Monday, 25 October 2021

Hashtag Generator for Instagram? Heres a 2021 Guide (Tool & Lists Included)

Struggling to find the #perfect hashtag for your Instagram post?

That’s #relatable!

Most content creators on Instagram are in the same boat.

But there’s a quick way to fix this.

I’m about to show you how to find Instagram hashtags that will boost engagement and connect your posts with the #perfect audience.

So #followme to #instagood !!!

Instagram Hashtag Generator: Full Guide, FREE Tool & Lists of Hashtags

In this post I’ll show you how to find and use the best Instagram hashtags — no matter what niche you’re in!

And yes, the free tool and lists of popular hashtags are below!

In fact, I’ve added a glossary of 999+ hashtags below, so you have instant access to good hashtags for your next post.

But first… let’s back up and define what hashtags are and the different categories of hashtags.

Table of Contents

What is an Instagram hashtag?

Let’s start with the basics.

What’s a hashtag?

A hashtag is a word or a group of words beginning with a # sign.

If you’re American, you might call this a pound or number sign. Whereas other countries in the world refer to this (#) to as a ‘Hash’ symbol.

Hashtags basically function as keywords. You can click them to see more posts about the keyword.

Twitter was the first social media platform to introduce hashtags in 2007. Since then, many other social platforms have adopted them.

Now let’s look at the process of creating hashtags.

How do you add hashtags on Instagram?

Again, hashtags allow you to categorize Instagram posts into different buckets.

Here’s an example:

Say you want to see posts related to digital marketing. No problem. Just click in the search bar on Instagram and type in #digitalmarketing.

The search suggestions will supply you with a list of related hashtags.

When you click enter on #digitalmarketing, you get a page filled with Instagram posts about digital marketing:

You can use any term as a hashtag and search to get relevant results.

If you’re a digital marketer and want to make sure your posts show in this feed, you just need to add the hashtag “#digitalmarketer” to your post.

Then your post will automatically end up in this feed and be visible to anyone who searches the hashtag — or clicks the hashtag on another post

Keep in mind: it’s difficult to get seen via generic or highly competitive hashtags.

How to make finding hashtags (even more) simple

Think of the Instagram search bar as ‘Google’ and each hashtag page as a “Search engine results page”.

Just like Google, the posts on a hashtag’s results page depend on a number of factors, including:

  1. Quality of posts
  2. Number of likes, comments, shares and saves
  3. Number of followers of the account

…and other factors determined by Instagram’s algorithms.

Choosing the right hashtags has NO advantage when your posts aren’t good quality.

You’ll only gain juice out of your hashtags when your Instagram posts STAND OUT from the crowd.

You can use a professional tool or a free Instagram post maker to help you create stunning Instagram posts in minutes.

Apart from quality posts and the right hashtags, you also need to focus on your post captions.

Add a pinch of consistency and you’ll get solid engagement on all of your Instagram posts over time.

9 different types of Instagram hashtags

Today, Instagram boasts over a BILLION active users.

As a result, hashtags have grown in number too — and with that high quantity comes a huge variety.

So let’s take a look at the different types of hashtags used on Instagram.

1: Branded hashtags

Branded hashtags feature names of your organization, product or service.

Such hashtags are used every time you make a post about your social media handles.

Some examples of branded hashtags are #nike, #picmaker, #Instagram, #LouisVuitton, etc.

Here’s an example of Louis Vuitton using their branded hashtag on one of their posts, featuring a member of the South Korean boy band, BTS.

NOTE: #BTS is also another branded hashtag on this post.

2. Hashtags related to a product or service

This category is a subset of the first category.

Although your products and services are offered by your brand, you can create separate categories for them too.

Sometimes you can also choose already available categories for products and services.

For example, some of the product hashtags from Nike could be #shoes, #whiteshoes, #whitesneakers, etc.

3. Community hashtags

This is a great way to index your posts among already well-established hashtags or communities on Instagram.

For example, if you’re a musician, you can use hashtags like ‘#musiciansofInstagram’ to index your post among the community on international musicians.

Let’s go a step further and assume that you’re a musician in New York.

You could also use a hashtag like ‘#musiciansofny’ to index your post on that page.

The other way brands can use this is by developing their own hashtag.

Mindvalley, the brainchild of Vishen Lakhiani, uses community hashtags on all of its Instagram posts.

Here are some community hashtags they consistently use on their posts.

#mindvalleycommunity

#mindvalleytribe

4. Custom campaign hashtags

These are custom hashtags created to track campaigns run by brands on Instagram.

One example of this is #nationafriedchickenday by KFC.

Although this was not their brand hashtag, it was highly relatable to their core offering — fried chicken.

They used the hashtag to their benefit on all their Twitter and Instagram posts.

Now, that’s what we call smart usage of hashtags!

On the other hand, Coca-Cola inserted #shareacoke into their famous campaign.

5. Location hashtags

These hashtags are based on certain locations in the world.

It can be anything like #newyork, #california, #italy, #india.

6. Event hashtags

These are hashtags created for events and conferences organized around the world.

One good example of event hashtags is the ‘#olympics’ used during the Olympics. Based on the country in which they are hosted, these hashtags can be further split into multiple categories.

A good example is the upcoming Tokyo olympics.

The hashtag‘#tokyoolympics’ is already trending even though the event is more than two months away (at the time of this being written).

7. Day-based hashtags

There is a list of hashtags that are based on days of the week.

Even though most people reject these hashtags, one look at their popularity may nudge you to think otherwise.

Here’s a small list of the hashtags for Monday.

Here’s another example of hashtags for Tuesday.

With day-based hashtags, your opportunities are endless.

8. Month-based hashtags

After day-based hashtags, we have month-based hashtags.

Although each variant can only be used once in a batch of 30 days in a year, it’s still beneficial.

It depends on how you apply your creativity to use these hashtags on your Instagram posts.

Here’s an example of all the hashtags that are based on ‘#january’

9. Special day hashtags

These hashtags are based on a special day in a year.

These could be anything like International Earth Day, April Fool’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, and even National Underwear Day. (Yes, we’ve got a special day to celebrate underwear at a national level!)

Here is an example of ‘#earthday’ used by Pinterest on one of their posts.

Another way to categorize Instagram hashtags

Apart from the above-mentioned way of categorization, here’s one more way to categorize Instagram hashtags.

While that looks at the function and internal meaning of a hashtag, here’s how you can do it differently.

1. High competition Instagram hashtags

Instagram hashtags that have more than 250,000 posts fall into the category of high-competition Instagram hashtags.

These are generic hashtags like #digitalmarketing, #marketing, and #sales.

Here’s an example page of a high competition Instagram hashtag:

This page has more than 15,549,561 posts, which puts it at the top of the competition.

2. Medium-competition Instagram hashtags

Medium competition hashtags are in the range of 85,000 to 250,000 posts.

#digitalmarketingtip is a good example of a medium-competition Instagram hashtag.

3. Low-competition Instagram hashtags

Any hashtag that has less than 85,000 posts is a low-competition hashtag.

#digitalmarketingspecialist is a good example of a low-competition Instagram hashtag.

Newbies on Instagram can try to compete for such low-hanging fruit (assuming their posts are good enough).

The best Instagram hashtag generator tool for finding hashtags

Below is the FREE hashtag generator tool! Enjoy and let us know how it works for you in the comments.

Here’s how to get started:

Step 1: Log onto All-hashtag.com

You can use this link to visit the website: all-hashtag.com.

Step 2: Enter your core topic

Once you are on the website, click on the ‘Generator’ tab.

You will land on the Instagram Hashtag generator page.

On this page, enter your core topics into the search bar:

For example, if your search topic is sales, you can enter “sales” in the search bar and click enter.

You will land on the results page for your search query.

Step 3: Copy the hashtags and paste them into a Google sheet

You can copy these results and paste them in your Google sheet.

Here’s how we created a Google sheet of relevant hashtags for our reference.

Step 4: Use different sets of hashtags for different posts

Once you have collected these hashtags, mix them up and use them in different posts.

The more hashtags you use, the more your ‘test set’ will increase over time.

Step 5: Test and analyze your results

Once you have put out posts with different hashtags, go to Instagram analytics and check the traffic you are getting from each set.

There are quite a few tried and tested ways to check the reach of hashtags on all your posts.

You can analyze your hashtag reach using Instagram’s built-in analytics tool.

All you need to do is set up an Instagram business account and you will be good to go.

The top Instagram hashtags in 17 categories

Link to popular Instagram hashtags in 17 categories (Google sheet)

You can use this Google sheet to get various hashtags for your Instagram posts.

Here’s a breakdown of all the categories inside this Google sheet, along with the top 25 hashtags from each category.

Tab 1: Top 99 hashtags of 2021

Here’s the top 25:

#follow4follow #amazing #sexy #red #model #design #friends #insta #bestoftheday #selfie #likeforlike #instagram #italy #paris #ootd #photographer #canon #architecture #follow #night #training #followforfollow #l4l #food #goals

Click this image to see the rest:

top 99 hashtags of 2021

Tab 2: Top 100 hashtags of all time

Here’s the top 25:

#love #instagood #fashion #photooftheday #beautiful #art #photography #happy #picoftheday #cute #follow #tbt #followme #nature #like4like #travel #instagram #style #repost #summer #instadaily #selfie #me #friends #fitness

Click this image to see the rest:

Tab 3: Top hashtags for Sales, Real Estate, Marketing, Digital Marketing

Sales top 25:

#sales #salesman #Salesforce #salestraining #salesfunnel #salestips #salesteam #SalesLife #salescoach #salesperson #salesmanager #salesk2 #salesrep #salesalesale #salespeople #salesjobs #saleswoman #salestrainer #salesmen #salespromotiongirl #salesfunnels #salesagent #salespro #salesdevelopment #salesleads

Real Estate top 25:

#realestate #realestateagent #RealEstateInvestor #realestatelife #realestateinvesting #realestatephotography  #RealEstateBroker #realestatemarketing #realestateagents #realestatesales #realestateforsale #realestateexperts #realestateinvestment #Realestatemiami #realestatephotographer #realestateinvestors #realestatenews #realestatedevelopment #RealEstateTips #realestateagency #realestategoals #realestatemarket #realestatedeveloper #realestatephotos #realestatephoto

Marketing top 25:

#marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #marketingonline #marketingstrategy #marketing101 #marketingagency #marketingplan #marketingsocial #marketingmultinivel #marketingtools #marketingteam #marketinglife #marketingdeconteudo #marketingguru #marketingderede #MarketingIdeas #marketingcoach #marketingconsultant #MarketingStrategies #marketingtip #marketingadvice  #marketingblog #marketingmanagement #marketingautomation

Digital Marketing top 25:

#digitalmarketing #digitalmarketingagency #digitalmarketingtips #digitalmarketingstrategy #digitalmarketingtraining #digitalmarketingstrategist #digitalmarketingtools #digitalmarketingconsultant #digitalmarketingexpert #DigitalMarketingThailand #digitalmarketingservices #digitalmarketinglife #digitalmarketingplan #digitalmarketingstrategies #digitalmarketingtip #digitalmarketingturistico #digitalmarketingcompany #digitalmarketingdubai #digitalmarketingblog #DigitalMarketingConsultants #digitalmarketingpanama #digitalmarketingblueprint #DigitalMarketingBusiness #digitalmarketingcourse #digitalmarketingnigeria

Click this image to see the rest:

Tab 4: Top hashtags for Finance, Fitness, Health, Travel

Finance top 25:

#finance#finances #financememes #financegod #financeandfelony #financeiro #financetips #financemarket #financeira #financebroker #financeworld #financecoach #financereading #financemanager #financefreedom #financefriday #financeavailable #financeblogger #financecars #FinanceGoals #financemajor #Financement #financeaccounting #financenews #financequotes

Fitness top 25:

#fitness #fitnessmotivation #fitnessmodel #fitnessaddict #fitnessgirl #fitnessjourney #fitnesslifestyle #fitnesslife #fitnessfreak #fitnessgoals #fitnessgear #fitnessfood #fitnessinspiration #fitnessgirls #fitnessbody #fitnesswomen #fitnessblogger #fitnessmodels #fitnesscoach #fitnessphysique #fitnessmom #FitnessTrainer #fitnesslover #fitnessaddicted #fitnessfreaks

Health top 25:

#healthy #health #healthyfood #healthylifestyle #healthychoices #HealthyEating #healthyliving #healthylife #healthybreakfast #healthyhair #healthybody #healthcare #healthiswealth #healthcoach #healthymind #healthyeats #HealthyDiet #healthandfitness #healthyrecipe s#healthandwellness #healthyskin #healthymom #healthfood #healthysnack #healthyhabits

Travel top 25:

#travel #Travelgram #traveling #Travelphotography #travelling #travelblogger #traveler #traveller #travelingram #traveltheworld #travelblog #travels #traveladdict #travellife #travelphoto #travelpics #traveldiaries #travelbug #TravelAwesome #travelpic #travelers #travelstoke #travelgirl #traveldiary #traveldeeper

Click this image to see the rest:

Tab 5: Top hashtags for Music, Love, Friends, Photography

Music top 25:

#music #musician #musica #musically #musicvideo #musical #musicislife #musicians #musicproducer #musiclife#MusicLover #musicallyapp #musicproduction #musicfestival #musicismylife #musicphotography #musicstudio #musicindustry #musiclovers #musicianlife #musicals #musicartist #musicvideos #musicaly #musicaltheatre

Love top 25:

#love #lovely #Loveit #loveyourself #lovelife #lovemyjob #lovequotes #loveyou #lover #loveher #lovehim #lovers# lovedogs #loveislove #lovefood #lovemylife #lovethem #Lovestory #lovewhatyoudo #lovecats #lovepuppies #lovenature #lovethissong #lovewins #loveofmylife

Friends top 25:

#friends #friendship #friendshipgoals #friendsforever #friendships #friendsforlife #friendstime #friendsnotfood #friendshipquotes #friendswithbenefit #FriendsLove #friendsinperson #friendsgiving #friendslikefamily #friendstrip #friendshipismagic #friendshipbracelet #friendsandfamily #friendstvshow #friendsday #friendsallovertheworld #friendsinbnw #friends4ever #friends4life #friendsarefamily

Photography top 25:

#photography #photographylovers #photographysouls #photographyeveryday #photographyislife #photographylover #photographyislifee #photographylife #photographyart #photographyoftheday #photographyy #photographylove #photographyaddict #photographyskills #photographybook #photographyprops #photographydaily #photographyisart #photographyaccount  #photographystudio #photographyday #photographynature #photographysoul  #photographystudent #photographyworkshop

Click this image to see the rest:

7 Instagram hashtag mistakes you should avoid

Mistake #1: Keeping your profile private

A private profile is one of the worst things you can do for your hashtag strategy.

If your profile is private, Instagram won’t index your posts on any hashtag pages.

Let’s assume that you have included the following hashtags on your post: #marketing, #sales, #future.

Instagram will only index your posts on the following hashtag pages if your profile is public.

Here’s an example of a public profile.

With a public profile, you can view all it’s contents even if you aren’t following it.

Now, here’s an example of a private profile:

Even if this account uses 100 different hashtags on all their posts, it wouldn’t be indexed on the hashtag pages.

Mistake #2: Using banned hashtags on Instagram

Instagram has a number of banned hashtags you should stay away from.

These hashtags are banned because Instagram users have termed them to be spammy or irrelevant.

One rule of thumb is to insert your hashtag into the “Instagram search bar” and see if it has been flagged.

For example, you might think that ‘#alone’ is completely harmless.

But once you run a search on Instagram, you will find that this hashtag has been flagged for inappropriate use.

Adding too many banned hashtags on your profile , may flag your profile as spammy.

Mistake #3: Being too generic with your hashtag approach

Hashtags like #digitalmarketing, #sales, and #marketing are QUITE generic.

These hashtags have a lot of followers and posts.

But, they also have strong competition at the top.

A good rule of thumb is to niche down and include hashtags that are highly relevant to your post.

Here’s an example of how Dain Walker, a Melbourne-based brand strategist uses a niche hashtag to his benefit.

Apart from generic hashtags like #marketing, #branding, Dain has also included low competition hashtags like #markeitngtips and #brandingdesign.

It’s a solid strategy to have a mix of hashtags that are high competition — as well as low on competition.

Mistake #4: Being generic with your Instagram posts in general

A common mistake Instagram content creators make is being highly generic with their Instagram posts. Instagram is crowded and highly competitive.

If you’d like to be successful on Instagram, stick to a niche and post content related to that. Here are some examples:

Dain Walker sticks to posts related to branding, digital marketing, and content marketing.

Marcus Filly is a fitness trainer and sticks only to content related to fitness.

Don’t be generic with your content strategy on Instagram.

Pick a niche or an industry — and stick to it.

That’s the only way to grow in a highly competitive platform.

Mistake #5: Not having a consistent posting schedule

Creating content on a consistent basis is hard.

Coming up with new ideas every single day is a challenge.

That’s when social media management tools like Post Planner come in handy.

It allows you to follow top accounts in your niche and generate ideas from it.

You can also use tools like Post Planner to plan posts beforehand and reshare old posts when you’re running out of ideas.

If you’re serious about your social media strategy, tools like Post Planner are a solid investment.

Mistake #6: Not using location-based hashtags

Location-based hashtags can be really helpful for your reach.

It’s true for businesses that operate on a local or regional level.

For example, if you’re a florist in New York, you can include hashtags like “#florist, #floristsofInstagram, #florist life”.

Since you’re a local business operating in New York, you can also include hashtags like “#newyork, #newyorkcity, #newyorkcity_Instagram” etc.

Add a mix of location hashtags to get the extra reach on your Instagram posts.

Mistake #7: Adding irrelevant hashtags

The most common (and ANNOYING) mistake on all social media platforms?

Spamming.

Instagram gives you the freedom to add 30 hashtags on every post.

But if you’re unable to come up with 30 hashtags, you shouldn’t add irrelevant hashtags.

Many social media marketers recommend not using more than 11 hashtags per post — to avoid appearing spammy.

Don’t add more hashtags and reduce your post relevancy.

By adding irrelevant hashtags, you risk spamming your Instagram account.

Do you have a favorite hashtag for YOUR industry? Please let us know about it in the comments below!

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Nows the Time to Prep Your Oven for Thanksgiving



Image for article titled Now's the Time to Prep Your Oven for Thanksgiving
Photo: Deeanna Williams (Shutterstock)

Fortune may favor the bold, but Thanksgiving favors the prepared. Prepping your oven for Turkey Day in the last week of October may seem like overkill, but repairmen can be hard to schedule (getting you out to your home can take weeks!), and it’s best to identify any oven issues well ahead of time so as not to add to your peak holiday stress. Check your oven for potential issues now, and you’ll have plenty of time to fix them before pie baking season.

Make sure it’s not lying with an oven thermometer

First, make sure your oven isn’t a lying liar that lies. Baking things is something of a trust exercise: You press some buttons to set the temperature, the oven tells you when it has reached that temperature, and you put the food in the oven, never questioning the veracity of the appliance’s claim.

Being off by a few degrees isn’t the biggest deal, especially if all you’re doing is roasting vegetables and baking potatoes. But larger temperature discrepancies can cause problems, especially with more finicky baking projects, dishes with long cook times (like the giant ceremonial bird), and new recipes.

Checking the accuracy of your oven’s temperature display is very easy: Get an oven thermometer and use it. Your oven’s internal thermometer only reads the temp of the location where it was installed, usually towards the back or in the front. Food, as you know, doesn’t get cooked in the back or front of the oven—it gets cooked in the center. So grab an external thermometer and place it there. (Brand-wise, Cook’s Illustrated recommends this basic, very cheap dial face model, but you can also use a digital probe model, like this one from Thermoworks.)

Set your thermometer (or thermometer probe) in the center of your oven and set the temperature to 350℉. Once the oven says it’s heated to the target temperature, check your thermometer and write the actual reading down. Repeat every 15 minutes for two hours, then take the average by adding all the readings together and dividing that sum by the number of readings—that’s your oven temperature. (Averaging will account for any fluctuations caused by cycling, i.e., your oven turning off and on to maintain the target temp.)

If your oven has been lying all along, you can set it straight by adjusting your oven’s temperature dial. The steps involved will be slightly different for every make and model of oven, so check your owner’s manual. (ThermPro has an outline for the procedure here, but I cannot guarantee it’s geared to the oven in your kitchen.)

Check for hot spots with coconut and bread

Even if your oven is giving accurate temperature readouts, it’s unlikely the whole oven is the exact same temp in every single spot. Most ovens have hot spots and cold spots, and you can map them using shredded coconut.

To make a map, set your oven to 350℉ and scatter some shredded coconut on a sheet pan in an even layer. Place the sheet pan in the oven, and take note of which spots brown the fastest (and the slowest).

If you want to map your broiler in a similar fashion, grab a bunch of sliced bread, lay it out on a sheet pan (or directly on the rack) and give the slices a broil, taking note of which pieces brown the fastest.

Consult the maps as needed to prevent your delicious dishes from overcooking, undercooking, or flat-out burning

Clean the damn thing

If you do nothing else to prepare your oven for Thanksgiving, at least give it a deep clean. Old, stuck-on food and grimy grease spots can smoke or catch fire and ruin your food (and—in some extreme cases—your entire oven), so get rid of them.

The self-cleaning function can be used sparingly to incinerate built-up gunk (make sure all grease is wiped out first so you don’t start a grease fire), but if yours doesn’t have one of those, or you don’t want to use it, you can get the job done with ammonia, dish soap, and baking soda. (Watch the above video to learn how.)

 

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You probably shouldn’t eat cicadas if you’re allergic to shellfish

Brood X is back and ready for action. After a 17-year nap, the cicadas of the Eastern US have emerged to scream, mate, and perhaps pick up a fungus that turns them into “horror movie sex bots.” While some people have been dreading the return of the screeching multitudes, others have eagerly awaited the brood with tasty bug recipes in hand. But before you run to the nearest cicada cookout, be aware that you’ll probably want to avoid these crunchy morsels if you have a shellfish allergy.

If you’re allergic to shellfish, it’s entirely possible that you’ll have a reaction to eating certain insects. After all, what are shrimps and lobsters but bugs of the sea? Seriously, in the colonial era lobsters were only food for poor and incarcerated people because they were seen as bottom-dwelling roaches rather than a delicacy.

Like their ocean-based cousins, cicadas are arthropods. Their bodies contain similar proteins, which is what the body overreacts to in an allergic response. Their chitinous exoskeletons can also irritate your (or your pet’s) gut in larger quantities, even if you’re not allergic. But generally, insects are a perfectly good source of nutrition that are eaten around the world and might be the future of food. So if you’ve never had a problem with seafood, go ahead and chow down while the buffet is still open.

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Sunday, 24 October 2021

Googles New Nest Hub Beats Wearing a Sleep Tracker to Bed

Over the past year, I’ve heavily relied on Google’s Nest Hub Max in the kitchen. This 10-inch smart display has helped me remember important ingredients while I cooked, and it’s entertained me with music as I waited for the water to boil. I’ve enjoyed my time with it so much that when Google unveiled a new version of its 7-inch Nest Hub, I was excited to see if bringing it into my bedroom could upgrade my sleep too.

Sleep Sensing is the hot new feature in Google’s smaller smart display. As the name suggests, it can monitor your sleep—without the need for a camera—and offers suggestions to improve sleep quality. I love pulling my weighted blanket over me and relaxing for the night, but sleep doesn’t always come easy. I toss and turn, my allergies block my nose from breathing normally, and my mind recalls an awkward memory from years past. 

After more than a month with the second-generation Nest Hub on my nightstand, I can’t say I’ve slept any better, but it has enlightened me to a few sleep habits I wasn’t aware of.

Much of the Same

Google Nest Hub on nightstand
Photograph: Google

The new Nest Hub can do everything its predecessor could do. That includes playing movies and music, walking you through recipes, cycling through your photos, controlling smart home devices, and answering all your Google Search queries. There’s not much new in this department, except for the various Assistant-related updates Google typically rolls out in a year.

Visually, you’ll hardly notice a difference. It comes in a few new colors, like “mist,” a pale blue, and Google says it’s made of 54 percent recycled plastic. If you’ve tried other Google smart displays, you know exactly what you’re getting here. 

The first Nest Hub, originally called the Google Home Hub, didn’t have a camera, and neither does the new one; I like that. I never use the video chat function on my Nest Hub Max, though it can be useful if you already use Duo, Google’s default video chat app on Android phones. But considering this Nest Hub is meant for the bedroom, one of the most private places of the home, I’m glad the camera didn’t make an appearance.  

There are now three far-field microphones instead of two, and I haven’t had any issues with it picking up my commands. The speaker has been slightly improved as well, and for something that sits on the nightstand, it’s pretty good! But it’s not going to be my first choice for DJing a party.

The 7-inch screen itself isn’t any different, and unfortunately, performance hasn’t improved all that much either over the first-gen model. It always takes a second or two to trigger actions after I’ve tapped the screen. This is a problem with the larger Nest Hub Max as well. They’re all just a bit laggy. It’s still just as compact as before though. It should easily fit on most bedside tables with room for other items like your phone and a glass of water.  

Sleep Tight

Google Nest Hub
Photograph: Google

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Apple iMac M1 review: The ideal portable desktop

Image Credit: Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Apple’s M1 processor also makes the iMac responsive in little ways. It wakes up almost instantly from sleep mode and gets to the desktop in around 25 seconds from a cold start, which is dramatically faster than any Intel Mac I’ve ever used. Basically, all of the zippiness I appreciate from the M1 MacBooks is here. The iMac also had no trouble handling any of the games on Apple Arcade, like The Pathless and The Last Campfire. But given that those games already run smoothly on the iPhone and iPad, it’s not a huge surprise to see them running well on a more powerful desktop. You’ll still hear some fan noise while playing games, by the way, but at least it’s more of a gentle whir, rather than the roar of a jet engine.

While the slim new design and powerful processor are nice, the iMac’s stunning 23.5-inch, 4.5K Retina Display is its true centerpiece. It covers the full DCI-P3 gamut, which means it can display over a billion colors. Take that together with a surprisingly high 500 nits of brightness — more than many gaming laptops — and the iMac’s screen can make just about anything pop. It’s one of those displays that makes high-resolution photos feel three-dimensional. Video also looks fantastic, especially if you’re watching something with a huge color palette. While the iMac doesn’t support HDR, its sheer brightness and color depth almost makes it seem like it does.

This isn’t visible at first glance, but Apple also finally managed to squeeze in a 1080p webcam in a Mac. It’s not quite as sharp as my Logitech Streamcam, but it’s certainly a huge upgrade over Apple’s notoriously crummy computer cameras.

Apple iMac M1 24-inch

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Despite its thin case, the iMac sports a shockingly capable sound system. With its six speakers and force canceling woofers, it did an admirable job of reproducing the diverse instruments and percussive beats from Flying Lotus’s Yasuke soundtrack. And it captured the dreamy melody of Thundercat’s “Fair Chance” without missing a beat. The iMac definitely won’t replace an inexpensive pair of bookshelf speakers, but it’s more than adequate for a personal jam session. It can fill a room with sound without any distortion, and it can even handle a decent amount of bass. There’s also Dolby Atmos support, which worked so well while watching John Wick, I swore there were speakers right behind me.

The iMac’s multimedia prowess was another reason I was so tempted to bring it all around my home. I put it on the kitchen counter to serve up recipes, watch videos and listen to music as I made dinner. I took it out of my basement office and into a guest bedroom because it had better natural light, which always helps me write. It’s so easy to move around, thanks to its single magnetic power cable, you probably won’t think twice about moving it into your living room to help your kid with homework. The iMac is practically built to be a communal computer, the sort of thing anyone can hop on to handle a bit of work (or play).

It’s also far easier to swap between users on this iMac, thanks to its Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. After registering your family’s fingerprints, they can get into their accounts just by touching the sensor. That’s also helpful in ways I didn’t expect on a desktop. Just like on iOS devices and MacBooks, you can use Touch ID to securely authenticate App Store purchases. Honestly, it’s surprising it took so long for Apple to bring this feature to iMacs.

Apple iMac M1 24-inch

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

When it comes to typing, though, the Magic Keyboard still has that same love-it-or-hate-it design. It took me a while to get used to its shallow keys, and it’s a bit too compact for me to type comfortably. I’ve never really looked to Mac desktops for ergonomics, though. That’s particularly true for the Magic Mouse, which still feels too light and flat. Maybe I’m too spoiled by Logitech’s MX Master mouse lineup, but it feels weird to have nothing to rest my palm on. I had a better time with the Magic Trackpad, which is basically an enormous version of what you’d find on the MacBook. Using it just felt more natural than the Magic Mouse. You’ll have to shell out an additional $50 to get the Magic Trackpad, or you nab both for $129.

While I probably sound entirely head over heels, there’s still plenty to criticize with the new iMacs. For one, the port situation is messy. The $1,299 entry-level model only comes with two USB-C ports. To get four, you’ll have to step up to the $1,499 model with a more powerful 8-core GPU. That pricier model also has an Ethernet port embedded in its power brick, which the cheaper iMac lacks. I realize Apple held off on removing USB Type-A ports on the iMacs for a while, but I still miss them. Now your only choice is to clutter your desk with dongles and USB hubs if you want to connect older devices. The same is true if you want to use SD cards, which irks me to no end.

Apple iMac M1 24-inch

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

If you can live with those issues, though, the M1 iMac is an incredibly compelling all-in-one computer. As usual, though, be prepared to pay a premium. If you want 512GB of storage, you’ll have to jump to the most expensive $1,699 model. Want 16GB of RAM? Slap on another $200. Need more storage? That’s an additional $200 for a 1TB drive, or $600 for a 2TB model. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many strong PC alternatives. If you’re looking for something larger, HP’s 34-inch Envy all-in-one is solid, but that’s stuck with aging Intel chips.

Really, then, if you’re in the market for a desktop, but don’t want to deal with the cable mess of a PC and monitor, the iMac practically stands alone. It’s faster than ever, and it can fit into almost any nook in your home. It’s basically the family computer, re-invented.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Saturday, 23 October 2021

No Mans Sky is getting a major visual upgrade

Hello Games has made a habit of dropping massive updates for No Man’s Sky fairly frequently. The 3.5 patch, which is called Prisms, brings a visual overhaul to the space exploration sim along with some gameplay changes. The update adds new texture effects, biome detail, skies, reflections and warp effects, along with enhanced lighting, rain and particle effects.

There’s support for screen space reflection on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One X. Hello Games says the tech brings reflective surfaces and improved lighting quality to many locations, including the Space Anomaly, space stations, Atlas stations, freighter hangars and derelict freighters.

The game now harnesses colored and directional volumetric lighting to add some atmosphere, including to Sentinel drone searchlights and spaceship headlights as well as the glow of bioluminescent flora. The Exosuit torch, meanwhile, now has dynamic brightness.

Caves and subterranean biomes have improved lighting and more detailed and diverse environments, while parallax occlusion mapping technology brings increased depth and definition to flat surfaces. You can also expect to see refractions and more stars in space and night skies.

No Man's Sky

Hello Games

NVIDIA recently announced support for its DLSS technology in No Man’s Sky, including when playing in virtual reality. The patch enables the feature for PC users with a compatible RTX graphics card.

As for the gameplay, there’s a wider range of creatures that you can adopt as rideable pets, including flying critters. Photo mode has enhanced depth-of-field quality and improved controls, including manual control over bloom settings. Tracks you create with the Bytebeat Synthesizer can be added to a library and used as a custom soundtrack while you explore. You can share your creations with other players as well.

A new terminal in the Space Anomaly’s blueprint research area offers recipes for crafting if you fork over enough nanites, one of the currencies in No Man’s Sky. There are some quality of life upgrades, too, including an icon that appears when items are added to an inventory. The Prisms update is available on all platforms starting today.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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These Common Foods Are Toxic to Dogs

 

Our pets are at our mercy, so it’s up to us to make sure they’re safe. This can be tough sometimes, because a lot of seemingly harmless everyday foods can be toxic to our animals—especially dogs, who can’t tell the difference between a tasty snack and a one-way ticket to the emergency vet.

Your best bet is probably to assume that any human food has the potential to be hazardous to your pet, but this graphic from the Bark is a handy guide for the most common foods they might encounter:

Some of these are pretty surprising. For example, grapes (and raisins) seem harmless enough, and your dog might scarf them right up—but unfortunately, both fresh and dried grapes can cause acute kidney failure. Onions and garlic can be toxic to dogs too, triggering blood cell damage or even anemia when consumed in high quantities.

This graphic doesn’t cover every single potentially dangerous human food that a dog might encounter. For a full list of foods, plants, medicines and more that are poisonous to pets, check out this database from the Pet Poison hotline. It lets you search foods, medications, household chemicals, and other potential poisons by name, and tells you how dangerous an exposure is for different kinds of pets.

Hopefully, you’ll never need the Pet Poison database, but if your dog does ingest something they shouldn’t, it can help you figure out how serious the situation is. Your family vet should always be your first call, but for pet poison-specific questions, there are two national helplines you can call any time:

ASPCA Pet Poison Control Hotline: (888) 426-4435

National Pet Poison Helpline: (800) 233-6680

This article was originally published on August 25, 2015. It was updated on May 21, 2021 with a new photo, alternate text for the Bark infographic, national poison control hotline information, and to reflect Lifehacker’s current style guidelines.

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Friday, 22 October 2021

Organize Your Fridge Like Youre a Goddamned Adult



Illustration for article titled Organize Your Fridge Like You're a Goddamned Adult
Photo: New Africa (Shutterstock)

We organize storage areas like our closets, drawers, and garages, but the refrigerator tends to be neglected. Of all the spaces to keep organized, though, the refrigerator is the only one that’s time sensitive.

Waste 360 reported the average American household throws away about 103 pounds of food every year, and three out of four Americans attributed their food waste to disorganization—as in, “they forget it’s [the food] in their fridge, or it gets lost among the clutter.” Slowing the rate at which we discard food requires arranging our fridges beyond the average storage norms, so here’s how to maximize your fridge’s layout to improve functionality and prevent excess food waste.

Know where to put certain foods for longer shelf life

Different areas of the fridge designate storage for certain foods. The crisper is for fruits and vegetables, but most fridges don’t tell you where to put the meat or store the milk. Where you put your food can be the difference between a week’s worth of produce and day’s worth.

Each shelf has a purpose

Shelves are at varying distances from the cooling mechanism in your fridge. Because of this, storing certain items in the bottom, top, or middle shelves preserves the food differently. Information experts at The Hub have provided a guide to storage designated by shelf.

Store snacks, leftovers, and other items that get consumed quickly (that could also go bad quickly) on the top shelf. The middle shelves are for dairy, cheeses, cooked meats, and leftovers. The midsection tends to be on the cooler end, so store your milk and eggs here, and they’ll keep longer. If your milk doesn’t fit in the middle section, you can easily rearrange the shelving to accommodate your needs. Items that contain bacteria need to be kept separate to avoid cross-contamination—store these items on the last shelf. The bottom shelf is perfect for raw meat and fish, and should be wrapped or stored in sealed containers. The drawers are for your fruits and vegetables. (Though they can be too moist for mushrooms.)

The door of your fridge is one of the warmest places, so it’s best to store the least perishable foods there like condiments, pickles, and jams.

Don’t store all your produce in the same drawer

We rarely think strategically about where we put our fresh produce in relation to each other—the fruits and veggies go in the crisper and that’s that. This is a common mistake, though.

The release of ethylene gas is what causes a fruit or vegetable to ripen. If certain fruits produce more than others, they can accelerate the ripening process, causing the food to go bad sooner. For this reason, you’ll want to store items like apples, cabbage, mushrooms, and mangoes away from each other. Insider offers a handy list of produce that should and shouldn’t be stored together.

Buy fridge containers to increase visibility and function

Everything in your fridge needs a designated space, and buying baskets and bins will help you categorize your items and give more space. If you love to keep cans of beer, seltzer, or soda, invest in a can holder. This container allows you to stack cans storing more while taking up less shelf space. Each type of item should have its own compartment.

If you are new to organizing and don’t know where to start, get yourself a starter kit. A container kit is a road map to establishing an organized food storage system in your household. These kits come with stackable containers for your deli meats and your eggs, baskets for your bread, smaller containers for your fruits inside your fridge drawers, and more.

Kits can be pretty pricey, anywhere from $163 to $243, but it’s worth it to save $103 worth of spoiled produce. If you’re on a tight budget, cheap containers from your bargain or dollar store can do the trick, it might just call for some creative stacking. In the end, you’ll get to enjoy your food rather than discovering rotten groceries hidden in the back behind the milk.

 

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How to Start a Hydroponic Garden



Illustration for article titled How to Start a Hydroponic Garden
Photo: Floki (Shutterstock)

Hydroponics was synonymous with growing copious amounts of weed in your apartment without much work, but these days hydroponic gardening is simply cutting-edge technology for sustainable farming. And while it seems that farming in a test tube is a bit out of touch with nature, it’s actually touted as a convenient way to grow fresh food inside your home.

You can create your own hydroponic system, or purchase pre-made kits where all you need to do is tend to the plants. It sounds easy, but how user-friendly is it? Here are the facts about hydroponic gardening and what it takes to grow one in your home.

What is hydroponics?

Without getting into too much of the science, hydroponics is the act of growing plants submerged in water without the use of soil. The nutrient-rich water and grow lights give plants everything they need to thrive while in an enclosed space. Having a controlled environment encourages rapid growth without using chemicals, uses less water than the average farm or plant, and growing indoors means you could grow fresh food in the dead of a northeastern winter.

When the world went on lockdown, interest in hydroponic gardening skyrocketed, and personally, the pandemic inspired me to learn how to grow my own food. Knowing how to grow food without soil would be a good skill to have in what felt like an apocalypse.

How to start your own DIY hydroponic garden

There are several different ways to execute hydroponic gardening. all of which require some combination of the items listed by The Spruce below:

Bucket or basin for water reservoir
Grow light (optional)
Water
Hydroponic fertilizer (dry or liquid)
Cotton or nylon cord
Growing medium
Seedling
Growing tray
Drill or screwdriver (optional)

Wick system hydroponics (beginner difficulty)

The wick system has no electronic parts, but uses a string of wicks (like a candle) to help water travel up to the plant’s roots to grow. There are no mechanical systems, which makes this the best option for apocalyptic skills building.

You would need a growing container, a basin for the water reservoir, wicks, a growing medium (a moss-like block to house the plant’s roots), and a nutrient solution. You can get most of these items online through Amazon, and it’ll cost you about $82 at the end (about $20 more if you purchase a grow light instead of using natural light.) The wick system works best for fast-growing plants like lettuce and herbs.

The ebb and flow method (intermediate difficulty)

A bit more complicated than the wick system, the ebb and flow option uses the power of gravity and a water pump to cycle the water in and out of the basin from the nutrient solution water reservoir below. This style is considered an intermediate’s hydroponic option, but once set up, it needs moderate attention. It’s most beneficial for those wanting to switch out plants every so often without disturbing other seedlings in the system. With the addition of a submersible pump and electronic timer, this system could cost you about $130 (including a grow light).

Nutrient Film Technique and Aeroponic (advanced difficulty)

More complicated DIY options are the Nutrient Film Technique featuring a continuous flow of water, like the hanging Aeroponic System where plant roots grow suspended in the air. According to The Spruce, when assembled on your own, these systems could cost you upwards of $150. These types require a lot of legwork to create, and you’re probably better off purchasing an assembled kit.

How to buy a pre-made hydroponic garden kit

Sourcing all of these components is easy enough, but assembling any type of system can be a delicate process. If you lack the patience (as I do), purchasing a manufactured kit is a faster, easier option.

On Amazon, the beginner’s hydroponic wick system is more affordable than the DIY option, costing about $50, whereas an advanced-level Aeroponic system can cost $599 to $669 depending on the source of the kit. A popular aeroponic option is assembled as a sleek plant tower, with easy installation and ways to match your decor, but can run you $499 at some retailers. Rise Gardens offers a wide variety of hydroponic systems that are self-watering and app-controlled, priced at $279 for a personal size as a smaller option. Larger “three family sized” indoor garden systems can cost almost $950.

Kits come with all the necessary materials and detailed instructions for installation. A beginner gardener can be up and growing in no time, but you’ll have to decide if the cost is worth the convenience. As someone looking to start her planting journey, it’s safe to say hydroponics is not a total walk in the park. The various systems take a good level of commitment and money, but can be great if you’re up to the task.

 

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Thursday, 21 October 2021

This Snickers Protein Shake Has 2 Grams of Sugar and a Whopping 33 Grams of Protein

@missabbeyeats

#foodtiktok #foodies #foodlover #healthyfood #healthybreakfast #healthysnack #protein #proteinshake #breakfast #snack #snackideas #breakfastideas

♬ Peanut Butter (feat. Big Freedia) – RuPaul

If you’re craving a Snickers candy bar but don’t want all the sugar and calories, try making this TikTok Snickers protein shake instead. This recipe is just 190 calories and has 33 grams of protein, 8 grams of carbs, 2 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of fat, and tastes just like a protein bar.

Abbey Shipp, known as @missabbeyeats on TikTok, made this protein-packed recipe using a Premier Protein chocolate protein shake, PB2, and sugar-free caramel syrup in her Nutribullet with a little ice. Not only does it look delicious, but it’s super easy to make. Shipp mentioned in the video that this recipe is one of the dozens she has shared on TikTok that helped her lose 100 pounds. With just three ingredients, we can’t wait to try this low-carb, low-sugar recipe to get our candy bar fix.

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