How-To Geek

This week on Amazon Prime Video, we’re exploring five critically acclaimed movies that resonate far beyond the screen with their blend of powerful storytelling, standout performances, and superb direction. From survival-driven ingenuity, unflinching intensity, and a deeply human exploration of justice to artistic obsession and chaotic excess, each of these movies captures lightning in a bottle.

Most people don't think about their phone-to-car connection until it stops working in the middle of a trip. Suddenly, you're poking at a touchscreen, doing exactly what you were trying to avoid. Getting Android Auto to play your music the moment you start driving sounds simple, and parts of it are. However, it takes some deliberate setup and a few spots where things can quietly break.

I have a habit of keeping all my software and files, regardless of whether I use them regularly. I have a sweet deprecated version of Noteworthy Composer (to run on a VM) and a portable version of Reaper that I've been using for years. The modern web and modern services have made it increasingly difficult (ahem, Amazon, ahem) to preserve software and digital purchases. So I preserve my software as much as possible, the same way someone might preserve their family photo albums.

Having your files safe somewhere on the network doesn't help much if a completely blank machine can't even see the network yet. Getting a dead computer back to the point where it can talk to anything needs to solve a hardware recognition problem before the operating system exists to solve it. Early NAS handled this surprisingly well, and understanding how they did it makes it easier to appreciate why modern tools, for all their efficiency, usually can't fully replace what those older systems got right.

My Bluetooth mouse would cut out every few minutes on my Windows laptop, usually right in the middle of an intense working session. Then reconnecting it over and over got old fast. While digging around for a fix, I came across common Bluetooth bugs on Windows and realized my issue wasn't the device at all. It was a single power setting buried a few clicks deep in Device Manager.

You have good reasons to get excited about Samsung's Unpacked event this week. It's clear that Samsung will be unveiling a handful of products, but the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is undoubtedly the most exciting. This will not be yet another boring iterative upgrade.

I used to spend far too much time building and debugging complex Excel formulas. Now, I can describe a problem to AI and get a working answer in seconds. But when I asked ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for the "best" Excel formula, they all gave me different answers.

Are you fed up with Microsoft's invasive behavior? They're increasingly inserting themselves into your digital life, collecting your data and outright disrespecting your wishes. It would normally anger me, but there’s no Microsoft on my system, and I'll explain why.

Minus any aftermarket accessories, the vehicle you bought however long ago has the same features today as it did when it rolled off the assembly line. For all intents and purposes, everything about your car, from the powertrain to the infotainment system, is exactly the same as the day you drove it off the lot. And you have not had to pay extra for any of the features you use and enjoy most.

Do you wish your Samsung Galaxy phone had slightly better battery life? I think it's safe to say we all look for ways to improve our phones, and that's why you'll love these two little settings hiding on your phone that will quickly make a big difference.

Netflix has its fair share of exclusive titles in the form of Netflix Originals, but of all the titles in the niche library, only a few can truly be recognized for being groundbreaking. Some pioneered new film-making techniques, others raised the bar for animation, and a few have reshaped television today.

According to Kelley Blue Book, the average MSRP of a new car has climbed to more than $51,000. Not long ago, that kind of money bought a fancy European luxury sedan. Today, it might only get you a mid-level Ford F-150. With new vehicle prices remaining high, it's no surprise that more shoppers are turning to the used-car market in search of better value.

Opening a PDF, reading its contents, and closing the window is one of the most basic tasks you can perform on a computer. It seems as passive as reading a physical piece of paper. In reality, two things are happening behind the scenes that you don't see: your reader is communicating with the software developer, and the document itself may be sending information to whoever drafted it.

My home internet is stable now, but that wasn't true just a couple of years ago. I've gone through several terrible ISPs before finding one that actually delivered.

Toyota introduced a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius for the 2012 model year, giving buyers a way to drive on electricity alone for short trips while keeping the same hybrid safety net for longer ones. More than a decade later, that basic idea has not changed all that much, but the price of admission has.

Android Auto puts your phone under an incredibly heavy workload, and summer heat only makes things worse. After only a couple of hours on the road, you've probably picked up your phone and noticed that it isn't just warm—it gets almost too hot to hold.

Got a vacant USB port or two on your PC? You'd like to use it for something useful, but don't know exactly what? Check out five practical things you can connect to your free USB ports, some of which can reinvent the way you control your PC.

I'll admit, I had a preconceived notion in my mind about what the results of this comparison would look like. The Core Ultra 9 would be superior to everything but maybe the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, right? Absolutely, unequivocally wrong.

Streaming hasn't officially replaced cable or satellite TV, but it's come pretty close. According to a Pew Research Center survey, 83% of U.S. adults watch streaming services. I'm certainly someone who uses streaming, but I have noticed that some of the medium's capabilities feel antiquated. Here are the four streaming features that feel outdated in 2026.

There are hundreds of productivity apps out there, and I think that's part of the problem. A productivity app is just a system—a means to an end, not the end itself. If any of these apps actually delivered, we wouldn't need hundreds of them. The sheer number suggests something fundamental is missing, which is why people keep hopping between them, hoping the next one will finally be the answer. I was one of those people, and I'm happy to say I've finally figured it out—and it has nothing to do with apps or any digital product at all.