Life Hacker

There’s a reason why a breakup often feels like a death. Whether you’ve initiated the breakup or on the receiving end of one, there is a definite mourning period that comes at the end of a relationship.Read more...

If you’re a parent whose kids play sports, you probably noticed that it costs a pretty penny. While you may be able to get away with a $20 jersey in kiddie soccer, once they get older and start playing on teams or rehearsing for large performances, you’ll be faced with much higher participation and...

For many, there are only two types of cornbread: right and wrong. Or Southern and Northern. [Editor’s note: What is Northern cornbread? I don’t know her.] For me, both styles are simply blank canvases that I can add flavors to. If you’re brave enough to break tradition with me, try this spicy,...

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, and the intention of the law is to make the federal government’s functioning a bit more transparent to the general public. The theory is that since We the People pay for everything, we technically own...

It took me a while to warm to pepper, at least as a child. My younger sister, who called pepper “hot salt,” loved it so much, she would sprinkle it on her cantaloupe, a fruit that was commonly served for dessert at my grandmother’s house. I eventually learned to love the pungent, fermented...

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The smell of caramelizing onions is one of the most heavenly aromas one can sniff, and it’s one of those foods where the taste lives up to the promise of the fragrance. Caramelized onions are condensed, intensely flavorful, sweet, savory, and a little pungent all at once. That flavor-bomb nature is...

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Raking leaves is a pain in the ass. It’s time-consuming, wet, cold, and can even trigger your allergies. You have to do it, but so tedious is this task that people have come up with a variety of hacks and devices to help you get it done more efficiently. You can scoop leaves up with plastic or use...

WhatsApp is the world’s most popular chat app, making it the perfect playground for spreading misinformation and lies. You might spend your time begging your relatives not to believe everything they read in WhatsApp threads, often to no avail. However, there’s finally some WhatsApp news that is...

Making a presentation deck can be difficult, but being engaging, informative, and fun while you’re speaking can be even harder. You might turn to PowerPoint or Google Slides, but you should also consider Canva, which has been promoting new command features lately. Of course, never switch to a new...

Eggs and toast tend to be my breakfast of choice. Any number of food companions can join the party, but that savory, protein-carb partnership is always holding court. That being said, the toast in this union changes from day to day depending on what’s in my freezer, and lately, that’s been...

Hurricane Ian is a major category 3 storm expected to bring winds up to 125 mph, heavy rain, and possible floods as it moves up Florida’s Gulf Coast. In general, here are the things you need to get and do early to be ready for a hurricane or tropical storm.Read more...

If you’ve noticed an underperforming investment in your portfolio, you might have a silver lining available to you: tax-loss harvesting. This strategy allows you to offset taxable capital gains with your capital losses. Through this process, you can reduce your tax bill and improve your overall...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is urging consumers to check their pantries, refrigerators, and freezers to see whether they contain any of the roughly 87,00 pounds of various ready-to-eat meat products that may be contaminated with harmful...

The Apple Watch is great for runners, but a few of its limitations get in the way of training for long-distance races. Most runners have encountered the low battery warning just as they’re about to step out, or realize too late that they don’t have any music for the run because they forgot to sync...

If your dryer suddenly stops working or starts running too hot, you’ll be left with either soggy or shrunken clothes. Worse, a malfunctioning dryer can actually be a fire hazard. We typically don’t think much about our laundry appliances when they’re working well, so we tend to take them for...

It’s late September, and you know what means: It’s time for warnings about criminals putting harmful objects into kids’ Halloween candy! This year, the big fear is that crazed druggies will drop “rainbow fentanyl” into kids’ candy bags. Like every past hysterical warning, it’s very unlikely to...

There are few things more annoying (or alarming) than your PC randomly shutting off in the middle of a game. If you’ve ruled out other solutions to the problem—like upgrading your GPU’s drivers or motherboard’s BIOS, or fixing improperly installed hardware—the most likely culprit is your PC’s power...

In a perfect world, a sibling is a best friend and an ally. In the real world, sibling relationships can be incredibly complicated—and although there will always be the less-than-perfect parts, there can come a point when the flaws rise to the level of being considered toxic. Read more...

Hollywood is so obsessed with franchises, it’s making spinoffs and prequels you’ve never even heard of. Take Pennyworth, a show revealing the convoluted origins of Bruce Wayne’s demure manservant Alfred, who you may be surprised to learn spent his youth thwarting fascists’ attempts to overthrow the...

A takeout is already on the cheaper side—although not always as cheap as we’d like, especially if you’re ordering one of the healthier options. Fortunately, redditors have come to the rescue. It’s entirely possible to take advantage of deals at your favorite fast-food places, stretch your Thai...

Public spaces are supposed to be free and open to anyone—that’s usually what the word “public” means. But as impossibly high costs of living leave more and more people homeless, the definition of public space is shrinking to purposefully exclude them. Businesses and city governments most often do...

BeReal’s popularity is on another level. After all, any app that tops TikTok on the charts is one to take seriously, especially when the app is this simple to use. You see the notification, you take your photos, and you share them to the app. But it begs the question: Does sharing photos of your...

Shrimp is an incredible source of weeknight protein. It cooks fast, tastes great, and can be served alongside pretty much any carb or vegetable your throw at it. It also takes well to a wide variety of seasonings—Cajun shrimp, Old Bay shrimp, garlic shrimp, soy-ginger shrimp—and can be cooked in...

Despite our illusions of independence and control, it’s possible to manipulate people using a variety of psychological tricks—heck, that’s what the entire advertising and marketing industry is built on. So it stands to reason that a little light mind control could make things go your way a bit more...

Summer has officially drawn to a close (at long last, if you ask me), which means if you are the type of person who favors fall travel over battling crowds in the heat, this is your time. Yet with the uncertainty surrounding a COVID surge in the autumn and winter, travel plans are increasingly...

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Washing machines—is there anything they can’t do? Just kidding: There are plenty of things you shouldn’t wash in your machine. Plus, the machine itself has to be washed, which is tedious. Still, there are some surprising uses for yours, even if it’s not usable for every situation. Here are a few...

Cheesecake is the kind of dessert that requires you to fully commit well before you flick on the oven. It takes a lot of time, specific tools, and an unholy amount of cream cheese. Providing everything goes right, removing a sloshing tray of 350-degree water along with a three-pound cheesecake is...

Your PC’s password is not something to be shared lightly. It’s the keys to your kingdom: From work, to social media, to banking, your whole world is likely accessible from your Windows machine. Consequently, Microsoft is begging us to not be idiots who will hand our passwords over to anyone who...

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It’s a tough life out there for a bird, but natural threats like predators aren’t the only reason. Of the top three causes of wild bird deaths, two can be easily eliminated or reduced: outdoor cats and large, bonkable windows. Read more...

Your podcast app’s discovery tab is very good at suggesting you listen to one of the new big podcasts backed by a major network—and certainly a lot of those shows are going to be great—but there are plenty of podcasters making beautiful content, and doin’ it on their own. Writing, engineering,...

Sliding glass doors are known for being an easy access point for burglars—the latches on these doors are often small and not particularly sturdy, which can make it a real security concern. But there are some simple and effective ways you can make a sliding glass door safer and harder to break...

Enrolling your kid in sports can help keep them active, teach them to work with a team, and build their confidence. But sports also have the effect of separating participants into winners and losers, which has the potential to evoke some pretty crushing emotions in a child. To help your kid manage...

If you’re freaked out at the thought of speaking in front of people, you’re not alone: More Americans fear public speaking than death. But unlike death, public speaking happens over and over, whether it’s “going around the circle and introducing ourselves,” or accepting your People’s Choice...

The combination of cheese and pickles is something I deeply enjoy. I will eat the two foods without the help of cracker or bread, but I’m also a big fan of the pairing on a cold and grilled sandwich. Pickle-studded cheese crisps, however, are somewhere in between the two. It’s just cheese and...

A pair of suede shoes or linen pants might be the star of your closet, but you may also be tempted to keep those items stored away rather than risk getting them dirty. Maybe you don’t let anyone sit on your velvet couch, and you keep your grandmother’s lace tablecloth packed safety away, even...

Avocados have a fan club that hates to love them. They taste great, can be sliced, mashed, or blended, and can be used to make everything from salad dressings to ice cream. But they like to play coy. Perfectly ripe for seemingly minutes, avocados spend most of their time on the countertop being...

When it comes to selling secondhand items online, there’s no shortage of options. From Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor, to classics like Craigslist and eBay, if there’s something you’re looking to buy (or sell), there are many ways to find it.Read more...

There’s a lot of information out there—including on this site—listing garden tasks to complete in a particular month, or ahead of a certain season. And while there are always jobs you can do now to make your life easier in the future, some gardening experts say that when it comes to a pre-winter...

The relationship between dogs and mail carriers is complex. As a common TV trope, it’s often played for laughs, but to the roughly 5,400 postal employees who were attacked by dogs in the U.S. in 2021 alone, it’s a serious job hazard.Read more...

Light bulbs are one of those things that you don’t really pay attention to until one burns out and you have to replace it. So when that time comes, do you replace it with an incandescent bulb, or a newer LED bulb? Here’s what to know about the differences in cost between the two.Read more...

Sometimes, interruptions are necessary—like if someone’s pointless speech at an awards show rambles on too long. But most of the time, interruptions that involve one person talking over another are rude and aggravating. And unfortunately, some people are chronic interrupters; no matter how many...

Thursday, September 29 is National Coffee Day. International Coffee Day—a separate made-up holiday that includes our friends abroad—falls two days later, on Saturday, October. 1. The important part is that there are coffee deals and freebies galore. Here are a few to consider.Read more...

It might not feel like it, but your wifi router is one of the most personal things you have in your home. All the internet traffic from every connected gadget in your home goes through this little device. That’s reason enough to protect it from any outsider—and protecting your main internet...

There’s no shortage of scammers out there pretending to be debt collectors, harassing you via call and text day after day. If you are blocking these numbers, you want to to be certain they really are scams, though, and that you’re not ignoring legitimate debt collectors (who can find you on social...

There are two key signifiers that cement the fact that I am, officially, unambiguously, and regrettably, an adult. It isn’t my age (which, depending on the day and who you’re asking, is anywhere from 27 to 50 years old), and it isn’t the horizontal lines deepening on my forehead from the countless...

I’m slow to catch on sometimes. Even though I’d had intermittent wheezing over the years, I didn’t learn I had asthma until my 30s. And even though air purifiers are widely recommended by almost everybody in the asthma and allergy world, I never looked into them. A “purifier,” really? Sounds hokey....