For better or for worse, in many ways, 2020 was defined by capitalism, a system unprepared to provide as many hospital beds as there are sick people during a pandemic. Or PPE gear to health care workers exposed to those sick people. Or even face masks to those ordinary people just trying to shop for groceries who are…
If you’re still figuring out how to ring in the new year, Krispy Kreme would like to humbly suggest feasting on doughnuts. And not just any doughnuts—their melt-in-your-mouth original glazed doughnuts. To make these treats more accessible, Krispy Kreme is offering them at a special price.
In the early days of the pandemic, my social media feeds were filled with people boasting about all the reading they were getting done during quarantine, which only made me wonder when they were finding time to nurse their anxieties and care for their suddenly omnipresent children. Certainly for as many of us who …
I don’t know about you, but I can’t start my day without coffee. And with the pandemic still raging on, I’m trying to limit the time spent outside of my apartment as much as possible. If you’re a germaphobe like me, then you’ve probably also had to sacrifice trips to your local coffee shop for the foreseeable future.
Though it’s easy to label someone who frequently slips, trips, falls and/or knocks into things as being “clumsy,” there is usually more to the story than that. While it’s possible that their main problem is not looking where they’re going or paying attention to their surroundings, a large part of being steady on your…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a recall for some Sportmix pet food products, following the deaths of at least 28 dogs after eating the food. So far, there are concerns over the safety of nine total lots of cat and dog foods manufactured by Midwest Pet Food, Inc. for potentially fatal levels of a…
I am so tired of thinking and typing about this stupid year, but I’m still a little excited that it is finally ending (if only because that means I can quite thinking and typing about it). I don’t believe that 2021 will necessarily be any better—we will, as far as I can tell, still be living through a serious health…
Even a cheap TV will give you pretty great picture quality these days, but as sets have gotten thinner and better, the speakers have become tiny and awful. Want explosions that put a boom in your room? Your TV won’t cut it; those speakers can barely deliver solidly intelligible dialogue. Given all that, a soundbar is…
The U.S. government releases dietary guidelines every five years, and the 2020 edition just came out yesterday. There aren’t any huge changes, but babies and toddlers are included for the first time, and once again we are being reminded that we pretty much all eat too much sugar.
Champagne is a fancy yet dangerous way to ring in the new year. Popping open a bottle is invigorating. It’s like trying to pop a balloon: you know it will happen, but it still shocks you when it actually explodes. A champagne bottle holds up to 90 pounds of pressure per square inch, more than the average car tire. A…
The year is ending and we couldn’t be happier. And while I wish we could all press a refresh button to reboot our lives, it’s not that easy—getting a fresh start takes motivation and dedication. Here are some television shows and movies to help with just that, as we get inspired to take our first steps toward a new…
Earlier this year, a bug broke Google Assistant phone calls in Android Auto after users updated to Android 11. Google fixed the issue shortly after with a system update, but the bug still shows up for some users even after installing the patch. Luckily, there appears to finally be a solution. According to a post on…
Christmas is behind us, the new year is mercifully just ahead, and you may now find yourself wondering: Did my friend ever receive my gift or what? It was a thoughtful gift; you’re sure she’d like it, and she always thanks you, so it’s unusual that you haven’t heard from her yet. Should you ask if she received it?…
In a year when the outside world became a literal threat, television provided more of an escape—or, perhaps, an essential outlet for emotional release—than ever before.
Even as everything from church services to first dates moved online, we still couldn’t escape our screens, because binging one more episode of …
WhatsApp will soon drop support for another round of older versions of iOS and Android. As described in WhatsApp’s recently updated system requirements, you must have a device that runs at least iOS 9 or Android 4.0.3 in order to access WhatsApp after January 1, 2021.
There are many words one could choose to describe this shit show of a year (oh look, I just chose a couple), but I’m sure we can all agree that it was...weird. Just epically strange and bizarre. As I reflect back on some of the parenting hacks I wrote this year, I realized they, too, were—at times—weird.
Our homes have been through a lot in 2020. From constant sanitizing, to higher energy bills, to all the dirty dishes, we’ve spent so much more time cleaning, maintaining, and improving everything around us. To help with all the time spent at home, here are our best household hacks of 2020—the tips that made cleaning…
Pandemic or not, people have mixed feelings about celebrating New Year’s Eve. It’s one of those nights when there’s so much pressure to have fun, do something memorable, and “set the tone” for the rest of the year (whatever that means), but sometimes—like right now—a certain year coming to a close is reason enough to…
New Year’s Eve is usually one of my favorite eves. I get to drink drinks, eat snacks, and dance with my friends, but this year is (obviously) different—no one should be partaking in that last activity (the dancing one), so I’m recommending that everyone go hard with the snacks. This may sound like I’m telling you to…
Look, considering the “Skywalker Saga” (to be clear, you’re absolutely a narc if you call it that) came to a close last December, 2020 was still a banner year when it comes to Star Wars merchandise. Between The Mandalorian merch finally hitting in full force after a slight delay, a whole bunch of killer releases to…
It didn’t feel like it, what with a major pandemic and massive financial crisis, but 2020 was actually an incredible year for gadgets. For companies like Apple and Microsoft, this could have been a landmark year were it not for everything else going on. While the competition for our attention this year was steep,…
Price hikes for streaming TV has become a new holiday tradition, as Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu have increased their subscription prices ahead of 2021. For that reason, year-end is a good time to confirm how much you’re paying for subscriptions, and cancel those that you’re barely using.
Can you remember the last time you wiped your MacBook and reinstalled everything? I’d guess somewhere around “never,” but there are plenty of reasons you might want to Exterminatus your system, ranging from the serious (a major error with macOS) to the so-so (your system feels sluggish after all the crap you’ve put on…
If you have been sexually assaulted, you may know that you can go to a hospital emergency room for a forensic examination, sometimes known as a rape kit, to collect DNA evidence and make sure you receive appropriate care. But not every hospital has people trained to provide this service, so NBC News has compiled a map…
Dogs who are past their puppy years may be set in their ways—but that doesn’t mean that training them is a lost cause. Whether you adopt or foster an adult dog, depending on their background, socializing them might be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Signs that your dog is not socialized can be over-excitement…
New Year’s resolutions typically fail when they’re sweepingly ambitious—which can really hurt you when you’re focused on managing your money. Instead, focus on quick, easy-to-manage personal finance tasks that will put you in good shape for 2021—like the ones you’ll find below.
A few weeks ago, stuck in the waiting room at the emergency vet (the cat is fine!), I watched the 2001 movie Monsters, Inc. from beginning to end. The movie is very technically about two monsters who work at a factory where they scare small children in the night in order to power the monster-only city they live in. In…
If you were one of those nerd kids who always found filling in Scantrons satisfying, you’ll love this printable habit tracker. Created by reddit user u/Propelissa, it’s a complete 2021 calendar in fill-in-the-bubble format.
The stress and upheaval of 2020 has sent all of us searching for different ways to cope. And while there is merit in seeking therapy, or striving to get outside more, or taking up a new hobby, many of have also turned to our devices to help ease the pressure.
While recognizing the enormous privilege involved in…
I don’t know when it happened, but at some point we—as a society—decided that it was indecent to consume a carbohydrate on or in another carbohydrate. There are some exceptions, such as Taco Bell’s now retired spicy potato soft taco and the UK’s chip butty, but in most circles, carb-on-carb is a fairly rare…
Some holiday waste can be recycled, but others are actually harmful to the recycling process. For the most part, wrapping paper is recyclable; paper with glitter, foil, or plastics is unfortunately not recyclable and would need to go out with the garbage.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the games that saved our sanity in 2020, but not everyone plays it every day. Maybe you found something else to play on your Switch or just got tired of the daily grind—and that’s okay! But you may notice your island looks a bit different when you come back.
This week’s look at kidz’ pop-culture features an overload of useless web-celebs, a fight over Wonder Woman, and even a talking dog. So dig in—I promise I won’t mention COVID-19 at all! (Except there, where I just did.) Thank Odin the holidays are over and our lives can go back to normal, eh?
If you didn’t get an Instant Pot as a gift this holiday season, it’s probably because you already have one (or you because you don’t cook that much and didn’t ask for one). The tabletop pressure cooker has been quite popular for several years now, which means the internet is full of related recipes, but I’d like to…
Netflix is currently testing out a special audio-only mode for its mobile apps—Android, specifically. While that’s no guarantee that the ever-so useful feature will see the light of day in a stable release, it’s promising, and if you’re lucky, you can test out the feature right now.
I wish I had a way of quantifying the sheer volume of LEGO bricks that have taken up residence in my home the past several years. After each and every birthday or holiday, I think to myself that we can’t possibly absorb the weight of one more set. The sets cover my son’s dresser, bookshelf, and LEGO table; they live…
I received a hand-addressed letter in the mail last week—pretty rare these days. The return address was my church’s, so I assumed Brooklyn’s Unitarians were trying to drum up some end-of-year contributions, but what floated out of the envelope instead was a single sheet of crisply folded typing paper bearing a message…
Let’s say you used a credit card to buy framed wall art from Urban Outfitters, and it turns out to be a little too store-bought for your spouse’s taste (this may or may not be a true story). What happens to your card’s rewards points if you ask for a refund? Are store credits a better option?
