How-To Geek

August is kind of the year's runt of the litter when it comes to streaming—it's often a slow stretch between summer tentpoles and the wave of new and exciting programming coming in the fall. But it appears that August 2026's documentaries didn't get the memo. Over the past four weeks, HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+, and Hulu each came to the table with some compelling and fascinating nonfiction, some of which may end up on best-of-the-year lists.

Your internet router has a very specific job, and it's perfectly reasonable to assume that all it's doing is that job and nothing else. The reality, however, is never that simple.

Linux phones have come a long way from the days when that meant installing rough software and hoping for the best. You can now get polished devices that largely work as well as their Android and iPhone counterparts, just with truly open-source code.

The Amazon Fire TV series of sticks and (literal) televisions has been popular for years thanks to low price points for decent-quality hardware.

Google is rolling out its Android feature drop for September, and it will be ideal if you need help in a store or just get queasy on a road trip. The release notably adds a Motion Assist feature that, like the iPhone's longstanding Vehicle Motion Cues.

There are some things I do in Windows so often that I can't believe they don't have keyboard shortcuts. After clicking through the same menus over and over every day, I decided to stop waiting for Microsoft and use AutoHotkey to make my own.

Android Auto is a great tool to have when driving because it provides an easy and accessible way to use your phone more safely while the car is moving. If your car supports it, there are several ways to connect your phone to Android Auto—especially wirelessly.

If you wanted to run Linux and Windows on the same machine, it could be a pain. You either had to set up a dual-boot machine or install a virtual machine. On modern Windows machines, Linux is an app like any other. Here's why that matters.

Sonos has used its much-hyped Open House event to premiere two new devices that it hopes will recover its reputation, including an AI platform it says will give you more control. The company has introduced Ace Ultra headphones and a Beam Ultra soundbar that are built on a new Sonos 27 "audio operating system" with AI at its heart.

Windows' built-in archive manager is getting better these days. But for more advanced features, you'll likely need a third-party tool. After using 7-Zip for a long time, I found NanaZip. It impressed me so much that I quit using alternatives.

HP is one of the goliaths of the PC world, and I've grown rather fond of its modern OmniBook and EliteBook laptop offerings over the last few years. When I received the new EliteBook X Flip G2i for review, it seemed that HP had gotten even closer to my ideal dream laptop—premium 2-in-1 design, refined features, a gorgeous anti-glare OLED display, the works. This is an impressively specced machine.

The calendar has turned from August to September, and that means new movies are heading to Netflix. First up is a documentary about one of the biggest tragedies in American history. Next up is an ensemble drama in the memorable Tyler Perry franchise.

Excel has been carrying an incorrect date in its calendar for decades. Microsoft knows about it, has documented why it happens, and could technically change the behavior. The strange part is that fixing it could cause more trouble than leaving it alone.

Even though I stream most of my music on Spotify, I renew my YouTube Music subscription every month. It still has one feature that I can’t get anywhere else.

Having a phone with enough storage space is essential, and even though base models now come with more than ever, running out of space is still a common problem. Thanks to powerful cameras for photos and video, large modern apps, and more, your storage will slowly disappear. Even worse, part of the problem isn't your fault.

I had a Raspberry Pi 5 lying around and I was not doing much with it. Then Proxmox VE recently announced ARM64 support on 5th of August and that immediately made me think about my Raspberry Pi. Proxmox now provides Proxmox VE for 64-bit ARM platforms, although the Raspberry Pi devices are not officially supported because of their boot and hardware-description architecture.

ECC stands for error-correcting code, and it works by using additional parity bits to verify that the data read from memory matches the data that was originally written to it. Regular RAM has no such safeguard. If a single bit in a memory cell flips from a 0 to a 1, or vice versa, standard memory has no way of knowing anything went wrong. That corrupted bit just gets treated as valid data and passed along to whatever process requested it.

Windows doesn't make it easy to see what your installed apps are quietly sending out over the internet. Portmaster, a free and open-source tool, changes that by showing every outbound connection an app makes and giving you the power to block it.

Google Maps is one of those apps I use almost every time I leave the house, yet I keep finding things I didn't know it could do. After years of using it for directions, I've become much more interested in the little features that make navigating and planning a trip less frustrating. Here are the five I've found most useful.

Don't assume the multi-point inspection of your car helps you in a real way that isn't for the dealer. Sometimes they're just looking for easy ways to sell you more services you can do at home for much less. You pay a bit more upfront for the equipment, but you don't need to be a professional to take care of your vehicle. You can do plenty at home for cheap.