It’s almost inevitable that when you pull out your holiday decorations for the season, at least one bulb or strand of lights will be broken, burnt out, or malfunctioning. Sometimes, fixing seemingly busted Christmas lights is as simple as swapping a dead bulb or two (and strands usually come with a few extras) or replacing a blown fuse. But whether your lights are beyond repair or simply no longer needed, you shouldn’t resort to tossing them in the trash.

How to repurpose Christmas lights

Depending on the state of your light strands, there are a few ways to reuse them for holiday decor. If a handful of bulbs are broken or out—too many to replace, but not enough to scrap the strand entirely—stuff them in a glass jar or vase to create a festive light fixture or a nightlight for your kid’s room. This is also a great way to make use of extra fully functioning string lights that would otherwise stay in the box, which you can also add to a wreath or a garland or even hang year-round.

If the strand is completely busted, use it to tie up gifts. If you have a strand with large vintage bulbs, paint or spray paint the individual bulbs and gather ribbon, twine, and glitter to create ornaments, napkin rings, wreath attachments, or a standalone garland.

How to donate Christmas lights

If you don’t have a purpose for gently used light strands that still work, try finding them a new home. You can list them for free on Freecycle, Facebook Marketplace, or Nextdoor. You could also gift them to crafty, DIY-minded friends, family, or neighbors, or look for a community organization, such as an after-school program, church, shelter, or assisted living center that might accept donations of holiday decorations.

How to recycle Christmas lights

If your lights can’t be repurposed or donated, there are a handful of ways to dispose of them besides dumping them in your trash bin.

Drop off at your local hardware store

Retailers like The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, and TruValue accept old Christmas lights and will recycle them for you (and sometimes will offer deals on new strings with trade-in). Note that this service may not be available at every location or outside of the holiday season, so call ahead.

If you live in the mid-Atlantic with a nearby MOM’s Organic Market, you can drop off your lights (in any condition) for recycling during their winter holiday lights drive.

If none of these pans out, local recycling companies that offer metal recycling may be able to take your old holiday lights. Check your municipal services website as well as specialty recyclers (just don’t dump lights in your curbside bin).

Check with your local thrift store

Goodwill and Salvation Army generally accept working string lights for recycling, as will Habitat for Humanity ReStore. As with hardware stores, call ahead or check donation guidelines online before dumping boxes of old lights.

Use a mail-in recycling service

If there’s no local option, several companies offer mail-in holiday light recycling year-round. Holiday LEDs accepts string lights via USPS, UPS, or FedEx, or you can drop off if you happen to live in or near Sussex, WI. Green Citizen offers in-person recycling for those in the Bay Area, but you can also mail your lights in at a cost of $1 per pound. Christmas Light Source has shut down its recycling program as of November 2023.

Source: LifeHacker – How to Recycle, Repurpose, or Dispose of Broken Christmas Lights

It’s nearly stocking stuffer time, and if someone on your list would be happy to stumble upon a little technology in their stocking, there are some solid deals right now on tech gadgets. These deals are all under $150, including earbuds, e-readers, smartwatches, and more.

The perfect portable charger for iPhone users

The Anker Nano Power Bank is a great portable charger for any iPhone user. It is compatible with the iPhone 14, 14 Pro, Plus, and Pro Max, as well as the iPhone 12 and 13 Series. It is compact and measures the same width as an iPhone. It holds 5,000mAh of battery power and has a lightning connector for your iPhone and a USB-C connection to charge it, which gives you up to 20 hours of battery. Get it for $19.99 (originally $29.99) from Amazon, matching the cheapest it’s ever been according to Camelcamelcamel’s price history.

The Google Nest Doorbell

Some people can’t rest easy unless they know they’re safe (or their Amazon packages are safe). For them, the Google Nest Doorbell for $139 (originally $179.99) might be a nice surprise. This one is a wireless battery camera, so it’s easy to install, and it gives you 960x1280p live HD resolution video, as well as night vision. You can do two-way audio, and it has a local storage backup in case there are issues with the cloud. You can read the full PCMag review here.

A Kindle e-reader

The Kindle Paperwhite has improved a lot since its first generation release. This latest model is waterproof, with a 300 ppi high resolution and a glare-free screen that gives you a paper-like display. You can adjust the screen display lights to read at night without blue light and turn dark mode on to have a nicer time reading in the dark. This version comes with ads while the Kindle is not in use, 8GB of storage (which gives you thousands of books), and 10 weeks of battery life. Get it for $124.99 (originally $139.99).

The latest AirPods or Beats Studio Buds

There’s bound to be someone who always has their headphones on. If they are in the Apple family, consider sliding the latest 3rd generation Apple AirPods into their stockings, which are currently $139.99 (originally $169.99), matching the lowest price since their release, according to Camelcamelcamel’s price history. If they’re Android users, the Beats Studio Buds for $89.95 (originally $149.95) are also a great option, currently matching the lowest price they’ve ever been, according to Camelcamelcamael’s price history. They are noise-canceling earbuds, water resistant, and give you eight hours of playtime with a charging case that boosts them up to 24 hours combined.

The Fitbit Versa 4

The Fitbit Versa 4 is a user-friendly smartwatch that is great at tracking sleep and energy levels. If you’re filling the stocking of someone who is into monitoring their sleep, tracking their energy levels throughout the day, or having their heart rate or blood pressure monitored, this smartwatch is for them. It has a six-day battery life, Bluetooth connectivity to take calls and texts from your wrist, and even support for Google Maps (only for Android users). You can get it for $149.95 (originally $199.95), which matches the cheapest it’s ever been, according to Camelcamelcamel’s price history. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is $79.95 (originally $99.95) gives you a better 10-day battery life.

Source: LifeHacker – The Best Tech Stocking Stuffers for Under 0

Though your knee-jerk reactions may suggest otherwise, there’s nothing incongruous about pairing Christmas with scary stories.

For centuries in Britain, families would gather around a fire and ward off the winter cold by sharing chilling tales of the supernatural—a tradition forgotten, only to be revived by Charles Dickens and M.R. James during the Victorian era. Similar, non-Christian traditions go back even further; across cultures and faith traditions, dark midwinter nights seem to have provided to provide a particularly good excuse for us to creep out our loved ones. A Christmas Carol isn’t an outlier, then, but a particularly good example of the form.

So grab a warm drink, lock the doors, and fire up the Roku. And speaking of fire, please check the chimney before you stoke a blaze. It’s a reasonable safety measure, especially if you’re not sure where dad’s got to…

Rare Exports (2010)

Artificial Christmas trees are one of modern man’s greatest achievements. Stored in a box somewhere for most of the year, they emerge as green and fresh as ever (with a little cleaning) without sticky sap, unwelcome pests, or the need for regular watering. But an artificial tree can often look a little, well, fake. If you want your totally not-real tree to give the illusion that you walked out on a snowy night and chopped it down (or bought it in the parking lot of your local church), you’ll need to follow a few steps.

Fluff your fake tree

The most impactful thing you can do with your fake tree is to fluff those branches. After spending nearly a year crushed into a box stored in your basement or attic, it’s going to look pretty flat and mangled. Spend some time shaping the wire branches, either by bending them gently upward (to mimic a real tree seeking the sun) or by following the “two out, one up” method that alternates between branches to eliminate gaps. It’s best to work in sections from the bottom up, and go for a subtle, gentle look—no 90-degree angles.

Fill in the gaps

If, after a good fluffing, your tree still looks sparse and Charlie Brown-ish, fill in the gaps to hide the metal core. You can use a variety of materials to give it a more realistic fullness:

• Pine garland. Look for a garland that matches your artificial tree’s needle style. It doesn’t have to be a perfect match, because you’ll be stuffing it into the empty spaces on your tree.

• Matte green tinsel. Any tinsel that matches your tree’s look will work, especially if it’s a flat, matte-like finish that looks more realistic than the plasticky, shiny kind.

• Real branches and/or pine cones. If you have access to some real scraps of real trees (folks selling Christmas trees will sometimes give their scraps away if you ask nicely), stuffing them strategically into your fake tree can really transform its look.

Hide the tree stand

One simple way to make your fake tree look more real is to sell the illusion by making it look “planted.” Instead of an industrial metal tree stand, place your tree in a planter or basket, fill with something light and bulky like bubble wrap or blankets, and then top it with some branches, pine cones, and other plant-like debris to create the illusion of soil. If that’s a bit too much trouble, hiding the stand inside a planter or large bucket will still give the general vibe.

Bury your tree lights

One key trick to make your tree look a bit more real and magical is to push your lights very deep into the branches. This will enhance the illusion of fullness and depth and create interesting shadows that will obscure the fact that your needles are plastic and the branches are metal.

Add scent to your tree

Finally, make your fake-ass tree smell real. Scent is a powerful emotional trigger, and the smell of a real Christmas tree is embedded in our collective memory of the holidays. Your fake tree probably smells like plastic, if it smells like anything, so giving it that subtle pine-y smell will go a long way toward selling your illusion.

You can buy scented ornaments that you unobtrusively hang on the tree, giving off that real tree vibe on a steady basis, or you can spritz your tree with a pine-scented spray that will make it smell just like a real tree, filling your home with invisible holiday cheer. Just don’t overdo it—start with a few quick sprays and give it a few moments to “settle” in the home before you add a second round.

Source: LifeHacker – You Can Make Your Artificial Christmas Tree Look More Real

Being able to record a phone call for future reference can be useful for both work and personal reasons. Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t made it easy, as the iPhone doesn’t actually let you record phone calls natively. Instead, you’ll need to rely on recording the call using a second phone, or software designed to get around Apple’s limitations. Here are two suggestions for how to do it.

First, make sure call recording is legal where you are

Before you jump in and start recording calls left and right, I’d recommend slowing doing some research first. Depending on what state or country you live in, recording phone calls may require you to get the other party’s permission, or it may be completely illegal. Always make sure you’re following the laws of your state or territory before recording phone calls to avoid any kind of legal issues. (Not sure of your area’s call recording laws? You can find them online.)

How to record phone calls on iPhone using Google Voice

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to record phone calls on iPhone is to use Google Voice. The service is completely free, with the major caveat that you can only record inbound calls. Any calls you make yourself cannot be recorded.

To use it, you’ll need a Google Account, which you will use to both sign up for Google Voice and get a phone number from the service. The app walks you through how to do this. Once done, you can head into Settings > Calls > Incoming Call Options and then enable a toggle switch that lets you turn recording on.

From there, it’s as simple as answering the phone call on Google Voice, and then pressing 4 on the keypad to start the recording. You’ll automatically be sent a recording of the call to your email after it’s finished.

How to record phone calls on iPhone using a dedicated app

The other useful way to record phone calls on an iPhone is to make use of an app dedicated to the purpose. Unfortunately, most of these third-party apps require some kind of subscription, as they rely on additional services to make recording your phone calls possible. However, you can often try them for free, and many of the subscription options help make managing those recordings much easier, including transcriptions.

There are several options out there, including Recordator, which charges a flat rate per minutes recorded, but I’m personally a fan of TapeACall. It’s the app I use myself any time I need to record a phone call, and it’s really easy to set up. It does come with a cost, however—$9.99 a month, or $59.99 a year. If you don’t record calls often, that price could be prohibitive (though if you only want to record a single call, there is a 7-day free trial). If you don’t want to pay for a service, Rev Call Recorder is a handy free option, though you’ll have to pay for extra services (like transcription).

Whatever option you choose, the process works similarly. For example, let’s say you try TapeACall. After making an account and choosing your subscription options, all you need to do is open the app, hit the record button, then dial the call that you want to record. When you’re ready to start recording, tap the Merge Call button, and it will connect to TapeACall’s servers and start recording.

Source: LifeHacker – How to Record Phone Calls on Your iPhone

When you have many open tabs, it can be really annoying to keep moving the cursor from one end of the screen to the other to switch. To make this easier, it’s a good idea to move related tabs next to each other. Most of us tend to move one tab at a time, which is annoyingly slow. Fortunately, there’s a better way to get the job done.

How to easily rearrange tabs

The next time you have to rearrange tabs in your Firefox, Safari, or Chrome (and its many variants such as Edge, Vivaldi, and Brave), try this hack: Press and hold the Command key on your Mac or Ctrl on Windows, and click each tab you want to move. This will select all those tabs. (You can also hold down Shift and click any two tabs in your browser. This will select all the tabs in between the two, along with the two you clicked.)

You can then click and drag these tabs to rearrange them. Drag them outside the app to open a new browser window that contains only the selected tabs.

Another neat trick involves selecting multiple tabs and then right-clicking to reveal more options that vary based on your browser. (Here’s how to right-click on a Mac.) Some options will allow you to send tabs to other devices, and others will let you pin, bookmark, move, reload, or close these tabs. 

It may take a bit of time to understand how best to fit this trick into your workflow, but once you do, there’s no going back. 

Source: LifeHacker – This Is the Fastest Way to Rearrange Tabs in Your Browser

The 10th-generation iPad is considered Apple’s entry-level iPad and one of the best tablets your money can buy. Right now, you can get it for the best price it has been since its release, thanks to an Amazon $49.01 coupon. You can get the Apple iPad for $349.99 (originally $449), which matches the Black Friday sale and is the cheapest the iPad has been since its release, according to Camelcamelcamel’s price history. Here is what you get with the latest iPad.

The best tablet for most people

When the 10th-generation iPad was released about a year ago, it was considered the “best tablet for most people,” according to PCMag’s “excellent” review. During that time, however, it was considered expensive and no longer in the “affordable” category, given its higher baseline price compared to previous models. With $100 off that original price, however, you can enjoy all of its great features without worrying too much about the price—you’re getting the best deal for it.

One of the best upgrades on the latest iPad was its design, looking more like its higher-end Apple tablet siblings. It has a cleaner, more uniform look, making it look and feel more modern and well-made. It measures 9.79 by 7.07 by 0.28 inches; it comes with the latest A14 Bionic chip for fast processing power, a 10.9-inch liquid retina display, 64GB of memory, a 12MP front and back camera, Touch ID, and a battery that Apple says lasts all day.

If you are considering getting this iPad for Christmas, make sure you might want to consider paying for faster shipping to guarantee it arrives on time. Some must-buy accessories are the Apple Magic Keyboard Folio and the Apple Pencil USB-C.

Recommended iPad products:

• Apple Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad 10th Gen (Open Box) ($84.97)

• Apple Pencil (USB-C)($79)

• MoKo Case for iPad 10th Generation ($8.99)

Source: LifeHacker – The Newest iPad Is Back to Its Lowest Price Ever

If you need to transfer money to friends and family, Cash App makes it pretty easy: Like other payment platforms, sending and receiving money with Cash App is quick and convenient, as it either goes straight to your bank account, or your Cash Card.

However, if you don’t use Cash App that often, plan on switching to another peer-to-peer payment app like Venmo or Zelle, or have concerns over the security of the platform, you might consider deleting your Cash App account. It’s easy to do, and you can delete it at any time, but just make sure you’re doing so for the right reasons.

Is Cash App safe?

To answer that question is two-fold: First, the company that makes the app, Block Inc., uses encryption and fraud detection on their platform. This means that even if you use the app on public wifi, your sensitive data will be protected. Plus, in the event your data is compromised, Cash App’s systems should catch it, and alert you to any fraud that occurs.

On the flip side, Block Inc. recently disclosed to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) last year that they suffered a security breach. Some of the info that was taken in the breach included full names, brokerage account numbers, brokerage portfolio values and holdings, and one day of stock trading activity. The breach affected 8.2 million current and former users of Cash App. Thankfully, info such as usernames, passwords, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, and bank accounts weren’t compromised.

While that doesn’t rule out the possibility of another security breach for Cash App in the future, at this point, Cash App seems just about as safe to use as any other similar platform. If you don’t feel comfortable using the app anymore, you can cash out and delete your account at any time. That said, you shouldn’t necessarily switch over to something like Venmo solely for security reasons.

You don’t need to delete Cash App to use other platforms

If you know you aren’t going to use Cash App going forward, perhaps because your friends all use another platform like Zelle or Venmo, by all means, delete your account. However, you don’t have to, even if you aren’t going to use it. It might actually be more inconvenient to delete your account if you have any contacts that use it: Maybe once in a while, you will need to pay someone back, or they’ll need to send you money, and they only use Cash App. Having your account on hand could prove useful.

In this case, you could always cash out your Cash App account to your bank, so there aren’t any funds sitting unused. It’s up to you, either way.

How to cash out your Cash App account

The first step to closing your Cash App account is making sure to transfer any money to your bank account. To do so, open Cash App, then tap on the Banking tab.

Here, you’ll see a button that says Cash Out. Any money currently in your Cash App account will be transferred to your linked bank account. If you have any stocks or Bitcoin, you’ll need to sell those before closing your account.

How to close your Cash App account

After you’ve cashed out your money, you can close your account. To do so, go to the Pay tab (the one that looks like a $) and tap the account icon in the top right. Here, tap on Support, then select Something Else. Next, scroll down to Account Settings, then choose the option that says Close my Cash App account.

You’ll see a warning saying that closing your Cash App account will also disable your $Cashtag. To continue, tap on Confirm. Your Cash App account should now be closed, and you can remove the app from your phone.

Source: LifeHacker – How to Close Your Cash App Account

Given enough time, all gadgets slow down—smartphones included. Your Android might start slowing down randomly, and there are times when even a reboot won’t really fix things. You don’t necessarily have to shell out hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on a new phone, though. Your old one might just need a clean out.

When nothing else seems to be speeding your Android phone back up, you should try some cache maintenance. As you use your Android phone, the apps (and especially Chrome) start saving temporary files it thinks you’ll need. These are used to speed up page loads and to keep older files in memory. That’s great when you have a fast flagship with loads of extra memory to spare. But if your Android phone is a bit older, you’ll be surprised how much lighter things become once you let go of some of that cache.

In fact, it’s a good idea to do this regularly—even every couple of weeks. It might seem a bit counterintuitive, as the cache is supposed to keep your phone faster, but lightening the digital load is often the way to go for older devices.

How to clear the cache for any app on an Android smartphone

Sometimes it’s a third-party app gone rogue that’s hogging all that cache memory. Android’s Settings app will make it easy to find such a culprit. Go to Storage > Apps to see a list of all installed apps. From the Menu, switch to the Sort by Size option, and you’ll see the apps that are most hogging up the storage. The exact steps to find the Apps section might be different depending on your Android smartphone, but you can search for Storage or Apps to get there. 

Go through the apps, and choose an app to clear the cache. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are all major offenders of the cache system. In the app screen, tap the Clear Cache button to see the cache data instantly disappear. Now, go back to the list, and do this again, and again, at least for the top 10 apps that are taking up most of the cache.

How to clear the cache in Chrome 

The biggest cache hog on your smartphone is likely Chrome, and if you’ve never cleared the cache, you might notice quite the difference before and after. If you don’t use Chrome, do this for your default browser. The changes will be the same. 

Open the Chrome browser, tap Menu and go to History > Clear Browsing Data. First, switch to the All Time option at the top and make sure you’ve checked the Cached images and files option below. Then, tap the Clear Data button to clear the cache.

Keep doing this regularly for Chrome and the rest of your apps on Android. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you should do the same there as well. 

Source: LifeHacker – How to Clear the Cache on an Android Smartphone

Maybe you learned how to use an Epipen when your child was diagnosed with food allergy; you took a CPR course before your baby was born; and you have first aid supplies stashed in your car, office, and home. Injuries and accidents are inevitable in life, and we want to be prepared.

But the reality is that one out of five youth and adolescents has a mental health condition—so shouldn’t parents be prepared to provide first aid for mental health as well? You can learn skills now to recognize signs of a problem and help your child find the appropriate professional help if they need it. if you’ve ever tried to help someone through a mental health crisis, you know how frightening and helpless you can feel—so why not empower yourself now, just in case your child experiences a crisis down the road?

What is Mental Health First Aid?

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is training to help someone who is in a mental health crisis, or just beginning to have a mental health problem. This type of training can be especially useful for parents and people who work with children, like teachers and coaches.

You can choose between taking a course to help adults with mental health problems or a course tailored for helping adolescents, aged 12-18. In both cases, you can choose between in-person training (if it’s available in your area), blended in-person (with a virtual component and a live component), or a completely virtual course.

What you’ll learn

A one-day MFHA course usually takes about six to eight hours, covering discussion topics, exercises, and opportunities to practice your new skills.

The youth MFHA training course emphasizes early intervention, since 75 percent of mental illnesses start by the time a person is in their mid-20s.

Mental health first aid is based on a five-step action plan called ALGEE:

• Assess for risk of suicide or harm.

• Listen without judgment.

• Give reassurance and information.

• Encourage appropriate professional help.

• Encourage self-help and other support strategies.

You will also learn warning signs and risk factors for mental health problems like eating disorders, ADHD, depression, mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, psychosis, and substance abuse. During training, you will become familiar with information about treatment options and self-help strategies so you can share those options with the person you’re helping. You will be able to support young people experiencing the following situations:

• Panic attacks

• Suicidal thoughts or behaviors

• Nonsuicidal self-injury

• Hallucinations or delusions

• Overdose or withdrawal from substances

• A traumatic event

• Bullying

• Social media problems

Besides taking in information through the course materials and lecture, you will have opportunities to practice through role-playing.

Benefits for parents

Any teen could experience one of the mental health scenarios listed above, and many parents may not know where to start supporting them. It may feel powerless to tell your child to “calm down” or “cheer up” and see no improvement in their mental state. MHFA training teaches you how to assess their symptoms, start conversations, and reach out for professional help.

While the goal is to teach you to help someone struggling with their mental health, a nice side benefit is that your mental health literacy will increase too. Research shows that MHFA training improves the mental health of both the trainee and the person they support.

Other benefits of MHFA training:

• Reduced stigma around mental illness and substance use

• Increased empathy

• More confidence to help someone in distress

• Learning tools to support your own mental health

How to find an MHFA course

Follow this link to find the right mental health first aid training option for you. Filter courses by location, date, language, and in-person or virtual. The course is usually completed in one day and may cost $50-100.

Source: LifeHacker – How Parents Can Learn Mental Health First Aid (and Why You Should)

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for December 11, 2023 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is another easy one; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 11, Wordle #905! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

All five are common letters today!

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

It’s the place where you live, perhaps.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Nope, five different letters today.

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are three vowels today, all different.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with H.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is HOUSE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

The green ___SE was a great start, but I’m still potentially missing some vowels, so I go with my trusty second of TOUCH next. Looks like we’re dealing with _OUSE with a yellow H. It’s as good as solved: today’s word must be HOUSE.

Wordle 905 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

• Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Source: LifeHacker – Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, December 11, 2023

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for December 10, 2023 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is on the easier side; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 10, Wordle #904! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They’re all pretty common today! Four are on our list of common letters, and the other one is close behind. Nothing unusual today.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

You’ll have to link some things together to get this one.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Nope, five different letters today.

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two (different) vowels in today’s word.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with C.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with N.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is CHAIN.

How I solved today’s Wordle

ARISE got me a yellow A and I, so those were probably all the vowels in play. Instead of TOUCH, I decided to guess some more consonants and get intel on the placement of the A by playing CHANT. That was as good as a solve: I knew from the three greens that the word must be CHA_N, with an I needing to fit into the blank spot. CHAIN it is.

Wordle 904 3/6

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A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

• Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Source: LifeHacker – Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, December 10, 2023

While sitting on a rocking chair is relaxing and soothing, sitting on a rocking toilet tends to have the opposite effect. As it turns out, making contact with the toilet seat while simultaneously feeling the entire porcelain fixture shift beneath you is not only unsettling—it could also be the sign of a much larger plumbing problem.

Although there are some DIY fixes for a wobbling toilet, establishing a solid connection between the base of the toilet and the floor without looking into what’s causing it to rock in the first place, may end up masking other more serious issues. Lifehacker enlisted the help of three plumbers and a general contractor to walk us through some of the most common causes of a rocking or wobbling toilet, potential DIY repairs, and why it’s so important to address the problem right away.

Why is my toilet wobbling?

There are three key parts to a good connection between the base of the toilet and the sewer line it feeds into, says Roy Barnes, a plumber with roughly 30 years of experience, and the co-owner of Service Force Plumbing in Rockville, Maryland. They are:

1. The flange: The wide ring at the top of the sewer line, where it comes up to the floor. It has holes for the bolts, and also helps create an effective seal. “These flanges can deteriorate with age and should be inspected if there are problems,” Barnes tells Lifehacker.

2. The wax ring: Creates the actual airtight and watertight seal between the porcelain toilet and the PVC or metal sewer drain. In addition to holding the toilet down, the bolts at the base of the toilet also keep the wax ring firmly in place, making it airtight and watertight.

3. The base of the toilet: Must be sound, without hairline cracks or age-related wear.

When one or more of these parts is compromised, it could result in a rocking or wobbling toilet. More specifically, Josh Rudin, a general contractor and the owner of ASAP Restoration, a water, fire, and mold restoration company in Phoenix, says that some of the most common reasons why a toilet is rocking include:

• Loose toilet bolts

• Damaged wax rings

• Uneven flooring

• Uneven or damaged sub-flooring

• Loose flange fitting

• Improper positioning

• Cracked toilet base

While any of those issues could leave your toilet unstable, the bigger question is what, exactly, caused the loose bolts or damaged wax ring?

According to Barnes, one of the most common causes of these problems is a botched bathroom renovation that includes having a new floor put down. “It is very important that the flange of the sewer pipe be flush with the level of the floor, but too many flooring contractors don’t know this,” he explains. “They lay the new floor at an incorrect height for the existing flange, and then when the toilet is reinstalled, the wax ring doesn’t make a correct seal.”

Homeowners often don’t discover this problem until their toilet starts to rock, months or years after the renovation, says Barnes. It’s only then, when they hire a plumber to deal with the wobbling toilet, that the homeowner learns that the seal had been leaking the whole time and caused significant damage to the subfloor.

How to figure out why your toilet is wobbling

Whether you’re going to attempt to fix your rocking toilet yourself or hire a plumber, it would be helpful to look for and make note of certain signs that could help explain what’s causing the fixture to wobble.

Kodi Wilson, a plumber, plumbing instructor, and campus director of National Technical Institute’s Las Vegas location, suggests starting off by inspecting the bathroom to see if you’re able to visibly identify the issue. “Many of these things you can tell just by looking at a toilet, and many of these [problems] will occur together, depending on the root issue,” he tells Lifehacker. “Has there been a leak? Does the floor show signs of damage? Are the nuts and bolts loose to the touch?”

Water leaking from the base of the toilet probably means that you have multiple problems on your hands, Wilson says, adding that “the best thing to do is remove the toilet and determine the amount of damage.”

Look for signs of damage on your flooring. According to Wilson, there are two common causes of warping, and uneven, popping, or cracking tiles: Water damage and the settling or aging of the home. Again, if you notice this type of damage on your floor, he recommends having the toilet removed and determining the cause.

If you notice that the bolts connect the base of the toilet to the floor are loose, don’t assume that you simply need to tighten them and then everything will be fixed. Instead, immediately double check for water damage, Wilson advises.

Barnes agrees, noting that while it’s possible that tightening the bolts will solve the rocking problem, you should never make that assumption. “First, if the toilet has been rocking for a while, the simple repeated motion could have caused a failure of the wax ring seal and allowed water to leak out of sight,” he explains. “Not only is this potential damage bad by itself, but if simply tightening the bolts makes everything ‘feel’ solid, it could be hiding water that continues to leak and damage the subfloor and joists.”

In addition to looking for potential signs and causes of toilet problems, Rudin suggests following your nose. “A compromised seal can also lead to unpleasant odors emerging from the sewer system, and the rocking of the base unit can force them to emerge,” he says.

Why you should never ignore a rocking toilet

As the experts have noted, there’s a good chance that a wobbling toilet is a symptom of much larger—and more expensive—problems.

In the short term, the instability of the toilet can lead to leaks around the base, potentially causing water damage to the floor and subfloor, says Matt Kunz, president of Mr. Rooter Plumbing, a subsidiary of Neighborly, a service-based franchise company. It can also create an uncomfortable, nerve-racking, and potentially unsafe toilet experience for the members of the household and their guests.

“In the long term, persistent rocking may compromise the wax ring seal and the toilet’s connection to the floor, increasing the risk of more extensive water damage,” Kunz tells Lifehacker. “Addressing the issue promptly ensures a stable and secure toilet, preventing potential structural damage, and maintaining proper functionality in the bathroom.”

Plus, if there is some type of water damage, it could also lead to mold growth, says Wilson.

Lastly, as Rudin points out, the longer a problem involving water leaks and damage is left to linger, the worse and costlier it will get—both in terms of the repairs themselves, as well as the negative impact of the damage on your property value.

How to fix a wobbling toilet

Technically, there are DIY methods for stabilizing a toilet, but as the experts have already explained, these only stop the rocking and don’t address any of the potential underlying issues. “There are no easy fixes for a DIYer doing a toilet base fix on their own,” says Rudin. “Most toilet jobs are two-person affairs, simply because a toilet can weigh 100 pounds or more, depending on the model.”

However, if you’re 100 percent confident that you’ve discovered the root issue, and there are no signs of water damage, Wilson says that it’s possible to stop the toilet from wobbling in one of two ways. The first is tightening any loose bolts on the base of the toilet—ensuring that they’re all even, and without over-tightening them, which Wilson says can crack the porcelain. If you can see the floor has settled with time but there is no water damage, Wilson suggests the second method: Shimming the low side of the toilet and tightening the bolts.

Before attempting any of that, Barnes says that it’s first essential to verify that the flange and the wax ring are in good shape and doing their part to prevent leakage. But even if they are, when you attempt to stabilize a toilet on your own, you always run the risk of ignoring and then hiding the larger problem. “Keep in mind that the connection between the flange, wax ring, and toilet works extremely well if installed properly,” he explains. “So, if you need to shim the toilet to stabilize it, it is more than likely that it was not installed properly, or that some part of the installation has failed.”

When to call a plumber

Fixing a rocking toilet isn’t as simple or straightforward as it sounds. Given all the potential complications, in most cases, it’s probably worth paying for a plumber to come take a look, rather than shelling out for pricey repairs for undiscovered problems down the line. Or, as Barnes puts it: “Installing a flange at a proper height and a wax ring correctly sized for the job is far less expensive than tearing out and replacing subfloor, flooring, and even flooring joists in the worst case, a few years down the road, when far more damage has occurred.”

There’s also the possibility of you inadvertently causing additional damage while attempting to fix a wobbling toilet on your own, making the whole project more expensive for a plumber to fix. “That might ultimately amount to thousands of dollars in damage in the long run,” Rudin says.

Source: LifeHacker – A Rocking Toilet Could Be a Sign of a Much Bigger Problem

Keeping your refrigerator up and running typically requires minimal effort. As long as you clean up any food spills or messes, and periodically check the seal to make sure it’s not leaking cold air, you should usually be in good shape.

But, like any appliance, your refrigerator may have occasional issues that require attention either from you, or a professional technician. For instance, one day you might walk into your kitchen and find a pool of water on the floor in front of your fridge. Upon closer examination, you determine it’s not a spill or a melted ice cube: It’s a leak coming from the bottom of your refrigerator.

This is a relatively common problem, which, in some (but not all) cases, may have a relatively simple DIY solution. But before you can attempt to stop a leak, you have to figure out what’s causing it. I enlisted the help of an appliance repair expert for advice on troubleshooting refrigerator leaks, and why you shouldn’t ignore them.

Why is water is leaking from the bottom of my refrigerator?

Working as an appliance technician for more than nine years, Jason Carter has found that most refrigerator leaks can be traced back to one of three common issues: a blocked water line, a clogged defrost drain, or an improperly leveled refrigerator. Here’s what Carter—who is also the founder of Simply Swider, a website providing expert advice on DIY appliance repairs and other home maintenance tasks—recommends doing to locate the source of your refrigerator leak:

Step 1: Deal with the defrost drain

Typically located at the back of the freezer compartment, the defrost drain often becomes clogged with food particles or debris. “Look for ice buildup or blockages, and clear any clogs by using warm water in a turkey baster to melt the ice,” Carter advises. “If the blockage is deep, you might need to access and disconnect the hose by moving the fridge.”

Step 2: Inspect the water line

If you didn’t find any ice buildup or blockages—or if you did, but removing them didn’t stop the leak—it’s time to move on to the second-most-common culprit: The water line (if you have one).

Refrigerators that have a water dispenser or ice maker also have a water line; fridges without those features don’t. Here’s what to do if yours has a water line:

“Turn off the fridge and the water supply, then examine the line for any damage or ice blockages,” Carter says. “Damaged lines should be replaced—possibly by a technician.” Ice blockages are an easier fix: Simply defrosting the refrigerator for a few hours can resolve the issue.

Step 3: Check that it’s level

Finally, make sure your refrigerator is level. When a refrigerator is uneven, it can cause condensation to form, accumulate, and eventually leak, Carter says.

But don’t be concerned if you place a level on top of your fridge and notice that the bubble isn’t exactly in the center: According to Carter, the front of the refrigerator should be slightly higher than the back. This ensures that the internal coolant is able to flow properly. If the front of your fridge isn’t elevated slightly, Carter recommends adjusting the legs to achieve the right balance.

When to call an appliance technician

Of course, if, at any point, you feel like you’re in over your head, stop what you’re doing and get professional help. “If you don’t have experience with DIY repairs, it’s best not to attempt them and call a technician right away,” Carter says. “You could potentially cause more harm than good.”

On the other hand, if you do feel comfortable with DIY repairs, but need some additional advice and instruction, Carter suggests turning to online resources. “I would recommend joining Facebook groups where there are experienced repairers who can offer remote assistance for free to help identify the problem,” he says. “Keep in mind that the most challenging part is often identifying the cause of the issue. If you’re experienced with DIY repairs, you can also find tutorials on YouTube, as there are plenty available there.”

Why you should never ignore a leaky refrigerator

In addition to the inconvenience and hazards of having a perpetual puddle of water on your kitchen floor, there are other reasons why your leaky refrigerator requires immediate attention. For starters, it can damage the floor, causing stains, deformation, or mold growth, Carter says. “In the long term, this can significantly shorten the service life of the appliance, leading to corrosion and rusting of internal components,” he says. “Consequently, more costly repairs or even complete replacement may become unavoidable.”

Source: LifeHacker – Why Your Refrigerator Is Leaking Water (and How to Fix It)

Snow, ice, and frigid temperatures can make wintertime driving a challenge. Drivers deal with this in a variety of ways: From winterizing their cars and keeping emergency kits in their trunk, to paying more attention to their tires.

For example, some people mistakenly believe that reducing their tire pressure will improve their traction. Others understand that tires tend to lose air pressure in cold weather, but incorrectly assume that the solution is over-inflating their tires. As it turns out, while that’s not exactly helpful, it’s not harmless, either. To learn more, Lifehacker asked two tire experts why over-inflating your tires is a bad idea.

What happens when tires are over-inflated

According to Larry Sutton, the founder and CEO of RNR Tire Express, over-inflating your tires puts both the tires and people’s safety at risk. “Over-inflating your tires can cause wear on the center of the tires much faster than on the remainder of the tire,” he tells Lifehacker. “This will result in losing thousands of miles of use on each tire.”

It gets worse: Not only will over-inflating your tires result in having to replace them before their time, it also reduces their traction, Sutton explains. “Ultimately, an overinflated tire decreases driver safety and increases the risk of accidents by a significant margin,” he says.

Hunter Brabham, a category manager at CarParts.com, echoes Sutton’s safety concerns, and confirms that it’s not the cost-cutting strategy some people think it is. “There are various misconceptions about over-inflating tires as a cost- and fuel-saving hack, when the reality is that it’s dangerous to inflate your car’s tires beyond the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended specifications,” he tells Lifehacker. “Over-inflating tires reduces handling and increases the chance of a tire blowout.”

Plus, as Brabham points out, the uneven wear on your tires also causes ride quality to suffer—meaning you and your passengers will be less comfortable while driving. 

When is a tire considered over-inflated?

Let’s say you’re doing your monthly air pressure check and notice that a tire’s PSI (pounds per square inch) is higher than the manufacturer’s recommendation. Is a tire with an extra two or three psi considered officially over-inflated, and therefore, a safety risk?

Not quite, says Sutton. While a tire performs best when you use the actual PSI recommended by the car manufacturer, don’t panic if you’re over by a few PSI. “Anything over 10 PSI [above the manufacturer’s recommended PSI] will create tire wear and traction loss on most passenger tires,” he says.

You can find the manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure listed on a placard inside the driver’s side door jamb, says Brabham.

Source: LifeHacker – Over-inflating Your Tires in the Winter Isn’t a Hack

It’s happening. I’m in full-on Christmas mode—planning a holiday party, baking cookies to ship to friends, wrapping presents with glittery paper that gets all over the couch. I’m like a hideous blend of Elf and when Frodo offers Galadriel the ring of power. Welcome back to my Christmas Pudding Chronicles. There are only two more weeks until Christmas and I’m stockings-deep into curing my figgy pudding. This week is another week of soaking the pudding, and planning the “hard sauce.” 

If you’re just joining me, this is my fourth week as a newcomer engaging in the well-practiced tradition of making a proper British-style Christmas pudding. The first post can give you context for the inspiration behind this yule-tide endeavor and catch you up on how to soak the fruit before steaming. Even though this spice-laden fruit cake can be made several weeks in advance, you can jump in at any time. Read here to see the recipe and how I mixed the batter and steamed the cake. 

Curing the cake with brandy and time

This week is another brandy soaking week as we “cure the cake.” As I mentioned last week, you can soak the cake with any high-proof alcohol, like rum or whisky, just make sure it’s something you like the flavor of. This is a completely optional step if you don’t imbibe (even if it’s food), but I figured if I’m storing a cake at room temperature for five weeks then I might as well give it all the resources it needs to stave off mold, or other unpleasantness.

This made me wonder for the first time, why is a Christmas pudding made so far in advance? Actually, I was happily going along trusting the process, and one of the editors asked me, “How does a cake not go bad after a MONTH?” That might have been the first question to cross your mind when reading “steam the pudding five Sundays before…” but you would be a normal person, and I’ll just eat anything with “Christmas” in the title. 

According to a number of other accounts and blogs, all this wait time has to do with flavor development. The dried fruits, quantity of fat, sugar, and alcohol all contribute to a dessert that preserves well. When you consider this modern celebration cake has roots in medieval sausage curing, and the version I’m making in 2023 started making appearances in Victorian era cookbooks, it’s no longer worrying. Curing a cake for five weeks or longer has been a long practiced tradition. (Read more about the history of Christmas pudding here.) Plus, American-style cakes are also loaded with butter and sugar. Can you think of a time when you’ve had one go rancid? Their biggest enemy isn’t mold, it’s drying out. Luckily, with a cake that gets steamed before serving, drying out is not a problem for the Christmas pudding.

Brandy soaking again

If you’re participating in brandy soaking your pudding like I am, take the cake out from its storage place and “feed” it with another two tablespoons of brandy or your spirit of choice. A clever suggestion in the comments of last week’s post mentioned spraying the brandy, so I decided to try spraying the alcohol instead of using a pastry brush. It definitely worked. However, I ended up breathing in a lot of the vapors and spraying the bowl and my work surface as I got closer to the edges, so I don’t think this is my favorite feeding method. It also inspired me to think of different methods, so I think I’ll try a turkey baster next week.

Next week, I’ll be feeding the cake again (a girl’s gotta eat, after all), and preparing the second most important part of this tradition: the sauce. Go on, throw on some Christmas music and don’t forget to feed your pud some alcohol.

Source: LifeHacker – Allie’s Christmas Pudding Chronicles: Developing Flavor