How-To Geek

Plug-in hybrids offer a unique middle ground between conventional hybrids and fully electric vehicles. They allow drivers to complete many daily trips using electric power while keeping the convenience of a gasoline engine for longer journeys.

I use Excel for pretty much everything. So when I wanted to keep track of the 2026 FIFA World Cup stadiums, my first instinct was to open a spreadsheet and start building a list. The problem was that a table full of addresses didn't give me a clear picture of where those venues actually were.

I subscribed to YouTube Premium for one reason: an ad-free viewing experience. After all, it’s the biggest selling point of the popular video-sharing platform. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was paying every month without using half of what I’m actually getting.

The idea that you need a luxury badge to enjoy a genuinely premium SUV is starting to feel outdated. Mainstream models have closed the gap with better cabins, more technology, and a stronger focus on everyday comfort.

The Google Pixel 6, the first Pixel phone to ship with Google's Tensor chip, will celebrate its fifth birthday soon. That means with Android 17, the Pixel 6 has received its final major Android update, and official support is coming to an end. If you're still rocking one, it's finally time to start thinking about an upgrade.

Docker Compose is one of the most popular tools in the homelabber's software arsenal, and for good reason. You get one YAML file and run one command (docker compose up), and your service will usually magically start running.

The best NAS I've ever used wasn't the one that I picked up off a shelf. It was the one I cobbled together from old desktop hard drives, an old gaming PC, and a small SSD for a boot drive. It has run for years without a single hitch and beats even expensive modern NASes in most ways that matter.

In a straight comparison between Jellyfin and Plex, there's one clear winner. Jellyfin is open source, totally free with no premium tier, has no account requirement, and has almost everything Plex users need, along with greater customization. For the average person, the day-to-day experience is what really matters, putting Plex above Jellyfin.

I've been using Linux on and off for over 20 years at this point, I'd dual-boot for a few months, or always have a Linux VM or two spooled up on my Windows PC to keep abreast of the latest state of open-source operating systems. The first time I used Linux as my daily driver OS was during my postgraduate studies, where the little netbook I took to class could only handle Linux and not Windows.

Want to buy more tools this year? If you're a fan of Makita, you know the company regularly releases new items to bolster its inventory, including a slew of new tools over the last month. Whether you need a new drill, pellet saw, blowers, or other items, here are some exciting new Makita tools worth considering.

Often, AI on your phone lives inside a single chatbot app, without access to the rest of your operating system. DroiClaw aims to change that with an AI-native operating system in which AI can complete almost any task, from information searches to writing assistance, on devices without requiring any third-party apps.

Choosing the right trim level can make all the difference when you're shopping for a new SUV. Spend too little, and you may miss out on features you'll use every day. Spend too much, and you're often paying for luxury extras that add little real value. The sweet spot is usually somewhere in the middle.

These days, our smartphones are powerful machines with more cameras and storage than ever before, yet running out of space is still a common problem. But did you know one of the biggest culprits on Android could be Google Messages? I recently realized that Google's Messaging app is using over 25GB of space on my phone, and there's no easy way to clean it up.

Experienced coders and people who have never done so much as a "Hello World" exercise are all having a blast with vibe coding. That's the practice of telling an AI model in plain English what software you want to make and then watching it rattle off lines of code faster than you can read them.

What’s old will one day be new again; it’s a tale as old as time. This is true of nerdy hobbies that techies love, whether that’s because of the retro charm or in pursuit of a more satisfying experience that rejects the modern approach.

Just like USB-C cables can be confusing, so can USB-C ports. On the surface, it's just a port: stick a cable in it, and it'll charge your phone, sooner or later. But in reality, there's a lot more to USB-C than meets the eye.

If you use DistroWatch to find new distros, you've probably assumed—and reasonably so—that its rankings point you toward the good stuff. And while I think it's a great discovery tool, it's a terrible way to judge the quality of a distro. Many distros I would never recommend are ranked higher than objectively better alternatives. Here are three Linux distros that are far better than their DistroWatch rankings suggest.

Certain things in this world don’t follow our natural logic. A Galaxy phone charges from 0-100% in less than 60 minutes, and we’re supposed to believe that’s healthy for the battery? In reality, it is, but there are other things to worry about.

Boston Dynamics has passed among three owners in the last decade, from Google in 2013 to SoftBank in 2017 to Hyundai in 2021, when the automaker paid about $880 million for a company known at the time more for viral videos of dancing robots than for turning a profit.

You might not have given much thought to the location of your 3D printer beyond making sure it fits somewhere. So what if you could print more and prevent problems simply by moving it to another room?