If you want free-ish Android apps, sign up for Google Opinion Rewards. Google pays me to tell it that I haven’t been to a drive-in movie in the past 24 hours, that I haven’t truffle-hunted this year, that I am not currently taking saxophone or trumpet lessons, and other ludicrous trivia about my life. Occasionally…

This is sad to me. Among my six bookcases, I have four novels, because novels are less interesting than nonfiction. I mean, the world is big and diverse and fascinating, and stuff that someone made up just isn't going to be as good. Pick up a nonfiction book that covers a subject you're interested in (or, better yet,…

Or, you know, anything actually relevant to anyone still breathing. There's been so much great literature that schools ignore because OMG SHAKESPEARE. In an apartment with six overflowing bookshelves, I'd probably own more than four novels if tedious plots in archaic language hadn't extinguished most of my interest in…

As someone who despises Shakespeare and hopes the day comes when no student has to suffer through him, I quietly enjoy the fact that even his fans are celebrating his death.

Oh, I’ve got a great one. It sounds like our setups are actually very similar.

Now, seriously. “The good ones aren’t always affordable.” What does that even mean? This is Lifehacker. Recommend a good, affordable pizza stone. Do a Hive Five if you really need to. Tell us what makes a pizza stone good or crappy. A tip about using a cast-iron pan as one doesn’t have to be stupid. Pizza stones crack…

You know, if you don’t have two bucks to buy a “dedicated vegetable peeler,” you’re probably eating expired dollar store ramen anyway. Fuck, this is stupid.

Yeah, I’m on Yosemite and don’t see it. I don’t think anyone checked to see whether it was on older versions too. Cue sad trombones.

I keep my fridge around 35 degrees F and last night finally wrapped up and put away some pork chops, lamb chops, and bulk sausage that I’d bought at my favorite butcher shop last Thursday night. Everything still looked fresh out of the shop's coolers. And I had thought I bought a little more than a pound of ground…

You assume the owner hasn’t chosen them, then?

This being Lifehacker, maybe you could share with the class?

I’ve read that Facebook controls our news feeds so tightly because it feels we can’t possibly handle the firehose of raw posts our friends are sending out, so it depends on algorithms to curate what it thinks we might consider a priority. And hey, on the face of it, good enough, but then it starts showing us posts…

I have this fear that autocorrect corrected it and then it got changed again.

When I looked at their store last week, they were having a pretty substantial sale on what was clearly Everything With Chris Kimball's Name Or Picture As Heavily Discounted As We Can Afford, so this is a good time to buy directly from them. Even the new stuff (I noticed this book in particular) was getting a good…

Thanks. My medical expenses were about $50,000 of my gross income in the low $60Ks, so it looks like I have the first requirement covered. The surgery was not covered by insurance. I'll check out the TurboTax link, which is that much more useful since I generally use TT for my taxes.

And if you’re in the mood, Eric, I could really use an article along the lines of “So, you’re finally ready to take some huge medical deductions on your taxes this year!” I’ve never filed anything more than a 1040EZ, so even a nice little “It’s not that hard, but here’s what you need to know” dealie would help me feel…

I’ve had the exact opposite problem as a lot of commenters who say they need authorization. I’ve had some huge medical expenses this year, tens of thousands of dollars, and figured that at least hey great, get it all wrapped up and submit one receipt for more than the $2K I’ve contributed, and get a nice big check and…

FWIW, older stuff (by some decades, I’m talking here) can occasionally be found by searching other countries’ Project Gutenberg sites, since the U.S. is one of the very few countries that keeps extending copyright terms. Just, you know, make sure you really live in those countries.

SodaStream and a few homemade or indie syrups can go a long way. There are also a lot of commercial indie sodas like Bruce Cost and Dry, which makes a really great cucumber soda. If you’re near a Cost Plus World Market, it carries a lot of retro and some indie sodas. It doesn’t update much anymore, but BevReview.com…

I blame science for not inventing a laser beam that stops after 100 feet.