How-To Geek

A smart home might feel out of reach if you're renting. However, there are several smart home upgrades that you can make that don't involve changing fixtures, drilling holes, or messing with wiring. You may find that there's a lot you can do without violating the terms of your rental agreement, and you can easily take everything with you if you move.

Slimbook has sold PCs with desktop Linux for a while now, and today the company announced a premium Linux-powered laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor and up to 128GB RAM. Say hello to the Slimbook Executive.

If you're like me, you're tired of seeing the phrase "price hike" in headlines about the streaming services you're paying for. I got so tired I decided to use my movie collection to build what you might call a personal streaming service. Here's what it involved.

If you're new to setting up security cameras from scratch, the task of home security can seem daunting. But luckily, you can have a trial run with free-to-use security camera apps that only require your phone and one spare device that you probably have on hand.

When you type a web address (aka a URL) in the address bar of your browser, that's not actually the address of the server your computer connects to. That's a "friendly" name that humans can remember, but it has to be translated into an IP address. An IP address is the exact address of a specific device on a network, which would be a web server, when visiting a website.

January is already flying by, and if your good intentions are still intact, you may be itching to continue improving your smart home. If you have some free time this weekend, here are three Home Assistant projects you might want to try.

Police procedurals have been winning over viewers for over 70 years. From Dragnet and Hill Street Blues to NYPD Blue and NCIS, police-driven TV shows are extremely reliable forms of content. Many of these procedurals have found new audiences thanks to their resurgence on streaming.

Most people never give a second thought to how their phone connects to a cell tower. It’s something that constantly happens in the background without our input, and therein lies the potential for trouble. What if that tower isn't what it seems? Android can tell you about it—maybe.

Are you looking for useful software to run on your Linux PC? There's never a better time to try some out than the weekend, and I've found a song identifier, a powerful image viewer, and a ping replacement.

If you want to know the path we’ll walk in the future, CES is one of the best places to get a glimpse, and this year, Hypershell literally showed us how we’ll walk in the future.

SUVs are everywhere these days, and it’s easy to see why. Families love the space, comfort, and versatility, and now automakers are sneaking in hybrid powertrains to make these roomy rides a bit kinder on gas.

I'll be the first to admit that Netflix cranks out so many documentaries and docuseries that you're bound to click on a title or two that aren't up to muster. I'm happy to report that for this week, that is not the case.

Stuck in a boot loop or missing features after a Windows 11 update? Before you reinstall, try these fixes that usually work.

In the mood for a weekend binge that actually feels like a binge—the kind that grips you early, and before you know it, you're five episodes in? Impressively, Paramount+ is still yielding new and old shows to watch.

Whether you're choosing an employee of the month, picking giveaway winners, or assigning tasks, Excel is the perfect tool for a bias-free draw. These simple formulas allow you to generate a single result or a full list of unique selections in just a few steps.

Forget your "one episode, then bed," declaration—you're not fooling anyone. Netflix has had a good run lately with all kinds of bingable shows that you keep just clicking "Next Episode" on.

I’m an avid self-hoster. There are very few services that I use that I don’t self-host. However, there’s one service that I will happily continue to pay for and never even try to self-host, and what it is might surprise you.

Honda retired the Prelude back in 2001, leaving a hole in the sporty two-door lineup that combined style, reliability, and everyday usability. Seeing it back at the 2026 Detroit Auto Show makes the revival feel real in a way photos never could.

Are you ready to dive into some fun Raspberry Pi projects? From creating your own off-grid long-range mesh texting system to building a microscope, here are three Raspberry Pi projects sure to keep you busy this weekend.

If you're looking for a weekend watch session that covers all the feels—excitement, bittersweetness, and some creepy shivers, I dug up a few documentaries on Prime Video I think you'll like.