Lifehacker

It may feel like the 13th week of March, but according to the calendar it’s almost Memorial Day weekend—the unofficial start of summer. This is usually the time when we pack up and head to a newly-opened beach or a cookout on the deck surrounding a friend’s backyard pool, but this is the Summer of COVID-19 and…Read more...

Wendy’s may not be serving up as many of their iconic square-shaped hamburgers right now thanks to a beef shortage, but they want you to know that they’re still open for business—and they’re giving away free chicken sandwiches to do it. Specifically, if you order any menu item via the Wendy’s app, you can get a spicy…Read more...

If you’ve done a group FaceTime lately, then you’ve likely experienced the feature that makes participant’s windows change see based on who is talking. The idea is similar to what Zoom does by default, in that it will make the speaker the center of attention, but if you’re in a spirited conversation with multiple…Read more...

Edge Chromium received several new features in its most recent update, and one of the slickest additions is automatic profile switching. If a user has multiple Microsoft accounts signed into Edge, the browser will now ask if you want to change to a different profile when visiting new websites or opening external…Read more...

Think back to the last time you were in an airport, waiting for your plane to board. (Remember airports? Remember flying?) You may have noticed a TV screen above the gate counter filled with a list of passenger names and heard a flight attendant calling those same names over the intercom. Those were the names of…Read more...

We’ve probably all got somebody on our friends list who’s been sharing a lot of suspect information about the coronavirus. The component pseudo-facts of conspiracy theories are floating around Facebook in abundance, and it’s super frustrating to see them rebroadcast by people you know and love. You may be tempted to…Read more...

Launching apps is easy on Windows 10: Just mash the Start button, begin typing in the name of the app and odds are good that you’ll be able to quickly pull up whatever you were trying to find. You’d never use Windows Key + R and your operating system’s “Run” box to launch most apps—but thanks to the latest Windows 10…Read more...

Now that gyms are starting to open back up, it’s tempting to go back. However, just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should. So before you make your decision, it is important to think about the relative amount of risk this decision entails.Read more...

For something that most of us require every single day of our lives, it seems unfair that coffee should require a fairly complex chemical extraction process. Temperature, particle size, and extraction time are the main variables one has to keep in mind when brewing the stuff and—yes—changing these variables will…Read more...

Looking for something to watch tonight? We’ve got a few suggestions!Read more...

Sometimes you buy a new PC game and it just isn’t what you expected. Maybe the game isn’t compatible with your hardware or the gameplay just doesn’t click with you. Whatever the case, if you’re feeling buyer’s remorse over a digital copy of a PC game you just bought, you might be eligible for a refund.

Just because restaurants are opening up again doesn’t mean it is safe to go. Reopening restaurants during a pandemic is a new situation, and as with all things COVID-19, we are learning as we go. Before you make your dinner reservations, here are some risk factors and precautionary measures you need to consider.Read more...

As soon as the pandemic hit, I made the smart decision and bought a couple of pairs of sweatpants because, as I rightfully thought, this thing we’re collectively going through wasn’t going to end anytime soon. I wanted to be as comfortable as possible because working from home should be as relaxing as you make it.…Read more...

“Marie” had been helping her 10-year-old navigate an escalating pattern of acting out against himself and his family when things came to a head in one of his therapy sessions. He threatened to hurt himself, and “the provider advised us to take him to the emergency room,” says Marie, a 50-year-old writer in…Read more...

If you’re looking for a convenient way to fit more books into your busy life, try picking up an audiobook. You can listen to it on your commute, while you’re lounging around on vacation or while you’re trying to think of things to pass the time during your quarantine at home.

Will the virus spread slower if we lift physical distancing rules but only visit our neighbors? How many people need to follow recommendations for them to work? Is “quaranteaming” with a partner household an effective way to stay safe? You can simulate answers to these questions yourself with a little game called…Read more...

Walmart announced yesterday that it will shut down e-commerce website Jet.com. While the news may not come as a surprise to anyone who’s been tracking the site’s progress over the past year or so, there is one important factor fans of Jet should think about: using up your JetCash.

Usually, getting a fluffy, stable foam on top of a sour requires a good bit of hard, vigorous shaking. This isn’t an issue if you have some amount of upper body strength, but some people (like me) have to “dry shake,” which means breaking the process down into two parts by first building the egg white foam without…Read more...

Before I moved from Seattle to Cedar Rapids, I booked a week-long stay at a Cedar Rapids Airbnb so I could do a “site visit.” I ran a similar test a few years before, when I was considering moving from Seattle to Portland—and although the Portland site visit didn’t convince me that I needed to make a permanent move,…Read more...

No matter how much you miss traveling, you’re probably not exactly thrilled by the prospect of getting on a plane any time soon. But airlines know that eventually, people will start flying again—and when that time comes, they want butts in seats. So you’ve probably seen the promotional emails hit your inbox, offering…Read more...

As this bizarre school year slowly comes to a close, we are all digging deep for content that is educational and engaging for our kids—but which we don’t have to curate ourselves, because there is no time for that right now. Bonus points are given for educational content that is not consumed by staring at a screen and …Read more...

We know just how much you’ve been reading lately (or, to be more honest, watching videos on your iPad). Either way, your neck is probably feeling the strain, which is why we decided to test out Lazy Readers.Read more...

Google announced a number of new features, tweaks, and additions to Chrome yesterday. In typical Google fashion, some are available for you to play with right now and some you’ll have to wait on. We’ve done the grunt work, and put together a comprehensive guide to unlocking every feature Google talked about yesterday…Read more...

BBC is testing out a new BBC Together tool that lets multiple users watch the same BBC content at the same time. Whatever you’re watching will be synced to the “host” user’s stream, so everyone will be seeing the same thing simultaneously without the need for third-party apps or browser extensions—all you have to do…Read more...

Our little podcast has won a Webby and we are beyond excited to share the news. Thanks so much to our dedicated, curious, and delightfully nerdy listeners! We’re so grateful that you continue to tune in as we explore the endless ways in which we can upgrade your lives. Whether we’re boosting your small talk game or…Read more...

Travel is at a halt, and with the current pandemic reshaping the world’s economy (and your personal finances) the mere idea may not be as glamorous as it once was—which isn’t to say we don’t miss it. Your wanderlust may be alive even as your pockets are emptying, but that doesn’t mean you have to remain homebound…Read more...

I’m absolute trash for a cheese fry, and I tend to favor a smooth, creamy sauce over stretchy, melted strands. Shake Shack makes a pretty good cheese sauce, but I rarely eat there because I live in Oregon and we do not have one (yet). Also I’m not really leaving my home right now (duh). Others are avoiding the chain…Read more...

Every spring, the trees and bushes fill with nests, and those nests fill up with baby birds. If you find a baby bird, and it’s not in a nest, it doesn’t necessarily need your help. Here’s what you need to know.Read more...

Google recently unveiled tab groups in Chrome. As I wrote in our guide to setting them up ahead of their full rollout, they’re an incredibly useful way to keep your sprawling browser tabs slightly more organized. If nothing else, adding a little color to Chrome doesn’t hurt; I love how tab groups look. Now, let’s make…Read more...

If you’re looking for something great to watch tonight, we’ve scoured the web to find some of the best options out there.

Using DNS over HTTPS (DoH) can make your web browsing more secure by hiding the websites your computer is accessing from outsiders. We’ve covered turning on DoH in your browser, but the newest Windows Insider update adds a system-level DoH setting to Windows 10. It’s incredibly handy.

Kool-Aid is one thing you can still find in the stores these days. And sure, you could drink it if you want to get all nostalgic about your 1980s childhood. Or you could use it to give your kids a funky spring look.Read more...

If you get a debit card in the mail with a letter claiming it is your coronavirus relief payment, don’t throw it out—it’s actually legit: The U.S. Treasury announced this week that it’s starting to send economic impact payments by prepaid debit card instead of a paper check. The cards are mailed by MetaBank.Read more...

Among many unanswered questions right now is what effect this pandemic will have on the mental health of children. A recent paper, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, documents elevated anxiety and depression in children under lockdown in China. Although it’s still early to know for certain what the exact toll…Read more...

If you’ve been thinking about writing a novel, drafting a play, starting a journal or simply keeping a record of what you experienced during this strange pandemic year, you might want to start by making a commitment to get a few words down on paper every day.Read more...

Most people have heard of stocks and bonds, but there are a ton of other ways to invest your money: Mutual funds, CDs, real estate...the list is seemingly endless. Here’s our reference guide to the different types of investments and how they work.

As rules relax, we must ask ourselves some strange questions: Is it safe to see a friend? Go to the park? Eat in a restaurant? No matter how many experts you ask, there’s not going to be a clear yes-or-no answer.Read more...

Canned corn is not and never will be as good as the fresh stuff—which, thankfully, is just coming in season—but I still keep a few cans around just in case I experience an emergency that calls for either corn casserole or a quick pickled corn. It is admittedly not fantastic straight from the can, but it responds very…Read more...

States are opening back up again in spite of numerous warnings by experts that it still isn’t safe to do so. Meanwhile, we are all getting cabin fever—understandably so—which means that in the coming weeks and months, it’s likely you’re going to need to weigh your personal safety against the wishes of others who want…Read more...

Garmin Instinct | $250 | REIRead more...

Participating in the summer reading program at my local library was always a Very Big Deal when I was growing up. I’d ride my bike to the library (this was a thing we could do!), submit my lists of titles and, in return, I’d receive raffle tickets that might earn me a free T-shirt. Or a frisbee! Or, if I was really…Read more...

Have you ever gotten to the point where you feel like you’ve already read, watched and/or listened to everything on the internet? Are your go-to sites no longer cutting it? Do you long to see what else is out there in a way that is anything but curated? If so, you may want to check out Astronaut.io.

Nearly 14 billion years ago, a universe appeared in an unthinkably high-energy blast. Particles started to materialize out of that energy, as did their antiparticles, which are kind of like evil twins, a mirror image with the opposite electric charge. Each and every particle had an antiparticle, scientists believe,…Read more...

Feeling hungry? Maybe it’s time to skip Doordash and Grubhub and try a new online service for your all your snack needs: Etsy.Read more...

As far as I can tell from my daily walks, masks have quietly become more common over the last month or two. Some people wear them, some don’t, and we all cross the street to avoid each other anyway. But now that rules in some places are requiring masks, social media seems to have blown up with people arguing over…Read more...

I am too old for TikTok, but I have considered downloading the app—not to record myself dancing, or watch other people dance, but to see what the kids are cooking, and how they are cooking it.Read more...

Essential workers deserve all of the perks that can be thrown their way, and it has been encouraging to see the travel industry is honoring them by offering them free and discounted travel options they can take advantage of right now.

Big news: Moderna, one of the companies working on a coronavirus vaccine, released results from a Phase I trial of their RNA vaccine this morning. At first glance, the news is exciting: The vaccine looks safe, and volunteers developed antibodies.Read more...

The popular third-party email client Edison Mail recently granted a small number of iOS users access to email addresses that didn’t belong to them. This wasn’t a hack or leak, but a bug—and a pretty freaking big one.

We’re at home. Some people are using this time to become cultured. Others are more focused on feel-good entertainment to while away the time. But what if I told you there was a way to get both? Introducing books: Entertainment You Can Feel Smug About. Let’s get into it.Read more...