How-To Geek

I don't know about you, but I feel like Wi-Fi hasn't fundamentally changed in years. New Wi-Fi standards are constantly improving throughput and efficiency, such as the introduction of the 6GHz band with Wi-Fi 6E, but why hasn't Wi-Fi evolved in the opposite direction, too?

I've used Adobe applications for many years, since the good old days when you didn't have to pay every month to keep using your software. Premiere Pro has always been my go-to video editing tool, but it's expensive and often overkill for many video editing projects. On a whim, I decided to see what Codex could do using a few free and open-source tools, and the results were impressive enough that I said goodbye to Premiere Pro.

Linux history is full of projects that thrived for years before their stewards walked away. Some faded quietly, others ended abruptly, and all left devoted communities behind. Unfortunately, many maintainers barely get paid for their work, so it often becomes a passion project. And passions fade. Here are just some examples of that.

Faced with the prospect of having someone house-sit in a few weeks, I suddenly need to make my smart home a little more accessible to guests. Smart switches are something I’ve yet to install, so my smart home still doesn’t function like a dumb home with augmentations.

It's been a while since I had to deal with a serious storage-related problem in Windows, which is likely why I didn't pay much attention to Storage Sense. I've stumbled upon it many times in Settings, but I figured I was all good because I use Disk Cleanup and regularly check what's on my computer.

I don't expect miracles from my ASUS laptop's battery, but I'd like it to last longer when I unplug it. Dimming the screen and closing apps only got me so far, so I went looking for a less obvious Windows tweak. I eventually found a processor setting that made a noticeable difference.

When I got back into 3D printing a few years ago, I focused on printing large things. That's why my first CoreXY printer was a Creality K1 Max, with a build volume large enough to print a complete cosplay helmet in one go.

We're moving further into the Halloween season, and Netflix continues to turn up the thrills. Not everything has to be scary this month to qualify as a thriller. In fact, our first movie on this list is not a horror, though if your family had to deal with a kidnapping like the one in the movie, it might be scary to you.

USB-C cables, while super confusing, are also utterly forgettable. I really don't think you spend hours pondering the fate of your USB-C cables, and neither do I.

Googlebooks are officially here, and one of their most important features is the new Terminal app for installing and using native Linux applications. The feature is targeted at agentic AI usage, developers, and other hardcore users who value working with a command line, and it might be an entry point for Linux newcomers. In this guide, I'll go over the basics of getting the Googlebook Terminal up and running, and how you can install and use Linux apps through that Terminal.

For years, I've asked myself why I keep buying flagship phones. Sure, the cameras are awesome, and I enjoy the high-end OLED screens for streaming, but there's so much horsepower that it's genuinely hard to use it all.

Some Linux commands have been around since time immemorial and are still widely used today. These commands work. They're both reliable and powerful. The problem is, if you're someone like me who isn't in the terminal all the time, they're not particularly intuitive. Most of the time, I use Linux through its graphical interface. I was never really interested in memorizing a bunch of complicated commands just to accomplish things that I could point and click at. When I do decide to open the terminal, I want command-line tools that don’t make things unnecessarily complicated.

Though a bathroom can be elegant and relaxing, it also has to be functional. With the help of your 3D printer, you can create both elegant and functional objects.

I carry one of the newest and most expensive phones, but my job is to cover Android. In this economy, it’s hard to justify spending this kind of money this often. Before, I spent years making a midrange smartphone last as long as possible while remaining pleasant to use, and the job has only gotten easier.

Throughout my life as a PC user, I've always used a dedicated PC monitor. When CRT monitors were current, a TV didn't have anywhere near the resolution needed for anything beyond watching standard-definition videos, which I did!

TVs these days are built more for profit than based on passion, so they often lack quality and dependability. But when it comes to audio, a TV's sound can only be so good, especially with how thin TVs are today. Those paper-thin speakers cannot produce impactful sound, and the output is often distorted and drowned out. But I got so used to the sound of this TV in the basement room that I never considered upgrading it, even though I knew I could.

Here's the thing—even though I'm a tech writer, I'm extremely sloppy about my own online hygiene. And browser hijackers rarely announce themselves. They creep in through extensions, quietly rewrite your settings, and fight back when you try to undo the damage. Here's how a short conversation with ChatGPT finally got Chrome back under my control.

I'm a big believer in giving old devices a second life — especially if it means I can avoid buying something new. That's exactly what I was able to do with an Android tablet I hadn't touched in a couple of years. Now, it's a Wacom-like drawing pad for my computer, and it was incredibly easy to do.

Bosch makes tools that everyone, from DIYers to masonry or woodworkers, can appreciate. We're all familiar with its popular 18V lineup and older, but robust wired tools like impact wrenches, but that's not all the company has to offer that you'll love. In fact, there are several niche tools that make jobs easier than ever.

While Microsoft spent years focusing on performance and reliability in Windows 10 and 11, many users wanted features and customizations they didn’t get. Updates rarely included user requests and feedback unless they involved issues that required attention, like non-functioning devices, BSODs, memory leaks, unresponsive apps, security loopholes, and other frustrating problems. Some major release updates included improvements here and there, or new features like Cortana or Start Menu changes, but Microsoft often built them the way it wanted.