How-To Geek

The cost of streaming service subscriptions continues to rise. Even services that used to offer free content are moving it behind paywalls. Here are some once-free streaming services that have added fees, removed free tiers, or just made free viewing harder, and some alternative options you can use instead.

The humble floppy disk in its various incarnations ruled the computer world for a long time. Too long, as it turns out. Eventually, the tiny capacity of floppy disks was a mismatch for growing hard drives and ballooning file sizes, so something new was needed.

Honda is responding to its collapsed EV plans by refocusing on hybrids, with 15 new models planned by March 2030. It's concentrating on North America, and previewed what are likely to be next-generation Civic and Acura RDX hybrids.

One annoying thing about installing apps from outside the Google Play Store is that they don't auto-update. It's a pain to download a new APK and reinstall it to get the updated version every time. Let me show you two ways to automatically update those apps.

When it comes to streaming services that I grew familiar with as I aged, one of them was Hulu. For years, I would visit this website to watch amazing dramas and interesting comedies and, most of the time, to catch up on the TV shows I had been watching throughout the week.

UniFi’s networking capabilities have no rival in the consumer or prosumer market. The system is relatively easy to use, extremely powerful and capable, and the platform has more fanboys than Marvel it seems. But, after setting up my home UniFi network, here are the four things I wish I knew before I got started.

If you use Home Assistant, ESPHome, or any number of similar projects, you might have heard of the Open Home Foundation. What you might not realize is just how important this entity is to safeguarding the projects you depend on.

The arrival of the 2027 Audi Q9 is getting closer, the German manufacturer's new flagship that seats up to seven. While Audi has shared glimpses of the camouflaged exterior for a while now, the automaker has officially opened the doors of the Q9 to provide a first look at the interior ahead of its full reveal on July 28th.

Are you ready for another set of weekend homelab project ideas? This weekend, I'm showing you a few things that I wish I had done sooner in my homelab, including setting up a Wi-Fi heatmap, building a drive health dashboard, and spinning up an uptime monitor.

In the past few years, buying a new laptop usually meant choosing between a thin-and-light model with soldered memory or a slightly thicker one that still used upgradeable SO-DIMM RAM. As someone who wants the lightest device possible but also values long-term upgradability, that trade-off always felt like a massive compromise.

AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Claude are incredibly useful tools that allow you to set up custom projects or dedicated tools to perform specific tasks. Becoming reliant on a single service to access your tools is far from ideal, but there is another option.

Using Home Assistant, you can create powerful automations for your smart home that can do far more than proprietary systems such as Alexa. There are some automations, however, where Home Assistant may need a little help. The n8n workflow automation platform can make your automations even more powerful.

We've all been there. The Wi-Fi acts up, a video call freezes, a download stalls, and the first instinct is to grab the laptop and move closer to the router. It feels logical, right? Closer to the source equals stronger signal equals better internet. Problem solved.

Androids have become fortresses that can stop threats and protect data when powered off. However, they haven't consistently given us the ability to easily and quickly lock down a single, sensitive file, which would make it as secure as possible. It's strange when you think about it, since it's a very old feature that should be possible without any tricks. Luckily, there is a straightforward solution to client-side file protection. You just have to look outside the apps you are given.

It can be hard to convey information in your smart home in an effective yet subtle manner. Mobile notifications work well for some things, but they can be easy to miss, and most of us receive too many of them anyway.

When people build a home audio system, they tend to prioritize raw output and deep bass. It's common, and I've even done it. It is easy to think that bigger is inherently better, and overspending on a single, massive unit that dominates your floor space won't create distortion. However, theater-level bass is really only needed in theaters; it won't do well in your home. By moving away from the temptation of the massive single box, you can get professional-grade audio without the premium price tag.

If you use ChatGPT, you already have access to Codex. At the time of writing, it’s available to both free and paid users. You can download it as a desktop app for Windows or macOS. It’s incredibly powerful, but most people ignore it because they assume it’s only meant for programmers. I understand why—after all, the word “code” is right there in its name—but Codex is too useful to overlook. Here are three reasons why I prefer it over the regular ChatGPT app.

It's no secret that I'm a Windows user, although Linux is catching up fast in my house. I've been using Windows since the Windows for Workgroups days, so I've lived through more Start menu redesigns, control panel reshuffles, and "future of computing" experiments than I can count. I'm not someone who thinks every older version of Windows was automatically better. In a lot of ways, modern Windows is more stable, more secure, and more capable than it has ever been.

Amazon's Alexa is now available on the company's shopping app and website in the US, bringing a wide range of new capabilities. Customers can now visit the Amazon app or website to have Alexa support them with suggestions, guidance, and a couple of useful features while shopping.

Windows 11's April update made several tangible improvements to the operating system which made it a bit easier to use. However, they didn't solve the main reason that I tweak the registry: customization. There are too many customization settings without easily-accessible toggles, and until that changes, the registry will be one of my go-to tools.