How-To Geek

Like many tech writers, I spend a ridiculous amount of time sitting in front of my computer monitor. On any given workday, I typically start before sunrise, and it's not unusual for me to finish just after sunset. I need to do whatever I can to protect my aging eyes, and dark mode has become one of the ways I make the long hours in front of my computer monitors more comfortable.

Most messaging apps rely on internet connections, cellular networks, and remote servers to deliver your messages. End-to-end encryption protects message content, but you still depend on a service to handle communication. If you want to exchange messages without relying on conventional messaging infrastructure, inexpensive radio hardware offers another option.

SpaceX is eyeing the possibility of creating a fourth national mobile service carrier in the United States. To better accomplish this, the rocket company is looking into buying or leasing Boost Mobile's current network, according to the Washington Post. This comes on the heels of reports that CEO Elon Musk has been in talks with other cellular carriers so he can add cell phone and related services to his business portfolio.

Competition in the PC silicon industry has heated up the last few years with the arrival of Apple and Qualcomm on the scene. Now, NVIDIA has joined the fray with its new RTX Spark platform, pairing a beefy Arm64 CPU with NVIDIA's industry-leading Blackwell GPU. It's no wonder the Yoga Pro 9n is among the first to showcase RTX Spark's undeniable power, as Lenovo knows how to make a killer laptop. Between the sky-high pricing and the RTX Spark specializing specifically in artificial intelligence, though, there's only a small group of people that should realistically consider buying this laptop. On the bright side, those people should be happy.

It's the start of a new month, which means the streamers will be loading up on new movies this week. Some of these movies were released in theaters earlier this year, while others are streaming originals. On Netflix, there are two noteworthy originals coming out this week: one is a heartwarming Christmas adventure, and the other could be a sneaky Oscar dark horse.

Excel already has plenty of jobs. It organizes information, crunches numbers, and keeps track of things, but there comes a point when trying to make it do everything itself creates more hassle than it saves. So I connected it to four other services and found that I could get much more out of my spreadsheets when I let them handle some of the work around it.

Everyone needs a few more tools and accessories, right? Milwaukee is a go-to choice for millions and makes some of the best tools, but there's a good chance you're sleeping on its REDLITHIUM line of accessories. If you already have all the tools you want, check out this list of accessories you never knew you needed.

Linux kernel developers have spent much of 2026 debating how to deal with AI-assisted code contributions, including whether developers should disclose their use of AI tools and how maintainers should review machine-generated patches. Following an ever-busier Linux 7.3 testing cycle, Linus Torvalds appears to be more at ease with machine-assisted contributions as he released Linux 7.4-rc1.

Ready to try Linux but confused by the hundreds of distros out there? Wondering which one will actually suit your needs without wasting days testing and tinkering? I've narrowed down your search to three distinct distros that cover the needs of most new Linux users.

I dig Android Auto. It's a fun way to use your phone's functions in the car, but it's heavily restricted sometimes. Recently, I found an app that works as a media player and web browser. Well, you know what that means for a nerd like me: monitoring my homelab remotely when I'm parked. I use it for more than that now, too, and it's slowly becoming one of my new favorite Android Auto apps.

This summer, a Lifetime Plex Pass increased in price from $250 to a whopping $750. Over the last year or so, an increasing number of features have either increased in price or become paid features.

Every fresh Ubuntu install feels a bit like moving into a rented, furnished apartment. Everything looks good and works fine, but nothing feels quite like yours yet. One of the nice things about Ubuntu is that you don't have to spend an afternoon tinkering with GNOME extensions to make the desktop your own.

Is hotel Wi-Fi ever really good? Is it ever more than just a nuisance that needs to be endured? I can count on one hand the number of times I've arrived at a hotel and found the Wi-Fi satisfactory, and I'm used to having bad internet. But that (already low) number would drop lower still if I also take the ease of connecting to said Wi-Fi into the equation.

Pi-hole is one of those home lab services you quickly stop thinking about once it works. It blocks ads and trackers, handles DNS queries, and quietly does its job in the background. Then something breaks, and you realize how much of your home network depends on a service you have barely thought about. When DNS stops working, websites can appear offline even when the internet connection itself is perfectly fine.

A NAS runs around the clock, serving files, streaming media, and handling backups for every device in the house. Yet the drive I trust most spends nearly all its time disconnected. It sounds backwards, but keeping that copy offline solves problems no RAID array can. And here's why I think you should do that too.

Having a wall outlet with integrated USB-C charging seems like a fantastic idea, right? No wall adapter needed, just plug your device in and go! However, what seems convenient now might not be later as power requirements change, and that’s exactly why I won’t install a USB charging outlet in my house.

Most old PCs end up running a lightweight Linux distribution, but that path keeps narrowing as distros abandon older hardware. Haiku, the open-source successor to BeOS, takes a different approach, and its new R1/beta6 release makes a surprisingly strong case for reviving ancient machines.

A dedicated smart-home control panel makes Home Assistant easier to use. You can tap a screen to control your lights, check the weather, or adjust your thermostat without reaching for your phone. The trouble is that dedicated smart displays can cost considerably more than the hardware inside them.

Smart thermostats can learn your habits, but if your routine changes, you can't just tell them what's different and expect them to adapt. If a Large Language Model (LLM) were running my heating, I'd be able to do exactly that. I decided to let an LLM take control of my heating for a week to see how it compared to popular smart thermostats.

It's November, which means Netflix U.S. has an entire slate of new movies arriving on the service. Some of the notable licensed content includes Whiplash, Air Force One, Fury, and Bridesmaids. As for genre-focused content, there are a few nail-biting thrillers that should be saved to your My List.