Lifehacker

Amazon recently updated Alexa with a new feature that lets users print to-do lists, recipes, and more, with a quick voice command. The AI assistant will also notify you when your ink levels are low and can even set up automatic ink refill purchases at a discount through Amazon.

This is not the cocktail I intended to make this morning, but it ended up being the cocktail I needed. Originally, I had planned to make a sherry cobbler, but I’m all out of oranges, and I cannot go get more oranges because all the news reports recommended that I stay indoors. (And I’m not coming out until this is all…Read more...

While stuck at home most of this year, a lot of us have been focusing on what brings us comfort, like food and dogs (or your pet of choice). What could possibly go wrong with that? Well, it started with a recall of onions, which basically required us to throw away any we had in the house. Next came peaches—recalled…Read more...

Back in the spring, it didn’t take long for my 9-year-old son to develop a condition I’ve come to think of as Zoom Fatigue. He didn’t mind completing his classwork online and he didn’t mind the academic schedule I put together for him. But when came time to Zoom with his class? Dude was not interested.Read more...

People stop me on the street all the time and ask, “Steve, my kid wants one of those damn Mimtendos or whatever. What is all this video game crap?”

Here at Hack or Wack, we usually like to test viral hacks that blow people’s minds. But sometimes we also test hacks that have people very skeptical from the get-go.Read more...

Did you find a new trail to run or hike for last week’s challenge? This week is another trail-compatible one, and I encourage you to find someplace fun to do it. But we’re going to take it up a notch, because I want you to specifically find a scary hill. And go up it.Read more...

The convenience of Amazon is tough to beat, particularly in the midst of COVID-19, but a new report shows the tech giant may be overcharging for some pandemic essentials.Read more...

I know, I know. The temptation is great, if you’re a DIY PC-building enthusiast who is tired of watching your games stutter when you crank them to “Ultra” quality settings. Nvidia’s new RTX 30-series graphics cards are beasts. But should you pre-order one? I wouldn’t.Read more...

Our kids’ Zoom classes can be eye-opening for a lot of reasons, but one thing you may have noticed since the school year began is the sheer volume of instances in which some teachers refer to their students’ moms and dads. Not their caregivers, in general, but their mom and their dad, specifically. As in, make sure…Read more...

When it comes to video game subscription services, console gamers have it pretty easy—they’re mostly stuck with PlayStation, Nintendo, or Xbox’s first-party services. PC gamers, on the other hand, have a lot of choices to pick from.

If you ask someone what mustard “tastes like” they might tell you it’s both “pungent” and “acidic,” which is not quite right. This half-truth is sometimes perpetuated by well-meaning food writers, who tout mustard as “secret ingredient” that can cut through richness with its “acidity,” while claiming that “yellow,…Read more...

How do you manage a multi-platform household? Not everyone is completely loyal to Apple, Google, Microsoft, or any other tech company. You might own an iPhone and use a Windows PC. Maybe you prefer your Android’s camera and your MacBook’s keyboard. Perhaps you’re just a big ol’ geek and you love devices, period.Read more...

If you’re anything like Brittney Powell, a skincare blogger at The Blushing Bliss, you’ve tried many different face washes for your acne to no avail. You have to wash your face, but how do you find something that doesn’t dry it out, that doesn’t make your acne worse, or cost an arm and a leg?

Last month, Trump announced a new payroll tax deferral that puts a temporary pause on part of the taxes employees pay. The controversial order started on September 1 and says companies may stop collecting the 6.2% tax employees pay for Social Security. While many companies have already opted out, some employees don’t…Read more...

Have you ever come across a really large number or a measurement in an obscure unit and thought, I have no idea how big or how much that actually is? Wouldn’t it be easier if you could compare to something you’re familiar with, like the length of a basketball game or the size of a bathtub?

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Update 9/10/20, 2:00 p.m. (PT): Since we published this, Apple has given Epic Games an “indefinite extension” to continue using “Sign in with Apple.” However, given the bad blood between two companies, we recommend staying out of the crossfire and switching over to a different sign-in option.Read more...

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel has been a complete mess. Given that travel restrictions are an important part of containing the spread of infectious disease, this makes sense. And at first, most people did stay put, avoiding air travel and remaining in their homes (or second homes).

Why perform simple, everyday tasks when you can make a complicated contraption to help you perform them? That’s the idea behind the annual contest hosted by Rube Goldberg, Inc., in honor of cartoonist Rube Goldberg whose cartoons often depicted devices that performed everyday tasks in convoluted ways. For this year’s…Read more...

Judging by your responses to this week’s Co-op call, the only toothbrushes that matter have rotating brush heads. I’m inclined to agree. Your dentist probably agrees. Buuuuuuuuuut, anything electric and ripe with vibration is better than manual brushing, and many of these brushes offer meaningful benefits, if not…Read more...

If you’ve ever taken a morning shower without first brushing your teeth, maybe you’ve shared in my observation that the shower’s magic loses a bit of its oomph when your mouth still tastes like a dank, bat-filled coffee cavern. (The bats are my teeth.)Read more...

The formula for a good homemade salad dressing is simple: You need some sort of oil, more acid than you probably think, a sweetener, and some mustard (for emulsifying purposes). Add a pinch of salt, and whatever other seasonings you desire, and you have a lovely, punchy vinaigrette.Read more...

For many Americans, the pandemic has sparked an interest in career growth—particularly ways they might improve future job stability. Money reports there has been a huge uptick in enrollment for online learning platforms like Coursera since March, and many are looking to boost their skills through certificate programs.

With the November election fast approaching, you need to prepare how and when you will vote. The simplest way to be turned away from the polls is to have an expired voter registration, so you should check your registration as soon as possible.Read more...

Anytime a child is sick, there’s a sudden rearrangement of plans. You might keep them home from school, or possibly call off work yourself. In 2020, there’s a new consideration: where can I get this kid a COVID test?Read more...

Getting a young picky eater to try different foods can be a years-long battle. Parents of finicky eaters may find themselves winding their way through a variety of tips and tricks to help their kids become more adventurous with food. Some tactics work, some work for a little while, and others don’t work at all. If…Read more...

A pair of Sony active noise-canceling headphones, an Acer 34" ultrawide gaming monitor, a Belkin wireless charging stand, an Animal Crossing Switch Lite case, an Instant Pot Duo Nova, a Cubii Pro elliptical, and a Best Buy two for $20 TV show Blu-ray sale lead Thursday’s best deals.

I’m amazed I have to write this, but here goes. If you’re on the West Coast or in some similarly disastrous-looking environment—I do love our new orange skies—then you’ve probably noticed that all the particulate in the air (or whatever else is befalling your area) might make the sun look different. Perhaps it’s…Read more...

Kingsley Vibrating Toy | $25 | Honey Adult Play | Use Code KINGSLEY

Google is slowly rolling out its new “Verified Calls” service, a kind-of supercharged Caller ID that should at least let Android users know whether the number that’s blowing up your phone is a legitimate business or not. As an added bonus, businesses using the service can even list a reason for calling, which will…Read more...

It can be easy to get overly precious with summer tomatoes. They are, after all, one of the most seasonal of seasonal delights, and obfuscating their summer fresh flavor can feel wrong.Read more...

The Windows 10 September 2020 update finally fixes the overzealous Drive Optimization behavior that put SSDs at risk. Unfortunately, it also introduces yet another annoying bug that disables sleep mode for some users.

Save up to 40% on Lexar SD Storage | Amazon Gold BoxRead more...

Since March, there have been endless reports of pandemic-inspired moves. As CNBC reports, we may be on the brink of “a great reshuffling” as people move away from cities to homes with more privacy and space to work from home. While moving to the suburbs may be appealing—particularly amid the pandemic—it could be more…Read more...

Last summer I spent a few weeks in Italy, where the time difference is nine hours from my home in San Francisco. That aggressive time change meant that the first week of my trip was spent pretty exhausted. I survived those first few days on naps and coffee. Then one of the people I was traveling with suggested…Read more...

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You can now plot out your next road trip with the Waze Live Map on desktop and then send these directions right to your phone. This new feature is live for everyone, and you can access it through Waze’s Live Map on desktop. Naturally, the Waze app needs to be installed on your phone to load the route, but that’s the…Read more...

Learning a language with an app like Duolingo is perfectly respectable, but unless you want your French to have a noticeable Siri-like quality, you need to branch out. That’s where sites like Forvo come in.

A recently discovered vulnerability with WhatsApp—and I use that term more loosely than usual, because this one doesn’t really seem like the app’s fault, per se—can lead to an incredibly frustrating crash loop if some stupid user sends you messages the app can’t handle.Read more...

Recently on The Upgrade we learned about the science of timing your life perfectly—from what times of day are best for certain activities and what periods in life are best for a fresh start. But at the heart of timing your life well is knowing your chronotype. That is, knowing whether you’re a morning lark, a night…Read more...

Sesame Street and CNN are partnering up for all our emotional needs this year, first with the virtual COVID-19 town hall, then with the one on racism, and now a town hall as we navigate the back-to-school season with our little kids during a pandemic.Read more...

Though you might not be traveling as often these days, there is one hot new travel accessory to bring on every trip: the Google Chromecast.Read more...

Baked Alaska is a the steakhouse dinner of desserts. It’s decidedly retro, lightly kitschy, and—while completely obtainable to the home cook—slightly more involved than you want it to be.Read more...

If you have been looking for a new home during the pandemic, you aren’t alone. With record-low mortgage interest rates and more people working from home, many folks are considering an upgrade. In fact, existing-home sales jumped by more than 20% in June—and July spiked by 25%, according to a recent National…Read more...

Summer has come to an end, and that means we all have a surplus of pool and beach toys just lying around begging to be put to use. Sure you could just store these items until the next warm season, but it’s so much more fun to cut them up and use them in unique ways around the house.Read more...

As former Lifehacker writer Nick Douglas once proclaimed: Every sponge is bad. He wasn’t wrong then, and he isn’t wrong now. But his passionate stance made me think more deeply about my kitchen sponge than I ever had before, and I came to a somewhat disturbing realization. My sponge? Was basically always dirty.

An Aukey 1080p webcam, an Anker PowerWave charging pad, a Control for Xbox One deal, a Keurig K-Classic single serve coffee maker, a Dyson Animal upright vacuum, a “recent hits” DVD and Blu-ray Gold Box, and a 25% discount on N95 masks lead Wednesday’s best deals.Read more...

Wanting and subsequently begging for a pet is somewhat of a childhood rite of passage. Most kids, at some point, want a dog, cat, hamster, rabbit, gold fish, or all of the above. For parents who love having a houseful of animals, adding a third cat or another creature-filled tank may be no big deal, but if pets just…Read more...

Android 11 is here—the stable version, that is—and only if you’re running one of Google’s Pixel phones (the Pixel 2, 3, 3A, 4, or 4A) for the stable release. A beta version of Android 11 is also available, starting today, for the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro, as well as the Oppo X2 and Reno 3.Read more...