How-To Geek

There’s a lot you can do to design a resilient smart home, from choosing an open ecosystem like Home Assistant to avoiding devices that depend on the cloud to work. But sometimes, things just don’t go to plan.

This was another busy week for tech news, with Valve revealing its new Steam Machine console and Steam Frame headset, Mozilla overhauling Firefox, a new update for Visual Studio Code, and much more. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

If you're a fan of Ryobi's brightly colored tools found at Home Depot, or even own several, you've likely seen a few "Hybrid" tools from the brand. Ryobi tools are incredibly popular, fairly affordable, and constantly on sale. However, did you know that the brand also offers hybrid tools that you can continue using even when the battery runs out?

The git program supports so many sub-commands that it’s almost impossible to keep on top of them all. Most of them are quite low-level and carry out simple tasks like committing code changes or switching branch. But some of the most obscure offering surprising functionality that does way beyond the norm.

Lincoln is a classic American brand that somehow always feels current. Its current lineup leans heavily on SUVs, and the latest Navigator has reminded everyone why Lincoln still dominates the full-size segment.

For far too long, I struggled to find the perfect image without a distracting background for my PowerPoint slides. I used to think I needed complicated software to fix it, but I eventually discovered a tool that's built into the software itself: Remove Background.

You can't properly, safely store passwords without a password manager, and my choice for that on Linux is KeePassXC. There are many out there, but there's a reason I've stuck with this free and open source option for five years.

Perhaps it's not fair coming from a (nearly) 40-year-old man, but the opening sequences of modern cartoons just don't have the same zing it used to in the '80s and '90s. I guess the commerce-driven Saturday morning cartoon had more incentives to be attention-grabbing, and these classics are certified bangers in any era.

I gave up on the new Outlook six months ago, fed up with the clunky, buggy, featureless mess of a desktop app. Half a year on, I hoped its fundamental problems would be fixed—but they haven't. It's still a slow, under-tooled disappointment that sabotages my workflow.

It seems like there is an IDE or other specialized programming tool for every language out there. Some of them have become extremely bloated, which is fine if you're running a beefy PC that supports it and have need of the features.

The sentiment that physical media are dead is pretty common these days, and for some formats like VHS, that's probably true. However, both vinyl and even tape cassettes have undergone a revival among old and new enthusiasts. So never say never.

The weekend is here, and that means it’s time for another round of Raspberry Pi projects! This weekend, I’m focusing on a mixture of fun and productivity, with projects ranging from receipt printers to running Windows 11.

It seems that, all of a sudden, all of our gadgets have found some way to include "AI" features of some kind. I've even seen "AI" screen protectors, whatever that may be.

From Apple's Mac Mini to Valve's Steam Machine—and everything in between—mini PCs are everywhere and only getting more popular. Not everyone needs a laptop, but at the same time they don't need a big, noisy, lumbering desktop PC anymore. So the rise of the mighty mini makes sense.

For decades, Europe has defined the gold standard in sports car performance, with legendary names from Germany, Italy, and Britain setting the pace. But one American contender has rewritten that narrative, delivering blistering speed, precision handling, and head-turning design at a price that undercuts its European rivals by tens of thousands.

There's something deeply wrong about spending $150 on an Apple trackpad when I don’t own a Mac and use a Windows PC. I know this. My wallet knows this. But I can see it unlocking some productivity gains, which is why I’m really considering buying it against my better judgment.

Fiction is great, but when real life delivers stories and subjects as compelling, inspiring, and entertaining as even the most wildly imaginative yarns, sometimes a documentary is the best way to tell it.

Thunderbird 145.0 has officially landed, and it comes with native support for Microsoft Exchange. This is a massive update for anyone who uses Thunderbird daily but has struggled to connect to their work email without resorting to clunky third-party add-ons or bridges.

The Steam Machine has just been announced, and PC gamers are already going crazy over it. If you can’t wait to get your hands on one, or if you like the concept of a tiny living room PC but have some reservations, you should build your own Steam Machine.

Clearing up the cables inside your PC might seem like futile busywork. After all, if everything works, why bother? Well, I have six good reasons that'll convince you to open up your case and fix the mess inside your PC.