How-To Geek

Syndicate content
We explain technology. Learn more with our articles, reviews, tips, and the best answers to your most pressing tech questions.
Updated: 1 hour 28 min ago

New cars are so expensive that a six-figure salary barely cuts it

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 22:30

The price of a new car in the United States has climbed so high that even households earning six figures can struggle to afford one without stretching their budget. With the average new vehicle sticker price hovering around the $50,000 mark, and many popular SUVs, electrified models, and luxury-trim variants pushing past $55,000 or more, what used to feel like a comfortable middle-class purchase now often feels out of reach for many buyers.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Glen Powell's underappreciated Stephen King movie is now a streaming success

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 22:00

Hollywood loves a good Stephen King book. There have been over 90 feature-length movies based on King's works, with several of his books getting multiple adaptations, including The Running Man. Written under King's pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Running Man is a dystopian adventure where one man enters a deadly game show to win money. There have been two movie adaptations of The Running Man: the 1987 film with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the 2025 version with Glen Powell, with the latter climbing the streaming charts.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The big Google I/O 2026 event finally has a date

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 21:48

Google I/O is one of Google’s major annual events, with announcements for Android, Google services, Chromebooks, smart home devices, and (occasionally) Pixel hardware. Now, we have a date for the 2026 event.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The 'Backup Complete' trap: Why your external drive is secretly full of corrupted files

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 21:30

If you're regular about your file backups, you're already miles ahead of most of my friends and relatives, so well done. But are you sure you're not trusting those backups a little too much?

Categories: IT General, Technology

Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning movie returns to theaters ahead of The Odyssey

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 21:15

Three years after Christopher Nolan's epic movie first opened in theaters, Oppenheimer is returning to cinemas next month for a special rerelease.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Your Fire TV is about to look different

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 20:09

Fire TV devices are finally getting an overhauled home screen, with easier navigation and faster performance. The update was announced back in January, and it’s now rolling out to TVs.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Google Home fails at things it once could do, and Google admits it

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 20:07

Google Home smart speakers used to be the clear-cut winners in the virtual assistant device category. However, if you’ve been using Nest smart home devices recently, you’ve probably noticed a significant drop in quality. This has been happening to a lot of people for a long time, and the company knows it.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How I transformed a house into a smart home for my older parents

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 20:00

Getting older can sometimes limit our ability to do basic tasks like turning on a lamp behind the couch or going down a flight of stairs to lock the door. Smart devices can make those tasks more accessible even to older adults with new limitations, so I put them to good use to help my parents.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I bought an iPad, but I still reach for my old Android tablet—here’s why

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 20:00

Did you buy a new iPad and wonder what to do with your old Android tablet? Or are you finding that your new iPad isn’t a solid replacement for it? I’ve been there—and here’s how I use both my old Android tablet and my new iPad Air M2 side by side.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The biggest smart home mistake beginners make (and most never fix)

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 19:30

Smart homes let you control your devices remotely, but the true power comes from automation. Having your lights turn on when you walk into a room beats having to pull out your phone or tap a button on a dashboard. It's easy to fall into the trap of creating automations with the wrong focus, however.

Categories: IT General, Technology

7 Hidden Home Network Bottlenecks Slowing Your Internet

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 19:00

Not too long ago, I was convinced my Wi-Fi problems had a simple solution: buy something bigger. So I did what a lot of people do. I went out and bought the biggest, fastest router I could find. And to be fair, things improved. Speeds were better, connections were more stable, and I felt like I’d made a smart upgrade. But it still didn’t reach every corner of my house the way I needed it to. Dead spots lingered. Certain rooms still felt like they were stuck in 2012. Turns out, I didn't need faster internet. I needed a better network.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Don't ignore these 4 signs that your 3D printer is about to fail

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 18:30

I don't know about you, but my 3D printers cost a lot of money and I'm always paranoid that they'll break down and fail at the worst moment.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The first Android tablets were so much weirder than you remember

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 18:15

When Android tablets exploded in the early 2010s, they struggled to compete with the iPad. Manufacturers just didn’t know what would get someone to choose an Android tablet, so they tried a bunch of weird stuff. Let’s take a look back.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How Google's most embarrassing failure led to the world's best streaming dongle

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 18:00

It might be hard to imagine, but there was a time when every TV didn't have the ability to install streaming apps, meaning that unless you were willing to give up your existing TV, there was a need for a streaming attachment. This was still an open market, so no one knew exactly what to expect.

Categories: IT General, Technology

KDE Plasma 6.6 arrives with more customization options, a new login manager, and much more

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 17:49

KDE Plasma is one of the best desktop environments for Linux, and it’s used in Kubuntu, KDE Neon, Fedora KDE, and other distributions. Now, Plasma 6.6 has arrived with some new features and usability improvements.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 Git features that actually feel like cheating

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 17:30

The git command-line tool has so many options, subcommands, and other features that it’s easy to miss out on some of the best. These features are lesser-known, but will help you take shortcuts and make the most out of Git.

Categories: IT General, Technology

4 Ryobi tools every new homeowner should buy from Home Depot

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 17:15

If you're a new homeowner getting ready to start projects or maintain your home, you'll need some capable new power tools. And while there are multiple brands to choose from, Ryobi is a fan favorite for its affordability and being readily available at Home Depot.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This Japanese car feels like a Lexus—but costs thousands less

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 17:00

Luxury car prices have been creeping up fast, and a lot of buyers are starting to tap out. People still want the comfort and polish, but not everyone’s willing to swallow a full luxury-brand payment to get it.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This one command-line app saves me an hour every day

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 16:30

Do you spend your life in the terminal? Are you always on the hunt for leaner, faster, and better ways to improve your workflow? I am, and I wish to share one neat little app that saves me a great deal of time when navigating the depths of my file system.

Categories: IT General, Technology

RAID 5 is a trap for home servers: How to build a NAS with mismatched hard drives

Tue, 02/17/2026 - 16:15

Everyone uses RAID, right? I don’t—at least, not in the sense that you’re thinking of. While a striped array is the most common version of RAID, I actually use a non-striped parity system in my storage server, and I really wish more companies offered that ability.

Categories: IT General, Technology

eXTReMe Tracker