Lifehacker

In terms of basic and ubiquitous chains, Starbucks is about as basic and ubiquitous as it gets—and yet its rules and rituals still manage to confound even the most seasoned of coffee drinkers.Read more...

Spring isn’t officially here for another few weeks but it’s already over 50 degrees outside, new growth is starting to bud, and I’m feeling nostalgic for the dozen or so colorful indie games that I’ve accumulated on my Vita over the years.

Donnnnnng. The classic Mac chime is a glorious way to let yourself know that your Mac is booting back up after a shutdown or reboot. But if I’m right, this friendly noise has been missing most new Macs for years. (I only have a MacBook Pro, and I can confirm that booting my MacBook has been boring and quiet for as…Read more...

Do you put things off ‘til the last minute? Are you one of the millions who tend to delay getting to your to-do list? Then you’re in luck—behavior scientist BJ Fogg joins us on this episode to talk about how to stop procrastinating thanks to his researched approach to behavior. BJ is the founder of the Behavior Design…Read more...

Playdates are a great way for little kids to practice social interactions and develop cognitive and language skills, as well as practice self-regulation—especially if they don’t have regular exposure to other kids through a daycare or preschool setting. Of course, they can also be challenging for any parent for the…Read more...

Dunkin’ is offering customers a little bit of an incentive to grab a cup of coffee on Friday mornings: free donuts. The donut chain is launching “Free Donut Fridays” for the month of March. Customers can score a free donut of their choice, including the ‘Lucky Shamrock Donut,’ every Friday when they purchase any…Read more...

Google Pixel users will find a new “Rules” feature added to their devices starting today. Rules are analogous to iOS shortcuts, allowing you to create toggles for automatic settings changes when you’re in certain locations—though Android Rules are much more limited to Shortcuts, by comparison. For now, you can only…Read more...

Here at Lifehacker we’re big fans of checking every single paystub, even if you have direct deposit. While it may seem paranoid to review every line of that statement with a fine-tooth comb, it’s common for mistakes to happen regardless of the size of the company you work for.

Junk mail is something we all battle the moment we open our mailbox each day. Especially now, during election season, I know my personal mailbox is almost always filled to the brim with notes from hopeful political candidates, along with the standard offers for credit cards I don’t want and solicitations from…Read more...

There’s a fun little bonus feature buried away on your Wear OS smartwatch. And while it probably won’t make you the next Deadmau5, it’s a fun way to drop some beats for your friends or entertain yourself during those moments of supreme procrastination before bed or during your daily commute.Read more...

Hand washing is important, particularly in times such as these, but a simple splashing of hot, soapy water is not the move. There is, in fact, a correct way to wash one’s hands, and it involves singing (or humming).Read more...

Before we get started here today, there are two relevant pieces of information you should have: 1. I love a good parenting trick and 2. I was never a fan of endless standing around while pushing children on swings. So I should be ripe to champion any effort to hack this chore. And yet, this video of a parent pushing…Read more...

Brunch is not a utilitarian meal one eats to fuel themselves for the day, unless that day involves a nap. Booze is an expected part of brunch, but it usually comes in a glass, either paired with orange juice or Bloody Mary mix. Those are both good ways to enjoy booze at brunch, but you can eat your booze too. I like…Read more...

The value of my Vanguard investment portfolio dropped by $9,371.70 over the past month, with much of that loss taking place in the past week.

If you’re someone who has lost hours, if not days, watching old TV clips from your childhood on YouTube, block off some time in your calendar, because you’re about to lose another chunk of your adult life. The Internet Archive—aka the Wayback Machine—now has more than 20,000 VHS recordings available to view for free…Read more...

There’s been a run on hand sanitizer, bad enough that two stores I visited this weekend were completely cleaned out. There’s also a tweet circulating that says not to bother with the stuff, and wrongly claims it doesn’t kill viruses. So let’s be clear—yes, hand sanitizer can kill coronavirus. But you will also be okay…Read more...

Nylon USB-C Lighting Cable (6ft) | $13 | Amazon | Promo code AKNN4CTL

An Apple HomePod sale, Anker headphones, and an Instant Pot Aura lead off Monday’s best deals from around the web.

Struggling to decide which airline loyalty club gets you the best benefits? Now there’s a calculator to help you decide.Read more...

Tweens are going through a lot. Puberty is starting, their bodies are changing, their voices may be changing, and now we have saddled them with all sorts of new, unreasonable expectations, such as daily showering. Personal hygiene can be a touchy topic with pre-teens, but there are ways to handle it to make the…Read more...

If you want to watch Black Panther on Netflix, then you only have a few more days to do it. The movie leaves the streaming service on March 3rd for Disney+ (it arrives there March 4th).

Refurbished Apple MacBook Air | $750-$820 | AmazonRead more...

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you may one day run into an offer for a souvenir passport stamp. Antarctica offers a stamp at some of its scientific stations, Machu Picchu offers a stamp at the entrance of the Inca ruins, and the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales offers a…Read more...

Even the most diligent of parents can unexpectedly lose track of their youngsters, especially in crowded and attention-grabbing places like amusement parks, fairs, and shopping malls. This week reddit user ChadNFreud made a great suggestion on what to do before you head into that crowded situation with a child or…Read more...

On Tuesday I’m supposed to be flying to the Maldives. I say “supposed to” because on Friday I found out that my flight to the country had been canceled by the airline, thanks to the two-hour layover I was going to have in South Korea, currently one of the areas heavily impacted by COVID-19 aka the coronavirus.

A Rosetta Stone lifetime subscription, Aukey webcam, eufy robovacs, and a Backcountry clearance sale lead off Sunday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

Email is something that consistently absorbs a lot of my day. I start everyday checking and responding to email, but as the day progresses, find myself checking my inbox pretty much constantly from my phone and computer.

Monday is “National Egg McMuffin Day” a most definitely made up holiday by McDonald’s that comes with the opportunity to score a free Egg McMuffin.

If you’ve been considering traveling by train this spring, Amtrak is offering a deal on tickets today that’s worth a look. In honor of Leap Year, Amtrak is offering tickets on a number of different routes at half off.

A JACHs sweater sale, cast iron Gold Box, RAVPower FileHub, and a Razer mouse lead off Saturday’s best deals from around the web.Read more...

With so many Android devices still waiting on Android 10, it’s hard to believe the first preview builds of Android 11 are already available. There’s currently no official release date for Android 11 and it’s going to be a while before general users will have chance to check out a public beta version, but early testers…Read more...

Although most of the options nominated weren’t dipping sauces at all (turns out, even true democracy is flawed), Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce has been elected the best dipping sauce by our readers after two rounds of voting. Sweet Baby Ray’s took home 1,039 votes, almost half the total at 43%.

Sometimes I get so focused on gin and amaro that I forget about the perfectly good bottles of whiskey I have just sitting there, waiting to be consumed. It’s kind of odd, actually, because I used to be deeply into Manhattans and Manhattan variants.Read more...

Google released several new GIF search tools that should make it much easier to find the exact animate image you’re looking for. Users can use the tools—which use search data from the Tenor GIF app—to narrow down their search criteria more accurately and get suggestions based on the mood or context they want—no more…Read more...

One might say that parenting is one big, years-long game of “Pick Your Battles.” Sometimes, you’re really clear about rules and consistent with consequences. And sometimes, you’re like, “Screw it, I’m just trying to survive this day.”Read more...

Saturday is Leap Day, the extra day that gets added to the calendar every four years because of... um... the way the earth moves around the sun? Something like that? Basically time is a construct, and every four years we’ve constructed an extra day to make sure all of the rest of the days line up where they’re…Read more...

When the broom challenge craze hit the Internet, we got to thinking that there must be more efficient ways to use a broom than just standing it up.Read more...

I have never met a pimento cheese I didn’t like, probably because it’s hard to screw up a combination of mayo, various cheeses, and sweet, aromatic peppers. I don’t think the standard recipe needs much tweaking, but if you want your pimento spread to be a little bolder, a little smokier, and a little spicier, grab a…Read more...

It’s a running gag in my household that we have too many dipping sauces. Specifically mustards. To me, there’s no such thing. But to my partner, well, let’s just say the words, “More mustard!?” come out of her mouth like a catchphrase.Read more...

This month we’ve learned that every type of grip is a bit different. We’ve worked on crush grip, support grip, pinch grip and open hand grip. Now let’s look at something that’s a bit of an oddball: the grip you need to hold onto something vertical, like a rope.Read more...

A regular cold and flu season is bad enough when you’ve got kids bringing home germs left and right all winter. But this year, we get to throw an ominous-sounding coronavirus disease into the mix, too. This coronavirus, called COVID-19, has been all over the news for the past month; as parents, what do we need to know…Read more...

There’s never a good time for an overdraft fee. And of course, when you get slapped with one, it’s usually because you didn’t have the money you needed to pay for something you actually need in the first place, without having to worry about forking over the extra cash.Read more...

I was walking home from an appointment when the sign in the window grabbed me: 40% off all wine. The gourmet grocery store was having a going-out-of-business sale, which meant all the items I usually deemed were too expensive for my everyday existence suddenly seemed within reach. Including the wine.

Great broadband internet costs a small fortune unless you’re blessed to live in a location that has a decent Fiber service for sub-$100 prices. (If so, do you need a roommate?)Read more...

Alfalfa sprouts, clover sprouts and bean sprouts are delicious, in my (and possibly only my) humble opinion. But, like lettuce, they are prone to contamination and served raw. Right now, we’re in the middle of a multi-state outbreak of E. coli linked to clover sprouts served at Jimmy John’s.Read more...

Yet another major firmware bug has been found that leaves billions of phones, routers, and other wireless devices from Apple, Google, Amazon open to spying.Read more...

Every month, I try to mark off at least one weekend day as a No Plans Day. During that day, I do what might otherwise be considered “nothing;” I read, I nap, maybe I rewatch a favorite movie or TV show, and I spend a lot of time staring into space and just, like, thinking.Read more...

With the news that the coronavirus is spreading, it’s only a matter of time before people start to think—wait, do I have the coronavirus? At this point it’s still extremely rare, and your cough is far more likely to be a cold or flu. Still, here’s what you should do.Read more...

A lot of soups are best when accompanied by some sort of dipper. Chicken noodle loves a saltine, and creamy tomato begs for a grilled cheese sandwich. The soup goes in a bowl, and the bowl goes on a plate, nestled next to its accompaniment. It’s a simple configuration, but the smooth surface of a plate is not…Read more...

Apple is teaming up with Johnson & Johnson on a “Heartline”study, which will test the Apple Watch’s ability for detecting atrial fibrillation (AFib)—an early warning sign for strokes. Anyone 65 years of age of older may be able to get an Apple Watch Series 5 for just $49, which is a huge discount from the normal $400…Read more...