Lifehacker

Say, for no reason in particular, I wanted to cut my own hair. As evidenced by my dated Kinja avi and my much more recent Twitter profile pic, my hairdo is turning into a hairdon’t. I mean, around this time last year, I was rocking the shaved head look in an effort to grow it back out evenly. Previously, yes, I had an…Read more...

In a move destined to launch an internet micro-controversy the likes of which we haven’t seen since some people tried to tell other people not to listen to their podcasts at 1.5x speed, Netflix recently announced that it will now let people control the playback speed of its content. The new feature—which the streamer …Read more...

When you rely on costly prescriptions, few things are more alarming than learning your health insurance no longer covers it—and unfortunately, it happens more often than you may expect. According to new data from GoodRx, 15% of Americans have had at least one prescription dropped from their coverage over the past…Read more...

It’s the ongoing debate on so many parents’ minds right now, particularly if our school leaders are leaving the decision up to us: Do we let our kids return to the classroom? Do we opt for the school’s all-virtual option, if they offer one? Do we start our own learning co-op? What is often being left out in this…Read more...

Do you have an onion in your kitchen? Yep, me too. Pop quiz: What farm or distributor did that onion come from? If you can’t answer that question, you should probably throw it out.Read more...

This week, we’re learning how to improve on our time management skills with help from Tiffany Dufu, Founder and CEO of The Cru. And spoiler alert: effective time management is not about time-blocking, to-do lists, or the Pomodoro Technique. Instead, it’s more about how to get clear about your priorities, how to…Read more...

America runs on Dunkin’, the commercials tell us. I don’t know if that’s true; market share suggests a greater percentage of America strolls on Starbucks. However, it is certainly true that it’s due to caffeine that America avoids falling asleep during its morning commute (even if that’s now just a walk to the kitchen…Read more...

This past weekend, my favorite local ice cream shop was promoting its annual batch of giant, homemade apple dumplings with ice cream, as well as extra large Belgian waffle ice cream sandwiches. I have a sweet tooth but a smaller-than-average appetite, which means I usually have to skip something so dense and rich in…Read more...

If you didn’t work from home pre-covid, there’s a very good chance you do so now, and it’s possible that you’ve grown tired of looking at the interior of your living space. I’ve been working from home for about five years now and, as a person who gets bored very easily, stale interiors are a thing I’ve gotten very…Read more...

There isn’t much to like about high-deductible health insurance plans. If you have one, you may already be spending thousands of dollars out-of-pocket on healthcare each year. Before meeting the deductible, it can be tough to afford the basics. Unfortunately, these plans have become the go-to choice for many larger…Read more...

Back to School Sale | HPRead more...

Let’s be real, everything about 2020 is getting old, fast. It was cute when we were all home for a couple weeks, taking in what Tuesday afternoon actually looks like in our home. But after four months of this, my eyes cross at the thought of yet another stroll in the neighborhood.

Given that we’re all a little hesitant to run out to a doctor’s office, hospital or urgent care unless absolutely necessary these days, there’s an app you might want to have handy as flu season approaches and we continue to ride the wave of the pandemic: The KidsDoc app.Read more...

Times are tough. The unemployment rate is off the charts; schools can’t decide how to open safely, or whether they should open at all; we did such a bad job preventing a second wave of COVID-19 that we’re still riding the first one. And many of us lucky enough to still be employed are going stir-crazy from working at…Read more...

Making breakfast sucks. You are already tired, and now you need to cook? Cook food? In the morning?Read more...

There are a lot of terrible things happening in the world right now, but—while it is completely fine and valid to be sad or angry about the terrible stuff—that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy, or even celebrate when good things happen. Even small things. Seeing as there is nothing quite as celebratory as Champagne (or…Read more...

In Stephen King’s IT, a sort of curse lies on the town of Derry, Maine. Every 27 years, the demonic spirit of Pennywise returns to the town and preys on its children. It turns out a similar curse hangs over Hollywood, but instead of a literal demon returning to devour the souls of children, it’s a figurative demon…Read more...

A deal on John Wick 4K Blu-Rays, Tie Bar’s 5 packs of masks, a deal on a fight stick, bathroom towels for $30, and more are some of Sunday’s best deals.

Acknowledging that something took (or is taking) place can be relatively straightforward, but accepting it is another thing completely. For example, most people can (probably) agree that we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, but not everyone is accepting it to the point of being on-board with all the recommended…Read more...

Though peak tornado season is technically April through June in the United States, the cyclones can happen at other parts of the year. If you grew up somewhere prone to tornadoes, you probably had tornado drills alongside fire drills at school, and learned how to find and take shelter during a bad storm. But school…Read more...

Mentors are great in theory, but don’t always play out the way you want them to in real life. Perhaps your chosen mentor isn’t as helpful as you had hoped, or you can’t find a mentor to begin with. If that’s the case, journalist-turned-blogger Joanna Goddard has a suggestion: Make a list of your dream mentors and ask…Read more...

We live and work in a culture that values productivity (and in turn, profits) above pretty much everything else. But we’re also big fans of instant gratification. (Isn’t the best part about making a checklist adding a few things you’ve already done, just so you can tick them off right away?) As it turns out, when you…Read more...

A deal on JACHS NY Henleys, Soulcalibur VI Standard Edition, a trunk organizer with a cooler, a glove, tong, and spatula all-in-one, and more are some of Saturday’s best deals.

One of the most interesting parts of travel is getting to see human-built structures or natural wonders that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years (or at least what’s left of them). The city or landscape around them has changed, but the sites gives us a glimpse into life in the past. Even back in the day…Read more...

While the rest of us suckers have been down in this pandemic mess the whole summer, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have spent the past few months in the International Space Station. They’ve been up there since May 31, following a successful trip on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in…Read more...

It can be a pain having to type in your credit card number and CVC code whenever you’re shopping online. However, saving this information in your browser with insufficient security to conceal it is also a bad move. To solve this, consider using Windows Hello with Google Chrome—a quick and easy way to buy stuff in a…Read more...

As our country wrestles with new coronavirus outbreaks, the economy continues its downward slump. This week’s announcement from the Federal Reserve was bad news for savers—who may already be antsy about low interest rates and where to stash their cash, according to a new Bloomberg report.Read more...

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a game that demands attention. The way it’s structured, you’re supposed to play every day, or at least check in to see what’s up. Like brushing your teeth or taking out the trash, Animal Crossing is, at its core, a chore. So what happens if you forget to do that chore for two months?

Welcome to the last of our fitness challenge posts for the month. I hope you’ve enjoyed these mini breaks from your day, even though they’re sometimes a little silly. Today, I have a challenge that’s even sillier: put something other than your butt on your chair.Read more...

My bar cart is a crowded, chaotic piece of furniture. At the front, we have the stuff I use on a near-constant basis—gin, Campari, bourbon, and rye—but things get little more esoteric towards the back. As you make your way deeper into my collection of ethanol, you’ll find a lot of liqueurs and amari, including a…Read more...

I thought I was losing my mind yesterday, but sometime around the afternoon (California time), I noticed that typing anything into Edge Chromium’s address bar was causing the browser to crash after a few keystrokes. Microsoft claims it fixed the issue, but it just happened to me again earlier today, so it’s time to…Read more...

Dog lovers rejoice—it’s National Mutt Day! Created in 2005 by animal rights advocate Colleen Paige, the twice-a-year holiday (celebrated July 31 and December 2) is meant to celebrate the mixed-breed dogs in our lives.Read more...

The 2017 Fyre Festival was, well, a dumpster fire and not really a festival at all. Pitched as an exclusive luxury music festival in the Bahamas co-organized by Ja Rule and hyped up by influencers like Kendall Jenner, the event turned out to be no more than a collection of disaster tents and sad cheese sandwiches.

Chances are, by this point in the Year of the Pandemic, you’ve had a lot of family movie nights. We’ve also had family movie afternoons and family movie Saturday mornings. Perhaps the novelty is wearing thin and what once was a fun weekly treat is now just another mundane, this-is-the-best-we-can-do sort of activity.…Read more...

To protect ourselves from the coronavirus, the CDC recommends keeping your hands as clean as possible, including using hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol when hand washing is not possible. Liquid chalk, used by climbers and powerlifters to help with grip, often contains a significant amount of alcohol. So can…Read more...

Whenever you get a text or notification containing some security code for a login attempt, you should never ignore it. And that couldn’t be any more true if you didn’t initiate the login request to begin with.Read more...

When this whole pandemic lockdown business started a few months ago, a lot of people settled in for what we thought would be a few weeks—maybe even a whole month—of staying home. Those who were fortunate enough to have a job where it’s possible to work remotely set up what they thought would be temporary home offices.Read more...

As the economy struggles, it’s been a rough month for the U.S. dollar. Our currency may be on track for the weakest month in almost a decade, according to the Wall Street Journal. Two things have caused the recent decline: Our coronavirus outbreak and low interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

One thing I learned about myself in the Great Summer of Social Isolation is I am absolutely a Drone Guy now. Whether to snap photos from an aerial view or because I just feel like playing with a quadrocopter outside video games like Watch Dogs 2 and Forza Horizon 4, flying the DJI Mavic Air 2 in my parents’ backyard…Read more...

I have always appreciated the neatness of an avocado. Once halved, you can scoop the creamy green flesh directly from the skin, which functions as its own little bowl. But the innate functionality of the avocado doesn’t end there—as clever commenter Allan Smitheel points out, once you remove the pit, you have a…Read more...

Though it’s been a few years since avocados were unfathomably trendy, it’s still one of those foods that gets its own day every year. And that day is today: Friday, July 31, 2020. If you’re a fan of the fruit (yes, it’s a fruit; technically a berry), there are deals to be had in restaurants as well as grocery stores.…Read more...

Surviving COVID-19 is one thing. Becoming healthy again is another. Recent studies have found that even people who didn’t seem to have life-threatening cases show signs of damage to their heart. We don’t know what the future has in store for them.Read more...

Facial recognition technology raises ethical dilemmas and privacy concerns. Is it okay that our phones, computers, and social media apps not only recognize us, but also collect and store data about our faces? These concerns grow as the tech becomes more accurate, and more government agencies, private businesses, and …Read more...

Pregnancy can be a time of joy and fear, excitement and stress—sometimes all at once. There are more resources online for pregnant women than ever before, but sometimes it’s nice to actually see and hear someone else’s experiences, especially during a time when we’re all so physically isolated. That’s why Very Well…Read more...

Living in quarantine for the past however many months—how long has it been, anyhow?—I can think of few things worse than what happened to one Lifehacker reader recently. No, they didn’t get coronavirus. That would definitely be the worst-case scenario. They did, however, get locked out of their Netflix.Read more...

U-Bolt Pro Smart Lock | $144 | Meh

My very first adult investment, after my car, was buying a really good knife. For the next four or five years, that knife was my only knife, and I guarded it with the intensity of a mama bear. The importance of a quality kitchen knife can’t be understated. It followed me from New York City to Milwaukee, sliced…Read more...

Big changes are coming to the Google One cloud storage service, including an all-new iOS app, free phone data backups, and a new data management tool on both iOS and Android. Google already offered a paid, automatic phone backup service for Google users, but the feature will now be free for everyone (as long as you …Read more...

One of the skills I envy most in others is the ability to decorate a room with artwork. We’ve lived in our current apartment for going on three years and most of our walls are still vast expanses of blank whiteness. It’s not that I don’t like looking at things on the wall. I do. But like cultivating a playlist of new…Read more...

What most of us consider advice isn’t actually advice at all. Not useful advice, at least. That’s perhaps the biggest takeaway from my recent interview with bestselling author and productivity expert Charles Duhigg, host of Slate’s How To! podcast missioned to solve life’s problems one question at a time. Good advice—…Read more...