Audiobooks make writing more accessible for many people. Unfortunately, they can also be pretty pricey. While it’s possible to borrow audiobooks from your public library, popular titles often have long waiting lists. Beyond that, it can take hundreds of hours to record, edit, and publish a single audiobook.
Source: LifeHacker – You Can Stream Thousands of Free Public Domain Audiobooks
If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Saturday, September 16, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 16, NYT Connections #97! Scroll to the end if you want some hints (and then the answer) to…
Source: LifeHacker – Today’s Connections Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, September 16
The world is full of blabbermouths, and that’s OK. We should all feel safe to lift our voices and sing; and what is even the point of life without lively conversation, deep discussions in the middle of the night, ridiculous banter, and loud, dumb jokes between friends? But in some situations, even an unapologetic…
Source: LifeHacker – Ten Situations Where You Should Really Keep Your Mouth Shut
After enduring countless meetings that could have been an email, the rise of remote work has helped ease some of that for some of us—at least the in-person variety. We may not be wasting as much time stuck in meetings, but the spike in written communication with our colleagues has come with a price: passive-aggressive…
Source: LifeHacker – Avoid Using These Passive-Aggressive Phrases in Your Work Emails
Fun guys (and gals) love fungi, mostly of the culinary persuasion (though an argument can be made for a different type of fun shroom, that’s not what we’re discussing today). Before enjoying them, mushrooms have to be cleaned of any dirt and debris, and the woody portion of the stems removed. Those stems, though not…
Source: LifeHacker – Turn Woody Mushroom Stems Into an Umami-packed Powder
Whether you’re a fan of listening to music while you read or you simply live in a household of noisy people, silence may not be something you’re used to finding before hitting the books—but it should be and it can be. Here’s why you should strive to study in silence, and some tips for actually making it happen.
Source: LifeHacker – Why You Should Always Study in Silence, According to Science
Through September 17, you can get Windows 11 Home for $29.97 (reg. $139). It includes customized widgets, improved multitasking tools, shorter startup times, and stronger power management. It also has improved security features like Windows Hello logins and Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
Source: LifeHacker – You Can Get Windows 11 Home for Right Now
Smart hose timers make so much sense on paper—they allow you to turn anything attached to your hose spigot on and off from anywhere using your phone. And if it’s raining, the smart timer will know and turn off the flow for you. It will also track how much water you’re using, allow you to set up automated watering…
Source: LifeHacker – The Rachio Is My Favorite Smart Hose Timer
Mind-mapping is beneficial for productivity in your daily tasks, but it’s also a technique that is widely used for studying. A mind map isn’t just a diagram that lays out tasks, but a visualization of how ideas connect to one another. Here’s what you need to know when using one for studying and where you can find the…
Source: LifeHacker – These Are My Favorite Mind-Mapping Templates for Studying
Things are getting surreal in popular culture this week. There’s a weird blue smurf/cat chimera that suddenly appeared everywhere all at once, a hugely popular TikToker who’s whole thing is making sure faucets work correctly, and a newly discovered universal trait among men: thinking about the Roman Empire.
Source: LifeHacker – The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture: What’s the Deal With Smurf Cat?
I take mashed potatoes very seriously, and I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without them. Over the years, I have developed several recipes, methods, and hacks for making the creamiest, dreamiest, most flavorful mashers around. I start with a pretty standard base recipe, which you can find below. As with any dish with few…
Source: LifeHacker – Nine Tips for Perfect Mashed Potatoes
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max aren’t even out yet: If you preorder one today, you might not even see it until October. Lucky for us, though, we don’t need to wait until we get the new Pros in-hand to know how fast they really are.
Source: LifeHacker – Here’s How Fast the iPhone 15 Pro Really Is
Threesomes are largely seen as a way to spice up a lagging, monogamous relationship, but sometimes they’re just a fun activity for a group of horny people and not a sign of the relationship’s impending doom. Like so many other sex acts, though, they don’t (usually) play out like they’re shown on Pornhub. That is to…
Source: LifeHacker – Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Having a Threesome
Documentaries have had a moment over the past few years, and it’s not surprising: In a world in which “facts” are as malleable as an editable Facebook post, docs offer a bit more stability. That’s not to say that everything committed to film represents absolute honesty, but when telling a story requires a team of…
Source: LifeHacker – The Best Documentaries Currently Streaming on Netflix
Imagine you need to buy a airline ticket for your cousin’s wedding. You find what you think is the best price available to your destination. But the airline you chose charges for a carry-on, which isn’t included in the base price, so you add that as well. You also pay extra so you can snag a window seat. Oh, and wait,…
Source: LifeHacker – How Companies Use ‘Drip Pricing’ to Charge You More
This refurbished 2017 MacBook Air with Microsoft Office 2021 is $499.99 right now. It has a grade “A” refurbished rating, meaning it’s in near-mint condition, and it has a 13.3-inch HD display, Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, an HD FaceTime webcam, and up to 12 hours of battery life.
Source: LifeHacker – This Refurbished MacBook Air With Microsoft Office Is 0
Banks and credit card companies are not only in the business of awarding points and miles when you spend money—they also serve as travel agents with their own booking portals. As The Points Guy points out, there are some advantages to reserving your flights, hotels, and rental cars through programs like Chase Ultimate…
Source: LifeHacker – It’s Not Always Best to Book Flights Through Your Credit Card Rewards Portal
In recent years, Apple quietly changed its default photo format to HEIC. Nothing against this highly efficient format (it literally stands for High Efficiency Image Container): It powers Live Photos and Apple’s excellent image post-processing, and it still manages to take up less space than JPG.
Source: LifeHacker – The Quickest Ways to Convert HEIC to JPEG
Every year, we buy more gardening supplies—and every autumn, we have to figure out how and where to stick themfor the winter. Now is the perfect time to organize, divide and divest. No need to store the stuff you won’t make use of again, since garages and sheds are where things go to hibernate forever until your…
Source: LifeHacker – The Gardening Supplies Worth Keeping for Next Year (and What to Get Rid Of)
For the next few days, Samsung is practically giving away their new smart home hub, the SmartThings Station—if you’re quick enough to catch it. For $1, a limited number of people can snag one each day, starting at about noon ET through Sept. 17.
Source: LifeHacker – The Samsung SmartThings Station Is on Sale for This Weekend