Its been a good year for worsts.
A year when even the things we did to make things better made things suck more.
Here are the so-called life hacks that did the most damage in 2017.
1. iOS 11
Updating your software isone of the most basic elements of maintaining your devices.
Updates fixbugs and security flaws, introducenew features, and take advantage ofnew hardware capabilities.
But the vast majority are, overall, a good idea.
Apples iOS 11 was not.
The first release wasfull of bugs, some of which were fixed in updates.
But iOS 11.1 added new embarrassing bugs, likea calculator app that couldnt add three numbers.
Equifaxs Data Breach Solutions
Credit reporting agency Equifax tookthe worst data breach in historyand made it worse.
They launched a site where users could peek if their data was breached, but it gave conflicting results.
Cheerios Seed Packet
Cheerios just wanted to help bring the bees back.
Amazon Key
Sometimes its hard to get a package delivered to your home when you arent around.
Maybe you fix that by getting things delivered to work, or grabbing them from the local UPS location.
Amazon wants you to fix it by installing a smart lock and a camera that constantly records your home.
For most customers, thats a pretty big trade-off for not leaving packages at your doorstep.
And its clear that Amazon plans to do more with this access once theyve earned it.
Otherwise, why dont they just sell you a lockable box that goesoutsideyour home?
Everyone yelled at him for wasting the staffs time.
A few defended him.
One Weird Trick to Flatten Your Belly
You cant tell your body where to gain or lose its fat.
Exercising your stomach muscles strengthens and tones them, but it doesnt spot-remove fat.
Yet sites like Health.com still publish headlines like 10-Minute Love Handle Workout.
Youre better off using your bare hands, experts tell Lifehacker.
Its another reminder that free services will often find innovative ways to make money by selling your data.
But all that leaves you with is a clogged drain topped with some wet baking soda.
(We learned this one the hard way.)
Boiling water, mixed with dish soap or salt, works better and is even cheaper.
Or just give in and use the Drano.
It turns out scary chemicals are really good at cleaning things.
Clean Eating
What is clean eating, even?
The people promoting it dont even agree on a definition.
Thats just as well, because no version of it is especially great for your health.
You couldlose it on a stolen laptop.
You couldlose it in a market crashor apump-and-dump scam.
You could store it in a physical digital wallet andlose your passcode.
If so, good for you!
But remember, youre lucky, not brilliant.
Bump Stocks
This ones not a fun one.
Bump stocks use a legal loophole to turn semi-automatic rifles into, functionally, automatics.
The Las Vegas mass murderer strapped twelve of them onto his stockpile.
There is no defensible reason not to ban them.
Honorable Mention #2: Peanut Butter Slices
Hate wasting several seconds spreading peanut butter on bread?
Thanks for getting your good hacks here all year!
