Life

There are 3,880 posts filed in Life (this is page 213 of 388).

That Chase Bank ‘Glitch’ Was Actually Massive Check Fraud

Over the weekend, a so-called “Chase Bank glitch” went viral—but it wasn’t a glitch so much as good, old-fashioned check fraud.

Trending TikTok videos had some people believing they could get “free” cash from Chase ATMs by writing fraudulent personal checks to their own accounts and withdrawing the “deposited” money before the checks cleared. Chase has since issued a response to the trend, warning customers that you cannot, in fact, exploit a standard banking system delay to withdraw more money than you actually have in your account.

It’s another example of a fact that I’ll repeat forever: TikTok is a never-ending stream of bad financial advice. Here’s the background on how the “glitch” worked, and what you can do to avoid getting caught up in these kinds of scams.

What was the Chase Bank glitch?

This past weekend, I was glued to TikTok (more so than usual), watching people openly commit check fraud under the guise of exploiting a banking “bug” or “glitch” that was really just an example of a standard banking practice that grants check depositors access to a portion of their money before the full total of the check clears.

In the case of this weekend’s debacle, people posted videos of themselves writing checks for obscene amounts of money, depositing them to their own accounts, and then withdrawing as much as they could before the check could bounce.

Chase said in a statement that they have since fixed the system delay and warned that the trend was in fact an example of simple check fraud, “Regardless of what you see online,” Chase’s statement reads, “depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple.”

People who took advantage of the delay to get out cash don’t get to keep the money free and clear. Many have since seen their accounts locked and showing negative balances. As the money was obtained fraudulently, the bank will expect it back—and keeping it would be a crime.

How to spot bad financial advice on TikTok

Sure, you might not have fallen for the latest viral version of check fraud. But there’s a scam out there for everyone, and it pays to be able to spot them. As I’ve previously urged, before you follow a social influencer’s financial advice, ask yourself these three questions about the advice-giver.

  • What are their credentials? There is no fiduciary standard to becoming a “guru.” Check for certifications qualifications like a CPA (certified public accountant) or RIA (registered investment adviser). If they were born into wealth and have a history of trying to be an influencer in one way or another, be skeptical of their tips and tricks.

  • Is this too good to be true? Generally, avoid “get rich quick” investment advice. Because if it were actually true, why would this person be sharing it with millions of people? If you can’t run it buy a financial advisor, at the very least, do your own research before trusting an Instagram infographic touting an effective investment strategy.

  • Is this person trying to sell you something? This is the most import thing to consider before taking someone’s financial advice. Be wary of buying certain products or stocks, especially when the person recommending them is a stranger on the other end of a TikTok account. At the end of the day, no stranger is looking out for your finances out of the goodness of their heart if they can make a buck buy selling you something.second video.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, September 3, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 3, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 3, Wordle #1,172! 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.)

There are four letters from our mnemonic today. The fifth is fairly common.

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

Weak or barely perceptible.

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

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with F. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with T. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is FAINT.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and assumed I wasn’t searching for any additional vowels. I tried PLANT to eliminate common letters, which left FAINT as the best solution. 

Wordle 1,172 3/6

⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “can go a long time without water” and the answer contained three common letters and two pretty common letters.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was CAMEL.

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:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, September 2, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 2, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 2, Wordle #1,171! 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.)

There are three letters from our mnemonic today. The other two are also pretty common.

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

Can go a long time without water.

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

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

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 L. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is CAMEL.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH. Instead of eliminating remaining letters, I decided to guess possible a solution: CAGED. This helped narrow down my options, with CAMEL as the best answer. 

Wordle 1,171 4/6

⬛🟩⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩⬛🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “a quality you probably don’t want your vegetables to have” and the answer contained three common letters, one pretty common letter, and one uncommon letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was MUSHY.

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:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, September 1, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 1, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 1, Wordle #1,170! 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.)

There are three letters from our mnemonic today. One is pretty common, one is less common.

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

A quality you probably don’t want your vegetables to have.

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

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel and one “sometimes” vowel.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with M. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with Y. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is MUSHY.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH. Instead of eliminating remaining letters, I decided to guess a solution: MUSHY. This would have helped narrow down answers, including letter placement and letters found in other possibilities, even if it hadn’t been correct. 

Wordle 1,170 3/6

⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “found on a teapot” and the answer contained four common letters and one pretty common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was SPOUT.

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:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, August 31, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for August 31, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for August 31, Wordle #1,169! 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.)

There are four letters from our mnemonic today. The fifth is also pretty common

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

Found on a teapot.

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

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with T. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SPOUT.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, followed by SPENT, which eliminated letters found in possible answers. This left SPOUT as the only solution. 

Wordle 1,169 4/6

⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟨🟨🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was harder. The hint was “another name for the jack in cards” and the answer contained three common letters and two uncommon letters.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was KNAVE.

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:

X is About to Be Blocked in Brazil

Brazilian readers might soon have some difficulty finding this story, at least if they rely on Elon Musk’s X for their news. That’s because a judge has officially ordered a ban on the social media platform in the country, following a months-long battle over the limits of speech on the the site formerly known as Twitter.

Conflict between X and the Brazilian government kicked off in April, when Musk unblocked certain popular accounts in Brazil that the government had previously ordered blocked in the country for spreading misinformation. The order came in the wake of far-right riots Brazil faced on January 8 of 2023, and it’s suspected that the targeted accounts were linked to the unrest. The Brazilian judiciary has spent its time after the riots cracking down on disinformation online, calling it “a singular threat” to the country.

Musk, for his part, restored the banned accounts just one hour after they were taken offline.

In the time since, the billionaire and South America’s largest country have butted heads on multiple occasions, with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes freezing Starlink’s finances in the country. The X ban follows an incident in which Musk closed X’s Brazilian offices, saying that de Moraes had “threatened our legal representative in Brazil with arrest if we do not comply with his censorship orders.”

The Brazilian Supreme Court said on Wednesday that the company could not evade its orders so easily, threatening X with shutdown in the country if it did not appoint a new legal representative within 24 hours. This is not wholly unusual for the country, as legal representatives are required for companies to operate there. Telegram and WhatsApp have faced similar bans for skirting their own court orders in the past, although brief.

X’s grace period has now passed, and reports from Bloomberg and local news outlet Poder360 both say that Judge de Moraes has told the National Telecommunications Agency to limit Brazilian access to X within 24 hours. The judge had also given Apple and Google five days to remove X from their respective app stores, and Brazilian outlet G1 Globo is reporting that the judge will impose daily fines on people or businesses that use VPNs to continue to access the site while it’s blocked.

Musk’s response continued to play up the “censorship” angle, saying “Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.”

X’s official response, technically given before the ban but written with the expectation that it would go through, was a bit more muted. It simply argues that the company believes Judge de Moraes’ demands don’t comply with Brazilian law and stated its intention to not comply with the the orders.

It is currently unclear how the situation will proceed, but X users in Brazil can prepare for an outage by downloading their tweets and singing up for an X alternative.

Everything That Should Be on Your ‘Fall Cleaning’ Checklist

The changing of the seasons is always a good time to clean. While quarterly tidying-up is generally advisable, some tasks are best done at specific times during the year. As fall looms, here are the things you need to clean and organize inside your house.

First, declutter your summer essentials

As you prepare to put away everything you used in the previous season, you can take stock of what you didn’t and toss it or donate it, then get out the new season’s items and organize them just right. It doesn’t make sense to put away and store things you didn’t even use this summer just so you can fail to use them next year, too.

There are a lot of decluttering techniques out there and most of them will have you sorting your belongings into four piles: Keep, donate, toss, or sell. I suggest a combination of the Five Second Rule and KonMari: As you pick each item up, give yourself five seconds to make a quick decision about which pile it goes into. Is it really meaningful to you and/or did you actually use it this summer? Don’t deliberate; sort quickly and efficiently while the memory of whether you actually wore that striped tank top at any point from April until now is still fresh.

Once everything is sorted, be quick and efficient with the next steps, too. Take the donation box straight to your car or front door and commit to bringing it to the thrift shop or donation center as soon as possible. Take the trash out immediately, list anything you plan to sell on your preferred marketplace immediately, and organize everything you decided to keep immediately, too. It’s not doing you any good in bags and boxes, especially since you can’t wear or use it in the cooler weather.

Prepare your air for fall

Box fans and window units are out. Air purifiers are in. Despite what you may think, fall allergies are a real thing. Autumn is actually my worst season for allergies; spring and summer don’t really bother me at all. This is the time of year I haul out my air purifier. If yours has been locked away, pop the filter out and vacuum it with a hose attachment that has a brush on it. If you can fit your hands inside, wipe it down with a wet rag. Even if you cleaned it before storing it, dust might have gotten on it, which can hamper its effectiveness.

Before putting away your various fans, give them all a good cleaning, too. I have a whole how-to guide on cleaning all kinds of fans for you, so check that out, but in general, it’s the same idea: If it comes apart, take it apart. Use a wet rag to wipe down whatever you can and avoid electrical components. Use a vacuum to really suck the dirt out.

It doesn’t hurt to wrap them in some foam wrapping to keep dust at bay.

Overhaul your sheets and bedding

Obviously, if you have a thicker comforter or cozier blankets for the living room, this is when you get them out. Even if they were packed away in the most pristine way, you already know to give them a wash. Wash your summertime bedding, too, and then pack it away. Here, I recommend getting some vacuum-seal bags to compress the bedding. Not only does this save a lot of space in your storage areas, but it keeps dust and debris off them, too.

Another great option here is under-the-bed storage. These containers have zippers around them, also protecting your stuff, and keep the bedding (or whatever else) out of the way until you need it. I like this option because it aligns with the Organizational Triangle principles of storing similar items together. Blankets should be under the bed; that’s the general area where they belong, whether you’re using them or not.

Amazon Basics Under Bed Fabric Zipper Storage Container Bags

Amazon Basics Under Bed Fabric Zipper Storage Container Bags


$15.19

Store summer clothes and goods

One of the biggest tasks you should undertake is storing away your summer clothes and various summer stuff, like beach bags and sunscreen. It’s not super helpful to keep them in your closet with everything else. You need quick access to your sweaters and coats and tank tops and shorts just get in your way. Vacuum-sealed bags and under-bed storage are perfect for this, too, but my top hack is actually using the summer bags to hold all that stuff. Again, you’re keeping similar items together, plus you’re making use of the big totes and bags, even when they’re in storage. Swimsuits, summer clothes, goggles, sunscreen—plop all of it into your beach bags or even in your luggage. (Bonus: If you take a warm vacation, the things you need will already be inside!)

This App Quickly Shrinks Any Image Without Reducing Quality

Running low on hard drive or cloud storage space? Your images might be taking up space they don’t need. A free Mac app called ImageOptim, which I found on App Addict, can quickly reduce the file of any image file without any loss in quality. There’s also a web version for anyone without a Mac.

Using ImageOptim couldn’t be easier: Just drag images to the interface and watch them get smaller.

A screenshot of ImageOptim after it compressed two photos of my cat.

Credit: Justin Pot

By default, this compression is entirely lossless, meaning there is no loss in quality. This is done using a bunch of different free and open source tools for compressing images— MozJPEG, pngquant, Pngcrush, 7zip, SVGO and Google Zopfli are all built-in, for example. These tools remove redundant information from images, meaning no image quality is lost when you use this tool. If you want the files to be even smaller, there’s support for lossy image compression in the settings.

One thing I love about this application is how it supports a variety of macOS features. There is support for Apple Shortcuts, meaning you could build automations that compress images before sharing them. There’s also support for the Services menu, for example, meaning you can optimize an image by right-clicking it in the Finder, checking the Services menu, and clicking Image Optimize.

ImageOptim as seen in the Services menu.

Credit: Justin Pot

And there are also privacy benefits. ImageOptim, by default, removes all EXIF data. When you take a picture with your phone, all kinds of information is embedded in the metadata, including your location and the make and model of your camera. ImageOptim removes that, which can protect your personal information.

Overall, this application does one thing and is very efficient at doing that thing. I recommend it if you’ve ever had trouble uploading an image, or just want to free up some space on your hard drive or server.

For Soft, Spreadable Butter Every Time, You Need a Butter Bell

You know the story: The day is new and full of hope. You go to butter a slice of toast, only to crush and mutilate it with a fridge-cold slice of fat. Destroyed. Just like your dreams. We’ve suffered too long and there’s absolutely no need for it. There’s a special device out there with the sole purpose of keeping your butter perfectly spreadable: the butter bell.

What is a butter bell?

The butter bell, also called a butter crock or butter keeper, has contested origins for which town created it, but it’s generally accepted to be of French design. This simple stoneware device consists of two pieces: the base, which is the outer container, and the butter-holding bell, which sits inside the base. 

A small amount of clean water goes into the base. Butter is pressed into the bell’s cavity, inverted, and placed inside of the outer container. The entire butter bell is kept on the counter at room temperature. When butter is required, you grab the lid (which is attached to the inner container) and flip it over so the butter is accessible. Scoop some out and flip the bell back over and into the housing.

How do butter bells work?

At this point you might be wondering why butter in a butter bell doesn’t get weird at room temperature when the stick of butter in my mom’s clear plastic holder might develop a rind on the outside during the summer months. (We still eat it, but the texture can be… different.) It’s because a butter bell protects the precious, golden fat from its three enemies: light, oxygen, and heat. These three things can cause oxidation in butter, resulting in off-flavors, and the butter bell slows oxidation down. 

Butter bells are generally made from stoneware material, or even marble, which helps on two fronts. It’s completely opaque, so that prevents light oxidation, and the thick walls of the ceramic container don’t conduct heat very well, keeping the dark interior cool compared to what your kitchen might be like on an especially hot day. 

I think the most impressive part of the butter bell’s design is the airtight seal—the third line of defense against oxidation. When the cup that holds the butter is inverted and the rim makes contact with the small amount of water in the bottom of the container, it forms an airtight seal. Yes, there will be a small bit of trapped air where the butter is being held, but it’s hardly anything compared to constant air flow. The bell doesn’t completely halt oxidation, but it significantly slows it down, keeping your butter soft at room temperature for you to enjoy perfectly buttered bread, muffins, pancakes, or waffles every morning.

A hand pulling the lid off of a butter bell.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

How to use your butter bell

Many kitchen stores sell butter bells (you can buy them online too) and they’re all perfectly functional. Choose one that you think holds enough butter for you. My dad made mine in his ceramics class and it holds a little more than half a stick of butter (sorry, he’s not taking orders for the coveted fly butter bell). I usually go through it in a week. Give the whole apparatus a wash and dry before filling it. You’ll only need a half-inch or less of clean water to put in the base. A good way to check is to add a little too much water at first, then the excess will flow out the top when you put the butter chamber in. 

Hand holding the lid of a butter bell.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Hold the lid flipped over so the butter cup side is facing up. I use a rubber spatula or small teaspoon to push room temperature butter down into the cup part. I advise doing a tablespoon or two at a time. Really smear the butter up against the sides. This provides suction, so the butter doesn’t fall out, and eliminates air pockets. Keep cramming and smearing butter in there until it’s just shy of the edge. You don’t want butter bulging out past the edge because that’ll mess up the whole air-tight seal thing. Wipe off any butter that might have gotten on the rim.

Hand holding a lid with butter filling the cup.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Over the sink (for any spillage), flip the lid over and set it inside the container with water in it. Now your butter bell is ready to be used. Anytime you need butter, just lift the lid and scoop out some butter. There will be a few drips, that’s normal, but you’ll be surprised how much it doesn’t make a difference to have a drop of water on your butter. Be sure to change the water in your butter bell every couple days—just dump it out and put new water in there. Once you’ve used all the butter give the whole bell a good wash and dry before refilling. 

My Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: Sonos Ray Soundbar

One of the easiest most affordable ways to take your binge-watching setup to the next level is by getting a soundbar, especially if you struggle understanding dialogue. If you shop right, you can get a very good one for under $200. Sonos, one of the best audio brands out there, has one soundbar in particular (the Sonos Ray), which is currently at its lowest price ever of $179 (originally $279), according to price-checking tools. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking for a small but powerful soundbar, especially if you already own other Sonos speakers.

Sonos Ray Soundbar
Jam-packed with power Experience astonishing clarity and fullness from a small standalone soundbar.

Sonos Ray


$179.00
at Amazon

$279.00
Save $100.00

You might know of Sonos as a smart speaker brand, but it also makes regular speakers and soundbars as well. This specific soundbar is not a smart speaker and doesn’t connect with Bluetooth (you’ll need to connect it to your TV with an optical audio wired connection), but it can still connect to your other Sonos speakers through wifi to create a home theater or a multi-room setup.

The Sonos Ray is smaller and more compact than most regular soundbars, coming in at 2.8 by 22.0 by 3.7 inches, and weighs 4.3 pounds. You can always add more speakers to it if you want to make a complete surround sound system later with other Sonos components. This soundbar handles dialogue reproduction very well, so if you want clear audio from your TV this is a good choice. Just keep in mind since there is no woofer companion, it will lack bass, but it’ll be better than what your TV has.

Once you have the soundbar, you’ll need to download the app to have more control of your soundbar. It will walk you through how to set up your TV’s remote to control your soundbar. If you don’t want to, you can just control the soundbar from the app, but there is no remote specific for this soundbar. You can read more about this soundbar from PCMag’s review.