How-To Geek

Synology has faced a lot of hate over the past year for various reasons—some of which are very founded. However, a longstanding gripe of the brand’s customers is how expensive its hardware is. Here’s why I think that it’s still worth paying the Synology tax in 2026.

High fidelity is almost never the default setting in the digital streaming world today. Most platforms, including YouTube Music, prioritize keeping your playback smooth and saving your data over giving you pure audio quality. This trade-off is silently ruining your listening experience.

Imagine yourself lost in the wilderness, miles from civilization, with no cell signal or Wi-Fi. Your phone is pretty much a useless brick. But what if you could still send a text? While it's not always possible to text without any connection, your Google Pixel has a few tricks up its sleeve for when you're truly off the grid.

Home Assistant is arguably the best choice for anyone looking to start a smart home, but this is especially true for power users. If you want unhindered freedom to decide how your smart home functions and you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, there’s no better choice.

I used to treat my Linux app menu like a forgotten drawer. I rarely opened it, only to switch to my terminal a bit later. Then I found Ulauncher. It quietly replaced my start menu, app grid, and desktop shortcuts. Once I got used to it, I wondered why I ever clicked through menus in the first place.

With Microsoft's long-term vision aiming for Windows to become an agentic OS, you may think about switching away. I don't blame you because it sounds like a horrible idea, and one that I believe will end in disaster—I have three reasons why.

VBA used to be the only way to handle iterative, multistep logic in Microsoft Excel. Not anymore. REDUCE brings the power of functional programming directly into your cells, allowing you to condense complex, messy data into single, clean results.

This was another busy week for tech news, including more updates (and bugs) for Windows 11, cheaper plans for YouTube TV, Amazon bricking smart home hardware, and more. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

Hot hatches are everywhere these days, from mild sport compacts to full-blown speed demons, but one still stands out from the crowd. Even after decades on the road, this car proves that you don’t have to sacrifice practicality for fun.

It's no secret that Milwaukee is one of the most popular tool brands, and while many owners love the M18 line of powerful 18V tools, Milwaukee's M12 platform is equally excellent at a lower price point. If you're looking to get your money's worth with a new tool purchase, here are five M12 tools that live up to the hype.

Many Excel users abandon the ROWS function because it feels like a technicality they can skip. However, to build a truly functional workbook, you need formulas that adapt to your data dimensions, and the ROWS function is ideal for this. Here are four ways I use it to make my Excel spreadsheet smarter.

I don’t have to tell you that phones are really good now, and you can probably point to the areas where that’s obvious. Cameras, displays, processors, build materials, and so much more. However, phones have improved in sneaky ways, too.

You’ve probably seen those social media adverts for minimalist maps of your city, but did you know you can create your own? While it might seem like a lot of work, this simple Python script takes minutes to set up and is easy to use on pretty much any computer.

These jq filters handle the jobs you do every day: select, map, reduce, sort, defaults, and formatting. Find out how to use these vital features with explanations and examples.

The Nothing Ear (3) has an eye-grabbing design with a pleasant sound and a unique case to boot. Unfortunately, there are two major downsides working against what would otherwise be decent earbuds.

Although they entered the mainstream about 20 years ago, electric vehicles (EVs) have been around for a long time.

Kindle eReaders are obviously great for reading books, but that’s not all they can do. One of the coolest lesser-known features is the ability to send web articles to your Kindle. Instapaper is a great way to do this, but starting next month, the app’s "Send to Kindle" feature will no longer be free.

If you have been seeing the infuriating "This content isn't available, try again later" error on YouTube recently, you are certainly not alone. It looks like this widespread issue may be the platform's newest, more aggressive attempt to break ad-blocking extensions.

Stellantis just hit the eject button on hybrids in the U.S., pulling every plug-in from its lineup—including the Wrangler 4xe and the Pacifica—in one clean sweep. That move basically wiped out the plug-in minivan conversation overnight.

While I have a 60TB server sitting next to my desk, I actually keep my backups in the cloud. I know that might sound counterintuitive, but let me explain why I choose cloud-based backups instead of local-first approaches.