Lifehacker

Even experienced gamers have to agree: Microsoft’s naming conventions for its Xbox gaming consoles are terrible. They sort-of make sense if you’ve been playing the same consoles for years. But if you don’t know much about gaming at all—cough parents—then I implore you. Do not buy the wrong Xbox for yourself or a gift…Read more...

Sending children back to in-person schooling during an epidemic is an experiment of unprecedented proportions. The results could be a disaster; none of us here will be surprised if all the schools close again. But it’s starting to look like we might not even know if and when outbreaks are spreading at schools.Read more...

Temperatures are starting to cool across the country, which means we will be staying inside even more than we already were, which means a lot of us will turn to crafting of some kind. If you are an up-cycling individual who loves to repurpose would-be trash, you may be tempted by toilet paper roll crafts or hacks.…Read more...

Sam’s Club has partnered with Seattle-based health startup 98point6 to launch a new telehealth service. According to yesterday’s press release, the service offers 24/7 access to both live doctors and a virtual primary care physician—without an appointment—through an AI-powered, text message-based app.Read more...

Opera is an excellent browser choice for data privacy advocates, and the latest Android and desktop versions of the browser introduce two new cross-device sync methods that make it even more convenient without sacrificing user privacy.Read more...

Wednesday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

I’ve long known that NSAIDs like ibuprofen are supposed to be able to counteract period cramps, but they never seemed to work for me. It turns out I was using them wrong—they work best if you take them before the cramps ramp up.Read more...

Have you washed your hands? Have you really washed your hands? You’re home! Maybe it’s time for a good hand-washing. Do you think your hands are clean enough right now? That’s iOS 14 in a nutshell.Read more...

This week, I found myself going down a very specific rabbit hole—one in which I watched video after video of people doing the Elephant Toothpaste science experiment. If you’re not familiar, the experiment features the creation of a large, foamy volcano made from water, dish soap, yeast and hydrogen peroxide—commonly…Read more...

Welcome to the latest edition of “Headlines That Would Have Seemed Very Strange in 2019.” Today’s post comes courtesy of Walmart, which has been turning some of its store parking lots into pop-up drive-in movie theaters at locations across the country. The movies shown are generally family friendly (depending on what…Read more...

I am very pleased that fall is finally here. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the summer, but this particular summer was not my favorite. Having to stay inside in order to avoid hazardous air, hazardous fascists, and potentially hazardous infected people sucks no matter what the weather’s like, but it’s particularly…Read more...

In the Before Times, when you could just, like, go see a movie in a theater without first notifying your next of kin, October marked the start of Prestige Movie Season—that time of year when studios released the movies they thought had the best chance of garnering outsized critical attention and awards. And even…Read more...

Seventy percent of Americans get married with debt, typically student loans and credit cards, according to CNBC. A recent NerdWallet report showed 2018 college graduates owe an average student loan balance of $29,200 and Experian reported an average credit card balance of $6,194 in 2019.Read more...

Few things are as American as the humble chicken wing, which is why when we saw this nifty hack on newly all-American app TikTok, we had to try it.Read more...

At Lifehacker, we already encouraged you to create your own $120 DIY version of a Peloton-style exercise bike (and our health editor tried out the set-up long enough to give it her stamp of approval). But if your little kid already has a bike with training wheels, you can create a similar version for them without…Read more...

A surprising early discount on the Apple Watch Series 6, Wayfair’s Way Day event, Nintendo eShop gift cards, Fenty Skin’s Start’r Travel Set, Kyoku Samurai Steak Knives, and a Eufy 2K security camera lead Wednesday’s best deals.Read more...

Blocking website trackers is easy. Several popular web browsers block ads and trackers by default, and there are plenty of third-party apps and browser add-ons that can fill in the gaps where needed. But have you ever wondered what, exactly, these helpful tools are actually blocking?

Yes, Android usually comes with some kind of quirky Easter Egg. Do you really think Google, famed creator of the “Doodle,” the dinosaur game, and all sorts of other little oddities, would really pass up the chance to be silly in its mobile operating system? Pfft.Read more...

Though yesterday was the first day of autumn, I am still (frantically) enjoying sweet summer corn. Looking back on this year’s corn season, I’m pretty pleased with all of my corntent, though slightly annoyed that I didn’t figure out this last little corn hack until September.Read more...

Featured Deal: Shark RV750 Ion Robot (Renewed) | $120Read more...

Over the past seven months, travel rewards credit cardholders have had to make some tough decisions. With fewer opportunities to travel, you may have considered canceling your rewards credit card, particularly if there’s a high annual fee. You may have also thought about the best ways to redeem your points and miles.

It’s been over six months since gyms first closed, and if you never returned, you’re probably pretty sick of pushups and chipper YouTube workout instructors by now. Maybe you already fell off the wagon and are wondering how you can motivate yourself to climb back on.Read more...

Tuesday’s Best Deals | Kinja Deals

TikTok’s days as a viable social media platform might be numbered, at least in the U.S. (unless something changes before Trump’s recent executive order kills it for good), but the app still works for now, and its massive user base is as active as ever. And that includes shady app developers who are using the platform…Read more...

New CDC guidelines are out with recommendations for fall and winter holiday celebrations—including Halloween. Many of the recommendations will sound familiar: Indoor gatherings are generally more risky than outdoor gatherings. The longer the duration and bigger the group of people, the higher the risk. Traveling is…Read more...

It’s Tesla day! Whether you think Elon Musk is a technological savior or the next Lex Luthor, there’s bound to be some interesting news at today’s much-anticipated “Battery Day” from Tesla. And you can start streaming this event around 1:30 p.m. PT today, but you’ll probably be safe tuning in a bit later.Read more...

Hey, parents, guess what? Trump created a “1776 Commission” that aims to teach children “about the miracle of American history.” He wants to “defend the legacy of America’s founding, the virtue of America’s heroes, and the nobility of the American character.” In other words, he wants to—quite literally—rewrite our…Read more...

It’s not always fun to exercise in a mask, but sometimes you have to. If you’re potentially going to come close to other people as you work out, or if you’ll be working out indoors, the mask is a must. So let’s talk about how to pick an appropriate mask, and I’ll tell you what I think of several of the popular workout…Read more...

Orange juice is a surprisingly complex beverage. So complex that its molecular composition is used in beginning chemistry classes to exemplify how even the seemingly simplest things contain intricate chemical systems (and to illustrate that “all-natural” and “chemical-free” are nonsense marketing terms that should be…Read more...

This year isn’t what any of us expected, and between coronavirus, lockdowns, social unrest, and natural disasters, many Americans have been inspired to relocate, with an increasing number looking to move away from big cities.

It’s National Voter Registration Day, and there’s only one way to celebrate. I bet you can guess what it is—and no, it’s not with a stiff drink, though thinking about Nov. 3, 2020 fills me with anxiety, too. Friends, the only way to celebrate this hashtag holiday is by registering to vote. Or by double-checking that…Read more...

We know how much mindfulness can help ease our child’s (and our own) stress, anxiety, or lack of focus—especially during times such as these. Getting our kid’s buy-in on such practices, though, takes a little creativity. Even the simplest of the mantras, breathing exercises or body-scanning techniques you use in your…Read more...

The Nintendo Switch, Amazon’s Fire HD Kids tablets, Nintendo eShop gift cards, a KitchenAid professional mixer, Adidas sneakers, and Belkin wireless charging stands lead Tuesday’s best deals.Read more...

Jabra Elite Active 45e Wireless Earbuds | $60 | Best Buy

Allergies to animals are a bummer at best (no puppy cuddles for you!) and life-threatening at worst. Research suggests that up to 20% of people worldwide are allergic to dogs and/or cats—but there’s a growing number of animals being treated for allergies of their own.

Even though the feature has been around for some time, lots of people are using the launch of iOS 14 to trick out their iPhone’s various pages and customize their app icons. That’s all thanks to iOS 14's App Library, which basically lets you hide your icons a lot more than before, and some clever use of the Shortcuts…Read more...

One would think that after a full week of terrible, hazardous air, I would have had my fill of all things smokey, but something about the change in season has me craving a smoked cocktail. I feel badly about it, but my (dumb, perverted) heart wants what it wants.Read more...

Buying a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X is going to be a big investment—and not just monetarily. Not only will these consoles set you back a few hundred bucks (at least), they’ll also take up a lot of physical space in your room.

I don’t FaceTime much, but I have frequently been accused of not “appearing present” in various video chats because I tend to stare at the screen, not the camera pointing at me, whenever I’m talking or watching others speak. And because there’s no shortage of technological innovation in the world, Apple has found a…Read more...

Last week, the Federal Reserve shared its latest plans to boost the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. After a two-day policy meeting, projections show the Fed aims to keep interest rates near zero through at least 2021—and some officials signaled rates may stay low through 2023.

Last month, it looked like the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had one of the better plans for bringing students back, which included frequent testing for everyone on campus.“If [students] had adhered to what we had asked them to do, we would have had no more than about 700 cases the entire semester,” the…Read more...

Holiday travel is definitely going to look different this year. Many people will opt to stay home instead of hopping on planes to visit family and friends far away. Some of us (hi!) are totally OK with that—but if you are thinking about flying this winter, there are a few things to know before you book.

Some Lenovo laptops owners will soon have a solution for a serious Windows 10 bug that has been causing a slew of crashes and system startup problems.Read more...

Monday’s Best Deals | Kinja DealsRead more...

Just when we thought we’d come up with a clever hack to enable picture-in-picture mode for YouTube in iOS 14—a privilege YouTube would prefer to charge you for—the company has wised up and crafted a workaround that eliminates this specific hack. But there are still a few more tricks you can try.Read more...

If you have a food processor—or even if you don’t—you’re probably aware that it comes with many parts. The bowl and the lid are the biggest ones, then there are the blades, shredders, slicers, the little arm thing that the shredders and slicers sit on (that I am always losing), and finally there’s the plunger—the tube…Read more...

It may seem counterintuitive to trust a company like Hershey with advice about whether it’s safe to go trick-or-treating this year. They do have some serious skin in that game, after all, to the tune of 10 percent of their annual sales. But the famous candy company has launched a website that could be helpful for…Read more...

When air quality is poor—for example, from wildfire smoke—we’re advised not to exercise outdoors. Let’s talk about why, and what you can do instead.Read more...

If you made money from freelancing or gig economy work in 2020, you will receive a new tax form by February 1, 2021—Form 1099-NEC. This replaces Form 1099-MISC, which companies have to send when you earn $600 or more. Although there are still limited details about Form 1099-NEC, you can find the latest version…Read more...

Roasted red peppers are silky and sweet, but the tough, flakey, charred skins don’t bring much to the table, so to speak. And, even if they have not-so-tough thin skins, they often flake and crumble into little black specks of charred plant matter, which you may not find particularly appealing. Roasted peppers are,…Read more...