How-To Geek

Sci-fi and fantasy are my favorite genres (big surprise), but for most of my life the movies in these genres always felt like they had less substance than the SF&F books I devoured over the years.

These days, it takes a special trick to silence a noisy hard drive (HDD). And if not for this unfortunate patent war and lawsuit, we may have had a proper solution that could have kept our HDDs quiet, or at least quieter.

Memory card slots on flagship phones are a thing of the past and are unlikely to return. So if you want extra storage on your phone, your main option is to choose a higher capacity when you first buy it. But I go a different way. I still buy the base model, and then expand the storage by plugging in an external SSD. It might sound strange, but it actually works pretty well.

The best way to learn stats and data science is to actually do it. And to do it, you need datasets. One good place to find them is Kaggle. Here's how I find, download, and explore Kaggle datasets.

In my role as a content creator, I’ve tested more apps, platforms, and tools in the name of productivity than I care to count. For my daily work, I rely on open-source tools that help me move faster and get more done. They’re fast, flexible, and have no subscriptions or fees.

Do you own a powerful GPU but barely use it anymore? Are you feeling guilty of watching expensive hardware sit idle? Well, you don't need to play video games to get your money's worth from your GPU. Here are five ways I've repurposed my RTX GPU after quitting PC gaming—and they've genuinely improved how I work and live.

Microsoft Word may seem like it is still a basic writing app, but it has gathered plenty of easy-to-use shortcuts over the years. Tasks that you find tedious likely to have a tool designed to make your work easier. While some are simple, there are many that can save you a significant amount of time.

Microsoft Excel usually thinks in directions: "look one cell to the left." That's fine until you move the formula and the reference gets lost. By knowing how to use the dollar ($) sign, you can tell Excel when to look at a permanent address and when to look at a moving target, meaning you're building sturdier formulas.

Electric vehicles used to be limited to a small handful of choices, but that’s changed quickly over the past few years. Today, you’ll find everything from compact city EVs to electric pickups and high-performance supercars hitting the market.

Electric vehicles used to be limited to a small handful of choices, but that’s changed quickly over the past few years. Today, you’ll find everything from compact city EVs to electric pickups and high-performance supercars hitting the market.

PCIe adapters are the ultimate solution for adding anything from extra M.2 SSDs and SATA drives to 10-Gigabit networking adapters and Wi-Fi cards. While they are the fastest form of expansion on your motherboard, they are not as foolproof as they might look. If you don't match the right adapter to the right slot, you could be severely limiting your hardware's performance.

PCIe adapters are the ultimate solution for adding anything from extra M.2 SSDs and SATA drives to 10-Gigabit networking adapters and Wi-Fi cards. While they are the fastest form of expansion on your motherboard, they are not as foolproof as they might look. If you don't match the right adapter to the right slot, you could be severely limiting your hardware's performance.

Recently I decided to get back into programming. I'm not following the convention of getting started in Visual Studio Code, though. Instead, I'm starting from scratch with the Kate advanced text editor.

Recently I decided to get back into programming. I'm not following the convention of getting started in Visual Studio Code, though. Instead, I'm starting from scratch with the Kate advanced text editor.

So you’ve bought a 3D printer, made the usual assortment of fidget toys and Benchy models, and now you’re looking for something else to print. Though some people have trouble leaving their 3D printers idle, others experience “printer’s block” and run out of ideas completely.

So you’ve bought a 3D printer, made the usual assortment of fidget toys and Benchy models, and now you’re looking for something else to print. Though some people have trouble leaving their 3D printers idle, others experience “printer’s block” and run out of ideas completely.

Modern vehicles are more advanced than ever, packed with large infotainment screens, over-the-air software updates, and increasingly complex driver-assistance systems. While these innovations promise convenience and capability, they may also be creating new reliability challenges. Recent industry data suggests that as cars become more technologically sophisticated, the number of reported problems is beginning to climb.

Modern vehicles are more advanced than ever, packed with large infotainment screens, over-the-air software updates, and increasingly complex driver-assistance systems. While these innovations promise convenience and capability, they may also be creating new reliability challenges. Recent industry data suggests that as cars become more technologically sophisticated, the number of reported problems is beginning to climb.

Passwords are a problem. Not only have they reached a point where a "strong" password is one no human can remember (much less remember dozens of them), but they simply aren't as secure as they need to be. Passkeys combine a public and private cryptographic key pair with local authentication such as a fingerprint or facial scan. The device can prove its identity beyond doubt, and the assumption is that only you can unlock it.

Passwords are a problem. Not only have they reached a point where a "strong" password is one no human can remember (much less remember dozens of them), but they simply aren't as secure as they need to be. Passkeys combine a public and private cryptographic key pair with local authentication such as a fingerprint or facial scan. The device can prove its identity beyond doubt, and the assumption is that only you can unlock it.