How-To Geek

Unexpected car repairs are among the most common emergency expenses for American households. Since our vehicles are a necessary part of our everyday routine, the thought of being without one or having to fork over a substantial amount of money for repairs is anxiety-inducing.

The first computers I used in my life had nothing but floppy drives. One for the operating system and one for the software you wanted to run. Even as hard drives and CD-ROM drives appeared on the scene, the humble floppy stuck around for most of that time until USB flash drives finally filled that need.

Looking around at lesser-known operating systems, you've likely come across something called BSD, or FreeBSD. Both Linux and BSD are open source, Unix-like operating systems, but they're different. Here's what you need to know.

Every Linux system is unique, and other Unix-based systems like macOS and BSD introduce even more differences. But they all have a reliable, consistent set of tools at their heart, and these tools help define the Linux experience.

I don't know about you, but I have Olympic fever. It's inspiring to watch the world's best athletes compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in the Italian regions of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. As an American, I'm particularly glued to the competitions featuring Team USA, especially the medal rounds. I even found myself watching Olympic documentaries to get into the patriotic spirit.

It's no secret that Ryobi gets a lot of hate online. You've probably seen videos on social media poking fun at the bright lime-green tools, and asking for advice in a Reddit tool forum will quickly get responses about just how "bad" they are. If that's the case, why are they so popular, and why do DIYers keep buying them?

Have you ever noticed a game on your phone that you don't remember downloading? Have you ever updated your Android phone, only to find a dozen new apps you didn't ask for? If you want to stop this from happening, there are a few things you can try.

Today, portable storage media are common. External SSDs, microSD cards, USB sticks—we all have one (or several) of those. They're no longer seen as revolutionary products, but the Zip drive was one … for a time.

I've gotten a lot of use out of open source projects over the years. Eventually, I decided I wanted to give back. What can you do though when you've never coded an app or have money to contribute? It turns out, a lot.

Once you start a Jellyfin server and give it your personal media collection, you can start streaming it just like you would a regular streaming service. It doesn't cost a dime, and unlike competitors Plex and Emby, it's totally open source. Here's how to get started.

My friends think I’m crazy—and honestly, that’s nothing new. But in August 2024, I made a decision that still blows their minds.

The digital world is messy, noisy, and occasionally hostile, and I've tried to stay at least a little security-conscious as more of my life has moved online. For a long time, that meant using a password manager and calling it a day. Strong, unique passwords everywhere felt like the finish line. The problem is that threats have changed, and habits haven't always kept up. These days, relying on a password manager alone is a lot like locking your front door while leaving the windows open.

Do you spend most of your time in the terminal? If you do, you’ve probably encountered the classic find, grep, and cat commands when searching for files. However, I find these awkward to use and think they could be a lot better, and I have a command that delivers a much more advanced search experience.

Ever stare at your task list and feel completely paralyzed, not knowing where to start? Tired of productivity apps that add more complexity instead of actually helping you get things done? Well, here’s a free and open-source app that helped me finally beat procrastination.

Android devices, iPhones, iPads, and many websites might have the latest emoji, but Windows 11 still hasn't caught up. Thankfully, that might finally change soon, as Microsoft is once again testing Emoji 16.0 support.

The days of ChatGPT being an ad-free experience are coming to an end. OpenAI is starting to roll out advertisements to free ChatGPT accounts, and people on the cheaper Go subscription plan will also see them.

Looking for a good movie or three to watch this week? I've learned to underestimate Paramount+ when it comes to its library of movies, with the massive studio having so many in its catalog. Combine that with the ones it licenses, and you get quite the dilemma—what to watch.

Netflix's new crop of movies for February has come with a handful of must-see gems to make your work week sail by a bit smoother, so let's get right to it, shall we?

If your vehicle was manufactured from about 2016 onward, it might have a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot. Around that time, automakers started embedding Wi-Fi hotspots in their vehicles and offering trial subscriptions after purchase, similar to how they do with SiriusXM. Manufacturers like Chevrolet were among the first to heavily promote “4G LTE connectivity,” especially across its Silverado lineup, where new owners could connect up to seven devices.

Last month, YouTube TV announced that cheaper “genre-specific” packages would be coming soon. However, it didn’t share the pricing or any information about the actual channel bundles. The first batch of packages has finally been revealed, and they might not be as cheap as you expected.