Lifehacker

Between the popularity of quarantine baking and easy-to-make egg dishes, we may have more eggshells that usual sitting around. Not everyone has the time and energy to dedicate to washing out and saving eggshells, but if you fall into that category, we have a new (literal) tiny hack for you. We’ve already covered…Read more...

When it comes to entertainment options in Quarantine Times, my wife and I are spoiled for choice. We don’t have cable, but we do subscribe to (or have access to passwords for) Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max and the Criterion Channel, not to mention the abundance of free streaming services. So... why…Read more...

Are squirrels hogging all of that seed you so considerately put out for the neighborhood birds? Are you tired of watching them steal—so brazenly!—what is not rightfully theirs while the local blue jays and red-winged blackbirds watch from a safe distance? Rude. To alleviate this problem, all you have to do is spice…Read more...

Surround sound can make any video game better, but getting the right setup requires expensive speakers or a high-end gaming headset—or at least, it used to. A new Windows 10 app from Razer can add THX Spatial Surround Sound to any pair of wired or wireless gaming headphones you’re using with your PC—including the…Read more...

I previously used a clever hack to block Bing from appearing in Windows 10's built-in search results, but reinstalling the OS and patching it with the May 2020 update brought Bing back. I’m not against anyone who wants this experience baked into their operating system, but for those that don’t, you’ll have to try some…Read more...

Save 25% on AmazonBasics Rechargeable Batteries on Subscribe & Save | AmazonRead more...

If you’ve been extra forgetful lately, you are not alone. Chronic stress, as well as anxiety and depression, can cause forgetfulness, confusion and difficulty concentrating. But before you resign yourself to a fate of perpetual lost keys and forgotten names, here are some strategies to help your memory and alleviate…Read more...

If the economic impacts of the pandemic put you out of a job this spring, you’re probably scraping by with a mix of your state’s unemployment benefits plus an extra $600 weekly payment thanks to the CARES Act. But what happens to those benefits if you go back to work—especially if you’re only able to work a fraction…Read more...

I am a diehard devotee of the room temperature butter lifestyle, but sometimes I forget to replenish the butter dish, which leaves me with nothing but frigid, brittle butter. Though I have found ways around this, it’s moments like these where I “get” the appeal of a spreadable not-really-butter butter-like substance.Read more...

The Boston Public Library has a collection of letters that were sent to and from anti-slavery activists in the 19th century. The only problem: They’re handwritten, which makes them hard to read and impossible to search. This is where you come in.Read more...

For those of you still Facebooking, get ready for the best news the platform has dropped in ages. If you aren’t already sick of all the political advertising blowing through your feed, you will be soon—unless you take advantage of a new feature that will hide every political ad on social network right now with a few…Read more...

Even as we adjust to the new normal of travel in the midst of a global pandemic, airlines are changing their policies to make it easier for crews to physically distance from passengers. One of the ways they are doing so is by limiting in-flight snack and beverage services. Unfortunately for you boozy travelers,…Read more...

Like every other major convention this year, Apple’s WWDC 2020 will be an entirely online-based event to keep attendees safe. While this changes the nature of the event for those who attend in person, you’ll still be able to watch the big press conference live on Monday, June 22, at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific…Read more...

If your teenager has ever wanted to compose their own music or produce their own podcast, they’ve got a chance to learn some basics this summer in their own homes, at their own pace, for free.Read more...

Whether you call it “hot pot” or “steamboat,” the Asian cooking method of simmering thinly sliced meat, seafood and a wide variety of vegetables in a pot of broth makes for a fun and delicious familial eating experience. The literal hot pot of broth is placed in the center of the table, and everyone takes turns…Read more...

When it happens, it happens fast: One day you’re feeling in control of your debt, but the next thing you know, you’re feeling overwhelmed, panicky, and downright guilty.Read more...

While we have had more opportunities to see planets this month than usual, it’s not the same as looking up and seeing a sky full of stars. But this week, thanks to the Grand Canyon National Park, you can attend their annual “Star Party,” which is being held online through June 20. Here’s what you need to know.

Blue Light Glasses | $18 | Amazon

There’s been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about privilege—what it is, who has it and who is willing to recognize and acknowledge they have it. White parents should be at the top of that list because, as Jen Lumanlan of Your Parenting Mojo points out, our privileges are vast and they run deep:Read more...

Free trial periods are a handy way to test out whether you really want to pay for a streaming service—or to simply binge-watch every season of a particular show and then bail.

I never liked the idea of “rings” for beta releases—especially for Windows 10. I always thought it was easier for regular people to understand the concept of a beta when it was split into “channels,” much as you’d find in your favorite web browser, rather than a “fast” and “slow” ring.Read more...

In our recent episode of The Upgrade on How to Protest, we learned a lot about what the police do and do not have the right to do when making an arrest. One of the most important things we learned is that the police will likely try to get a sample of your DNA, but that you do not have to—and should not—consent to it.…Read more...

Using your Google account to sign up for a website or app is a lot easier than making a new account and password each time, but it’s also riskier. A great alternative is to use an encrypted password manager to keep track of your accounts (and unique passwords), but you still have to make all those accounts in the…Read more...

Since Tax Day has been pushed back from April 15 to July 15, that means the deadline for requesting an extension has been delayed as well. That means you have until July 15, 2020 to request an extension to file your 2019 tax return.

Maybe you’re not into the idea of venturing too far from home yet, but you’re ready for a road trip and a change of scenery. Great—but look twice before you book your accommodations. You may be able to save a bit of money you can put back into your travel budget. The secret, according to Chris Dong at The Points Guy,…Read more...

I’m pleased to announce the return of Lifehacker’s Burning Questions column, in which I answer the health questions that people can’t—or don’t want to—google. As a reminder, this is not medical advice, and I’m not a doctor.Read more...

Yeah, that’s right—I’m one of those people on keto, the low-carb, high-fat diet some of you have lost your minds over. Don’t worry, I won’t sing the keto gospel, with my bullet-proof coffee in hand (that’s seriously disgusting, y’all, STOP IT) ... keto is just what works best for my myriad of food allergies and…Read more...

Just because our kids grow up doesn’t mean we stop being their parent. We still want to protect and guide them and watch them make all the best decisions for a happy, fulfilling life. But how much intervention is too much intervention when it comes to their romantic relationships? One mom asks: “What do you do when…Read more...

There are all sorts of ways to live the Lifehacker lifestyle, and not all of them look like the way I do it, which is usually to encounter a problem in my daily life and then google it (“How to cook murder hornet Lifehacker”).

Traveling with children whose last names are different than yours can get complicated. Maybe you’re a kickass aunt or uncle who likes to take your nieces and nephews to Disney World. Or you’re like me and simply didn’t change your last name when you got married, so your child does not have the same last name as you.

Remember when the coronavirus was brand new, and we were all worried about what its R might turn out to be? R, pronounced “R naught,” is a measure of how many people each infected person tends to pass an infection to. To stop a pandemic, we need to bring that number down to something smaller than 1. A tool called …Read more...

Apple has a new promotion where purchasing various iPads or Macs will score you a free pair of AirPods—regular AirPods, mind you, unless you want to pay an extra $90 for a discounted AirPods Pro (or $40 for regular AirPods with a wireless charging case).

The peaches in canned peaches are technically the same clingstone specimen you can buy fresh at the grocery store, but they are very much their own, unique product. Canned peaches are more supple and slurpable then their fuzzy counterparts, which sounds off-putting but is actually delightful. I could slurp those…Read more...

Using your phone while driving is not only dangerous, it’s illegal in most places. However, most of us rely on our smartphones for directions or for rocking out to music and podcasts in the car. Luckily, Google Maps has tons of hands-free navigation controls and helpful shortcuts and voice-integration for a handful of…Read more...

There are all kinds of ways you could get lost while traveling. You fall asleep on the train and miss a bunch of stops and when you wake up, the train is no longer in service. Your phone dies and Google or Apple Maps is no longer an option. Maybe you’ve lost your phone completely—and there goes your only map.

So you’ve started a new job and the company offers stock options as part of its benefits package. Maybe you have no idea what that means, or you’re not quite sure how to get started. Here are some basics you should know.

As far as meaty cooking projects go, ribs are a fairly easy one. Whether you’re smoking, grilling, baking or sous vide-ing, preparing an impressive rack is something most home cooks can master without too much distress. But there is one thing a lot of newbie rib cookers forget to do, and it can greatly mar an…Read more...

Maybe someday there will be a vaccine or a miracle cure for COVID-19. But if that occurs, it will not be immediately obvious from a news story that’s trumpeted across your TV or your social media feed. Big, important-looking studies come along all the time, and most turn out to be disappointing once you learn the…Read more...

The Five Mile Swamp Fire had been burning for nearly three days in the muddy swamps of Florida’s Santa Rosa County when firefighter Mike Facente arrived. Thick smoke hung over the area, acrid and pungent in the springtime air. High winds and low humidity aided the fire in growing to 2,000 acres by the time Facente…Read more...

We’re still months away from the “holiday 2020” season, which means we’re months away from the Xbox Series X existing in the wild. There’s a new Halo on the horizon, and we’ve all heard plenty about those teraflops, but beyond that, information has come out slower than self-serve frozen yogurt. With the runup to…Read more...

Have you ever walked through a library or bookstore and felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of books out there that you know you will never have time to read? Us too. While there’s always the chance that works of fiction will be turned into an easily digestible movie or TV series (which is not to say the adaptation…Read more...

If you don’t have in-unit laundry, you may find it difficult to find a clean pair of underwear between laundromat visits.Read more...

Google might soon truncate the full address of websites you visit. By only showing the domain name of a website in the address bar rather than the full URL, Google’s move could actually help people increase their security when browsing the web. And you can try this feature out right now.Read more...

Echo Dot w/ Clock | $35 | AmazonRead more...

It’s getting hot outside, the damn virus rates are going down in some areas but up in others, the kids are bored, pools and bikes are sold out, and life is feeling like it will never be normal again. It’s time to bury your kid’s toys in ice.

Google has made it harder to use YouTube as a music player over the last few years, and it’s easy to see why. A number of the extensions and apps that allowed you to stream music from YouTube without watching videos slowly went away into the ether. At the same time, Google started pushing its YouTube Music…Read more...

Coffee can make the world go round for some people. For those of us who run on caffeinated refreshments, it’s hard to imagine summer without cold brew, fall without pumpkin spice, dessert without espresso, and of course morning without hot java. Coffee’s not all just Maxwell House and Folgers; in fact, there are a ton…Read more...

I’ve tried to learn programming languages on my own using a bunch of different apps and online classes, but TwilioQuest might be the most fun I’ve had while trying to learn code. It started out as a game-like tutorial for developers to learn Twilio’s communication APIs, but expanded beyond its premise to become a…Read more...

You might’ve been a nervous flyer pre-pandemic, but there’s no question that getting on an airplane will be far more trepidatious for everyone as air travel slowly becomes a thing people do again. Owing to the health crisis of the past several months, planes around the world have been grounded, leaving us to wonder: W…Read more...

I’ve never been able to keep up a sport or activity without having a driving, maybe obsessive, reason for doing it. I often refer to these reasons as “goals,” but every now and then I have a conversation with someone who, while similarly motivated, doesn’t think of their training as goal-oriented at all. And I…Read more...