A recent study suggests that the sweetener erythritol, found in many foods, may put us more at risk for blood clots, and thus for heart attack and stroke. So what is erythritol, and what are the chances you ate something containing it today? I’ll explain.
It’s been a hell of a layoffs season. With this uncertainty in the labor market—not to mention the bigger picture of a looming recession—it’s natural to feel a sense of helplessness. You can’t live in a constant state of paranoia, but it helps to be on the lookout for some signs that layoffs are coming to your office.…
Maintaining healthy teeth is obviously important for us, but the same is also true for our cats. Although we may not think about a cat’s dental health quite as often as ours—and attempting to brush their teeth can be its own battle—cats can develop their own dental issues, including abscessed teeth, gingivitis, or a…
Is it possible to go shopping for a life partner? According to the latest TikTok trend, it might just be: “Home Depot dating,” which has racked up more than 6 million views on the social media app, first started as videos of single women looking for eligible bachelors among the hammers, paints, and screwdrivers in the…
Eating a frozen pizza for supper can feel a little like giving up, but you can’t deny the convenience factor, nor the nostalgic, juvenile appeal. It is, after all, still pizza.
I would never judge or belittle someone for enjoying their freezer pizza au naturel, but a little adornment can do wonders for them. Here are…
It’s been years since Apple launched that gimmicky “there’s an app for that” campaign, but it is admittedly accurate as catchy ad slogans go. Apps truly have become ubiquitous: You have apps to help you work out efficiently and apps to save money at your favorite coffee shop, and with spring cleaning around the…
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—the federal initiative designed to help low-income Americans access more food—received a temporary boost in response to COVID-19 that is set to end on March 1. These pandemic-era SNAP benefits, known as emergency allotments (EA), are set to expire in 32 states, the…
Fire up the meme engines: Succession is coming back to HBO Max on March 26 for what we now know is its final season of corporate and familial back-stabbery. I don’t watch it because I fond it too depressing, but I’m happy for everyone who delights in this modern-day corporate Game of Thrones, and I can only hope the…
What if you could create your own personal streaming service? It isn’t a pipe dream: You can actually build your own streaming network that hosts all the shows, movies, and music you already own—all you need to enter the world of media servers is enough hard drive space, a PC, and a stable internet connection.
Sexting is a great tool to use when it comes to spicing up your relationship. Whether you’ve been coupled up for a while or just getting to know someone, sexting can be the perfect foreplay. But when is a good time to initiate sexting, and should you ask the other person first if it’s OK to sext? What are some things…
On Feb. 16, the Portuguese prime minister announced he’s ending the golden visa program for new foreign property buyers, which since 2012, has given residency to 11,000 people who bought investment properties in the country. The prime minister points to rising property values as the reason behind ending the visa…
Everyone loves a good kitchen hack, and one of the most popular examples concerns glass cookware. Between Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok, there are hundreds of posts asserting that all-caps PYREX is the good stuff (aka, borosilicate glass), and all-lowercase pyrex is junk (aka, tempered soda-lime glass). If you stick to…
If saying “no” all the time has you feeling like the bad guy in the family, it might be time for a communication makeover. An avalanche of “nos” can dim your connection with your children, but there are ways to make “yes” a more regular part of your interactions—without handing over all the decision-making power to…
Out of all the usual household tasks, washing the floors is one of the easiest to put off (repeatedly). It’s a lot of hassle to go through only to have people walk on the clean floors as soon as they dry.
Within the span of only a few years, remote office work went from being considered a perk—or something that wasn’t feasible for most people—to a necessity during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then back to being largely thought of as some type of benefit or luxury.
With an almost infinite amount of information constantly at our fingertips, it helps to be able to read quickly—or at least at a decent clip. Although we may not think of what we do as “reading” in a traditional sense, many TikTok videos and Instagram reels have subtitles and captions, so even if you don’t actually…
Whether you’re speaking with your colleagues in a meeting, or firing off one last email before lunch, if you work in an office environment, chances are you utilize certain words or phrases that you wouldn’t necessarily use in your personal life. For instance, you probably don’t ask your kids whether table manners are…
Making really good meatballs isn’t exactly rocket surgery. As long as you season them aggressively and use a light touch while mixing, you’ll be good to go. But I recently discovered an easy way to make an already delicious dish even better: Just toss in some anchovies.
It seemed like streaming services started with a revolutionary idea—only paying for what you want and cutting out the rest. It worked for a while, but now it seems to have come full circle, with some services like Netflix turning their attention to an ads revenue strategy to sustain themselves. Peacock—which you can…
Most professional software these days has switched to expensive subscription-based models, but not Apple: Final Cut Pro still costs the same $299 it did when the app launched in 2011. Still, three hundred bucks ain’t cheap, leading some to seek, let’s say, “alternative” markets for the app. However, if you’re tempted…
When faced with the prospect of propelling our stupid bodies through another stupid day, most of us appreciate a little jolt of energy to get us going and help us tolerate all of this. There are endless choices for a morning pick-me-up, but America has squarely landed on coffee—three in four Americans report drinking…
Pastas have been used in desserts for some time now, like sweet lokshen kugel or white chocolate orzo pudding, but I confess, I’ve been missing out. All this time, my boxes of macaroni have only been treated to savory dressings, vegetables, and meats. I’ve been cooking with one noodle tied behind my back. Pasta is a…
Keeping tabs on the TV shows you watch can be a chore—there are so many streaming services to balance these days that it becomes a mess trying to keep up with new series. While film fans have Letterboxd to track the movies they watch, there hasn’t been a similar solution for tracking TV. That is, until Marathon.
Meats are muscles. On account of this, they’re not perfectly symmetrical bricks. Different cuts can be tear-dropped, conical, or otherwise shaped asymmetrically with a thick and thin side. But, alas, uneven shapes lead to uneven cooking. The thinner end of a chicken breast can come to temperature relatively quickly…
As every parent experiences, not getting the response you want from your child can sometimes cause you to raise your voice or display visual frustration to the point where you are the one who is actually overreacting. And as we (logically) know, rarely does a louder and bigger reaction from us lead to a more calm and…
It’s never too late to start saving for retirement, but anyone who starts early sure does get a huge advantage. The reason for this is compound interest, which we’ll run the numbers on below. If you’ve been waiting to invest in your retirement until you check off other financial goals (cough cough, students loans),…
I hate baking, especially when pie is the goal. I love to eat it, but I am just not good at making pie crust. If I manage to get the dough into the pie plate free of tears and holes, it will inevitably shrink and pucker in some way. Luckily, that last pie crust woe is quite fixable. I just need to add more pie weights.
The longer you go without weeding through your unnecessary and outdated apps, the more they’ll pile up. And while you can delete these apps one by one, it gets old fast. Deleting apps in bulk is the way to go, especially when you have a different app do all the deleting for you.
If you want to check out the last full moon of the winter, look skyward on March 7 when the Worm Moon rises, signaling the start of an era of blood and chaos that will last for a thousand years! Wait, I mean the imminent approach of spring.
You have pots, pans, appliances, sponges, and all the stuff you’d expect to find. And that’s great, but your kitchen can also be stocked for odd problems with surprising solutions. Here are a few things you might want to have in (or around) your kitchen, just in case. Leave some of them in your junk drawer and thank…
If you’ve needed to shop for a car in this inflation-ridden hellscape of a market, you might be searching for a solution to your woes. Aside from buying and leasing, there’s now a third option: a car subscription. “Subscribing” to a car is designed to be more affordable than a rental and more flexible than a lease.…
When you face a parenting challenge—disruptive behavior, big emotions, or your own frustration—a short and simple go-to phrase can be your ticket to quickly settling problems in the moment.
There’s little that makes me more anxious than speaking on a telephone with a human being, so believe me when I tell you that this advice comes from a place of love: It’s worth it to call the hotel before booking a room online. You could save yourself a lot of money and even a bit of heartache.
Magnetic flooring is gaining popularity as a flooring option because of its simple installation and low volatile organic compounds (VOC) output. And its glue-less attachment system makes it simple enough for a beginner to tackle.
In 2022, BioCatch, a software company that delivers advanced fraud protection, estimated that there are approximately two million mule accounts in the U.S., and about $3 billion in fraudulent transfers a year. The same research estimates that scammers are lowering their transaction amounts to mules to an average of…
ChatGPT is one of the most exciting new toys on the internet. Ask it for just about anything that can be produced in written form, and it will oblige. Which means that, among many other things, people are using it to generate workout programs. So how do they stack up? I brought the robot’s advice to my garage gym to…
I continue to find it a struggle to keep the Joy-Cons in my oldest son’s hands. As I watch him stumble through each level of a video game on Nintendo Switch, I want him to pause it so I can finish what he started. But after around 10 minutes of hearing his loud noises of frustration, he eventually hands me the…
When your cat starts peeing outside the box, your first instinct might be to call the vet: Could it be a UTI? Kidney stones? Diabetes? Cancer? While it’s true that pee problems can be a sign of any of these health issues, in many cases, cats are simply lodging a complaint with the box itself. If your cat is otherwise…
Coffered ceilings are a great way to add character, pattern, and depth to your ceiling. If you have high ceilings, they also can make your room look cozier—but the price to have them custom-built is also steep. Luckily, the basic square pattern of a coffered ceiling isn’t too hard to make yourself, and it only…
Freak accidents may be out of your control, but the vast majority of “stranded on the side of the highway with no cell service” scenarios can be prevented with a simple, thorough home inspection. Here’s what to look for before hitting the road.
It’s important to listen to your body. In general, you should know what you’re feeling, and you should be able to relate those feelings to past experiences: This is what it feels like when I’m lifting more than usual and about to set a personal record; that is what it feels like when my old shoulder injury starts…
Having smoke detectors with working batteries placed throughout your home is an important component of fire safety, but in order for them to be most effective, it also makes a difference where they’re placed.
Lube is one of those amazing sex hacks you’re probably not using enough. Want better orgasms? Use lube. Want less pain and friction? Use lube. Want better sex all around? Use lube.
Is Japan one of your bucket-list destinations? Did you have to cancel your plans to attend the Tokyo Summer Olympics, and now want to try to again, except this time without the sports?
Although kitchens come in a variety of different sizes, the amount of storage space in the room doesn’t always reflect the square footage.
Over the past few years, rising housing costs have kept homeownership out of reach for so many. As a result, a lot of people have been forced to rethink their plans and reassess their priorities in terms of both how and where they want to live.
Nobody wakes up in the morning hoping to speak with a customer service rep. In fact, companies don’t want that to happen either, and would prefer that you get any information you need from their website or automated phone system.
Stellantis, Fiat-Chrysler’s parent company, is voluntarily recalling more than 300,000 diesel Ram pickup trucks to replace an electrical connector after reports of six fires. The company recommends you park these trucks outside to prevent the potential spread of fire, at least until the repairs are made.
Black History Month is a great time to shout out some of the brilliant podcasts out there celebrating Black history and culture. (Which isn’t to say it’s the only month we should be talking about them—far from it.)
From conversations about Black women on the internet to an exploration of why Black people love…
