One of the most under-appreciated Mac features is the services menu, which you can find by right-clicking just about anything—highlighted text, say, or any image. Hover over the "Services" section and you'll see a bunch of quick actions. You can find this same collection in the menu bar: just click the name of the application that's currently open and hover over Services. Credit: Justin Pot There are all kinds of useful options here. You can, for example, look up a word in the dictionary, or add a bit of text to your to-do list. You can open a URL using IINA, a great video player for Mac. Y ..read more

Your IP address is something you usually don't need to think about—in fact you might never have heard of it before—but it's an important little piece of information attached to every device on your home network. Knowing the ins and outs of IP addresses can be useful in configuring the wifi network in your home, troubleshooting connection problems, and keeping your devices safe while they're online. Here's where you can find them, and what they do. What is an IP address? Every connected device has at least one IP address. Credit: Lifehacker An IP address is an Internet Protocol address: It w ..read more

Even as we move into gardening seasoning outside, I am keeping all of my indoor gardens going through the summer months. I've been surprised by how handy it is to have these gardens nearby and how it leads to me using crops like fresh herbs more often. The side effect I didn't expect was how much I enjoy having the actual plants and greenery around in my bedroom and living room: The gardens produce a calming tickling-water sound, like a creek, and I love the smell of the plants. If gardening outside isn't for you, you might find one of these indoor gardening sets that require almost no skill t ..read more

With some products, like phones, you have a myriad of options to sort through. But if you want to buy one of Peloton's spin bikes, you only have two choices: the Bike or the Bike+ (pronounced “bike plus”). That little “+” costs an extra thousand dollars, so is it really worth it? Let’s dive in.  Overview of the important features I’ll go over the details below, but here’s the short answer: if you just want “a Peloton,” the regular Bike is the original. It’s the one most people have, it’s cheaper, and it does the job just fine. I have a regular Bike and I’ve never felt like I’m missing out ..read more

Credit card points and airline miles are strange aspects of the modern economy. On the one hand, they’re not really worth all that much—airline miles, hotel points, and credit card reward points max out at about 1.5 cents per point, with most valued significantly less than a penny. On the other hand, they’re basically free money—you get them whenever you use the card, so as long as you’re traveling places you need to go to and buying stuff you need anyway (and not paying interest on those purchases), those points will eventually add up to something of value you wouldn’t otherwise have. If you ..read more

Once you decide on a decluttering method to clean out your home, the real work begins. Almost every popular technique out there requires you to group your items into three or four categories: Keep, throw, donate, and possibly, sell. Putting each item in its correct pile is not as easy as the step-by-step rules make it seem, but there’s a trick called the five-second rule that you can use to keep the process efficient.  What is the five-second rule? The five-second rule is a widely-adaptable technique from organizational coach Mel Robbins, who advocates for it in her books. According to Ro ..read more

Sometimes it feels like privacy, as a concept, has vanished from the world. Advertisers certainly seem to know everything about you, serving up frighteningly accurate ads that make you think your phone’s microphone has been turned on and marketers are actively listening to your every mumble. They’re not—yet. But they are engaged in something called “data mining,” which is the process of collecting enormous amounts of anonymous data from your every connected activity and then analyzing that data to infiltrate your life with advertisements and other influences. And it’s not just corporate Americ ..read more

Take a French pastry that’s been painstakingly shaped; flawless in its simplicity—and then stuff it with an American sugar-and -utter bomb. The TikTok viral cookie croissant feels slightly blasphemous at first glance, but that’s part of the fun of it. What’s even more fun is that it’s a great way to use past-prime store bought croissants. Here’s my favorite way to make them (and then make them even better).  This instance of pastry profanity is actually credited to have started at a French bakery, Maison Louvard. It’s not even too off-brand for French croissant treatment in general—take t ..read more

If you own a home, you’ve probably at least contemplated making major, dramatic changes to it; having control over your shelter is important psychologically, and one way we exert that control is by changing it to better meet our needs. And we increasingly treat our homes as reflections of our emotional and mental state, often turning to renovation projects when we feel stuck or unhappy in other areas of our lives (for better or for worse). We usually discuss home renovation projects in terms of return on investment (ROI) or the practical impact the change will have on our daily lives and our f ..read more

When it comes to high-end robot vacuums, there are a few brands that stand out from the rest. Yeedi and Ecovacs, for example: These companies are consistently innovating new features, increasing battery life and suction power, and improving their companion apps. Here are the best high-end robot vacuum deals available right now. The Ecovacs Deebot T10 Omni is 50% off Ecovacs Deebot T10 Omni $599.99 at Amazon $1,199.99 Save $600.00 Get Deal Get Deal $599.99 at Amazon $1,199.99 Save $600.00 Like all the devices here, the Deebot T10 Omni is a vacuum and mop robot vacuum with a se ..read more