Lifehacker

I’m tired of answering the question, “Which video chat service should I use?” I don’t know which is the best one, because I don’t know what your specific needs are or how much annoyance you’re willing to tolerate—here’s looking at you, Zoom’s 40-minute-cutoffs—to achieve picture-perfect videoconferencing for you and…Read more...

You may have seen the below video about a breathing technique for patients with COVID-19. In this video, Sarfaraz Munshi, a physician from Queen’s Hospital in the UK, demonstrates a technique to help patients suffering from COVID-19.Read more...

An unexpected iOS/iPadOS update dropped today, and while it doesn’t add any new features, it does fix an annoying bug that prevented some users on iOS/iPadOS 13.4 from FaceTiming people on devices running iOS 9.3.1, macOS 10.11.16 or other older operating systems. Given that we’re all relying on video chats more than…Read more...

If ever it were a good time for Netflix to give parents more control over their kids’ viewing experience, it is now, while our kids are home and watching more shows than ever. And they’ve come through with some basics that will help ensure kids aren’t watching content that is inappropriate—or shows you simply don’t…Read more...

If you’re a Mac user clipping an image of a bit of text to send in a tweet or saving info from a rental car confirmation page, the standard Command-Shift-4 shortcut that allows you to draw a box around what you want to capture is more than adequate. But your computer is much more savvy than that: There are plenty of…Read more...

Between fielding conference calls and tearing through quarantine snacks like we’re running some kind of pandemic stress-marathon, many of us could use a break. That’s not exactly the easiest thing to find when you’re stuck at home—especially if you love to travel. If your preferred form of self-care is venturing to…Read more...

UPDATE: We are now live until 2pm! Please welcome René F. Najera, DrPH. He’s an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and is currently serving on the pandemic response team at a health department in the Washington, DC, area.Read more...

If you’re worried about making your credit card payments on time due to job loss, furlough or income reduction, you might be asking yourself whether you should take advantage of one of the credit card forbearance programs many lenders are offering during the coronavirus pandemic.Read more...

Pandemic-induced cabin fever has kickstarted the sourdough baking hobbies of what seems like everyone on Instagram. If you’re one of these newly converted bakers, by now you’ve probably gotten the hang of feeding your starter, as well as some basic shaping techniques and are hungry for a new challenge. Why not try…Read more...

If you are new to wearing a face mask, and are one of the two-thirds of American adults who wear prescription glasses, you may have noticed a problem: foggy lenses. It sounds minor, but now that the CDC has recommended that everyone wear cloth face masks when we go outside, to help prevent the spread of coronavirus,…Read more...

Your housing is one of your biggest monthly expenses. And if you have a mortgage stretching out ahead of you for the next 10, 15 or 30 years, the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic probably have you concerned about how you’ll keep paying that bill.Read more...

When my son asked me to assist him with his third-grade math yesterday afternoon, my first instinct was to back slowly out of the room. Me and math, we have a strained relationship. But it turned out that he could do the math; it was the damn program on his Chromebook that wasn’t cooperating by not allowing him to…Read more...

Convincing your friends and loved ones to stop spreading bullshit online feels like a Sisyphean task—one you probably gave up on years ago, thanks to a particular charged political moment that set us all down the path to social Hell. In these times, I think it’s important to consider the following: “What Would…Read more...

Android’s April 2020 security patch includes an essential improvement for the Pixel 4's facial recognition feature. It’s simple, but important upgrade to your phone’s security: A person’s eyes must now be open to unlock the phone via the Pixel’s facial recognition technology.

We’re all on the hunt for new things to do at home.

Peak Design Travel Tripod | $350 | Peak Design | B&H Photo | Moment

If you are looking for a distraction from all your many worries right now (so, so many), be sure to take a few moments tonight to cast your gaze to the skies above, as tonight’s full moon will be the biggest and brightest of the year.Read more...

If you watch a lot of Disney+ on Windows or macOS, consider installing the website as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for speedier access to your favorite films and shows.

If you’re in the market for a new job, recent international events may have you second-guessing your career plans. Companies have halted their hiring processes, unemployment claims have skyrocketed, and people navigating their state’s unemployment systems right now deserve medals for their patience.Read more...

Once upon a time, I had big plans to host an Easter brunch with my friend Dan. We had grand visions of pre-batched cocktails, sous-vide hollandaise sauce, and a lamb carving station, but obviously none of that is happening anymore. But the inability to host a full-blown shindig is no reason to abandon my plans to eat…Read more...

A couple of months before the pandemic hit, my son–who had always sported a fairly neat haircut–suddenly decided he liked it longer. Well, he either liked it longer or he just really didn’t feel like sitting through a haircut. Regardless, I am now in isolation with a 9-year-old boy who has not had a haircut since…Read more...

For those who have updated Firefox today, and for those who have yet to—via the hamburger icon > Help > About Firefox—know that today’s release of Firefox 75 brings some fun changes to the browser’s address bar. Firefox now blows open your address bar whenever you click on it, which you may or may not love.Read more...

Do you know what Zoom-bombing is? Neither did I—until about 2 minutes ago. My 15-year-old cousin was Zoom chatting with her high school basketball teammates. It was all hoops and happiness until—boom!—they were hacked by an unknown predator and his not-so-private parts.Read more...

You know what we’re talking about: That sinking feeling you get when you realize the desktop version of Chrome has quit or crashed with 42 open tabs. And when you attempt to use the “Restore” option, you receive...nothing. Goodbye, work; hello internal screaming.

I asked you for the best home workout you’ve done so far, and each week this month we’re all going to pick one to do together. This week, it’s going to be an oldie but a goodie (thanks, SafetyCynthia): Richard Simmons.Read more...

Everyone’s a baker these days—which, apart from a flour shortage, is not a bad thing. (Like, it’s better than everyone dealing with isolation by getting really into cooking meth, or macrame.) But bread can be a little overwhelming, particularly if you’ve picked just now to get into sourdough, and you’re not used to…Read more...

We’re all operating in survival mode right now, and stopping your regular workout routine in the middle of a pandemic is certainly understandable. But regular exercise helps with anxiety, depression and sleep quality, and in the world we are living in, these benefits can make all the difference. If your schedule is…Read more...

We’ve made it through weeks of figuring out how to spend far too much time with the people we supposedly love, but what about the non-people we actually love?Read more...

The coronavirus pandemic does not end when you can leave your house or when scientists develop a vaccine. It ends when we have recovered. And as with any destructive hurricane, tornado, earthquake, oil spill, or terrorist attack, a recovery from this pandemic will happen.

There are two things that are universally loved by toddlers: Playing with stuff they’ve pulled from your kitchen cabinets, and magnets. Which is why, if you’ve got some letter magnets and a cookie sheet (plus a Sharpie marker), you’ve got a new activity to keep your little kid busy for at least several minutes.Read more...

We’ve reached a point in the coronavirus pandemic where if you’re able to keep your job and work from the safety and comfort of your home, you’re probably feeling pretty lucky.Read more...

I love a good community effort, and give all the “ups” one can give to Metafilter user malevolent, who took the time to crawl through lists of public-domain movies and design a Netflix clone to present them all.Read more...

Between the worries about keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe, as well as the rippling effects of a crashing economy, most of us are having trouble sleeping. We turned to the archives, to find some of the best tips for salvaging your sleep in the midst of nonstop worries. Here is some of what we found:Read more...

PreSonus Studio One 4 Recording Software | $70 | AmazonRead more...

By now, you’ve probably figured out how to stay connected to your socially distanced friends. You’ve set up the Discord server. You’ve figured out which games have great online multiplayer. You’ve pinpointed a weekly time that works for everyone for a large-scale Animal Crossing visit (not that anyone’s schedules are…Read more...

Looking for something to watch tonight?

Welcome back to our weekly discussion thread, now named the Coronavirus Roundtable. Once again I’d like to hear what you’ve been hearing about our current pandemic, especially if it makes you go “huh, could that be true?”

If you use the popular digital wallet app Key Ring, a security update is an immediate must-do. The app recently accidentally exposed the personal information of over 44 million users due to misconfigured Amazon Web Service (AWS) cloud severs (via Threat Post).

Relief payments are slated to begin this week, but there’s still some confusion about who’s getting what—and which pieces of information the government needs in order to process your payment.

Quibi, a new streaming service from Jeffery Katzenberg, founder and CEO of Dreamworks, officially launched today. Unlike most streaming services that are meant to be watched on your television, Quibi is designed to be watched primarily on your mobile phone.

Cooking at home is one of the few activities that most of the population can engage in right now, which means it has taken on even more significance than usual. It is not enough to feed your body (so you go on living), you must nourish, you must uplift, you must connect. But all of this important cooking could very…Read more...

My new Dungeons & Dragons gaming group has been meeting virtually the past few weeks, but we still can’t decide on which service offers the best quality and user interface—and is easiest for all of us to access. We’ve been jumping between Zooms, Facebooks, FaceTimes, and even a Houseparty or two, and we haven’t made…Read more...

Most of us know what it means to be laid off: You’ve been let go from your job, often in a way that is presented as due to no fault of your own, and you are free to both apply for unemployment benefits and pursue new employment possibilities. But what happens when you are furloughed?

Excess screen time is pretty much a given right now. We’re all doing the best we can to work from home and help our kids wade through their online learning assignments and connect with their friends and family via all our devices. But even once we’ve done all that, there are all the hours left in the day that used to…Read more...

New York Times bestselling author James Clear joins us on The Upgrade this week to help us form important new habits during this panic-stricken time—from grounding daily rituals to finally ditching the habits making us unsafe during the pandemic. James is the author of 2018's …Read more...

Ordering in or picking up dinner? Google Maps has been updated with two search filters that highlight nearby takeout and delivery options. The new search options are officially available on Android and iOS in the US, Canada and France, but users in other countries have also reported seeing the feature, so it might be…Read more...

If you’re out of work or on a reduced schedule during the coronavirus pandemic, your government relief payment that could arrive as early as this week is likely a welcome addition to your bank account.Read more...

The CDC now recommends “cloth face coverings” to slow the spread of COVID-19. As we’ve discussed before, there are pros and cons to cloth masks, and some organizations are still on the fence about whether it’s worthwhile to convince everyone to wear them. The WHO, for example, has yet to provide an official opinion on…Read more...

Cocktailing at home requires a few accessories. Beyond a shaker, a stirring glass, a spoon, etc., a home bar isn’t really complete without bitters, citrus, and syrups. The first two are fairly straightforward purchases, but syrups are extremely easy and cost-effective to make at home. They’re also almost infinitely…Read more...

There’s a lot of talk about tests for COVID-19, as well as a lot of confusion about what the results might mean. If someone tests negative for COVID-19, does that mean they aren’t sick? If someone tests positive for antibodies against COVID-19, does that mean they are immune?Read more...