How-To Geek

There's an old saying that “software is eating the world,” but these days, it feels more like artificial intelligence is eating software. AI is definitely having a moment, and I'm not talking about generating images, writing emails, or building your website. Just last week, I wrote about how AI and the small team behind ArtCraft were building free, open-source alternatives to expensive software, including Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Office. That's giving the traditional software-as-a-service business model a lot to think about. What’s interesting to me is how quickly AI is helping these small teams and individual developers accomplish things that in the past would have required a lot more time, expertise, and resources.

The term “Japandi” is a portmanteau of “Japan” and “Scandi,” and models bearing this label are very well represented in 3D printing model repositories. But this popularity goes beyond aesthetics, since these models are particularly well-suited to this method of manufacturing. Here’s why.

I use all sorts of software when I travel: a VPN, streaming music apps, cloud storage, and more. I turned my Raspberry Pi into a one-stop-shop travel router that combines all of those uses into one device, so I don't have to worry about them individually on my phone, laptop, or console.

The minimalism of Pixel software is great — until you want to change how something works. That's why I've always loved "Good Lock" on Samsung phones. It's an optional suite of tools specifically for power users. That's what the "Essentials" app is trying to do for Pixel phones, and I finally get the hype.

Motorola is giving smartphone buyers in the US a much-needed reason to look beyond Samsung and Google. The newly announced Motorola Signature 27 brings flagship-grade hardware, a powerful camera system, and longer software support. The phone’s arrival is at an interesting time as OnePlus exited the country a few months back, leaving people with one fewer brand to consider while looking for a premium Android experience.

One of my favorite Ryobi purchases lately isn't even a power tool. Instead, it's the new power source battery charger that lets you use your Ryobi battery pack as backup power for small devices, recharging phones and more during a blackout. Here's what you need to know and how I used it to power my Wi-Fi router during an outage.

There's no shortage of advice promising to make Windows 11 faster. Disable startup apps, turn off animations, change your power plan, and run a debloating tool, and your PC will supposedly feel brand new. But after testing several popular tweaks on my ASUS laptop, I found that many didn't solve the problem I thought they did. Some reduced background activity, some removed interface delays, and others barely made a measurable difference.

A cheap or secondhand mini PC might not be powerful enough to run demanding games or large AI models, but you can use it for a lot more than just browsing the web or running common homelab services. There are plenty of things you can do with a mini PC that you might not have considered.

Back in the 1990s, Adobe created the PDF format to simplify sharing documents across different computers and operating systems without losing their original formatting.

Google Pixel phones tend to hit maturity a few years after launch, as bugfixes and updates slowly fix and add functionality. Still, you may find that you're envious of all the cool new features Google has introduced on newer Pixel devices.

New 3D printer models keep coming thick and fast. This can lead to a feeling of FOMO that makes you want to upgrade, but your old printer probably has plenty of life left in it. Unless you’re specifically looking to boost your printing capacity, your money is better spent scratching that maker itch with something else.

Microsoft has bloated Windows with so many features, yet I probably don't use half of them. On the one hand, they are of no use. On the other hand, these features take up my PC resources and, even worse, can be a threat to my privacy. Windows' OneDrive Folder Backup is one such feature I recently uncovered.

If you're an Android user, there's a good chance you're reading this in Chrome. It comes preinstalled, and most people don't have a reason to switch. But Chrome for Android actually comes in four flavors, and the other three have specific purposes. You can even run them all together.

Most people print using PLA filament, and some like to use ABS for its strength properties, but you don't hear much about the use of PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol-modified.) Yet, this material has many excellent qualities to recommend it.

As Home Assistant users, we’re spoiled by the project’s clockwork release cycle that sees a new major release arrive every month without fail. But not all updates are built equal, and November 2026 brings a very special community effort into the core release.

Imagine this scenario. You see a movie on Netflix and save it to your My List. One week later, the calendar changes, and the movie you saved is no longer available on Netflix. It's a common problem that many, including myself, have faced.

You look up "gaming mouse" in the dictionary, and you're liable to find a picture of the Logitech G502 X. Logitech isn't bluffing when it calls the G502 X the "world's most popular gaming mouse," but so much success understandably makes Logitech hesitant to shake up the formula. The latest G502 X Plus is here with a modest list of improvements, and it's basically guaranteed to keep selling in droves—but that doesn't mean it's still the best. I also have the brand-new Razer Basilisk V4 Pro in hand, and in lieu of a dedicated review, it's going head-to-head against the G502 X Plus to prove Logitech's competition hasn't been idly sitting by.

I wanted to build a second brain, so I installed the one app synonymous with the idea — Notion. The plan was to set up a few databases and start capturing all my notes into them, so everything would stay neatly organized and easy to find when I needed it. However, if you’ve used Notion before, you probably already know what’s coming.

There’s nothing quite like free energy, both in dollars and emissions, so I’ve started powering as many devices as I can entirely with solar power — including the one I’m writing these words on. I'm not going to tell you this is practical for most people, but it's doable, and for some of us, it’s fun.

Every few months, a storage warning lands in my inbox. I've noticed that they all sound the same and ask me to pay a little more to make the storage problem go away. The number is never big, but I still hate paying it. That price is what got me staring at the dusty computer in my closet, wondering if it could do the job instead.