How-To Geek

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?

It’s always a little sad to learn that a favorite free and open-source app has gone closed source—or worse, started costing money. But sometimes it’s inevitable. Developers need to pay the bills, companies need sustainable growth, and maintaining a public codebase takes real time and effort.

The new flagship of the Audi portfolio has arrived. On July 28th, 2026, Audi unveiled the all-new Q9 and the high-performance SQ9, both three-row SUVs. As the largest SUV Audi has ever produced, the Q9 is poised to compete in the lucrative full-size luxury SUV segment, going up against established rivals like the BMW X7, Cadillac Escalade, and Mercedes-Benz GLS.

HBO Max is turning up the heat with an August lineup that leans deep into big-event television. In addition to a mix of unscripted content, subscribers are also in for some movie streaming premieres, a highly anticipated new series, a new season of a returning favorite, and another Hard Knocks training camp, this time with the Seattle Seahawks. Documentary fans also have a gripping new treat, and it looks to be a must-see project, especially for fans of Tiger King.

There's a reason we keep going back to documentaries—real life is always way stranger than any writers' room could ever conjure up. July has made that case again (June was pretty solid, too), with some genuinely fascinating docs and series from the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+/Hulu, and Paramount+ that I've watched that have hijacked more than one entire weekend of mine.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has spent decades setting the standard for luxury sedans. It's refined, packed with technology, and carries the kind of prestige that still draws buyers into showrooms.

Since I own a couple of SSDs that have passed the half-decade mark (the older one is pushing its first decade of service), I decided it was time for a quick health check to see if they're still in good working order and worth keeping.

Google Maps is on so many phones that it's hard to get away from it. For most people, it's never really been a choice; it's just the default. You open it, type a destination, and assume it's giving you the most useful route with the most honest results. I made that assumption for years, but lately I've noticed things that make it really annoying and untrustworthy, even if you change the settings.

As SUVs continue to dominate showroom floors, it's easy to forget just how much value a well-engineered family sedan can offer. For buyers who prioritize low running costs, long-term reliability, and everyday comfort over extra ride height, a midsize sedan often delivers a better ownership experience while costing significantly less to buy and operate.

Prime Video remains one of the major streaming services in today's streaming landscape. Like its competitors, Prime Video is always looking for its next critically acclaimed Emmy contender. Since 2015, Amazon has won more than 50 Emmy Awards in various categories, including some of the most prestigious comedy and drama prizes.

Your ESP32-based DIY electronics projects could soon integrate more smoothly into your smart home. Espressif's ESP32-S31 board is now available with major upgrades in performance, wireless tech, and input.

Phones have become such a part of our daily lives that it's important to find ways to make them easier to use. There's always one place that can make navigating cleaner, smoother, and easier: the Home Screen. But you might not realize there are some neat features available in your system launcher, like Samsung's One UI Launcher.

When Toyota rolled out its first hybrid system in the 1997 Prius, the idea was straightforward. Let a gas engine and an electric motor trade off propulsion duties, so the car could ultimately go farther on less fuel. Almost three decades later, Toyota has stretched that same idea in two different directions inside a single car.

We've all been there. Your PC is lagging, you open up task manager to see what is going on, and the graph shows you that 95% of your RAM is in use. Switching to the process tab doesn't help; the numbers don't seem to add up.

Ever since its release in early 2022, Valve's Steam Deck has been touted as the best handheld PC for most people and the default recommendation for anyone looking to get into handheld PC gaming, for good reason.