How-To Geek

I always assumed my home network was mostly talking to a handful of servers nearby, making the occasional overseas travel. But I probably wasn't fully aware of where my network was pinging to. Running TapMap for a week proved just how wrong I was—and how far my data actually travels.

Heart-pounding movies have been my crème de la crème. Whether their stories encompass the rise and fall of a ruthless empire, the fractured reality of memory, the chaos of conflict, or the reckless thrill of real-life crime, there’s no shortage of lingering entertainment.

Windows 11’s latest update has finally introduced ‘Haptic Signals’, a feature that enhances the UI experience of the operating system. Haptic feedback in a laptop trackpad is not a pioneering feat, since Apple brought it to its MacBooks all the way back in 2015. Ever since, Apple has been tweaking and improving the feature.

Your router is essentially a tiny, underpowered computer optimized to handle a wide variety of tasks, such as Wi-Fi management, routing, DHCP, and, of course, DNS forwarding. Although routers are impressively efficient for their size and price, they're still working with extremely limited resources, so the more work you can offload to other devices, the more resources the router has for other tasks.

For years, streaming services were my go-to choice for music in the car, since they gave me the ability to listen to whatever music I want whenever I want. However, over time, I've also become disillusioned with the fact that I don't actually own any of the music I was listening to. I also realized that I've spent more than $1000 on streaming subscriptions over the years with nothing to show for it.

There’s a particular frustration that hits when you run out of Claude tokens mid-project—and Anthropic is more than happy to sell you a $100 or $200 plan to solve that. But chances are, the problem isn’t that you use Claude more—it’s that you use it inefficiently.

Netflix ended May on a high note with several hit movies that debuted in the streamer's top 10. The Crash, a stunning documentary about a tragic accident, remains the No. 1 movie on the service. For something lighter in tone, try Ladies First, a satirical comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike.

Excel is packed with shortcuts and automation tools that handle formatting, analysis, and repetitive work in seconds. These beginner-friendly features eliminate tedious spreadsheet tasks so effectively that the results feel almost too good to be true.

AMD is dealing with soaring PC component prices through an unusual strategy: repackaging old CPUs and GPUs to reach gamers who can no longer afford the latest technology.

Dell is continuing its XPS revival by launching a redesigned XPS 13, and it's not just a major rethink of the company's smallest premium laptop — it's a direct bid to capture would-be MacBook Neo buyers.

Get ready for a documentary-heavy month on HBO Max, with new and returning original shows and some delectable movies making their streaming debuts. Whether you’re craving epic fantasy, sharp comedy, or prestige indie films, the platform has plenty of new content to satiate your desires.

Euphoria season 3 comes to a close with tonight's finale, which airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max. Will this episode wind up being the series finale?

Lincoln introduced the Aviator in 2003 as a three-row luxury SUV, but it shared its platform and its look with the Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer. While it was more upscale than both, Aviator sales were still modest as buyers noticed the all-too-close family resemblance. As dealers struggled to move units, Lincoln discontinued the model line not long after its debut. The 2005 model year was the last of the Aviator for quite some time.

I am not the biggest fan of Samsung phones, and that’s mostly due to the software. The plethora of features and options is nice, but I just don’t like some of Samsung’s design choices. Thankfully, One UI 8.5 improved one such thing in a big way: the Quick Settings panel.

SUV buyers in the U.S. are paying a lot more attention to what it actually costs to own a vehicle these days. It’s not just the sticker price anymore—it’s everything that comes after it.

Jellyfin works pretty well on Android with all the default settings in place. But there are still a few tweaks I make in both the Jellyfin client and Android itself to tailor the service to exactly how I want to use it. From enabling wider codec support to improving offline use, to enabling background play, these tips can improve your Jellyfin experience too.

Cloud storage is expensive, we like to host our own content locally these days, and can you really put all your trust in third-party backup solutions?

If you have been researching a new vehicle but have noticed that prices seem higher than ever, that is not your imagination! The average new-vehicle transaction price is hovering at or near $50,000 today, the highest it’s ever been in the automotive industry. It seems the days of ultra-affordable cars have passed, and even a six-figure salary may not leave enough margin when factoring in the total cost of vehicle ownership.

Microsoft has spent the last several years pushing Copilot and new user interface designs, which has meant that several great features included with Windows don't get the recognition that they deserve. These are some of my favorites that will run on any Windows 11-compatible PC.

Plex is great, but setting up and maintaining a home server is more effort than many people want. If you only want to use it for music and audiobooks, you don't need to go to that trouble. You might already have a simpler alternative that you're ignoring. It's YouTube Music.