How-To Geek

A lot of us still have a few decade-old USB flash drives with tiny amounts of storage lying around the house. If we're being realistic, these flash drives are way too small for modern use and too old to be reliable, yet somehow, it's hard to justify throwing away a functioning USB flash drive.

The Toyota Highlander has long been a go-to for families who want a safe, dependable three-row SUV. Its reputation alone is often enough to justify the price, making it one of the most predictable choices in the segment. But in 2026, that predictability comes at a steep cost, and not everyone is getting their money’s worth.

Most proxy servers, sometimes called forward proxies, can be used to obscure your location from whatever service you're connected to. Reverse proxies do almost the exact opposite—they sit between your self-hosted services and whoever is trying to connect. It might not sound that exciting, but it is one of the most useful things you can run for your homelab.

Your Kindle has a web browser where you can play board games like chess. It makes for a fun, distraction-free experience, so I wanted to see how far I could take it. With my jailbroken Kindle, I can actually install new apps on my Kindle and play games offline.

You're tired of your TV's crappy sound quality, so you go online to try and find a decent soundbar. To your dismay, every "best of" article insists that you need a $1,000 soundbar—anything else is a terrible, stupid, idiotic purchase. I'm here to tell you that the influencers are full of bologna.

HBO Max has released its May schedule, and it’s a thick one. The month kicks off with plenty of hit flicks from the 1970s through the 2020s, such as Enter the Dragon, Walk the Line, and Saltburn; then you're in for new seasons of hit shows, new documentaries and comedy specials, and a handful of movies making their streaming debut.

The electric vehicle market has grown from having only a scant offering of eco-friendly econo-boxes to accessible sports cars for enthusiasts. Those who live for the weekend canyon-carving run or the occasional track day may find the Porsche Taycan 4S is a strong benchmark, a proverbial “go-to” considering its design and engineering, along with Porsche’s legacy.

Excel has a powerful feature most people never touch—and it quietly turns spreadsheets into something far more capable. If you've ever hit the limits of the grid, Power Pivot is where things start to get interesting. It lets you connect large datasets so you can analyze them without merging everything into one massive spreadsheet.

Windows Virtual Desktops have been around for years, and for most of that time, I completely ignored them. I assumed they were one of those features Microsoft added that sounded useful in theory but didn't really change how most people worked. I already had multiple monitors, plenty of screen space, and a workflow that felt good enough, so I never saw the point.

The mistake some people make is thinking about Gemini exactly like they thought about Google Assistant. However, you’re probably missing out on one of Gemini’s best features if you’re using it that way. It’s called “Connected Apps,” and it may change how you use your Android phone.

NVIDIA has finally enabled RTX 5080 graphics for GeForce Now game streaming, and the move promises major improvements to your experience — provided you're willing to pay.

USB generational numbering is sort of straightforward, right? A bigger number means better, and so we have USB 1.1, USB 2.0, uh, 2.0 Revised, USB 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 (but now USB 3.2 Gen something or other), USB4, and USB4 2.0.

Bambu Lab’s Automatic Material System, or AMS, received a big upgrade with the release of the AMS 2 Pro in 2025. It’s one of the best quality-of-life upgrades you can make to a Bambu Lab printer, but it’s not without its flaws.

When Android first copied the iPhone’s gesture navigation system in 2018 with the pill-style system, it felt like a half-baked compromise. But with Android 10 a year later, gestures were refined into something smoother, more polished, and in many ways even better than Apple’s approach.

Smart TVs often slow down with time as updates to apps and the operating systems start to become too much for the relatively slow hardware inside. However, sometimes slow TV can be caused by a single issue. Luckily, the fix is inexpensive and widely available.

The Audi Q3 has long been one of the easiest entry points into the luxury SUV world, but the latest version is starting to stretch that definition. With pricing now pushing well beyond $40,000, it’s no longer the accessible premium option it once was, forcing buyers to question what they’re really getting for the money.

In 2004, Denzel Washington played the iconic role of John Creasy in Tony Scott's Man on Fire. 22 years later, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II takes over the role of Creasy in Man on Fire, now streaming on Netflix in the U.S.

If, like me, you wish your Jellyfin music server could do things that Spotify or Apple Music can, you're in luck. There are some awesome plugins developed by the Jellyfin community, which add lots of cool features to your Jellyfin server.

Combine a single-board computer like the Raspberry Pi or ESP32 with an E-Ink display, and you’ve laid the groundwork for a fun visual project like a Home Assistant dashboard, smart photo frame, or weather widget for your desk.

The sunny season might not begin until June, but the first Friday in May is the start of the summer movie season. Over the next three to four months, the studios will be releasing their slate of new popcorn movies and blockbusters in hopes of attracting eyeballs and making money. Streaming services like Netflix will also follow suit and hope their original movies will become popular hits.