How-To Geek

Note-taking has always been part of my daily routine, but it felt plain. My notes were practical, yes, but dull and often hard to skim. Everything changed when I started using emoji intentionally in my note-taking, especially inside Obsidian.

You might not consider your computer a vital part of your smart home, but it can be. Integrating your Windows, Mac, or Linux workstation with Home Assistant lets you use your computer as a trigger or condition for household automations, and even send commands depending on your operating system.

Linux is everywhere, and that's not a bad thing. It's an operating system that seems to end up in every sort of device imaginable. The only place where Linux is rare seems to be desktop computers. Of course in recent years Linux has been gaining in popularity, and I can see a future where it might even have the majority share of the desktop market.

Have you put off building a smart home because of something you heard five or ten years ago? Don’t let preconceptions cloud your judgment and hold you back; it’s time to bust some smart home myths.

When it comes to finding solid content to stream, I’m always looking at Rotten Tomatoes scores. While I take them with a grain of salt—since beauty is in the eye of the beholder—these scores still have a marked influence over what gets added to my watchlist and what gets filed away as a maybe. When RT scores surge to high levels, though, they indicate something demands attention, and that’s the focus of this weekend’s recommendations on Amazon Prime Video.

It's tempting to buy any used PC parts you can with how expensive the market is right now. It's usually not recommended to buy SSDs used, but that's only on the consumer side. If you're looking at an enterprise SSD, buying it used might be a great idea.

March weekends are for zero plans and big-reward TV show binges. Luckily, HBO Max has a bottomless bucket of titles to address both of those elements, and all you have to do is look. Oh, but you don't want to look? Fine, you've come to the right place.

Netflix’s catalog is packed with award-winning titles, but Oscar winners always get a special spotlight. With awards season drawing close, it's time to refresh your watch list with Academy Award winners that you might be missing out on.

SSD health can be a confusing metric, and many people refer to entirely different things when discussing it. But did you know that your NVMe SSD has a real error log sitting inside the controller, and it's a lot more informative than the vague warnings your operating system might occasionally surprise you with?

Two-factor authentication is a popular way to add another security measure to an online account. Unfortunately, an alarming number of services, applications, and websites still use SMS authentication for 2FA, which is one of the most insecure approaches around. If you can avoid using it, you should.

I can’t be the only one who gets a small rush of accomplishment when I see the achievement pop-up appear while playing a game. I’m not exactly a completionist, but these bite-sized rewards help motivate me to keep going and to experiment with a game’s world and systems.

Hybrid vehicles are often associated with long-term savings, but the upfront price of a brand-new model can still be a major barrier for many buyers. The latest versions of the Prius offer impressive efficiency and modern technology, yet their price tags have steadily climbed in recent years. For shoppers focused on value, that makes the used market an increasingly attractive alternative.

Microsoft Outlook received a total redesign on Windows in 2023, based on the Outlook web app. Almost three years later, it’s still playing catch-up to the legacy Outlook client, and now Microsoft is delaying the full rollout for enterprise customers.

While keeping your SSD in an enclosure can significantly lower its performance, it's still a good way to store your backups externally, outside of your PC. The problem is that some enclosures may be hiding significant problems, and you won't know until it happens to you.

AirDrop is amazing, and iPhone owners everywhere use it regularly. However, its biggest limitation is that it only works on Apple devices. And while Google recently broke through that wall and got AirDrop working on Pixel devices, my Samsung Galaxy doesn't have that luxury. I don't need it, though, because this open-source alternative already exists.

Prime Video might not have the ever-rotating roster of documentaries and docuseries that Netflix has, but with a little digging, you can find some unique and quirky options that are worth your time without feeling like homework, like some docs can.

Some Home Assistant projects are practical, and others exist just for the sake of it. If you're looking for some more ridiculous Home Assistant projects to keep you entertained this weekend, then look no further.

The Art of Unix Programming (TAoUP), by Eric S. Raymond, is not a tutorial or how-to book. Instead, it is a book about the history and philosophy of Unix. But no other book has had a greater influence on my approach to Linux and macOS, or my everyday use of it. Here are just a few of the things it has taught me.

The popular open-source firmware for routers and other networking equipment, OpenWrt, just released a new major update. OpenWrt 25.12 is now available after “over one year” of development, with new features and more supported devices.

By the end of the week, my brain is usually running on fumes, and I need some stimulation to fill it up again. Something cool and interesting I can use to spark a conversation with my friends or someone in line at the supermarket. Netflix's documentary shelf is basically a library for that.