How-To Geek

Over on Prime Video this week, a couple of interesting things are afoot. Season 4 of Alan Ritchson and his chiseled jaw are at the top of the TV chart with Reacher, and Masters of the Universe—which didn't come anywhere near recouping its $170 million budget in theaters—is enjoying the top spot on Prime's movie charts. Indeed, streaming is a great equalizer.

PivotTables are great for turning thousands of rows into useful summaries in Excel, but they're only as good as the data you give them. So before I build one, I take a few moments to prepare my source data using four simple functions.

When thinking of processors, what comes to your mind first? (Outside of a food processor, that is.)

Back in the early days of Android (circa the early 2010s), I decluttered my phones of redundant files with third-party storage-cleaning apps. At one point, I even used one of those infamous RAM cleaner apps, but I quickly realized the error of my ways and banished memory cleaners from my phone for good.

Windows 11 came with a number of refreshed default apps and a sleek new user interface, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. The basic media app often struggles with unusual formats or HDR content, the UI changes were not universally popular, it still lacks the ability to interact with some kinds of files effectively, and managing your installed apps is a messy nightmare.

If you own even a moderately modern car, you may not have a CD player in your vehicle at all, but that doesn't mean you can't find some way to enjoy your high quality audio collection on the road.

If you know a thing or two about power tool brands, you're probably well aware that Black+Decker is primarily aimed at at-home DIYers looking for affordable, easy-to-use power tools. On paper, I sound like the perfect customer, but I have some real regrets a year after buying my first cordless drill from the company.

Google Maps is one of those apps I use so often that I just assume I know everything it can do. I was wrong. When I started digging, I found some features that solve surprisingly common problems and make everyday journeys easier. Here are seven hidden gems worth knowing.

An aggravating amount of software today requires a sign-in to use, even if it doesn't require a subscription or license to use. Software that just used to install and work now has an extra step.

When I first planned out my home theater setup, I knew there was one thing I didn’t want: a bunch of wires running all over the room. Having fewer wires reduces the tripping hazard and the chance of them getting caught on something and pulling what they are connected to down.

Nothing beats the experience of unboxing a brand-new phone, removing the protective sheets, and turning it on for the first time while you're gliding all over it with your fingers to get a feel for the case's texture. After unboxing dozens of phones in my life, this still hasn't gotten old.

Everyone says Linux is technically complicated, intended for tech-savvy users who like to dwell in the terminal. However, as someone who has used Linux as my daily driver for 10 years and nudged plenty of friends and family toward it, I can tell you that reputation is a myth—at least on modern Linux desktops. To prove my point, I put my mother-in-law—a completely non-technical user—on Linux. And spoiler alert: it went better than her time on Windows ever did.

An old Kindle can do far more than you might imagine. The only thing holding it back is Amazon's locked-down software. By jailbreaking my Kindle, I was able to turn it into a useful second monitor in less than an hour.

If you're new to the world of cordless power tools, it can be rather confusing. There are brushless tools, older brushed motors, different voltages, battery capacities, different output types, and so many brands to choose from. Ryobi is popular with the DIY crowd, but you'll also hear people everywhere suggesting buying Milwaukee. And while there's a lot to consider in that decision, don't go by voltage alone.

While I don't have the built-in MSN Weather app on my Windows 11 PC (I deleted it ages ago), I decided to reinstall it to see whether those recent reports about the app using more than 1GB of memory on Windows 11 weren't overblown. And, well, I was indeed surprised, and not in a positive way.

After seeing several videos of drivers getting out of trouble because they had dashcam footage, I finally bought cameras for both my SUV and my wife's car. She drives about 15 miles each way to work, much of it on the highway, and I'm always thinking about how quickly a normal commute can turn into a mess if there's a crash or some other incident.

A clogged nozzle can mean anything from inconsistent print quality to total 3D printer shutdown. While the latter usually involves a long needle and some elbow grease, the former is arguably best solved with a gentler approach known as a “cold pull.”

Modern smartwatches are essentially miniaturized phones on our wrists, and Samsung watches are no exception. Fortunately, if you want to enjoy that beautiful Galaxy hardware on your wrist but aren't keen on sharing loads of data with Samsung, you aren't without options. I have a Galaxy Watch 8, and here's what I'd recommend.

One of my favorite things about self-hosting is that it isn't just limited to running a Plex server or hosting your own website. Self-hosting can actually take hobbies you already have and make them so much better. Here are five tech-focused hobbies that get better when you start self-hosting things for them.

A long time ago, in smartphones that looked very different, there were SD card slots for expanding storage. That’s a long-lost feature, but it’s still surprisingly easy to use external physical storage with your iPhone or Android phone.