How-To Geek

Whether you've encountered an issue with Googlebook OS, you're planning to sell or return your Googlebook, or you just need a fresh start, a factory reset is something you'll need to know how to do. Fortunately, like with most things on Googlebook OS, a factory reset is simple to do, even if it's different than factory resetting a Chromebook. Here's everything you need to know about preparing your Googlebook for a reset, and then safely removing all of your user profiles, data, and apps.

Cordless power tools are wildly convenient, and they're getting better or more powerful all the time. By now, you've probably replaced several older corded tools, but that doesn't mean you should get rid of them.

I know I am just a drop in the ocean of people who've grown tired of artificial intelligence worming its way into everything. AI can legitimately improve our lives in many ways, but it also often makes things more complicated than they need to be. This sentiment applies to everything from simple productivity apps to creative tools.

I never like to leave my family's two cats, Benni and Comet, home alone for too long. For one, Comet is a young cat who likes to stalk the senior Benni like the Predator, and two, it just doesn't feel great leaving my fur babies in a silent house.

Docker makes running software feel lightweight, but that convenience hides a costly default. Containers start with no cap on memory or CPU, so a single forgotten service can quietly consume your machine’s resources around the clock. Here’s why it happens and what you can do about it.

It's hard to believe that there have already been five generations of the Pixel Watch. With Google's typically low trade-in values, you may have decided to hold on to old models. The good news is that there are some creative uses for an off-wrist smartwatch.

Nothing disappoints me more than a TV show that fails to live up to the expectations set by its first season. It's called the "sophomore slump." It happens more often than you think. Some shows deliver a near-perfect first season before taking a noticeable dip in quality.

Ubuntu was my first distro. I started with 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa and am still running it to this day, trying out every long-term support version along the way. The reason why I chose Ubuntu? It was everywhere.

Understandably, many people have concerns about the information that their smart home is sharing. If you use Alexa or Google Home, you might not want your location data or voice commands ending up on cloud servers. Home Assistant lets you store your data locally on your own hardware, and I use it to spy on myself on a daily basis.

Stop thinking that you have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get started with self-hosting. If I were starting from scratch today, this is the homelab starter kit I would build for just $50.

Jellyfin is best known as a free, open-source Plex alternative. I've used it for some time to watch my library of movies and TV shows, but it's becoming increasingly useful for other types of content too. I now use it for gaming, eBooks, and audiobooks.

For the most part, I've relied on Windows built-in firewall since I left Windows XP. On a whim, I decided to install Portmaster, a third-party firewall, on my Windows PC to get a better idea of which apps were connecting to the internet and when.

There are all manner of video game-themed models contributed by a community of dedicated fans, but there are also occasions when the studios responsible for those games get in on the action too. Inspired by a recent Factorio release, this week we’ll take a look at some official 3D printing models for popular video games.

I've always liked the idea of a projector, and I've used them plenty of times at work over the years, but the tradeoffs were never worth the increased picture size for me until recently. First I was tempted by a new generation of portable LED projector, but now laser projectors are becoming affordable on a paltry writer's income, and I'm mighty tempted.

The first Google Pixel was released 10 years ago on October 20, 2016, with one mission: to raise the bar for Android through Google's own hardware and software. It replaced the Nexus line and ushered in an era in which Google was, to a degree, competing with its own phone and tablet partners.

Time is the enemy of old tech. Fortunately, cheap modern tools like the ESP32 can breathe new life into retro computing hardware, either by enhancing old functionality or replacing components that are difficult to get working today.

There's nothing quite like getting an error message on your Windows PC, only to discover that you can't always copy the text to find out what went wrong. I used to resort to typing the message into a search engine until my sister showed me a keyboard shortcut I've used for troubleshooting ever since.

By now, you've probably heard that enabling an EXPO (AMD) or XMP (Intel) profile in your motherboard's BIOS can improve RAM performance. These predefined overclocking profiles are tested by the memory manufacturer and should work in most systems without issue.

AI coding subscriptions have become expensive, and many developers want a cheaper way in. OpenCode Go promises capable coding agents for a fraction of the usual cost. Here is what it is, how it compares with Claude Code, and who should consider switching. Spoiler alert: it's not better, but it might be better for you anyway.