Lifehacker

Few things are more painful than the loss of a loved one. After the final services, it may be tough to spend months untangling their affairs. The grieving process only gets harder when you have to grapple with missing financial information—or worse, conflicts over their final wishes.Read more...

Whether or not you tuned into Ubisoft’s latest big press event is irrelevant; you can still score a free copy of the developer’s reasonably well-liked, hacking-centric PC game Watch Dogs 2 for the low price of free. The catch? You have to claim your free game before midnight tonight (PT), or else the deal—like several…Read more...

Bottled Frappuccinos will never fail to transport me to the year 1999. I am 13 years old—all Clinique Happy and butterfly clips—and sipping a chilled Mocha coffee drink from a glass bottle seems like the height of adult sophistication. I hadn’t really thought about the drink in a long time, not until I saw this piece…Read more...

For the last month and a half, we earthlings have been treated to a nighttime sky in which we can point out three planets at once: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Starting this week, you can add in Venus and—if you use binoculars—Mercury, too. Here’s how to find all five bright planets in the sky at one time.Read more...

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A database containing the personal information of over 142 million MGM Resorts guests is for sale online. The data is being sold on the dark web for $2,900, and includes sensitive guest information like names, home addresses, phone numbers and more—though no financial information appears to be included.

Dual citizenship means that you hold citizenship in two different countries. This also allows you to have two passports from two separate countries which can come in handy if you hold a passport that is more powerful than another—meaning you will have more mobility in being able to travel to certain places without…Read more...

It’s more comfortable to go bare-faced than to wear a mask. And many of us are not used to wearing them, so one’s first experience of mask-wearing—in summer perhaps, in the middle of a pandemic—may feel stifling. But relax: the mask isn’t actually restricting your breathing. Promise.Read more...

Applying for new jobs is a multi-part process. You can’t just fire off a general resume and cover letter; everything needs to be tailored to the specific position. That makes sense—and presents you in the best light to prospective employers—but it’s also a lot of work.

If you’ve been watching your savings account, you may have noticed falling interest rates over the past year. Rates may be impacted by factors like the economy and rates among competing banks. The biggest influence on rates, though, is the Federal Reserve, aka the Fed.

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Maybe you’ve been bitten by the tech bug and have become a Commodore collector. Or you were cleaning out a loved one’s house and found some ancient, heavy, boxy PC. Or you have your own super-old system that you’d like to tinker with. Whatever the case, there’s a certain, nostalgic joy that comes from retro systems.…Read more...

Cooking a meal for yourself or your family is often its own reward; there’s nothing better than putting all your skill, love and care into a dish that you then get to eat, and watch others enjoy. But there’s a dark side to meal prep: It invariably makes a huge mess. That’s why, if you don’t want to be left with the…Read more...

If there’s a theme to the upcoming Chrome 86 update, it seems to be “efficiency.” We’ve seen memory-sparing changes that should make Chrome less of a battery hog, but users also have a new data-saving “LiteVideo” mode to look forward to as well.

It’s a fairly common scenario—an infant or young child develops an ear infection or strep throat. Their pediatrician prescribes a penicillin antibiotic. The child later develops a symptom—a rash, an upset stomach or a headache—and a doctor declares them “allergic to penicillin.” From then on, that child will only be…Read more...

Dogs are the best people, so it’s only natural to want to smother them with affection when you greet them for the first time. Most of them are too nice to say it, but this is actually a terrible way to introduce yourself to a dog. Here’s a better way to make a good first impression.

I have never met a bowl of grits that I didn’t immediately fall in love with. Whether buttered, cheesed, shrimped or yolked, a creamy bowl of boiled corn mush is—to me—the perfect breakfast. I usually make a big batch, then reheat the leftovers with a splash of milk or pat of butter as needed throughout the week. But…Read more...

You’ve been wearing your face mask all the time, and that could result in some extra strain on your ears. Since we are so dedicated to finding ways for people to wear their masks for extended periods of time, we decided to test out these mask holders/extenders we found on the internet.Read more...

As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on every single aspect of human life, it’s nice to be reminded that nature marches (or stomps, or crawls, or creeps, or swims) on regardless, unconcerned with our global upheaval. Nature is healing, the memes tell us, but really, at least something is. So, as it’s that time of…Read more...

Teenagers have a reputation as being a little moody or withdrawn, particularly with their parents. The teenage years should have their fair share of eye-rolling and door-slamming at one’s clueless, annoying parents. It’s a rite of passage; what goes around, comes around, etc. But what do you do when it seems like your…Read more...

As financial uncertainty persists amid the pandemic, banks have become more strict about lending. According to the latest report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 38.5% of U.S. banks have clamped down on lending standards in the second quarter of 2020.

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I will never quit you, dark mode. The more I can make every app I use remind me of my teenage goth years, the better. And today, we’re going to show you how to enable dark mode in one of the biggies: Windows 10 itself.Read more...

Frozen ground beef is supposed to be a convenience item, but it’s only convenient if you are the type of person who can remember to transfer it from freezer to fridge the night before you plan to use it. I gave up becoming one of those people long ago, which is why this fairly recent Instagram story from chef Matty…Read more...

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Any mask—even a surgical-style or cloth one—should fit snugly around your face. But since many masks gap at the sides, here’s a quick trick to make yours fit better.Read more...

A highly successful email spam campaign is infecting computers with ransomware and other malware like cryptocurrency miners and botnet software that can send spam messages from your accounts without you noticing.Read more...

You’re probably sick of hearing about the coronavirus, and it’s only existed on this earth for seven months or so—as far as we know. Can people get it twice? A recent case reported in Vox suggests the answer may be yes, but there are too many unknowns to confirm whether that’s true, or what it means. Here are a few…Read more...

Welcome to Ask Kotaku, a new weekly feature in which Kotaku’s rank and file weigh in on the burning questions of our time. Each query is a crucible on which nerds and giants clash, monumental contests of wit, that...well, OK. It’s just another excuse to talk vidya games. You down?

It sounds ridiculous to suggest, in the age of the camera phone, that you aren’t taking enough pictures of your pets. Because, okay, that probably isn’t true—our cat died last summer and I’d estimate there are still several gigs of photos of him floating around in the cloud. You might not, however, be taking the right…Read more...

Google is finally adding a dark mode to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides on Android. The new dark themes look identical to those in other first-party Google apps: The bright white is replaced with dark grays and blacks that should be easier on eyes and batteries.Read more...

If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, we have some good news: There’s still time to lower your bill. When the IRS pushed back the filing deadline to July 15, 2020, some other deadlines moved along with it, which may give you the chance to make some late-breaking moves to slash what you owe or increase your tax refund.

Have you ever spun out over why your friend ended that text with a period? Or missed the subtle sarcasm in an unpunctuated email? We’re clearing up all of these online miscommunications and more this week with help from internet linguist, Gretchen McCulloch. Listen in to hear Gretchen talk about how to better approach…Read more...

With COVID-19 case numbers skyrocketing in the U.S. and other countries restricting who can and cannot cross their borders, we may not be able to travel abroad for a while. Heck, it’s not a great idea to travel, period, even within our nation’s borders. But being stuck at home and bored with your surroundings doesn’t…Read more...

For some kids, learning how to write numbers can be a real challenge. There are so many to learn! In all kinds of weird shapes! One can see how that would be frustrating. But an occupational therapy assistant may have come up with a method to help those kids out. She has dubbed it the “Thumb Numbers” method.Read more...

About twice a month, my boyfriend and I order far too many chicken wings. (We order so many they bring them to us in a catering container. We also get fries. We will not be shamed.) He and I have slightly different strategies when it comes to dealing with the leftovers. He eats them in his sleep while crouched in the…Read more...

All you need to lift a weight is just yourself, and the weight. But there are a lot of handy things that can help, and I’ve accumulated quite a few of them in my gym bag. Let’s take a tour.Read more...

It can be difficult to determine whom to allow into your family’s little physically distanced bubble right now, but as businesses open back up and more parents return to their in-person jobs (or actually attempt to get work done at home), someone’s got to watch the kids. Finding the right babysitter during normal…Read more...

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a devastating impact on the U.S. economy. While employers added a promising number of new jobs last month, unemployment is still in the double digits. Although Congress has passed three economic stimulus packages—totaling almost $3 trillion—many folks are still barely scraping by.

My post-work hours are precious, and there’s little I find more annoying than hearing Slack’s all-too-familiar knocking interrupt my afternoon nap. (I’m not sixty years old; I just wake up super early for work.)

Frozen cake is an underrated convenience item, and Sara Lee makes a pretty good one. The All Butter Pound Cake is a very tight example of the genre and—though one is supposed to let it come to room temperature before consuming it—eating frozen slices as the craving strikes is more my speed. This was my plan for the…Read more...

The French have given us many wonderful things. Wine, for one; no one does fermented grape juice like the French. Also, croissants, obviously. Croissants are the fucking best. A few years ago I spent three weeks summering in France and I started every day with a walk to a nearby bakery—there were about six to choose…Read more...

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If you’re someone who reaches for your phone as soon as you wake up (other than to turn off the alarm), you may find yourself scrolling through your newsfeed or social media channels out of habit. It can start out innocently enough: quizzes to find out which Golden Girl you are, pictures of your friends’ kids drawing…Read more...

When we think of sobriety, it’s usually in terms of no longer using alcohol or recreational drugs, but it’s more complicated than that. According to the definition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), sobriety means “not being intoxicated,” then goes on to explain that sobriety is more…Read more...

Thanks to COVID-19, you may not get to take your kids to the planetarium any time soon. But if they’re into astronomy, you’re in luck, because we should be able to see a comet starting tonight. Known as Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) for science reasons, it’s been visible at dawn a few times this month, but will be making…Read more...

Going on walks and hikes in uncrowded parks is one of the few activities that we can still do without having to worry too much about spreading COVID-19 (assuming that you’re either by yourself, with the people you’ve been quarantining with, or with other people while physical distancing). If you’re new to hiking,…Read more...

Since COVID-19 first started to spread in December 2019, it has made its way around the world. When it came to the United States, there were initially a few cases in Seattle, but the first major hotspot was New York City. Now, a few months later, places like Arizona, South Carolina and Florida are new hotspots for the…Read more...

If you live somewhere with all four seasons (or probably more realistically, two: summer and winter), you may look forward to growing outdoor plants once the weather warms up. But things can get tricky if there’s not enough rain. According to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center, many parts of the…Read more...

After months in quarantine, we’re all used to working and socializing remotely (right?). The ubiquity of camera-touting devices and the abundance of video-chat apps made the transition easy (well, not easy), but there’s always room for improvement—and one way to make your video chats look even better is to get a…Read more...