Short

Learn how to efficiently pack a suitcase, and maybe cry while you’re at it. This touching stop-motion short, based on a piece of flash fiction by author Ron Koertge, is about family and loss and how to fit everything into your luggage. Read more...

There is no such thing as a “small” on a Starbucks menu. The sizes, as everyone who’s listened to a bad stand-up comedy show knows, are tall, grande, and venti. Starbucks does offer a small; there’s just so little demand for it that they don’t put it on the m…

If you’re an avid runner and a dog parent, the idea of hitching your four-legged friend up to his leash and pounding the pavement together might sound like a lot of fun. And it can be! Plus, it’s a good way for you both to get some exercise and stay fit – whi…

Chances are good when you request a new passport or a passport renewal you’re doing it because you have a trip on the horizon. If you’re me, a trip that’s coming up pretty soon. Read more...

Over at the New York Times, a frustrated employee shared their story of a lazy, “do-nothing” colleague with the Ethicist. “She frequently takes lunch breaks, comes in later than her start time and is not actually working on her ‘work from home’ day,” they wr…

Here’s an exciting development that most folks (myself included) probably never thought would happen: You can now stream Apple Music directly to Google Chromecast from an Android device. Read more...

Long before we were talking to AI assistants on smart devices, we had Clippy—the cheery, animated paperclip mascot of Microsoft Office, who’s definitely-not-at-all-annoying tips and contextual actions “helped” users navigate Word, Excel, and the rest of the O…

I’ve tried Evernote and Scrivener, paper planners and Moleskines, and seemingly every app under the sun to capture my ideas. But I keep coming back to one simple, underrated tool to catch those half-baked ideas and thoughts that don’t seem to fit in anywhere …

Professional communication includes a lot of thanks. It’s a go-to closing for emails, even those that don’t require action from the recipient. But when’s the last time you sat down outside of that 37-message-long email thread and wrote a thank you note to a c…

Hi Salty, I got engaged last week, and my friends took me out for drinks at a nice cocktail bar to celebrate. The bartender overhead our congratulatory toast and then when I got my bill, I saw he’d comped my first drink. I tipped extra, but not enough to cov…

The iPhone has a built-in blocking feature, but have you ever wondered what exactly happens when you block someone ? Read more...

The next time you receive a gift card, don’t save it for a special occasion—and don’t toss it in a drawer and forget about it. Use your card as soon as possible, because otherwise you’re providing the company with an interest-free loan. Read more...

Everyone should be listening to an audio drama podcast—the kind of podcast that plays out like theater or movies or TV. Listening to podcasts without any audio dramas like watching TV without ever trying Game of Thrones or Arrested Development or Orange Is th…

Meeting new people can be tricky, or even anxiety-inducing. Of course, you want to make a good first impression and come across as likable as possible. If turning on the charm is something you struggle with, here are the most important strategies for instantl…

Radio show archives are hard to find; when they’re available at all, it’s often in awkward formats. (To get my hands on the radio sitcom Cabin Pressure, I had to buy one season as a music album and another as an audiobook.) You can find some shows on the Inte…

On Monday, an Oklahoma judge ordered drugmaker Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its involvement in the ongoing opioid crisis—a trial that’s been referred to as a “landmark” case. Because of this suit, we might very well see other pharmaceutical c…

On Wednesday night, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand officially dropped out of the Presidential race, joining Jay Inslee and John Hickenlooper in calling it quits ahead of the debates. After Wednesday’s deadline, just 10 candidates have qualified for the d…

When you decide to work towards a big financial goal, getting motivated at the start comes naturally. You’re excited to start chipping away. When you’re near the end of your money marathon, you get reinvigorated and start thinking of the endless possibility o…

We know that food goes bad, but what about stuff like lotion, conditioner and mascara? Even though they may seem to last a long time—and often end up sitting on shelves for years — toiletries do actually come with expiration dates. Here’s what you need to kno…

On a recent Reddit thread, u/brunoflourenco shared their experience with an Airbnb listing in London—which turned out to be a fake. “We get there, knock on the door, the guy comes out and looks really confused,” they wrote. “We tell him that we are the Airbnb…