schadenfreude” had increased by 30,500% on the site, making it the most popular word of the day. This was, of course, the day it was announced that Donald and Melania Trump had both tested positive for COVID-19.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now recommends that screening for colon cancer start at age 45, not 50. This proposal is not yet finalized, but if it still stands after four weeks of public comment, insurance companies will most likely have to cover the cost of screening for 45-year olds if they don’t…Read more...

I’ve never been a fan of how Samsung treats beta operating system updates. Admittedly, I’m saying that out of jealousy, because it seems that I’m never “eligible” to install one of them on any my devices. (My Pixels, on the other hand, are always enrolled in some kind of Android beta, and it’s a much easier and more…Read more...

Hypothermia is a life-threatening condition that can occur if a person gets too cold. (The word literally means “low [body] temperature.”) Here’s how to recognize it, and what to do if you’re with somebody who is showing symptoms.Read more...

It might feel like we’ve reached that point in the pandemic when we’ve simply run out of ideas for how to switch things up and conjure some fresh joy inside our four walls. But if you haven’t built your own indoor ball pit yet, you’ve still got at least one trick up your sleeve.Read more...

Speed reading is a skill that almost seems like a superpower. The ability to quickly read and comprehend books, articles and other written materials would be life-changing for a lot of us. But is speed reading something you’re born having the ability to do, or is it something anyone can learn? A slew of cheap apps…Read more...

A good pickle is a very pleasing thing, but branching out from fridge pickles can seem a little intimidating if you’ve never fermented anything before. But lacto-fermentation—which requires nothing but salt and an oxygen-free environment—is far more accessible than it sounds, especially if you have a vacuum sealer.Read more...

The time change is hard enough on us humans. We won’t have to wake up until an hour later, but we’re slaves to the clock, and so we’ll still figure out how to get ourselves to meetings and appointments on time. But our pets don’t know that the time has changed, so they’ll be confused when their schedule is a bit off.…Read more...

If you’re thinking of passing your wealth down to your children because you love them, think again. Some of the most financially successful people in the world deny their children the bulk of their inheritance as a way to build character, and you can, too.

Some people have known how they’re going to vote in next week’s election—and, specifically, the presidential race—since Wednesday, November 9, 2016. Others somehow still remain undecided, even less than a week before Election Day. And then there are those who have already voted by mail, but have since changed their…Read more...