Essentials Week spotlights unexpected items that make our daily lives just a little bit better.

Here’s a bad situation: You’re strolling outside in the cold, perhaps on your way to a doctor’s appointment or a performance of The Nutcracker, and you realize your lips are a little chapped. You reach into your coat pocket for some Chapstick. It’s not there. No worries; you’ll use the tube in your bag. You unzip the back pocket of your bag (best pocket for Chapstick — easy access) and root around in there. No Chapstick. God. Your lips will never feel moisture again.

Due to life being unpredictable and harrowing, it’s impossible to feel prepared most of the time. Plans change, people change, and seasons change, and there’s no way to anticipate the thousands of ways in which things could go wrong for you every single day. But there’s one tiny way you can always be prepared, a way that’s as inexpensive as it is luxurious. Place a tube of lip balm in every single one of your bags and every single one of your jackets, never to be moved. It will change your life. Read more…

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Words, man. Amirite? They’re so limiting — with their defined meanings and their need for correct spelling. And don’t even get me started on grammar.

If you, too, are sick of words, ooh buddy do we have an app for you. Meet Color Chat: an app which lets you DM with your friends by sending colored rectangles of various sizes and hues back and forth. 

It might not be super efficient at getting a message across, but it’s perhaps more fun — and definitely prettier — than just shooting the regular shit.

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Gerald Cotten died unexpectedly in December of 2018, but don’t try telling that to the people who lost millions worth of cryptocurrency as a result. 

The then 30-year-old founder of the Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX was traveling in India when he reportedly died from complications resulting from Crohn’s disease. His former customers, however, suspected foul play — and now, reports Coindesk, they want Cotten’s body exhumed. 

Why? Well, that would be because they don’t think he’s actually dead. 

The problem, other than the supposed death of course, was that Cotten had sole access to the approximately $190 million worth of customers’ cryptocurrency held by the exchange. With him gone, no one could touch it. To those who lost access to their funds, Cotten’s overseas death just seems too fishy to believe, especially considering the questionable way in which his company was run.  Read more…

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The quality of the photos smartphones capture has become increasingly important, and Apple just acquired a company called Spectral Edge to ensure future iPhone photos look even better.

As Bloomberg reports, Spectral Edge is based in Cambridge, England and focused on developing technology that improves the photos we take automatically. It does this using a combination of capturing an infrared version of each photo taken and then using machine learning to use it for image enhancement. The end result is a crisper photograph with more accurate colors.

Clearly Apple is impressed by what Spectral Edge was doing because it acquired the company. Although there’s been no official announcement yet, Peter Ronald Denwood is now listed as a director at the company. He’s better known as one of Apple’s corporate lawyers. It’s also telling that all other board members have been terminated, leaving Apple in control. Read more…

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Tiny apartment-havers face a unique dilemma during the holidays: How do you set up a Christmas tree when your home is smaller than one?

That’s when it’s a useful time to consider some Christmas tree alternatives. Wreaths, branches, a big leftover pumpkin that you’ve wrapped in tinsel (don’t do that one) … rest assured you can make your space festive without also making it unlivable.

Please note that none of these items are intended to replace a Christmas tree. Nothing can replace a Christmas tree! These are simply fun alternatives for those whose living rooms can’t accommodate a full pine.

And if it’s the smell you’re after, just light a pine-scented candle. Read more…

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Aiming to lower the environmental impact of farming, Aero Farms has created an indoor growing system that uses 95% less water than field farming systems.  Read more…

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A new Star Wars movie is coming out around the same time German carmaker Porsche will deliver its first all-electric vehicle, the Taycan, to U.S. customers.  

So on Friday, Porsche and Star Wars released a behind-the-scenes look at its new “starship,” the Tri-Wing S-91X Pegasus Starfighter. The Taycan shape seems to be in there, somewhere. Sure. 

You’ll have to wait until Star Wars: The Rise of Starwalker‘s premiere in Los Angeles next week to see the actual model the designers made. Read more…

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Pastry chef and collective internet crush Claire Saffitz took on another challenge: Milky Way bars. Unfortunately, it involves tempering chocolate. 

In the latest episode of Gourmet Makes from  Bon Appétit, Saffitz had to recreate three key components of the candy bar — chocolate, nougat, and caramel.

As usual, Saffitz underestimated how much reverse engineering would break her. 

“I think I got this,” a hopeful Saffitz said early on day two of this project. “I think I’m gonna make it today.”

At that point, there were still 25 minutes of the video left — reader, she did not finish the gourmet Milky Ways. Getting the nougat on point took an entire day.  Read more…

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The Vilnius Airport in Lithuania is celebrating the holidays in the way only an airport can.

While families all over the world have been placing stars and angels atop their Christmas trees, the Lithuanian airport has fashioned a tree of its own. However, you may notice a slight difference between this tree and the traditional one.

This tree is decked with items confiscated from passengers during security screening, according to Marius Zelenius, Lithuanian Airports’ Head of Communication. Knives, lighters, and scissors (oh, so many scissors) take the place of ornaments, lights, and ribbons. It’s five feet tall and took over two weeks to craft,  BBC News reported. Read more…

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From military training in Nepal to hitting the gym, preparing for the film was no joke according to the actors.  Read more…

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