Lifehacker

Just like turning off your phone’s GPS or limiting what data you share with Google, people have a right to digital privacy, but the built-in facial recognition algorithms on sites like Facebook or apps like Google Photos actively work against our digital autonomy.Read more...

Looking for something to watch tonight? Every afternoon we’re hunting down and highlighting the best viewing options around.

A layer of fat on and around your food is key if you wish to keep it from getting stuck on grill grates, particularly if that food is something lean and delicate like fish or shrimp. Oil is a fine solution to this problem, I guess. But I think mayo reigns supreme.Read more...

Right now is an incredibly difficult and emotional time in our nation and around the world. The countless deaths of black people at the hands of the police and others is a constant reminder of just how far we have to go as a society, in seeing everyone as equal and worthy of the same things in life—including the right…Read more...

If you tend to have cash lingering in your medical Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at the end of the year, you don’t have to wait until December to start spending it. You can use it to buy first aid supplies now, and consider donating them to groups that organize medical support for protesters.Read more...

The new Windows 10 Version 2004 update is slowly rolling out to compatabile devices, though some users will be waiting for it a little longer. The update brings several new features to the OS, including an all-new version of Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, whether you like it or not.Read more...

Now that more and more states are reopening, job seekers might find themselves in the position of having to decide how to approach an in-person job interview. Should you wear a mask? Should you avoid shaking hands? Should you attempt to stay at least six feet away from your interviewers?Read more...

Recent displays of police violence against members of the public, whether the recent deaths of George Floyd and Breona Taylor at the hands of officers or the many demonstrations of brutality against peaceful protesters, it’s becoming painfully obvious that the problem is systemic, and that it will take a comprehensive…Read more...

It will probably shock you to find out that I do not care much for the prepackaged snack cake, be it from Hostess or the small Debra. I have no use for a Sno Ball, I didn’t try a Twinkie until I was 25 and the charms of the Zebra Cake (my family’s favorite) have always eluded me. The only snack cake that ever mattered…Read more...

There are lots of different budgeting methods you can try to determine the best way to manage your money. But while budgeting guides might mention those methods or provide broad categories on which to focus, they don’t always make it easy to see how your budget will actually look.Read more...

A police department’s use-of-force policies can have a huge impact on the number of people they end up killing. The people at Campaign Zero have identified the eight most important policies that cities can start putting in place right away, and they have built a tool so you can look up where your city stands on each.

Two months after my kids’ schools shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, I feel no shame in saying that the challenges of managing working from home while homeschooling a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old have wrought havoc on our parenting routines. I am slightly ashamed, however, about what that has meant for my…Read more...

Facebook has a brand-new tool for deleting old posts, but it’s not very good. Not only is it unavailable on Facebook’s desktop site—because rollouts—but even if it was, there are much better tools you can use right now to delete your old Facebook posts without deleting Facebook itself.Read more...

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant dealing with challenges most people never thought they’d face: toilet paper shortages, universal homeschooling and a novel virus that has killed more than 100,000 Americans in less than three months. It has also changed the caregiving landscape dramatically. Approximately 39.8 million…Read more...

Addressing police violence is a complicated problem, requiring a number of solutions. When it comes to holding police officers accountable, your local prosecutor plays a critical role. A prosecutor’s job is to represent local, state or federal governments in court, help investigate crime, and decide whether to charge…Read more...

So you’ve been wanting to work on your own car more and heard “one of the best tools is a repair manual.” True, but they’re never as easy as Lego instructions. Today I’ve got some tips on getting the most out of a dense, boring car manual so you can use one more effectively.

Grilling is a fairly straightforward cooking method—you put the food over hot coals or literal fire, and you leave it there to cook—and yet people still find ways to make it very complicated (though, admittedly, delicious). But you know what’s not complicated and still very delicious? Spam.Read more...

Privileges are the benefits and advantages you have over someone else because of your gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, health, level of education, physical ability, and/or socioeconomic level. It’s important to be aware of the benefits and advantages you have in order to be able to help those who do not…Read more...

Do you know what Chrome’s Incognito mode does with your browser’s data? If not, it’s worth a refresher, because it seems some users have been operating under the wrong impression.Read more...

If you’ve never been hospitalized, you might think of the day a patient leaves the hospital as a singular event in their recovery: a sign that they are either fully recovered from their illness, ailment or injury, or are very close to it. But an extended stay in the hospital takes its own toll, often resulting in what…Read more...

There are lots of organizations that need funding to combat police brutality and racial injustice right now. We’ve put together a list of options, and you’ve surely seen calls to donate to various groups on your social media feeds. But once you’ve chosen a worthy organization to which you’d like to donate, there’s an…Read more...

As we become more aware of the racial injustices happening in the present, it’s also important to educate ourselves about the past and how it impacts where we are. Below is a list of books that look at how different aspects of structural and institutionalized racism have affected the black community.

Avoiding large gatherings is part of how we’ve tried to stay safe for the past few months, but protests have something in common with hospital services and (apparently) takeout margaritas: They’re essential to our well-being as a society.Read more...

Owners of Google Pixel Androids are getting a handful of new features, including updates to your device’s Personal Safety app and more. In addition, Personal Safety is now supported on all Pixel smartphones from the Pixel 2 on up, not just the Pixel 4. The problem? Google has made enabling Personal Safety a mess.Read more...

Looking for something to watch tonight? Every afternoon we’re hunting down and highlighting the best viewing options around.

If you’ve been looking for a way to talk to your children about racism and the protests that are happening across the United States but are at a loss for words, Big Bird, Elmo and other Sesame Street favorites are here to help. CNN and Sesame Street are partnering up for another town hall event—this time about…Read more...

There are many free group video chat and teleconferencing apps out there. Plenty of them tout their privacy and security features. Just because they keep certain communications off-limits to other users or potential hackers doesn’t mean your conversations are protected from the companies themselves, nor the other…Read more...

The past week has shown us that you can never predict when a peaceful protest will escalate into something violent. (Though it’s certainly happening a lot these days, mainly thanks to inappropriate responses from the police.) If you’re headed to a protest, it can be helpful to brush up on your first aid basics—and to…Read more...

If you’ve got something that’s zip-tied together that shouldn’t be zip-tied together—whatever it is, for whatever reason—a broken bobby pin can be an excellent release tool.Read more...

It would be a great understatement to describe things as “tense” right now, and tension can lead to anxiety, which—for some of us—can lead to nausea and other kinds of stomach issues. And, though I would never suggest you abandon Pepto or Tums, I’ve found that the addition of a stomach settling-beverage helps to…Read more...

TP-Link Archer AX10 Wi-Fi 6 Router | $70 | AmazonRead more...

Finally chucked the stack of junk mail that’s been piling up on your kitchen table? The economic impact payment you’ve been waiting for the government to send might have been in that stack.Read more...

I’m a lazy tweeter, it’s true. I don’t use the service much, and when I do, I’ll occasionally upload an image with some pithy comment and call it a day. But that’s wrong on my part. I, like you, should also spend a moment to add alt text to my tweeted images.Read more...

The idea of “colorblindness” when it comes to race is certainly not a new idea. You’ve surely heard it; you might have thought it; maybe you’ve even said it: “Oh, I don’t see color; I only see the person.” Especially when it comes to kids, we have a desire to see them as innocent—which they are—and that this…Read more...

More than a week has passed since the brutal police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Rallies and protests have since ensued, rightfully, from coast-to-coast. And it’s not just Floyd. It’s Philando Castile and Breonna Taylor, Freddie Gray and Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner (among many, many, many…Read more...

We’ve talked about the settings you need to know to keep your phone, your data and yourself safe and secure when protesting. If you do choose to use your device during a protest, there are a few safety and messaging apps you’re going to want to install on your phone before you head out.Read more...

In the United States, the criminal justice system is supposed to be one of the most fair and just in the world. There are, however, many disparities in who is treated more harshly and who gets to walk away without any acknowledgement that they’ve committed a crime in the first place.

We can never truly know what is in the hearts of corporations and their CEOs. Do they mean what they say when they make very pretty statements about diversity and inclusion and their grief about George Floyd’s death? Or is it empty rhetoric? How can we tell the difference?Read more...

In times of great stress and turmoil, eating and (especially) cooking can seem extraneous, but existing in a body means you have to eat, even if you are actively protesting, providing essential services during a pandemic or paralyzed by anxiety and fear.Read more...

Looking for something to watch tonight? Every afternoon we’re hunting down and highlighting the best streaming options around.

There’s a flood of information about what’s going on in the nationwide protests against police brutality. Snippets of news go viral, one tweet or clip at a time: a thing a protester does, a thing a police officer does. Before you share anything, take a minute to ask yourself these questions.Read more...

In addition to the tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases, there is a secondary count of the number of people who have recovered from the infection. What does it mean, to be counted as someone who has recovered from COVID-19? What does that look like?

Even though tomorrow’s originally scheduled Android 11 Beta Show has been postponed, it appears Google has also begun sending out the Android 11 beta to a handful of users even earlier than expected.Read more...

Even if you feel fairly adjusted to life during a global pandemic (or did until this week), there’s a good chance your finances could use a bit of extra attention. Whether you’re struggling to make ends meet or just want to save some money during uncertain times, there may still be opportunities to get some of your…Read more...

At a moment when race is at the very top of the national conversation, Crayola is, finally, providing kids with more than a handful of colors to choose from when they draw self portraits, family portraits and pictures of their friends. Crayola is calling the set “Colors of the World,” and it’s available for pre-order…Read more...

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and countless other black people in the US, hundreds (thousands?) of protests have sprung up in every corner of the country demanding justice and accountability, and permanent systemic change to the structural racism this country was built on. During such a critical…Read more...

Users across social media today are posting black squares as part of Blackout Tuesday, a protest planned by two black executives in the music industry. But many are pointing out that by tagging these posts with #BLM or #BlackLivesMatter, people are unintentionally flooding online spaces that are used to share helpful…Read more...

The U.S. has erupted in protests over the brutal killing of George Floyd by police. The protests have largely been peaceful. The police response has not.Read more...

Pepper spray (including the brand name Mace) causes extreme stinging and burning in the eyes and nose. If you’ve been pepper sprayed, you’ll need to flush the chemical out. Water works, but it’s not the only option.Read more...

It’s almost summer, I guess—at least that’s what the bags of dark, ruby-red cherries at the grocery store are telling me. Cherry season will last a while, yet it will still seem too brief, which is why I’m taking time to quickly pickle a few out of every bag I buy.Read more...