Cracked PayPal accounts and stolen debit card numbers are sold in the open — A user by the name of Victoria sends me her menu through a Discord direct message. “Selling PayPal, credit cards and Amazon gift cards,” it reads. “Price list below. Please don’t contact me if you are not serious, can provide evidence and vouches. Refunds always.” She offers every piece of…

Is there any benefit to drinking alkaline water, electrolyte-infused water, or ionized water? — This story is part of The Elemental Guide to Water, a five-part special report on the health benefits of water, the science behind seltzer, the truth about fancy H2O, the safety of tap water, and how much water you really need to drink. Everyone has a favorite water these days. …

Why some Communist foods are seeing a comeback — I spent most of my time in Slovenia drinking blue cans of Cockta. The taste is a little like an ersatz Coca-Cola; caramel-brown and richly carbonated, but with a slightly floral undercurrent — like a brewery in a rose garden. …

Cluttered phone, cluttered mind — We’re living in a post-Kondo world. Minimalism is no longer a novelty; it’s a way of life — or, more specifically, a way to live better. Don’t we owe it to our brains to apply the same care to our mobile screens that we give our carefully rolled-up socks? Of…

Faced with lax moderation, teens are building ad hoc tools to protect their own dating servers — Originally pitched as a sort of “Slack for gamers,” over the last four years Discord has attracted more than 250 million users and evolved into a catch-all chat platform that lets people debate politics, share music, and watch movies. In recent years, critics and journalists have accused the platform of…

Copyright claiming allows the Vine stars of yesteryear to pay rent from their social media fame — Chloe Woodard has been thriving in syndication for three years now. The Chicago actor and artist first made their name as one of the many amateur comedians uploading short, eccentric sketches to Vine during the social media platform’s brief millennial golden age. Their most famous addition to the canon was…

The case for alligators, birds, or horses as therapeutic companions — Joie Henney’s alligator likes to be hugged. He snuggles up to Henney on the couch, and the duo sits together quietly and watches Animal Planet. …

From titanium necklaces to recovery water, superstition and pseudoscience in athletics runs rampant — During his first Major League Baseball spring training in 2008, Matt Antonelli, a former second baseman for the San Diego Padres, found a pile of Phiten necklaces waiting in his locker. The blue-and-white nylon-coated chokers were infused with a dye-like substance called “aqua-titanium.” According to Phiten, a Japan-based athletic company…

‘If you want to get more women in the door, offer them $100,000 instead of $50,000’ — Earlier this year, Emmalee “EMUHLEET” Garrido and her Dignitas Female teammates took first place playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at the Intel Challenge Katowice, one of the most prestigious women’s esports tournaments in the world. They earned a $25,000 sum, divided between the team’s four players and one coach.