One of the most divisive topics in education is gifted education. Even the word itself—gifted—has caused debate. The efficacy and equity of gifted programs came under fire in 2021 when New York City mayor Bill De Blasio rolled out a plan to phase out the city’s gifted program completely—a plan that was later quietly…
As adults, it’s impossible to escape the use of screens, both at work and at home—and for kids, it’s increasingly no different. Given how much more screen time kids engage in today as compared to the past, it’s certainly an issue that most parents should—and do—take seriously. However, as research is showing, when…
This week, young people everywhere are experiencing the pain of finding out someone you admire is actually a hypocrite and a cad. Older people like us don’t care because we’ve seen it happen a million times, but to kids whose hearts haven’t been broken, learning that “Try Guy” Ned Fulmer cheated on his wife feels…
Maybe it’s the long, sleepless nights or the never-ending temper tantrums, but many new parents believe the most demanding days of parenting are in their child’s early years. It can be a long adjustment period for mothers and fathers to change their behaviors around the newest (and loudest) family member. But…
October 2022 is overflowing with fright flicks, like ten pounds of guts in a five-pound bag. There’s something for every kind of horror fan. If you’re into making discoveries, there are obscure-but-promising, streaming-only flicks like Deadstream and Piggy. If you’re a more mainstream fan, there are new entries from…
Even though countless experts, including the American Association of Pediatrics, say that high schools should not start so ding-dang early in the morning, many still do. That means teens are commonly sleep-deprived, with 70% getting less than the recommended amount of sleep.
Working on my book Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the rise of Japanese RPGs in the West took me back through the annals of JRPG history. Along the way, I was reintroduced to many of the classic titles that defined the genre—from its earliest days on the NES, to the golden age …
Tech is awesome, but let’s be honest: Sometimes it gets a bit boring. Computers and smartphones change incrementally from year to year, software switches to subscriptions, and innovation, in general, isn’t so common. Every once in a while, though, a new tech development is actually surprising and exciting. That’s how…
A study that’s in the news right now claims that people who drink two to three cups of coffee per day live longer than people who avoid coffee. So should we all be drinking two to three cups? Not necessarily. Let’s take a look at where these numbers come from.
Gay marriage was legalized in Massachusetts nearly two decades ago and across the U.S. back in 2015, yet somehow Bros, which opens this weekend, represents the first mainstream gay romantic comedy ever released by a major studio—or so the marketing department of distributor Universal Pictures would have you believe.
Weekday breakfasts have to meet three major criteria to be considered “good.” They must be easy and quick to prepare, filling enough to keep you going until lunch, and tasty enough that you don’t start your day off on a depressing note. Oatmeal breezes by the first two, but usually needs a little help to hit the…
On Aug. 30, the Drug Enforcement Administration warned America’s parents about the “emerging trend” of colored fentanyl pills. According to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, the color of the pills is a, “deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults.” But is it?
Instagram is going through an identity crisis. Should it be more like TikTok? More like Facebook? It hasn’t been itself for years now, and in the process, it’s annoying the hell out of everyone.
Houseplants can be finicky. That’s because when they’re growing in a pot, they don’t get the same interaction with other species or the same type of soil as outdoor plants. Try as we might, we just can’t quite mimic the environment plants have outside. But there are some things we can do to ease the stress of the…
People with penises: If you’ve spent your life standing when you pee, it’s time to rethink your urinary posture. Standing is (probably) the Western world’s most common micturition position among those with penises, but it’s far from universal. Men in some cultures traditionally sit or squat when they pee, and even…
Am I the only one who didn’t know Netflix still offered DVDs? The company has been all-in on streaming for so long, I guess I assumed its physical media fell away at some point between House of Cards and Squid Games. However, even in 2022, you can mail yourself movies and TV shows directly from Netflix, so long as…
For most people, a hot glue gun seems like the kind of thing you would need for a homemade decoration or craft project. But glue guns have come a long way since your days of arts and crafts day at summer camp. Hot glue now comes in different types and colors, and you can do more with them than just decor.
I love a good, thick sausage, particularly one that has been roasted or grilled to encourage lots of delicious browning. It seems that the Barefoot Contessa is also a fan, as her Hasselbacked Kielbasa recipe is designed to maximize that particular kind of flavor on that particular kind of sausage.
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.
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 crumpets. Most people think…
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.
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 bacteria.
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 granted. But there are…
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 supply unit (PSU).…
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.
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, producing, hosting,…
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 into.
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 the big emotions…
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 award.
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 pickles, but the cheese…
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 during special occasions.…
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 rock solid or rotten.…
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.
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 cleanup, less is 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 times someone points…
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.
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.
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.
The newly trending term “quiet quitting” typically refers to someone doing their job at the bare minimum to achieve work/life balance and move away from hustle culture. It’s not really about “phoning it in” but rather seeking more appropriate boundaries at work, like by leaving work on time every day, or outright…
As capable and in control as we may feel, the mind is able to trick us in many ways—and one of those ways is through cognitive bias. Cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that happens when the brain attempts to simplify the information it is processing and interpreting, which can then impact the decisions…
I’m a big fan of “elevated” video games designed with serious intent—think Papers, Please or This War of Mine—but sometimes I want the opposite. Sometimes I want to play a game that is as dumb as possible, a game so funny and ridiculous, it becomes literally impossible to think about anything while playing it. (It’s…
I have, in my life, put many different things and stuff into scrambled eggs. Cornstarch, cream of tartar, mirin, anchovies, and olive juice are just a few of the egg add-ins I have tasted and loved. But all of them pale in comparison to Dijon mustard, which has quite literally blown my mind just now.
So you consider yourself the opposite of a quiet quitter (which is a major misnomer, if you haven’t heard). Instead, you’re an overachiever—always striving to accomplish more and more. As we’ve said before, the stress that comes from overworking yourself can backfire, actually hurting your ability to do your job…
We last saw Copenhagen planks in our rundown of the best bodyweight exercises that actually build strength. But it’s an under-appreciated exercise, and deserves a spotlight of its own. The Copenhagen plank looks a bit like a side plank: You’re leaning on your hand or elbow, other arm away from the ground, trying to…
The lingering pandemic, rising crime, an uncertain economy: All good reasons to visit your doctor to get screened for anxiety, or so says the federal government. The advice isn’t just aimed at people already experiencing mental health issues—this week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an advisory group…
It’s difficult to overstate the benefits of a cover crop for your garden. In addition to helping replenish the nitrogen in your soil, cover crops also act as habitat for a healthy garden ecosystem and help prevent soil from eroding while it’s not in use growing veggies. Using cover crops, like companion planting, is a…
