Lifehacker

Beginning today, the CDC officially requires travelers to wear masks on trains, planes, buses, taxis, ride shares and other forms of “public conveyances.” The order, which you can read here, provides a tight definition of what counts as a “mask”—bandanas and face shields do not count.Read more...

There’s a certain freedom that comes with sharing your opinion online, sitting in front of your computer, protected by the warm embrace of anonymity. It also means scant repercussions from publicly disparaging other people—that is, until the person whom you’re deriding is made aware by an interloper who tags them.

A good friend of mine has this running joke where he says “Super Bowl’s coming up” anytime there’s a lull in a conversation, regardless of what time of year it is. That joke works best when March rolls around and the Super Bowl most certainly is not coming up. However, this time, the Super Bowl really is coming up.…Read more...

It’s no surprise to anyone that the pandemic has had a huge impact on our mental health. The virus has caused loneliness, depression, and anxiety to run rampant throughout the world. So this week, we sit down with The Happiness Lab host and Yale University psychology professor Dr. Laurie Santos to learn some of the…Read more...

Vowing to “undo the damage Trump has done,” President Biden has signed an executive order that opens a 90-day Affordable Care Act special enrollment period for people to sign up for health insurance.Read more...

Before turning 18, Amber Kelley had already won Food Network Star Kids, written her own cookbook, launched a successful YouTube show, and been a finalist in Jamie Oliver’s “Search for a FoodTube Star” competition. But she got started as a chef by hanging out with her parents in the kitchen.Read more...

I hate tiny garlic cloves. I hate them so much. Nothing disappoints me more than peeling the papery outer skins away from a bulb of garlic only to discover it is comprised of many tiny cloves, rather than a smaller number of beautiful, fat cloves.Read more...

For most of my life, my name has been mispronounced or misspelled by seemingly everyone unfamiliar with its cultural relevance. Often they’ll replace it with something more common (Alicia) or something spelled similarly (Asia) without realizing their mistake. But constant mispronunciations (or the assignment of a…Read more...

Perhaps the most frightening thing about starting a new job is not knowing whether you made the right decision. You could, for example, be baited and switched by an employer who lured you into a position with false promises, or suddenly feel pangs of buyer’s remorse once you realize that your old job offered a…Read more...

This week, the internet is all about the possibility of great harm. Maybe it’s a hangover from the “just do whatever, who even cares anymore?” vibe of the past four years, but for whatever reason, all I see are blinking red danger signs, from financial Goliaths being owned by internet Davids, to bad game night guests,…Read more...

With everything else going on in 2020, you might have missed the story about the mysterious flying object that dropped into the Earth’s orbit in September 2020. Unsure of exactly what it was, it was referred to as “SO 2020" and considered a “mini-moon”—a term used to describe temporary satellites.Read more...

macOS: I go to great lengths to avoid advertising around the web unless I really want to support the site or service I’m using. Besides, all of the big companies are probably profiting off my data anyway; do they really need my tiny little impression?

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As more people receive the vaccine, we’re also seeing more of them post photos of their vaccine cards to social media. After all that waiting, it makes sense to celebrate and share the news—but the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is now warning people not to post photos of their vaccine cards online, as it will lead to…Read more...

My 10-year-old has many wonderful qualities. He’s funny, generous, and curious about the world. He does not, however, like to lose a game. And to be fair, that’s not all that unusual. I think, given the choice, most of us would prefer to win any game we play—otherwise, what is the point of keeping score? But it’s…Read more...

If we learned one thing from 1990s classics like Sister Act II: Back in the Habit and Mr. Holland’s Opus, it’s that music education can be life-changing for kids (and, spoiler: their teachers too), but it’s often woefully under-funded. The funding situation hasn’t really improved much, but for close to a year, school…Read more...

Last week we talked about “slow TV” and highlighted a map of the world where you can find different clips by location. In case you missed it, here’s how Alan Henry described “slow TV” in a 2016 Lifehacker article:Read more...

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It’s no secret that the outside of your vehicle’s windshield can get very dirty, very quickly. Having windshield wipers and fluid in place for on-the-go cleaning definitely helps, but sometimes, the smudges that are making it hard to see are coming from....inside the vehicle.Read more...

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Some people are born with musical gifts. Others spend years—maybe even decades—taking lessons, only to realize that their musical abilities are serviceable, at best. And then there are those who, for a variety of reasons, are best off as an enjoyer of music, rather than a maker of it. Regardless of which category you…Read more...

Anyone who has spent time shopping for vintage clothing and accessories knows that it can be very hit-or-miss. Of course, you need to go into the whole thing with the understanding that these clothes are old (or at least they should be), which means they’ve likely been worn, and may not be the most perfect, spotless,…Read more...

Smoothies (and smoothie bowls) may be one step away from baby food, but unlike the stuff in the tiny jars, you get to control what goes in it. (Which probably means ending up with something closer to “Tutti Frutti” than “Turkey Dinner With Vegetables,” but to each their own).Read more...

Johnson & Johnson released numbers today from their phase 3 clinical trials (the last step before applying for emergency use authorization) and it looks like we may soon have a third viable COVID-19 vaccine in the US.

Now that you’ve gotten a handle on the GameStop stock madness, it’s time to learn about Dogecoin. Why is the retail investor hivemind pumping up the obscure cryptocurrency with a Shiba dog for a mascot? Why, for the Lolz. With the help of Reddit and Elon Musk, Dogecoin has increased in value by 600% in the last 24…Read more...

It seems I am always out of something. Today I’d planned to make you a bourbon cocktail called “Game Set Match,” but it’s not going to happen. Though I had the requisite bourbon and Cynar (and a lot of each), I was (somehow) completely out of sweet vermouth, which made me sad. (Just wait until I find out who drank it…Read more...

Not all of us lose our virginity at age 16 in the back of an old Camry. If you’re still a virgin later in life, it can feel like you’re the last person on earth who hasn’t had sex. But rest assured, you aren’t alone.

In the midst of a debate, reciting facts and hard data isn’t the failsafe strategy we often expect it to be. This applies especially to political debates, largely due to broad polarization of the American public as misinformation forces more people than ever into their chosen spheres of reality.

One of Chrome’s best features for staying organized is coming to Android: the almighty “tab groups,” which let you bunch up your tabs into more useful chunks rather than randomly scattering them across your browser—or, on your phone, on separate pages. However, you might have to enable a semi-hidden flag in your…Read more...

Console gaming is at a crossroads, finding itself in the center of that transitory phase between console generations. Many games are landing on both last-gen and next-gen hardware. And given that getting your hands on a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series whatever remains damn near impossible, this is a boon all around.

Every parent has been there (and if you haven’t yet, give it time): Your focus shifts for just a moment. You’re at the store, trying to pick out the right birthday card for your sister. Or you’re digging money out of your wallet to pay for the corn dog at the fair. Your back is only turned for literal seconds, but…Read more...

I have been getting a lot of emails lately. Most are about baking soda and ground beef, one was about Stuart Murdoch, and a fair number are about sweet potatoes, their skins, and how I am a doofus for not eating them (a thing I mentioned in this blog about roasting them):Read more...

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Seems like every time you turn on the computer there’s a new hack for trying to peel a clove of garlic. I didn’t realize peeling garlic was such a hassle, but then again, I am not much of a cook. (My garlic comes in a powder or freeze-dried, so all I need to do is add water.) But this new TikTok hack was intriguing …Read more...

In our last installment, I started experimenting with sleep tracking in hopes of recovering better for my weightlifting sessions. I’ve used the Oura ring and Whoop band, but today I’ll talk mainly about Oura—my favorite of the two—and about what metrics I found useful.Read more...

It’s almost Black History Month, and as the film industry continues to open wider each year from its history of exclusion it’s yet another reminder to celebrate the art we have at our fingertips. And this year has plenty to be excited about, from unconventional love stories like Malcolm & Marie to sobering biopics…Read more...

Like all social networks in 2021, LinkedIn is regularly swarmed by users trying to go viral or make a splash by pontificating about their career insights. Though it isn’t as toxic as Facebook or Twitter—remaining a much more benign platform existing (mostly) outside of the social media culture wars—a current of…Read more...

I often lament the fact that no matter how many times I unload the dishwasher, it will inevitably need to be unloaded again—probably later today or tomorrow. Chores are a tedious but unavoidable part of life, and teaching our kids to take ownership of all the little tasks that permeate the day-to-day is a process that…Read more...

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As WSJ columnist James Mackintosh recently pointed out: the stocks that did best last year were priced below $1, which is odd, because a stock’s price tells you almost nothing about the company. This market behavior coincides with the recent rise of individual investors using trading apps, with users flocking to…Read more...

One of the most common baking questions I get is what to do when a recipe calls for instant yeast, but all you have is active dry. Just how different are they, and does it even matter which kind you use?

I never thought I’d hear the phrase “Windows 7" ever again, but a Lifehacker reader recently reminded me that, yes, some people are still using Microsoft’s end-of-life operating system. It’s not that they wouldn’t want to upgrade, I assume, but some people just can’t; they probably tried, were met with an error…Read more...

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Pets can often let you know how they’re feeling, but it can be hard to tell when they’re sick. Their illnesses can seem so vague and amorphous—a little puking here, some weird lethargy there—and it can be hard to tell the difference between a little under the weather and the start of a serious problem.

Patience is a virtue.Read more...

You’re running out and forget to bring eye shadow or blush; instead of picking some up from the corner store, you grab your matte lipstick and blend it in on your cheekbones and eyelids. Anyone who wears makeup has done it at some point: took a cosmetic meant for one thing and used it for another. It’s all meant for…Read more...

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The thing about email, which once revolutionized work communication but now seems almost obsolete, is that it’s an informal medium subject to formal workplace standards. Unlike a Slack message service, a missive sent via email must be properly formatted, include clear syntax, and be free of typos. That’s why you…Read more...

If you’re thinking of ditching WhatsApp—for any reason—one of the sticking points might be the difficulty of moving your conversations from WhatsApp to another service. People have built some clever tools to help you accomplish this, but Telegram is now launching an official import tool to make the transition…Read more...

Government agencies have announced changes that allow for “Dreamers”—U.S. residents with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status—to qualify for FHA mortgage loans, as well as a deadline extension on mortgage forbearance for people who already have these loans and are struggling to make payments.Read more...