How-To Geek

I bought my first 3D printer expecting to make toys, gadgets, and the occasional product prototype. Instead, one of my most useful prints is simply a plastic clamp whose whole job is to get chewed up by my CNC bit. Plastic clamps save my bits when a cut goes wrong, but buying injection-molded ones over and over got old fast. Now I print them for pennies a dozen at a time.

Of all the Pixel 11's new features, Rambler voice typing is the one that will benefit the most people, even if they never realize that it's there. But does Rambler actually require a new phone? I forced it onto my Pixel 8a to see how well it can work on an older device, and I was impressed by the results.

I have a lot of appliance manuals that I've collected over the years. They rarely need looking at, but when they do, finding the right manual can be a chore. I decided to stick NFC tags to my appliances so that I could access their manuals more easily.

Halloween is the perfect excuse to revisit some horror favorites, and Netflix has a few additions that fit the season. From supernatural scares and gory survival thrillers to creature features and classic slashers, the platform hosts a variety of titles you can pick from.

Pi-hole is one of my favorite services that solves an everyday problem without requiring expensive hardware. Install it on a Raspberry Pi, configure your devices to use it for DNS, and you can block unwanted domains while monitoring DNS activity across your network.

Beyond frequent updates and native integrations with some AI tools that reduce busywork, Photoshop's easy access to thousands of third-party plugins is another reason why it still manages to maintain its spot as the industry standard.

Having the right power tools helps you work faster and more efficiently, so you can meet your deadlines. They aren't cheap, but price won't be a limiting factor when you get 41% off the DeWalt 20-Volt Max 6-Tool Cordless Combo Kit and save $370.

Getting to my destination using Google Maps is only half the job. I still need to find parking, track fuel expenses, and decide which stops are worth making on a road trip.

If you're like me, you like to have subtitles on when you're watching movies and shows. One reason is because I watch quite a lot of foreign-language content, like anime, and the other is that no one can hear anything the actors are saying anymore, thanks to modern audio mixing.

Googlebook's clumsy launch made me wish that I wasn't a product reviewer. I had to spend two weeks using a laptop with what felt like an unfinished operating system (cue the world's smallest violin), and throughout the entire process, I just kept thinking how nice it would be if Google had taken all of its biggest Googlebook features and slapped them on a mainline Linux distro instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

When you look at a roll of 3D printing filament you've never seen before, it comes with a lot of on-paper information. You know the primary materials, roughly what additives are in them, and the recommended temperatures and settings.

Switching to a rival smartwatch is always tempting when a new model lands. Google’s recent updates make it easier to justify staying put. Three of its newest additions, spanning health tracking, on-device AI, and GPS, change what a Pixel Watch can do day to day.

Intel's N100 and similar ultra-low-power CPUs used to be the go-to recommendation for homelab beginners who wanted a PC that sips power while still seamlessly handling numerous basic self-hosted services.

The Raspberry Pi is a fun little computer, but I have a habit of collecting accessories that turn out to be more useful than the device they were designed for. Some of them stay connected to the Pi, while others find their way onto my desk and become part of my regular setup. The official Raspberry Pi USB 3 Hub is one such accessory.

Portable projectors are popular because you can take them camping or for movie nights under the stars. The Aurzen D1R stands out from its rivals with built-in Roku OS and access to countless free streaming channels. Now's a great time to grab it while it's 38% off on a limited-time Amazon deal.

Wireless earbuds are meant to make life easier. You pop them in, connect them to your phone, and get on with your day. The last thing you expect is for a tiny pair of earbuds to become uncomfortably hot while you're wearing them. Yet overheating Galaxy Buds have become a pretty big concern, with many users experiencing the problem, and Samsung even offering some official advice on what you should do.

Apple is bringing two new technologies for the first time ever in Mac’s history. The brand has unveiled the MacBook Pro with an OLED panel and touchscreen support. These have been around on Windows machines for years, and while Apple is late to the party, it introduces interface changes optimized for touch input and designed to deliver a more immersive viewing experience. That potentially blurs the line between MacBook and iPad experiences.

Excel has hundreds of functions, and nobody needs to know them all. But a few are worth keeping in your back pocket because they save you headaches as your data changes. TRIMRANGE is a great example. When you build a spreadsheet that's going to grow, you usually leave room for data you haven't entered yet. Those empty cells can turn dynamic array results into a mess, but TRIMRANGE quietly trims the blank edges off a range and keeps things tidy.

I use Android Auto almost every day, and a few things about it drive me absolutely nuts. My wireless connection drops out, message notifications interrupt my music, Gemini struggles with commands, and some apps I want aren’t even on the launcher.

Terminal-based apps are awesome, but if you’ve ever tried to use them, you’re probably already aware of their biggest annoyance: you have to open a terminal and type a command every time. They don’t show up in your dock or app launcher the way regular desktop apps do. Thankfully, there’s a quick and easy fix for that. It’ll hardly take a few minutes, and you’ll be able to give your terminal apps their own icons and entries in your application launcher.