Life Style

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I typically hesitate to suggest making peanut butter in blenders, but the Vitamix Ascent X5 is the exception. It's the best blender I've ever tried, and you should definitely make nut butters with it. Not only is it the absolute fastest nut processor I’ve ever tested (under a minute in some cases), but the resulting peanut butter is incredibly smooth. Here’s how to make any nut butter in the Vitamix Ascent X5.How to use the nut butter function on the Vitamix1. Prepare the nuts, if neededI like to roast the nuts in the oven first, because I love the sweet, toasty flavor. To do it, spread out your nut of choice (I used walnut pieces today) on a baking sheet in a single layer, and put the sheet pan in a 350°F oven for...

Windows doesn't come with a weather application the way macOS and mobile operating systems do. Sure, the widget area shows the weather, but it also summons news headlines from the very bowels of internet hell and requires that you open a web browser page full of ads to get more details.If you want a clean, ad-free, and beautiful way to check the weather on Windows I recommend Lively Weather. This is a free and open source native-to-Windows application (by developer Dani John) with complete weather forecasts. It also features beautifully rendered background animations that reflect the current weather conditions.You can search for any city on Earth to see the weather: Tthe main summary shows up at the top of the screen, and below that sits a seven-day overview alongside a timeline of conditi...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. As Lifehacker's resident marathon runner and senior finance writer, there is one perfect point where my worlds intersect: buying sneakers. When it comes to investing in—and maybe even splurging on—running gear, nothing affects your running experience more than your shoes. Finding the perfect running shoes is about much more than style or brand preference. Proper footwear can be the difference between achieving your running goals and suffering through preventable injuries. Why proper shoe fit mattersMany runners unknowingly wear the wrong shoes for years. According to Jessica Lyons-Quirk, director of footwear merchandising at Road Runner Sports, "Not only do most people not know what true foot size they are, they al...

If you have a smartphone running Android 12 that can't upgrade past that version, I have some bad news: Google is dropping support for your phone. RIP Android 12As spotted by Android Authority, Google is no longer seeding security updates for devices running Android 12 and Android 12L. The company omitted the Android version from its April 2025 Android Security Bulletin, which notes security vulnerabilities Google has identified and patched, and as well as which versions of Android receive those patches. The company highlights Android 13, 14, and 15 across a number of different vulnerabilities, but not Android 12.The outlet isn't basing this news off these omissions alone: Android Authority reports that Google dropped support for Android 12 and 12L as of March 31, based on a source that sa...

Even the most loyal Apple users will admit that the company is lagging behind when it comes to AI, with Siri's big Apple Intelligence upgrade now officially delayed (having been heavily promoted throughout last year). In a new blog post, Apple outlines some of the ways it's hoping to get back on track.One of the potential reasons for Apple's generative AI struggles may be that it prioritizes user privacy a lot more than the likes of OpenAI and Google. Apple doesn't gather any user data to train its large language models or LLMs (though it has trained its models on free text on the web), and relies heavily on synthetic data to produce AI text from prompts and from existing writing.The problem with synthetic data is, well, its artificiality. It lacks the nuance and variation of human writing...

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve been meaning to grab an e-reader for the first time, this Kindle Paperwhite deal on Woot might be worth a closer look, especially if you don’t mind a gently used product. It’s the 11th Gen model from 2021, refurbished to Grade-A condition, starting at $89.99 for 16GB and $109.99 for 32GB versions. You can knock another $5 off with code FIREFIVE at checkout, but only through April 29—or until they sell out. These are refurbished units, so there may be light signs of wear. But Woot says they’ve all been tested and cleared to work like new, and each one comes with a 90-day limited warranty. If you're after the newest model, however, t...

Never learned to play chess and don't know where to start? Duolingo, the gamified education app most famous for its language learning lessons, is adding chess lessons to the iPhone application later this month. You can learn how each piece moves before eventually moving on to tactics, all in the familiar Duolingo user interface.A "limited number of learners" on iOS will get the chess feature on Tuesday, April 22; it will roll out to other English-speaking iPhone users "in weeks following." Other operating systems, along with versions for non-English speakers, are "planned in the months ahead," according to Duolingo.This isn't the first offering outside of language learning offered by the application—the application currently has offered math and music lessons since 2023. The math lessons, ...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. It's amazing how many problems can be solved with good sleep hygiene. If you often feel low on energy, one of the first things you should ask yourself is how much sleep you're getting. Good sleep also helps our overall health, our recovery from exercise, our ability to focus, and more. And while there are plenty of gadgets and biohacks that claim to help, the fundamentals of sleep hygiene are basic and simple. How to know if you need more sleepMost adults need seven to nine hours of sleep, on average, each night. This varies: Uou might be a seven-hour person or a nine-hour person. (Young people usually need even more; older adults may be okay with less.) So if you’re feeling tired all the time, an easy gut check is...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Netflix has built a subscriber base more than 270 million strong on the backs of some great original TV series, and there’s a fair chance you’re watching (or have already binged) the biggies, from Stranger Things, to Bridgerton, to The Witcher, Ripley, and more. Even if you haven’t seen them, these shows are buzzy enough that you know their names—but there's more where they came from, including shows that are as good as (or better than) those flagship series.Here, in no particular order, are 40 of Netflix’s most entertaining, underrated originals—shows you maybe aren’t watching, but definitely should be.The Residence (2025 – , renewal pending) The latest from Shondaland (that's Shonda Rhimes' production company, ...

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.After Consumer Electronics Show (CES) brought some exciting new tech products this January, older flagship models began to drop in price, and TVs were no exception. A Pro version of The Frame TV was introduced, which made the 2024 versions drop in price. Fast forward to April, and those prices have dropped further for some of the sizes. The 43-inch The Frame from 2024 is on sale for $797.99 (originally $997.99), the lowest price it has been, according to price-tracking tools. The biggest size, the 85-inch series, is seeing a record discount of $1,800, currently $2,497.99 (originally $4,297.99). ...