Lifehacker

I’ve previously talked about how the Internet Archive is a great place to play your favorite abandonware from decades ago within your browser, and it’s even better now. The archive has added 2,500 new MS-DOS titles for you to try out, and they are all free of charge.Read more...

If you’re someone who can’t ever seem to get a good night’s sleep, and even a later start time to your day won’t help, you’re not alone. Sometimes, those bags under your eyes have less to do with the length of sleep you’re getting and more with the actual quality of your sleep.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves, son of Estonian refugees who fled the country during the 1944 Soviet takeover, saw his country regain independence in 1991. In 2006 he became Estonia’s fourth president. We had a long talk about his accomplishments as president, a position that holds no executive power and thus relies on…Read more...

Recently, a stalker found and attacked a Japanese pop star, in part by using an eye reflection to figure out what train station she uses. (He then waited for her at the train station and followed her home.) This got us wondering: how easy is it to get clues about somebody’s location from their selfies?Read more...

So you went and did the thing you swore you’d never do: you cheated on your partner. You probably have a lot of questions, including about what happens next. If your partner decides to end the relationship, there’s not much for you to do, but if they want to stay together, you have some work ahead of you. It won’t be…Read more...

Landlords usually have one big question when you inquire about a rental: Do you have enough money to pay for it? Coughing up your last pay stub is often enough to convince the powers that be that you’re responsible enough to pay the rent each month, and some landlords even spell out the minimum monthly income they…Read more...

The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will be available through every major U.S. carrier, but as of now, Verizon’s the only one with preorders already open. And what’s more, they’re offering a couple of pretty incredible deals on Google’s latest and greatest.

Besides forcing society to examine what comedy really is, TikTok drives all sorts of discourse, both political and not. But after one user posted a behind-the-scenes look, it has people talking about Panera’s macaroni and cheese, which is reheated from a frozen state to a servile temperature in—horror of…Read more...

Even if you’re careful to turn off the lights when you leave a room or pay for the lowest-tier internet plan, it’s safe to say these monthly costs are a pain. You shell out a lot for your service, and when it doesn’t live up to expectations, you can be left (literally) in the dark, wondering what you’re even paying…Read more...

We all knew Google would announce its Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL during today’s Made by Google 2019 event, but the company showed off a handful of other devices, too: a new Pixelbook Go laptop, an update to the Pixel Buds wireless earphones, and a new Nest smarthome speaker (and mesh wifi system).Read more...

One of Sparkle Leigh’s favorite stories to read during Drag Queen Story Hour is The Story of Ferdinand. Ferdinand, published in 1936, tells the story of a Spanish bull who’s supposed to be a manly bullfighter, but all he wants to do is go sit in the flowers and take in the beauty.Read more...

On November 12, Disney will officially launch its streaming service, Disney+, as a competitor against other major platforms like Netflix and Hulu.

We all know that being generous and helping people makes us feel good. Doing so doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money or take up a lot of time.

Google’s Pixel 4 made its official debut today. It’s arriving soon—October 24—and you can preorder it right now. But before you plunk down $799 for the Pixel 4 (or $899 for the Pixel 4 XL), here’s a quick look at how Google’s next smartphone stacks up against the competition:Read more...

The application that revolutionized and upended the music industry lived long enough to see itself become the villain. Thanks to the new macOS Catalina update, iTunes has finally been laid to rest.Read more...

I like to discover my music anywhere but the radio: playlists, TV soundtracks, best-of lists, subway bands, TikToks, overheard songs in bars and stores and coffeeshops...and podcasts. What a fantastic medium for trying out new music. A music podcast is like your favorite radio show on demand—and of course many of the…Read more...

Work-life balance for creative types is more like work-work-life. You’ve got to find time for both your work responsibilities and your non-work responsibilities, plus time for the people you care about and the communities you support, plus time for rest and recuperation, plus time for that big creative project you’re…Read more...

Some pickles—cucumbers, onions, and even carrots—are obvious, but grapes are not an obvious pickle. Grapes are a surprising pickle, an unexpected pickle, an intriguing pickle. If you leave them whole during the fermentation process, they’re a fizzy pickle.Read more...

Happy Google day! The search giant announced a handful of new devices, including brand-new Pixel Buds, the mighty Pixel 4 smartphone, and an updated Nest Mini.Read more...

O-Cedar MicroTwist Microfiber Twist Mop | $10 | AmazonRead more...

Despite our best efforts to not scare the crap out of our kids at an early age, our kids have friends. And those friends have older siblings or YouTube and are often all-too-happy to introduce them to the horror villains of our childhood—Freddy Kruger, Pennywise, Michael Meyers, Jason Voorhees. Remember how creepy…Read more...

Maybe you’ve heard of this thing called The Witcher. It’s a book series, three video games, soon-to-be a Netflix show, and a hallmark of Polish culture. Maybe you’ve heard about it but never really tried to figure out what the fuss is. Now that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming to Switch, you say: “Well, I wish I…Read more...

If you haven’t booked your plane ticket for Thanksgiving yet, you might be better off waiting until November.

As an adult, you probably don’t have someone constantly commenting on your posture, the way an elementary school teacher or parent may have done in the past. But sitting up straight and not slouching are arguably even more important when we’re grown. Sure, having good posture looks better, but also, how we sit, stand…Read more...

One of the bummers of buying a non-Pixel Android smartphone is that you are beholden to your manufacturer for Android updates. In other words, Google devices typically get giant upgrades like Android 10 first, and you have to sit and be envious until you get your shot—possibly months after the fact—if you splurged for…Read more...

Now three debates in, it’s becoming clearer than ever which of the Democratic candidates has an actual shot at the presidency. And tonight’s debate in Ohio will likely become another make-or-break moment for most of these presidential hopefuls, including those candidates still struggling to make a splash.

Novelist Cormac McCarthy has spent twenty years editing what feels like the opposite of a novel: scientific papers by faculty members and postdocs at the Santa Fe Institute. Some of the scientists he worked with have paraphrased and compiled McCarthy’s best writing advice. It applies to all kinds of writing, from…Read more...

A few days ago, I asked you for your favorite news aggregator apps. We got tons of responses, but it was pretty clear which apps were going to be our top recommendations within the first batch of comments. Without further ado, here are the best RSS readers/news aggregators, plus a few alternatives for good measure.

Think back to when you first learned how to drive. An adult in your life probably told you that driving is a responsibility and a privilege, and though your daily commute may not exactly sound like a privilege, you still definitely have a responsibility to be safe on the road. Whether you’re an experienced driver or…Read more...

We recently wrote about how to disagree about politics without ending a friendship—but what should do you if you’d really like to avoid the conversation altogether?

It’s hard for any parent to manage tantrums and picky eating, to enforce screen time limits and get through bedtime with our sanity intact, all while raising kids who will hopefully grow up to be good humans. But for single parents, there is an extra layer of challenge wrapped around each day: Two hands when four…Read more...

iOS 13's “Fraudulent Website Warning” feature for Safari mobile shares some of your browsing data by default. That’s normally a good thing, since Google takes this data, hashes what you’re attempting to access, and is only able to sort-of match what you were looking for with your IP address. However, Apple is also…Read more...

Blue light before bedtime can make it harder to sleep, and the screens on phones, computers, and televisions emit plenty of blue light. This is all true. But if you’re focused on blue light as a major problem affecting your sleep or your eye health, it’s time to step back and get a little perspective.Read more...

I am an unapologetic champion of baking mixes. Baking from scratch is great, and if you have the time and resources to do so, go for it. But mixes are one of the first modern hacks, and their introduction helped lighten the workload of (mostly) women performing unpaid labor in the home. This—in addition to being…Read more...

Maybe you’ve taken an extended break from gaming and now want to get back into things. It can feel very intimidating: there are new games, new consoles, new slang, a lot of teenagers, and what’s the deal with Twitch? Here’s some tips on where to start.Read more...

Do you find yourself spending way too much time worrying about what people think of you? Are you ready to let go of those needless concerns in order to focus on other, more important things? This week on The Upgrade, we’re working through our issues with Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, as…Read more...

If you want a quick and simple answer to one question on every tween’s mind—When can I sit in the front seat?—it’s this: Age 13. That’s what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends and is widely accepted as the safest age among car seat safety experts.Read more...

“Took me until my early twenties to learn how to read an analog clock, and it is still very difficult,” says Lifehacker reader Albert Peters, commenting on our post about basic life skills. Others agreed. As digital clocks take over, people get less practice telling time on an analog clock. We’ll help. Here are two…Read more...

When you buy a ticket for a flight, airlines often conveniently fail to spell out all the other fees you’ll be responsible for, like the price of a crappy boxed meal, spotty wifi, and often, an actual seat assignment.Read more...

This is one of those things you might not know if you don’t frequent bike shops (I didn’t) but apparently those tiny emergency hand pumps are not the only way to pump up your bike tires if you get a flat on the road. CO2 cartridge bike pumps are a thing, and I’d say they’re a hack.Read more...

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day, aka Columbus Day! In honor of the famous European slaver, every store in America is taking slightly less profit on their goods and services. Here’s a roundup of roundups for online Columbus Day deals.

The next time you worry that everything you want to do creatively has already been done by someone else, or feel anxious about the amount of time it will take for you to become as good at your creative work as you’d like to be, tell yourself that you’re on a bus. In Helsinki, Finland. And the most important thing you…Read more...

English has no precise antonym for “complain.” All the closest verbs require an object: you can praise a thing or compliment a thing, but you can complain, full stop. Whatever the opposite would be, Kurt Vonnegut says you should do it. It will make you happier.

If you are planning to give out candy for Halloween this year, you should probably go all in and distribute full-size, name-brand candy bars. Not only will you be the hero of your block, but you will make your other, cheaper neighbors feel inadequate, which is a fun bonus. To get the most cheap Halloween candy for…Read more...

If you have any of these 15 sneaky apps on your Android device, it’s time to go on a digital hunt and delete them. According to Sophos, these adware apps are doing everything they can to hide themselves on your device and inject crappy advertising into everything you do—and more than 1.3 million devices worldwide have…Read more...

At some point (or many points) during the parenting journey, we all need a little help. New parents, parents who have been at it for a while—all of us at one time or another find ourselves at a crossroads, unsure how to proceed. It’s at that crossroads that we hope Offspring’s new Parental Advisory advice column can…Read more...

Most of our day-to-day decisions are pretty low-risk: what to have for breakfast, what to wear to work, what to watch on Netflix. But even if picking a breakfast food isn’t going to change the course of your life, choices can present a real challenge.Read more...

It’s tough enough having to deal with the worst-case scenario Mother Nature can throw at you, whether it’s a hurricane, flood, or wildfire. But hey, when you’re done filling sandbags or packing up to evacuate, make sure all your bills are paid on time, OK?Read more...

Have you had any issues installing macOS Catalina? Specifically, have you encountered any strange scenarios where the upgrade—which shouldn’t take that long to do—seems to hang for a lot longer than what feels reasonable?Read more...

Paul Rudd is not aging. See for yourself on Friday when the not-too-promising series Living With Yourself debuts. This N.O. features Rudd as a man who undergoes a spa treatment that literally replaces him with a better version of himself. I’m worried about this one the way that I was worried (with good reason) about…Read more...