How-To Geek

Home Assistant is a smart home platform that operates on a PC in your home, not in the cloud—so if you don't already have spare hardware lying around, you're going to have to find some. But what if I told you there's one type of computer you can buy that will save you money upfront, provide you with excess performance, and keep energy costs low at the same time?

You've paid the premium subscription fee, invested in a beautiful 4K television, and your home network is humming along far beyond Netflix's minimum Mbps requirement for Ultra HD and 4K streaming. Despite checking every box, you still catch distracting digital squares in dark scenes, or subtle color gradients turn into harsh, discrete stripes.

Long-time Android users know that there is a hidden set of developer settings where you can customize aspects of your phone not intended for the wider public. Turns out the same is true about Android Auto—sort of. Just like with your Android phone, there is a hidden page with car-related options that aren’t intended for the general populace, but it's not as deep nor nearly as good.

The clipboard, used when copying and pasting, is one of the most useful features on any computer or smartphone. Most platforms also have an even more powerful companion feature that's easy to overlook, but is a complete game-changer once you start using it. It's the clipboard history.

If you’re like me, you’ve had a rejuvenation of your love of reading that spurred you to buy an eReader like a new or used Kindle. There are so many different versions of Kindle out there, but what do they all have in common? The amazing Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Windows is prone to errors and bugs, and you might be tempted to download third-party optimization apps to solve the problem. Sometimes they can be helpful, but as often as not, PowerShell has a command that'll get the job done more quickly.

Got an old Mac mini or looking to pick one up? Apple’s smallest computer isn’t just a pint-sized box of tricks, it’s a very capable streaming device and media player. For many, it’s a better buy than the Apple TV 4K.

Proxmox is one of the most popular distros among homelabbers and self-hosting enthusiasts because it allows you to convert almost any PC into a server in the amount of time it takes you to install the operating system.

Recently, I’ve noticed the battery life on my Android phone is not as good as it used to be. So, I went digging around the battery settings to see what I could find. What I discovered was a few apps that have been sucking up battery despite rarely being opened.

Pirating TV shows and movies used to be a major problem that cost the industry huge amounts of money. Nothing seemed to be able to stop its rise until Netflix came along. Piracy declined sharply, but it's becoming increasingly popular again.

If you're a fan of Ryobi's bright neon-colored tools found at Home Depot, or even own several, you likely already know that the company makes a lot more than just tools for around the yard and house. The company has a bunch of obscure tools you'll love, along with outdoor items like coolers, camping lights, and so much more.

There are a lot of things Windows 11 has been criticized for, but some of the big problems are with seemingly basic features. Even years after they were implemented, these four Windows features are still giving me trouble.

Windows collects quite a bit more data about your browsing habits than you might expect, and between the operating system itself, optional programs and settings, and bad habits, there are dozens of different ways your browsing history can leak.

Do you remember how graphics cards used to be fun? And no, I don't just mean that they used to have mind-blowing specs and huge gen-on-gen performance gains. I mean when their designs were actually fun. And mildly horrifying, but that's another thing entirely.

Every smart home is a work in progress, though some aspects need a little more attention than others. The reality is that your smart home probably has a few problems that you can solve right now, and others that you can at least acknowledge and start to fix.

When enthusiasts talk about smartphone displays, there’s a long list of specs to obsess over. While resolution was and still remains the headline feature everyone cares about, there’s a different spec that makes the biggest difference day to day—yet it doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves. Of course, I’m talking about refresh rate.

I finally got tired of not having my photo library properly backed up and decided to do something about it—deploy SyncThing. This free and open source backup tool keeps my entire photo library neatly backed up to my storage server without me having to lift a finger or spend a dime, and here’s how I did it.

If you were an early adopter of the smart speaker revolution, chances are there's an older model of the Amazon Echo lying in a drawer, especially if you ditched the brand. This device isn't just a paperweight; it's a powerful piece of hardware that's underutilized. Don't sell your spares for pennies or toss them out, instead use them as dedicated smart home tools to solves everyday household problems.

Terminal multiplexers like screen or tmux are invaluable if you're working on a PC over SSH or sitting in front of one that only has a command-line interface. Despite its age, screen is always my first choice. This is why.