How-To Geek

For many of us, we seem to get more spam calls than calls from people in our contacts list. The problem with strict call filters is that they run the risk of blocking the people you do actually want to hear from. Thankfully, that’s not something you need to worry about if you use an Android phone.

I've been vibe-coding small apps for a while now, and the biggest problem with them is that they live and die on the machine they were built on. Ideally, you'd want to self-host these apps so they're accessible across all your devices. So, this time, I'm testing Claude vs. Gemini to see which model does a better job of building a Dockerized app and making the self-hosting process as simple as possible.

The Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) combines an ESP32 microcontroller and small LCD touch display in one affordable package. The integrated screen means that you can build many projects without ever picking up a soldering iron or a breadboard.

Waze packs a lot of personality and utility into its phone app, but a chunk of that gets left behind once you plug into Android Auto. Here are three features that still don't make the jump.

I love building PCs, but I don't know anybody, myself included, who finds motherboards that exciting (outside of people who work with them for a living, I guess). It's all GPUs and CPUs, and complaining about outrageous prices.

Fake SD cards and SSDs have been a problem for a long time, especially on online storefronts like Amazon, eBay, or AliExpress. The issue has only gotten worse since memory shortages have driven the price of storage sky-high, with little hope of relief any time soon.

Most Excel tutorials hand you a sales spreadsheet from a fictional company and tell you to practice pivot tables on data you don't care about. That method of learning or coming back to Excel doesn't work for everyone. The trick to actually retaining this stuff is working with data that means something to you. If you grew up playing Pokémon, you'll know how structured the games are and how well they'd translate into real excel spreadsheet problems.

Large airports are a potential security nightmare. There are random, unfamiliar Wi-Fi networks everywhere, charging ports that could be compromised, and more people than you could ever hope to count. I'm also basically always in a rush when I'm in an airport.

Running old CD-ROM games on modern Windows isn't too hard if you know how to manage Windows' compatibility software. But what if you have a Linux desktop and don't want to leave your old Windows games behind?

Sometimes you want to laugh, sometimes you want to cry, and sometimes you want a movie so intense that you grip the arm of your couch so hard you nearly rip the upholstery off. If the Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Song Yadong UFC fight on Saturday isn't the kind of thrill you're after, these three thriller movies on Paramount+ might do the trick.

DLSS 5 isn't due for an official release until sometime later this year, but an unfinished version that slipped out with NBA 2K27 has allowed the RenoDX modding community to get it running with dozens of games.

Location access is one of those permissions that everyone should take seriously. Not every app that requests it truly needs it. You may not think a mobile payments app like Google Wallet needs location access, but it actually enables some helpful features.

If you've decided to try Linux, you might have trouble leaving Windows. Maybe your favorite game only runs on Windows, or you need a Windows program for your work. Maybe you think dual-booting Windows and Linux is too much trouble. There are ways to get started with the Linux terminal that can run within Windows.

Z-Wave has a reputation for reliability, which makes it a popular choice for critical smart home devices such as smart locks and alarm systems. The trouble is that if you make some common mistakes, your Z-Wave devices can respond far more slowly than they should.

I cut the cord pretty early in the streaming game. Back then, I got my first broadband connection (4Mbps!) and was still using satellite TV to watch movies and TV series. After subscribing to Netflix, I canceled that contract and enjoyed years of paying a fraction of that fee to access a massive library.

Ever wondered what happens when you wrap your phone in tinfoil? I decided to try it out to see if there’s any truth—or benefit—to the idea.

I've used both Windows and Linux for years now. To the disappointment of many of you, Windows mostly won the tie-breaker. It's not like I admire Windows a lot. Rather, fully switching means I have to give up a smooth desktop, a vast software collection, a no-headache gaming experience, and the comfort of "it just works."

You don't need expensive equipment, years of experience, or a shelf full of specialized gear to get into a new tech hobby. With a computer or phone and a little curiosity, you can start building things, exploring the world, or making something of your own this weekend.

I've always had a saying. The best Linux laptop is, as a matter of fact, a Windows laptop. Linux laptop projects such as System76 are lovely, but most people are better off just buying a regular Windows laptop and putting Linux on it. To that effect, a second-hand Surface Go might just be the best cheap, tiny Linux laptop you can get. Here's why.

I've used Excel for decades, and I'm perfectly comfortable using it for things it wasn't really designed to do. But when my data started behaving like a database, I decided to see what would happen when I used a tool that's actually built for the job: Grist.