‘A banana, concrete – those are good gifts’: the recycling group turning strangers into friends

There are 7,000 Buy Nothing groups with more than 5 million members worldwide. But their appeal goes beyond the chance to swap everything from nettles to power tools

Easy wins: ditch the infinite, impossible passwords and set up a password manager

Our endless online accounts should all be protected by impenetrable passwords (but usually aren’t). A centralised manager can be secure and easy

Wordle creator overwhelmed by global success of hit puzzle

Josh Wardle developed game to play with his partner – and now more than 2m others have joined in

Want to seem younger? It’s not the bags under your eyes, but way you use your phone that’s the giveaway

There’s no surer way to date yourself than the way you use your mobile. From leaving voicemails to leaving voice notes, each generation has a different etiquette writes Guardian columnist Zoe Williams

Crossword roundup: puzzles in various dimensions

We take in 3D crosswords and wordplay in other forms in our pick of the best of the broadsheets’ cryptics

‘It felt like losing a husband’: the fraudsters breaking hearts – and emptying bank accounts

Romance scams robbed Britons of nearly £100m last year. Thanks to online dating and the pandemic, these cruel crimes are more sophisticated and prevalent than ever

Best baby monitor cameras for travel or home

From low-cost to do-it-all systems, here are the best wireless, wifi and smartphone-connected options

Who is he really? Interview attempts with Robert De Niro in 1977

Paul Gardner recounts his mostly unsuccessful efforts to get to know the star

UK surge in post-Christmas returns reveals dark side of online shopping boom

Returns process thought to cost firms about £7bn a year and weigh heavily on companies’ carbon footprints

Are films really getting longer? We ask the expert

Sarah Atkinson, professor of screen media, on whether the trend for big, epic films is leading to big, epic runtimes

Women losing their periods because of restrictive diets and excessive exercise

UK eating disorder charity Beat says problem, fuelled by social media, increasing even among those who are not underweight

‘I have moments of shame I can’t control’: the lives ruined by explicit ‘collector culture’

The swapping, collating and posting of nude images of women without their consent is on the rise. But unlike revenge porn, it is not a crime. Now survivors are demanding a change in the law

‘I felt powerless – so I started filming’: CyclingMikey on his one-man battle with dangerous drivers

Mike van Erp has reported more than 1,000 motorists to the police – including Chris Eubank and Guy Ritchie. He explains how his father being killed by a drunk driver inspires his actions

Wordle: why the inventor of the fiendishly addictive online game doesn’t want your money

The mobile phone game Josh Wardle launched in October now has 300,000 people playing it daily – but, he says, he is not cashing in

What’s new, pussycat? How feline film stars are trained to perform

From Stuart Little and Pet Sematary to new movie The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, cats can be scene-stealers. But how do you get such fickle and independent creatures to behave on camera?