How-To Geek

Microsoft has been around for decades, dating back to 1975 with its BASIC software. BASIC was written for the Altair 8800 microcomputer built by MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems). Bill Gates and Paul Allen created the software when MITS approached them, needing a programming language for their personal computers. Back then, the brand was referenced as Micro-Soft in a letter from Bill Gates to Paul Allen. The brand had not been established yet.

Disposable cans of compressed air are a frustrating way to maintain your electronics. They always run out when you need them most, leaving propellant residue on your sensitive components. A reusable electric duster like the WOLFBOX MF60 is a far better way to get rid of dust, and it's currently available at an impulse buy-worthy discount.

Home Assistant is incredibly powerful and almost endlessly customizable. If there's an idea you want to make a reality, the chances are that you can make it happen. I've used Home Assistant to replace several different apps that just couldn't match what I could set up with the smart home software.

I have seen plenty of people run into problems with refurbished laptops. Sometimes, reinstalling Windows reveals the machine is still enrolled in an organization’s management system, and it gets locked again. Other times, buyers discover that the laptop was stolen or has some kind of firmware or administrative lock. I have been fortunate enough to avoid these problems myself, but my experience with refurbished homelab hardware has been considerably more interesting.

If Netflix is your favorite streaming service, this list is for you. Several new movies are premiering on Netflix this week, including a dramedy directed by Chris Rock, a documentary by Ron Howard, and a mystery thriller starring Jessica Chastain.

Obsidian is arguably one of the best apps out there for taking notes and organizing your knowledge base, but it comes with its fair share of imperfections. One of my main qualms with Obsidian is how difficult it can be to sync notes between my phone, desktop, and other devices. Sure, you could pay $4/month to get sync support, but I'm a cheapskate.

When the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro launched at $199 back in 2019, it was considered a steep premium compared to regular Android TV streaming sticks. However, it proved its worth by staying relevant for over half a decade, much like our living room televisions. I was drawn to the Shield TV for its hardware-level AI upscaling, which enhances standard 1080p content, and lossless audio passthrough, making it an excellent local Plex client. The price was worth paying, considering I didn't need to buy a very expensive television to enjoy these enhancements.

Years before I ever bought a roll of filament, I was making things with a much older material: wood. It's not something I do as much these days (I blame my messy garage), but I'm still a woodworker at heart. Here are a few projects that helped me get started.

While you might think to plug your desktop or smart home hub into your router’s Ethernet port, there’s a lot more to hardware for internet.

There's a lot of movement in the smart glasses space, from simple tools for capturing your lifestyle to next-generation, fully immersive mixed reality experiences. When it comes to augmented reality glasses that aim to be the ultimate, private, all-in-one external display for your devices, the ASUS ROG XREAL R1 sits at the pinnacle — as it should, when it costs $800 or more. I've been using these glasses alongside the Xbox Ally X20 I reviewed, and it's not a stretch to call them the best at what they do... but I can also confidently say most people should buy something else, like the excellent (and much cheaper) XREAL One Pro.

Thanks to the rise of streaming boxes and smart TVs, the age of the HTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer) seems truly over. However, things may not be as final as they seem.

Our phones are constantly being upgraded with new, interesting technology, but the quest for progress doesn't always lead to a better product. Sometimes, new technology can be more of a gimmick than something really useful. In other cases where the technology does have its uses, it gets filtered into a ton of devices whether or not they need it.

I recently returned to desktop PC ownership after almost eight years of using only gaming laptops as my Windows systems. Sadly, given the pricing situation, I could not have picked a worse time, but there are still ways of getting what you need at a reasonable price.

Running Pi-hole on your network is a great way to block advertisements, trackers, and other unwanted domains across your devices. However, if you want some redundancy in your DNS setup, you might eventually end up running two Pi-hole instances. This gives your devices another DNS server to use if one instance becomes unavailable, but it also means maintaining two separate installations.

Google is a company that has been in hot water more than a handful of times over the last couple of years for its blasé approach to privacy. It feels like mainstream media is constantly running stories about some new way Google has overstepped. The latest is that the company has been quietly verifying your phone number and automatically linking it to every Google account you're logged in to.

My server kept throwing network errors, and I literally spent hours blaming everything else and trying to get it to work. I looked at the cable. The link light was on, the connection was up, and nothing about that patch cord looked wrong. We treat a cable as either working or dead, but there's a lot of room in between where things limp along and cost you speed. When I took my storage out, the Ethernet cord popped off. It was broken, and I had no idea.

Overclocking enthusiasts are always pushing the envelope. Which means they'll often try some pretty out-there solutions to cool down their overworked processors.

I was looking at the cameras on my Samsung S25 Ultra, as you do, and wondered to myself, "Could you use two of these cameras to take 3D photos or videos?" After all, I can take 3D photos with my old Nintendo 3DS, so maybe someone's made an app for that.

With memory prices flying through the roof, becoming a growing concern for smartphone manufacturers, I wouldn't be surprised if virtual RAM becomes the next big marketing gimmick. Different OEMs call this feature by different names; Samsung calls it RAM Plus, while others refer to it as virtual RAM, extended RAM, and more.

November is packed with new movies on Netflix in the U.S. Even though we're only about a week into the new month, two of our top picks have already been released, including A Dog's Perfect Christmas and Possible Love. Stick around the service, and you'll see more movies coming your way, including Heartland and The Mosquito Bowl.