How-To Geek

Most USB cables are boring because they should be simple. The plugs are different on each end for a reason, and that reason is to stop you from doing something that seems harmless but isn't. A USB-A to USB-A cable is not just for show; it is dangerous. I have one, and if you know what you're doing, it doesn't hurt to have one too.

Most of us put a lot of thought into the big applications we base our workflows around — the video editors, the note-taking apps, the image editors — and almost none into the system-facing apps we use every day. However, those applications make up a huge chunk of our day-to-day experience and deserve more thought than they get. This is especially true right now, as tons of high-quality free and open-source apps have emerged that easily offer a better experience than most of your system defaults. Here are three such FOSS apps to replace your Windows defaults.

For the most part, Android phones aren’t made with microSD card slots anymore. That doesn’t mean you can’t still use one with your phone. There are a handful of ways to do this — some good, some extremely awkward. Let’s go over them.

As someone who is very fond of my smart home setup, I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of it is surplus to requirements. Rarely would I recommend everyone install color-changing bulbs or relinquish control of the HVAC to just a smartphone app or a Home Assistant integration.

I’ve been using Linux for many, many years now, but I still keep learning new things all the time. It seems like, no matter what task you’re running, there’s a faster way to do it. So I decided to start focusing on these speed gains to see just how fast my terminal life can be.

Android's NFC reader does more than tap to pay. Held against the right tag or accessory, it can do a ton of stuff. Here are just some things you can do that will immediately improve your experience.

We ask our smart home devices to do a lot for us, and rarely spare a moment to think about what life might be like for them. I decided to give some smart home devices personalities and let them loose in their own Discord chat to see what they would say if they could.

As we wait patiently for more of Netflix's September crop of TV series to make their way to your algorithm, here's this weekend's lineup of bingable shows to settle in with—my top pick is still hoping for Emmy gold on Monday, and two are great shows, regardless of their age.

Buying used enterprise storage is one of those things that makes perfect sense when you look at the price and becomes more complicated once you actually put the hardware into a machine. Enterprise HDDs that originally cost a small fortune can appear on the used market for surprisingly little money. For a homelab, where storage capacity is always useful and budgets are rarely unlimited, it is difficult to ignore those prices.

For longer than I care to remember, I've written Excel formulas, dragged them down hundreds of rows, copied calculations across columns, and built running totals one cell at a time. This works, but I always find I'm doing too much work, especially when some of those jobs can be handled by a single formula sitting in a single cell.

Unless you own a Google Pixel phone with the built-in Now Playing feature, you have to use Shazam to recognize songs playing around you, right? Well, actually, no. Many Android phones have access to Google's built-in Song Search feature, which is almost as good as Now Playing and Shazam.

I've been an Arch user for five years, and it's been a love-hate relationship. I love having access to the AUR (Arch User Repository) and the hundreds of thousands of packages it brings with it, along with access to bleeding-edge updates as soon as they drop. But at the same time, I hate it when a buggy update just wrecks my system, not to mention the current malware mess with the AUR and all the headaches that come with it.

I don’t currently have any visible clocks on display in my house. I’m never without my watch or phone, and I decided that if I were to sacrifice some space for a dedicated timepiece, it would need to be something special, different, or interesting.

Occasionally rebooting your router and modem is pretty normal, and some routers even have a reboot schedule function that can take care of this for you. Though problematic network equipment should be replaced, adding a smart plug to your setup can save you effort and even automate the entire process.

So, you're wanting to get started with Ubiquiti's UniFi networking gear, huh? I love my UniFi setup, but I definitely made some mistakes. Here are the four biggest mistakes I see people make all the time in the UniFi community, and how you can avoid them.

Some weeks, the easiest way to find something good on Netflix is to skip over the newest releases and instead look into its library. The platform's diverse catalog has a lot to offer, especially when it comes to movies that have swept award shows during their respective runs.

Any time I recommend software to a friend, there is always an inevitable question: How much does it cost? The quality isn't necessarily the discerning factor—no one wants to pay for something if it isn't necessary. That makes free, open-source tools very easy to recommend to most people without a moment's hesitation.

“Can it run DOOM?” It’s the question people love to half-jokingly ask about every gadget with a screen. Android, of course, can run DOOM — but what about Android Auto? That’s an entirely different beast.

Microsoft's PowerToys suite of Windows utilities, which you can download from GitHub or install through the Microsoft Store, has earned a reputation as a tool designed for — and used exclusively by — Windows power users. But the reality is more nuanced.

Smart bulbs are one of the most common entries into the world of smart home devices, but they're not without their problems. If your internet goes down, you may find that you lose features or simply can't control your bulbs at all. There are several ways to stop this from happening.