Life

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The Secret to Becoming a Runner Is a Good Routine

It’s been nearly a month since I ran the NYC marathon. I knew that after such an emotional experience, the longer I took to lace up my shoes again, the harder it was going to be. I’ve missed writing my weekly posts about all things marathon training, and now that I’m finally back pounding the pavement, I thought I’d sling a running hack your way.

For me, the toughest part about returning to running after taking time off is establishing a new routine. When you’re not following a strict (well, semi-strict) training plan, what do you do? Especially for people who don’t consider themselves to be runners in the first place—what do you do? There are a lot of reasons someone might struggle to get into running, but I find a top culprit to be a lack of planning. You have to strike a balance between ambition and flexibility, and then actually hold yourself accountable to your plan. Let’s take a look at why the secret to becoming a runner is the strength of your routine, and how you can establish a running routine yourself.

How to establish a running routine

Time and time again, my friends will tell me they’ve started to get into running, only to lose interest (or quit) within a few weeks. The figures vary, but one study suggests that it usually takes around two months of doing something to make it a habit—and a lot of us don’t make it that long. Then again, as Lifehacker senior health editor Beth Skwarecki has explained before, a lot of our talk about “habits” is not actually about habit formation, but behavior change. She provides this example: “You might think of ‘go for a run every morning’ as a simple habit. But there are a lot of things that go into becoming the sort of person who actually finds it simple to go for a run every morning.”

Your routine—and how well you stick to it—is what makes the difference between whether or not you incorporate running into your life in the long term. Here are some tips for becoming the sort of person who finds it simple to go on a run every morning.

Set realistic goals

You are more likely to stick with a running habit if you start with small goals. That may mean holding yourself back a bit, both in terms of pace and distance. (This topic means a lot to me; one of my first posts at Lifehacker was all about how you need to run slower to run faster.)

Don’t expect to complete your first marathon next week if you’re just starting. Give yourself progressive mini-goals to reach like running a mile without walking, being able to jog for 30 minutes continuously, or taking 5-10 minutes off your 5K time. This will help track progress and keep you motivated.

Create calendar events for yourself

Actually schedule your runs as you would other important commitments. It’s easy to make excuses if your running is random or sporadic. Ensure it’s in your calendar like clockwork; mornings are great for avoiding fatigue and life getting in the way later.

Build up gradually, and slow down

I believe the reason so many people claim to hate running is because what they’re actually doing is sprinting. This dooms them to tire out sooner than they’d like—convincing them that they can’t run long distances, and confirming their assumption that “running isn’t for them.”

Respect that your cardiovascular fitness and musculoskeletal systems need time to adapt. Start with short runs mixed with walking once or twice a week and increase duration, distance, and frequency by no more than 10% each week to prevent overuse injuries.

Prep your gear

Prepping gear ahead of time such as your running watch, shoes, weather-appropriate apparel, water bottle, and headphones goes a long way versus scrambling or postponing if you can’t find an item. Being ready to go makes sticking to your routine much more seamless.

Skip the numbers (for now)

Runners are obsessed wearables or apps to monitor metrics like distance, pace, heart rate, and splits. I get it—reviewing patterns provides valuable feedback, exposes strengths and weaknesses, and keeps you striving towards new marks like an upcoming 5K PR.

But if your main goal right now is simply to establish a routine, I suggest you ditch the metrics. Your priority right now is consistency. Try intuitive running and taking it slow, and maybe you’ll even start to like running. Personally, I think there’s nothing more promising for your routine than actually enjoying the routine.

Five of the Best Programs for Tracking Your Time

Many of the most popular productivity methods only really work if you know how much time each task is going to take you: Timeboxing, the Eisenhower matrix, Kanban, the Ivy Lee method, and others expect you to be able to plan for the precise amount of time a given project is going to suck from your day. If you estimate wrong, the whole plan kind of falls apart and you’re left feeling discouraged and, well, unproductive. That’s where time trackers come in to help. Here are some of the best ones you can use when doing daily tasks to figure out how many of your precious waking hours are devoted to all the stuff you have to do. 

If you want to be detailed: Clockify

I’ve recommended Clockify for tracking your New Year’s goals already, but it’s a longtime leader in the field. Lifehacker recommended it for tracking your time as far back as 2009, and it’s only improved since then. On the landing page, you’re greeted with a button that says, “START TRACKING TIME — IT’S FREE!” While Clockify does have a subscription model, if you want to be detailed in your time-tracking, you can just use the free version. It’s famous for being a timesheet app, but it allows you to track the minutes of all your work, producing a summary report for each day. (The reports can also tell you how much money was earned per project, how much money was spent per project, and all kinds of other relevant information.) You can even track time offline and it will appear in your account once you reconnect. 

If you want simplicity: TogglTrack

TogglTrack lets you use all of its premium features for free for a month (and a basic version is always free), and it’s simple to use. Other trackers have a learning curve or a steep price, which you don’t have time for when you’re trying to get things done, so this one is a pleasant surprise. I was able to quickly create a project (“Working on articles”) and then add a task (“Time-tracker article”) and put in an estimate of how long I thought it would take me. I hit a button next to the task and a timer started. Eventually, if I kept at it, my dashboard will fill up with my total hours of work, showing me just how much time I really spent. The free version is geared toward freelancers and works for up to five team members, who can use time tracking, a timeline, auto-tracking, idle detection, a pomodoro timer, and over 100 integrations with other software. For $9 per month, teams get all that plus billable rates, time rounding, time estimates, broken-out tasks, and project templates. An $18/month premium subscription will get you schedule reports, time audits, insights, and project and admin dashboards. 

To go at your own pace: TrackingTime

TrackingTime is nice because it has a few different functionalities. It can track you automatically or give you the option to block out time within the software, letting you see (and edit, of course) what needs to be done and how long you have to do it. It integrates with over 50 apps and other softwares so you can track while you work instead of opening TrackingTime to mark it down, and there’s a mobile app so you can take it on the go. Tracking time is free, but if you want to incorporate things like AutoTrack and desktops apps, it’ll be $8 per month. 

If you really don’t want to put effort into this: Timely

Timely is automated, so if you truly do not want to waste time tracking it, here you go. The software makes what it calls “memories” of everything you do on your computer, like software you use or websites you visit‚ and whenever you want, you can just drag and drop the memories into your pre-defined tasks. You don’t have to put every site you visit into the tasks; it’s all private and what you highlight is up to you—you can always toggle it off when you want to visit a certain site. It’s $11 per month to automate your time tracking, categorize time with an AI feature, and make reports, but $20 if you want to sync other project management tools. Just bear in mind this might not be the best option for you if a lot of your work takes place off the computer. 

If you need help staying on task: RescueTime

RescueTime is a time tracker that not only tracks your work, but kind of forces you to stay on it. This is helpful if you keep getting distracted and can make it easy to see how much time a task takes, instead of how much time a task plus all your forays away from the task take. You download the monitoring app to your computer and it collects data on your usage, but it chimes in if you appear distracted or like you’re doing too many things at once. You can even tell the software how much “Focus Work” (or deep work) you want to get done in a day and, once you toggle on a Focus Session, it will block websites you’ve pre-identified as distracting. There is a free version, but you’ll pay $12 per month if you want to see past data, integrate a calendar, or use Focus Sessions. 

There’s a Hidden Filter in Your Shower Head and It’s Probably Filthy

Removing the layers of limescale, soap scum, and that gross pink film from your shower head not only provides you with some satisfying before-and-after photos, but it can also noticeably improve your overall showering experience. After all, who doesn’t want better water pressure?

But what if you go through your usual cleaning process of soaking and scrubbing, then turn on your shower to discover that the water pressure hasn’t improved, and the stream of water is still inconsistent and sputtering? Before rushing out to buy a new shower head, try removing the one you currently have and cleaning the filter screen hidden inside. That’s right: Even if the outside of your shower head is spotless, there may be a small, round screen that’s caked in mineral buildup and sabotaging your shower. Here’s how to find and clean it.

Where to find the filter screen inside your shower head

Technically, this hidden filter is located between your shower head and the water pipe sticking out from your shower wall. But even if you were to remove your shower head to either replace it or clean its exterior, you may not notice the little screen sitting there. Or, maybe you did see it, but thought it was part of the flow restrictor (they’re not). For reference, flow restrictors are roughly the same size as filter screens, but instead of a small, round piece of mesh, they’re a small, round piece of usually blue or green plastic with a hole and/or slightly larger openings.

To find your filter screen, remove your shower head. Sometimes you can simply twist it counterclockwise by hand and it’ll come right off. If not, place a rag over the part that connects the shower head to the pipe and then use a wrench or a pair of pliers to twist counterclockwise until the shower head comes off. The filter screen should be inside. If you have a detachable shower head, the filter screen is probably inside a connector piece at the end of the hose that attached to the water pipe.

Here’s what mine looks like:

close up on clean filter screen in shower head

Credit: Elizabeth Yuko

How to clean your shower head’s filter screen

Take a peek inside your shower head; if there’s any loose mineral deposits or debris, empty them into a garbage can.

Next, remove the filter screen. If you’re unable to remove the screen with your finger, try needle-nose pliers. But if those don’t work right away, leave it where it is and do your best to clean it in place.

Start by rinsing the screen with warm water. Then, use a toothbrush to scrub away any buildup, followed by a toothpick or sewing needle to unclog any of the tiny openings in the screen (if necessary). If there’s still grime and mineral buildup, soak the screen in a small cup of either half warm water and half white distilled vinegar, or warm water with a pinch of citric acid for 10 minutes, then try again. If you were unable to remove the screen from the shower head, add a few drops of your solution of choice, let it sit for a minute, then go back in with the toothbrush then the toothpick or needle.

Here’s mine, before and after I cleaned it:

dirty filter screen and clean filter screen from shower head

Credit: Elizabeth Yuko

Repeat the process until your screen is as clean as you can get it, then pop it back in and reattach your shower head. If you had previously used plumber’s tape on the pipe threads, remove it and any residue from the threads (grooves) at the end of the water pipe. Replace it with some new plumber’s tape, then screw in the shower head. (This Lifehacker post from May has more detailed instructions if you need them.)

How to Keep Your Tool Batteries From Dying in Cold Weather

Cold weather poses a problem for lithium batteries—they can lose their charge more quickly and also become unable to charge as temperatures drop. This is because the chemical reaction in a lithium ion battery will slow down when the temperature drops below about 40 degrees. If you have battery powered snow-removal tools or if you just have outdoor home projects you need to tackle when it’s cold outside, this can be frustrating. It’s more than frustrating when you take into account that charging batteries outside of the safe charging temperature range can damage them permanently. Here are some steps to take to keep your batteries working, even when the mercury drops.

Store batteries indoors

First, you should store your tool batteries in a climate-controlled environment during the cold winter months. If you have an unheated garage, you should bring batteries and chargers indoors to avoid damage, but also to avoid the step of warming batteries up before charging them. This will help you prevent the most common type of winter battery damage, which is caused by attempting to charge batteries in temperatures below 40 degrees. Also, getting a full charge is the first step to extending battery life later on.

Use the pocket method

When you’re not using tools outdoors, you can use the pocket method to keep them warm. Slipping idle batteries or spares into a coat pocket, or better yet, an inside pocket closer to your body, will help them stay warm and avoid losing charge when they’re not in use. Using your own body heat has the added benefit of being free, but it’s limited by the number of pockets you have for carrying capacity. If you’re using a larger tool that requires multiple batteries, you might need something a little more advanced.

Keep tools running when the batteries are in

When you’re using your tools, keeping them running while they’re in the cold will warm up the batteries a little bit—but the downside is that running the tools all the time also reduces battery life. For a short job, or for snow-removal tools like snow blowers, this might be okay, but for longer-term cold-weather use, you’ll need to take more steps to keep the battery juice flowing.

Use a battery cover

When tools are in use, consider using a battery cover to help keep tool batteries warm. These are usually made from silicone, but you can also fashion one out of neoprene foam or another flexible insulation material. Adding covers to your batteries does make battery changing a clumsy affair, but if the insulation buys you some more battery life, you won’t need to swap them out as often.

Use a cooler

To charge batteries outdoors, or to keep batteries in the temperature range where they will hold a charge, using an insulated lunch bag or a cooler to keep them warm can work wonders. A soft-sided lunch bag can accommodate charged batteries, but you can also run the cord for a charger through the opening, zip it closed around the cord, and use a battery charger inside the bag to avoid damaging the battery during charging. With a hard-sided cooler, you’ll need to cut slots in the lip around the top of the cooler between the sides and the lid to accommodate cords for chargers, but these can be excellent for containing heat during charging.

Use hand warmers

Using hand warmers as a back-up heat source or when the temperature is extremely cold can also help, and can be used in conjunction with both the pocket and the cooler method of battery insulation. There are both disposable and reusable hand warmers, so you can choose whichever one works best for your conditions. While you don’t want your batteries to get too hot (over 100 degrees), some instances call for external heat sources. You can toss a hand warmer into your battery insulation cooler, or you can use one in your pocket if you notice that the batteries are getting chilly.

Today’s NYT Connections Hints (and Answer) for Friday, December 1, 2023

I found this to be one of the easier puzzles lately. If you’re looking for the Connections answer for Friday, December 1, 2023, read on—I’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solutions to all four categories. Along the way, I’ll explain the meanings of the trickier words and we’ll learn how everything fits together. Beware, there are spoilers below for December 1, NYT Connections #173! Read on if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Connections game. 

If you want an easy way to come back to our Connections hints every day, bookmark this page. You can also find our past hints there as well, in case you want to know what you missed in a previous puzzle.

Below, I’ll give you some oblique hints at today’s Connections answers. And farther down the page, I’ll reveal the themes and the answers. Scroll slowly and take just the hints you need!

NYT Connections board for December 1, 2023: WAX, PIECE, CRESCENT, STORE, MONKEY, OUTLET, THREAD, SOCKET, SHARE, SHAVE, MARKET, CUT, MALL, TAKE, TWEEZE, ALLEN.

Credit: Connections/NYT

Does today’s Connections game require any special knowledge?

Nope, it’s all pretty straightforward today.

Hints for the themes in today’s Connections puzzle

Here are some spoiler-free hints for the groupings in today’s Connections:

  • Yellow category – Shopping time.

  • Green category – At the salon.

  • Blue category – Your portion.

  • Purple category – Here’s a tool you can throw in the works.

Does today’s Connections game involve any wordplay?

There’s a fill-in-the-blank category. 

Ready to hear the answers? Keep scrolling if you want a little more help.

BEWARE: Spoilers follow for today’s Connections puzzle!

We’re about to give away some of the answers. Scroll slowly if you don’t want the whole thing spoiled. (The full solution is a bit further down.)

What are the ambiguous words in today’s Connections?

  • ALLEN can be a name, but today it’s something else entirely. You’ll want to think of an ALLEN wrench, also known as a hex key.

  • An OUTLET can be a place where water flows, where you can get electricity (a wall OUTLET), or a place where a manufacturer cheaply sells products they’d like to get rid of (often, these days, in a STORE in an OUTLET MALL). 

  • You can get hair CUT or TWEEZEd, but those words are in different categories today. 

What are the categories in today’s Connections?

  • Yellow: PLACES TO SHOP

  • Green: WAYS TO REMOVE HAIR

  • Blue: PORTIONS OF PROFIT

  • Purple: KINDS OF WRENCHES

DOUBLE BEWARE: THE SOLUTION IS BELOW

Ready to learn the answers to today’s Connections puzzle? I give them all away below.

What are the yellow words in today’s Connections?

The yellow grouping is considered to be the most straightforward. The theme for today’s yellow group is PLACES TO SHOP and the words are: MALL, MARKET, OUTLET, STORE.

What are the green words in today’s Connections?

The green grouping is supposed to be the second-easiest. The theme for today’s green category is WAYS TO REMOVE HAIR and the words are: SHAVE, THREAD, TWEEZE, WAX.

What are the blue words in today’s Connections?

The blue grouping is the second-hardest. The theme for today’s blue category is PORTIONS OF PROFIT and the words are: CUT, PIECE, SHARE, TAKE.

What are the purple words in today’s Connections?

The purple grouping is considered to be the hardest. The theme for today’s purple category is KINDS OF WRENCHES and the words are: ALLEN, CRESCENT, MONKEY, SOCKET.

How I solved today’s Connections

CRESCENT and MONKEY? Clearly we’re looking at wrenches. SOCKET and ALLEN round out the group. 🟪 (This is purple? It was the easiest one!)

CUT and TWEEZE stand out as things you might get done at a salon, but then I realize I need to narrow this category down. SHAVE, WAX, and THREAD are all hair removal techniques. 🟩

With only two groups left, the others are pretty obvious. SHARE, CUT, PIECE, and TAKE are all portions of earnings or winnings; 🟦 MALL, OUTLET, STORE, and MARKET are places to buy things. 🟨

Connections 
Puzzle #173
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨

How to play Connections

I have a full guide to playing Connections, but here’s a refresher on the rules:

First, find the Connections game either on the New York Times website or in their Crossword app. You’ll see a game board with 16 tiles, each with one word or phrase. Your job is to select a group of four tiles that have something in common. Often they are all the same type of thing (for example: RAIN, SLEET, HAIL, and SNOW are all types of wet weather) but sometimes there is wordplay involved (for example, BUCKET, GUEST, TOP TEN, and WISH are all types of lists: bucket list, guest list, and so on).

Select four items and hit the Submit button. If you guessed correctly, the category and color will be revealed. (Yellow is easiest, followed by green, then blue, then purple.) If your guess was incorrect, you’ll get a chance to try again.

You win when you’ve correctly identified all four groups. But if you make four mistakes before you finish, the game ends and the answers are revealed.

How to win Connections

The most important thing to know to win Connections is that the groupings are designed to be tricky. Expect to see overlapping groups. For example, one puzzle seemed to include six breakfast foods: BACON, EGG, PANCAKE, OMELET, WAFFLE, and CEREAL. But BACON turned out to be part of a group of painters along with CLOSE, MUNCH, and WHISTLER, and EGG was in a group of things that come by the dozen (along with JUROR, ROSE, and MONTH). So don’t hit “submit” until you’ve confirmed that your group of four contains only those four things.

If you’re stuck, another strategy is to look at the words that seem to have no connection to the others. If all that comes to mind when you see WHISTLER is the painting nicknamed “Whistler’s Mother,” you might be on to something. When I solved that one, I ended up googling whether there was a painter named Close, because Close didn’t fit any of the obvious themes, either.

Another way to win when you’re stuck is, obviously, to read a few helpful hints–which is why we share these pointers every day. Check back tomorrow for the next puzzle!

You Can Now Play PC VR Games on Your Meta Quest Headset With Steam Link

When it comes to VR headsets right now, there are Meta’s Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro, and then there’s everything else. You already know you can use the Meta Quest devices to play bespoke VR games like Beat Saber and Among Us VR, but if you have a powerful gaming PC, you can now more easily play demanding PC-based VR titles on your Quest headset with minimal fuss.

Previously in order to play PC VR titles on your Meta Quest, you needed to use a compatible Quest Link USB-C cable to connect your headset to your PC. Barring that, you could use the built-in Air Link feature to wirelessly connect your headset to your PC over wifi or by using a third-party app like Virtual Desktop.

However, Valve recently launched the Steam Link app for Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro, which offers an easier way to connect your headset wirelessly to your PC. This is especially useful if most of the PC VR titles you’ve bought were via Steam.

Products to consider:

Looking to pick up a new Meta Quest headset? You can buy the Meta Quest 2, 3, or Pro on Amazon:

Requirements to use Steam Link

To use Steam Link, you’ll need to check if your PC meets Valve’s minimum requirements. First, Valve says your PC should be wired to your router for better connectivity, while you should connect your headset to a 5GHz wifi network. Other minimum specs include an NVIDIA GPU (GTX970 or better) and Windows 10 (or newer).

Of course, those are just minimum requirements. Valve’s recommended PC specs for Steam Link include an internet connection with Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E support, 16GB of RAM, and a Nvidia RTX 2070 GPU or better.

Getting started with Steam Link

You can start using Steam Link on your Meta Quest headset in a few quick steps. The first is to make sure Steam and SteamVR are installed on your PC. There’s a chance you might need to restart Steam to make sure you’re on the latest version of both programs. After that, make sure your Meta Quest headset is connected to the same network as your PC.

On your headset, download the Steam Link app. Once you open the app, it will look for your PC running SteamVR. Once it finds your PC, press the green Connect button. You’ll then be given a four-digit code, which you’ll need to enter into a pop-up on your PC.

pairing code for steam link to meta quest

Credit: Sachin Bahal

After you’ve paired your PC with the Steam Link app, the app wirelessly connect to your PC and open the Steam VR environment. Here, you’ll be able to launch all the installed VR games on your PC. You can also play non-VR games that you have installed on your PC on a virtual big screen.

Steam via Steam Link app on Meta Quest

Credit: Sachin Bahal

How to Make a Collaborative Playlist on Spotify

Spotify first released the option to make collaborative playlists back in September of 2020, but a lot of people still don’t know how to use it. Thankfully, the process isn’t difficult. With this tutorial, you and your friends can get started making playlists together in no time.

How to make a collaborative playlist in Spotify

Whether you’re creating a playlist from scratch or looking to invite friends to add to one you already have, the process to create a collaborative playlists on Spotify is actually very easy, though it doesn’t seem to be available on the website. Instead, you’ll need to open up the Spotify desktop or mobile app.

Next, tap Your Library and find the playlist you want to collaborate on, or create a new one. (If you want to create a brand-new playlist, you will need to make it first, and then share it with your friends.)

From the Playlists section of your library, tap or click on the playlist that you want to collaborate on, then find the button that looks like a person with a plus beside it. This is how you’ll invite others to collaborate on your playlist. How you share the link to this playlist will vary slightly depending on which app you’re using—if you’re on mobile, you’ll be able to share it directly using your phone’s share function. If you’re on the desktop app, though, it’ll just copy the link to your clipboard, allowing you to paste it wherever you want. From there, anyone who clicks the link and adds the playlist to their own Spotify library will be able to add songs to it, allowing you all to collaborate quite easily.

Apple also recently added the option to create collaborative playlists in Apple Music, so now is a great time to start sharing your favorite music, podcasts, and other audio with your friends.

How to Watch Virtual Reality Porn

A friend of mine used to say that the first question we ask when we’re introduced to a new piece of technology is, “How can I use this to have sex?” To that end, here’s how to use a Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, PSVR, Vive, or other VR headset to have sex…or watch virtual porn, anyway.

How to watch VR Porn with a Meta Quest 2

It’s almost comically easy to have an “entry-level” VR porn experience with an Meta Quest 2 (or other headset).

Entry level porn VR porn viewing on an Meta Quest 2

  • Lock the door.

  • Put on your headset.

  • Click on the browser.

  • Navigate to a site that hosts VR porn. Free video megasites like youporn have a VR section, or just use google to search something out.

  • Using PlayStation VR: Sony’s PSVR seems to require some extra steps. I haven’t tried one, but here’s a PSVR specific porn-viewing guide.

That’s all you need to know to get a taste of the VR porn thing, but because of the massive file sizes of VR video, streaming is likely to be choppy, and free movies are probably not going to be in high resolution. To get a better experience, you’re going to have to (gasp) pay to watch it.

Suggested headsets for VR porn-viewing:

How to watch VR porn with a Meta Quest 3

The above instructions for streaming porn work the same on the Meta Quest 3 headset, but the Quest 3’s front-facing pass-through camera array adds a new wrinkle to porn viewing: Augmented reality porn.

Getting your pass-through-porn on is fairly complicated, so here’s a separate post that goes into detail about how to get augmented reality porn to work on your Meta Quest 3.

Advanced VR porn viewing

  • Pick a VR Website. Because VR porn is relatively new, more costly to produce, and has a smaller audience than “normal” adult videos, there aren’t an overwhelming number of sites dedicated to it. Most of them have sample videos to view, and some provide single-day access for very cheap so you can see if you dig it. Check out this list of the most well-known producers, and make a choice.

  • Did you lock the door?

  • Open the browser, navigate to your newly chosen site and enter your credit card digits. Membership fees vary from site to site, but expect a range of $20 to $30 a month.

From here, you can stream full-length videos at very high quality, but the streaming might still be choppy. If so…

  • Download and save video to your device— These videos can be over 10 gigs, so it might take a little bit.

  • Play the video back—Major VR headsets come with great video browsers, but if you want advanced features, download Skybox for 10 bucks. That way you can save video to your PC and stream from your computer easily.

If you want to get really advanced (it’s a pandemic, so no one should judge) you can delve into the world of virtual reality sex toys. These are devices designed to vibrate and oscillated in sync with videos. I have no idea how well these work, but if you do, let us all know in the comment section.

Is Virtual Reality Porn any good?

Now that you know how to view porn in virtual reality, you have to ask yourself if you should. Virtual reality’s “you are there” immersion provides an experience that is markedly different from traditional porn, but it’s not necessarily better. Like all things of this nature, it comes down to personal taste. I checked out a little bit of the stuff (for research purposes only, of course), and, without going into too much detail, here are the pros and cons:

Locked in perspective

The idea of putting the viewer right up in the action means the camera is locked to your perspective. If you like that kind of thing, it’s gravy for you, but if you don’t…well, you gave it a shot.

The performance

The camera/you feel very close to the performers in VR porn videos and the illusion is fairly convincing, but actually selling that kind of intimacy requires acting talent. It’s a different kind of performing than film or stage altogether, and, at the risk of being negative, many pornographic performers don’t have the chops to really pull it off, so it can just feel weird, and not sexy-weird. Again, your mileage may vary.

Limited content

Because it is more expensive and more difficult to shoot VR video, and there is a smaller audience, it seems like almost all VR porn is geared toward a mainstream porn audience. If you share the tastes of the majority of porn viewers, you’ll be really happy. If you’re into something more esoteric, you might find it difficult or impossible to find what you like, at least until more pervs join the virtual world.

Gender-bending

Most virtual reality porn is designed for heterosexual men, but not all of it. There is VRporn from the point-of-view of gay/bi men and women (straight, gay, and bi) which provides maybe the most unique possibility of VR porn: Putting yourself in the skin of someone else. Looking down at yourself and seeing a different body (one that doesn’t skip ab day) is strange enough, but looking down and seeing a differently gendered body is positively freaky in the best possible way. I can only assume this will lead to a new age of empathy and the end of sexism and homophobia.

For couples?

Realistically, most porn is going to be consumed solo, but some couples are strapping on headsets (and maybe other devices) and incorporating the virtual into their shared real sex lives. I think a real experience while wearing a headset would be a little ridiculous, but maybe I’m just old-fashioned.

Holiday Cookie Shots Are Fun for Drinkers and Stoners Alike

The holiday season is in full swing, parties are filling your schedule, and cookies are always in style. This year, I’ve got a very special cookie project for you. One for the drinkers, non-drinkers, and the stoners in your group (and even the ones who manage to do both without tossing their cookies). Whether you’re hosting or bringing a gift, bake a batch of cookie shots for the holidays. Here’s how to do it so they look cute too. 

A cookie shot, or more accurately a cookie shot glass, is cookie dough baked into the shape of a little cup. I had only eaten (drank? used?) experienced a cookie shot once before. It was four or five years ago, and I was both thrilled and confused. Would it be gross? Would a cookie even hold liquid? My boyfriend’s cousin had purchased them from Dominique Ansel Bakery (you might know the chef as the creator of the decadent cronut). So the question about flavor was answered—Ansel’s pastries are anything but gross—but how do you prevent leakage? Well, the inside of the cup gets brushed with a layer of melted chocolate. This adds more chocolate-y flavor, but also creates an impermeable layer on the inside. She’s a modern marvel. 

We had more than one shot, because the cookie doesn’t get soggy, and then we ate them. The cookie shots were incredible, and I’m sure we became very responsibly buzzed. It’s a fun way to do normal shots, and a hell of a talking point. All of these things are great for a party. But I never had them again. You see, Dominique Ansel knows his worth. That’s nice for him, but I will not purchase three chocolate chip cookies for 22 American dollars, regardless of their shape. Luckily, the universe heard my sorrow, and now I can make as many as I want at home. 

Products to consider:

You can buy metal cookie shot pans specifically for this purpose or you can buy shot glass molds made of silicone. Most silicone molds are oven-safe up to 500°F, but double check on the packaging, of course. Nestle Toll House currently has a cookie shot sweepstakes going on too, where you can enter to win your own cookie shot kit. It comes with the Wilton cookie shot mold above, which is a non-stick, quality piece of bakeware. The real value is that it’s basically a 12-cup popover pan set, and I don’t have one of those yet. (Get ready for some popover recipes, y’all.)

Tips for making the perfect cookie shot

Once you get your mold and make your favorite drop cookie dough (standard chocolate chip is my go-to), you should be able to follow the directions to success. However there are some things I wish I had done better the first time. Here’s what I learned, so you can make sure everything goes well even on the first batch.

Don’t overfill the mold

Two cookie shot glasses on a table.
Left: A cookie shot that had too much dough. Right: A cookie shot with the right amount of dough.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

I got greedy. It happens. I’m not proud of it, but I overfilled my cookie mold. On the bright side, no one’s going to be mad that they got the cookie shot with an extra-cookie-umbrella top. Remember, if there’s a leavening agent in your dough, it will expand. If you’re using the Wilton-style mold (where you fill the cavity and use a plunger), fill it only halfway up the mold. Plunging the indentation in the center drives the dough up the sides, but even then there should be a half-inch or more of space at the top of the mold. Dough in the other style of mold should also sit with a little room to grow.

Make sure they’re cooked crisp

Once I had baked the cookie shots for about 12 minutes, according to the baking directions and the pan instructions, I noticed the plungers were lifted as a result of the baking powder and probably steam. If that happens, just press them down again while the cookie dough is soft and let them cool. They won’t fight you. 

Once I twisted out the plunger, I could tell they were set, but still too flexible for a shot. Once they were cooler, but still warm, I gently twisted the dough in the mold and lifted it out while twisting. I gripped the top edge with four fingers spaced around the rim to prevent breakage. Then I put them on a baking sheet, and baked them at the same temperature for another five to seven minutes. They cooled on a wire rack, and were crispy and stable. I have only used the Wilton mold, so I’m not sure how evenly the silicone molds cook.

Get your hands dirty

A hand holding a cookie shot glass.
Here’s the interior I coated with chocolate using my finger, and another “glass” with sprinkles on the edge.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

In order to hold liquid, the cookie must be coated with chocolate or icing on the inside. At first, I figured I could use a pastry brush to swipe chocolate along the inside of the cookie shot. Silly me. Not only is a pastry brush too big, but you need to ensure there are no holes in your coating. A brush is not dependable for that. 

Use your finger. Melt down any old chocolate or use icing. Scoop with a spoon, or use a piping bag (or zipper bag with the corner clipped), and put a teaspoon or so inside the shot glass. Use your finger to smash chocolate all the way down into the bottom corners and up the sides while you rotate the glass for complete coverage. Hey, you can always wear a food-safe rubber glove.

Let the chocolate cool in the fridge for 10 minutes or so, and the shot glasses are ready to roll. Different cocktails will pair well with different cookie doughs, but you can’t go wrong with dessert shots. Whiskeys pair well with chocolate cookies. Add Baileys, a white Russian, or a mudslide. Try coffee-flavored mocktails, a chilled espresso, or kick it old school with milk. Then you’ve already got your snack in hand. If you can help yourself, I suggest eating it slowly and taking incrementally smaller shots as the night goes on. 

What People are Getting Wrong This Week: The Chiefs Fan Wearing ‘Blackface’

The screenshot above, taken from CBS’s broadcast of Sunday’s football game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs, caused an online controversy after it was posted on Twitter on Sunday night. It seems to depict a double-dose of racism—a white kid in blackface wearing a traditionally native American headdress—and people were (understandably) appalled at such a blatantly racist image. But a look at the context of the photo reveals that this is a photo illustrating the impossibly complex maze of racism in America.

The missing context in a seemingly racist photograph

Given the disturbing history of blackface, it’s not surprising that people would react with anger at the sight of it on national television. But a straight-on picture of the fan reveals that only half of his face is painted black. The other half is red. Red and black: the Chiefs’ colors.

Chiefs fan in headdress and face-paint

Credit: HistoryInc/Twitter

Maybe a white person painting any part of their face black is problematic regardless, but intent is important, and the makeup seems more likely to be part of the tradition of sports fans painting their faces with team colors than a reference to minstrel shows. If he’d been an Eagles’ fan, it would have been green and white, and we wouldn’t be talking about it at all.

But it gets even more complex when you consider the “cultural appropriation” of the feathered headdress. Wearing Native American gear is generally regarded as a shitty thing for a white person to do, but the young fan in question is reportedly Native American himself. His grandfather, reportedly, is Raul Armenta, who sits on the board of the Chumash Tribe in Santa Ynez, Calif. The Chumash didn’t wear feathered warbonnets though—that was a plains Indian thing, a group thousands of miles from the Chumash’s west coast home. See what I mean by complicated? Inter-tribal-cultural-appropriation aside, I think most people would agree that this fan’s attire at the game was perhaps not the most sensitive choice, but it’s far from a hate crime.

How racist is the NFL?

The knee-jerk reaction of many to the fan’s appearance during the game was “The NFL is racist.” True, the NFL has a troubling history of racism, but the NFL isn’t football. The early days of the game itself point to the possibility of a more egalitarian professional football league that never came to be.

Organized football was always racist—this is America after all—but the contributions of both Native and African Americans to the formation of the sport are undeniable, and the early days of collegiate and pro football were less segregated than the NFL later became. Black players and player/coaches were vital to the success of early college football powerhouses like Nebraska, Ohio State, and Cornell beginning in the late 1800s, and Charles W. Follis (aka “The Black Cyclone”) led the Shelby Blues to an 8-1-1 season in 1904 in the professional Ohio League.

It was different down south of course, and this was pre-integration, so there weren’t many African American students at universities to begin with, but football in its early days was seen by some as an exemplification of American equality. Ideally, it was open to all who were courageous enough to step onto the gridiron, no matter who they were. But real life has a way of failing to live up to lofty ideals, especially when things become more structured and racism becomes institutionalized. In other words: Enter the National Football League.

The NFL wasn’t fully segregated to start with. In the two years after the league (then called the American Professional Football Association) was formed in 1920, not only were there a handful of Black players, African American hall-of-fame running back Fritz Pollard was the head coach of the Akron Pros. But even though the NFL’s segregation was never explicit, it may as well have been. A “gentleman’s agreement” among team owners in the mid 1920s limited the number of Black players allowed to play in the league, and by 1934, there were no African American players left in the NFL. It wasn’t until 1947 that the league was reintegrated.

These days, the NFL owns up publicly to its racist past, and proudly proclaims its intention to “End Racism” on end zones and team uniforms, but how they’re actually going about the racism-ending is unclear. It is clear that race isn’t a barrier to entry in the NFL any longer, nor is it a barrier to stardom—Patrick Mahomes is a household name. But on the other hand, there’s the dual attorneys-general investigation of the league for racial, sexual, and ageist discrimination, the Colin Kapernick situation, and on and on. There’s also the league’s relationship with Native Americans.

Native Americans and football

Native Americans have been intertwined with football since the game began, and not as racist mascots. Jim Thorpe, a member of Sac and Fox Nation did more to popularize football in its early days than just about anyone. Thorpe lead the Canton Bulldogs to unofficial professional world championships in 1916, 1917, and 1919. Thorpe cut his football teeth on Glenn “Pop” Warner’s squad, the Indians, a team of Native Americans from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. If you like the forward pass, you can thank the Carlisle Indians, who perfected the play, leading to a 14 year record of 167–88–13 playing against well-funded college teams like Yale and Princeton. But again, it’s complicated: the Carlisle School may have had a great football squad, but the institution’s focus on assimilation as an antidote to segregation was part of the US’s ongoing cultural genocide against Native people, and the football program could be seen as part of that.

Native Americans were ultimately “thanked” for their contributions to football with organizations like the Washington Redskins, who clung to their racist name until 2020, long passed the point that any “but it was a different time” arguments had any merit.

As for the K.C. Chiefs, the team is named for H. Roe “Chief” Bartle, the mayor who brought pro football to Kansas City in 1960, so the squad’s name isn’t based on Native Americans. But the organization definitely used (and uses) harmful, stereotypical Native American imagery heavily for promotion. So do the fans; just look at the “Tomahawk Chop.”

In response to accusations of insensitivity, in 2014 the Chiefs initiated a dialogue with the American Indian Community Working Group, a collection of leaders from American Indian communities around Kansas City, and took many of their suggestions on how to seem less bigoted and dial down the cultural appropriation. One of the rules the Chiefs say they adopted is “the outright banning of headdresses and face paint at the stadium on gameday.” I guess they aren’t too strict about that one.