How-To Geek

I recently went through my box of old computer junk and discovered an old laptop. After checking it out, I discovered it had 8GB of RAM, a slow quad-core processor, and a battery that is ready to quit after 10 minutes.

Buying a 10GbE switch for a network where almost everything still runs at 1GbE sounds unnecessary. If your computers, access points, printers, and other devices still have Gigabit Ethernet, spending money on a 10GbE switch can look like buying hardware for a problem you do not have. That was my situation, and I still bought a 10GbE switch.

A high-end or "professional" webcam can cost hundreds of dollars these days, which will give you a major sense of disappointment when you set it up and realize you don't look any better than before, using a cheap camera.

Most people assume their printer is the least interesting thing on the home network. It sits there, waits for jobs, and doesn't do much else. But it's actually one of the most active and noisy devices on your whole network. The settings I changed after that audit weren't dramatic, but they kept me safer than I have been in years.

I'd heard the name Linux Mint, but I only knew it was a derivative of Ubuntu. I've been with Ubuntu and Debian for most of my Linux life. I decided to check out Linux Mint recently, and I was impressed by what I saw.

USB docks and KVM switches are more like two different coins than two sides of the same coin. They can both upgrade your desk setup, but they do it in quite different ways. Let me walk you through their differences and, as someone who uses both, help you decide which one is right for your needs (hint: they aren't mutually exclusive).

Ryobi is a go-to in the DIY and homeowner space for a reason—they have tons of tools for just about any task. Today, I'm going to show you five Ryobi electric yard tools that every homeowner should have in their garage and why.

If you're seeking thrillers, you've found the perfect destination. Several new thrilling movies have been added to the major streaming services, like The Runner on Prime Video. For this article, we're sticking to Netflix, which boasts one of the best streaming libraries.

When I was growing up in the '90s, one of the first things I learned about our home computer was that I had to run the "park" command before turning the computer off. If you didn't, you might find your hard drive was corrupted the next time you turned it on.

Everything is a subscription now. All the apps seem to want you to sign up for an account. They want your name, email, and blood type. Even when there's no reason for it that benefits you as a user in any way.

When I got my first flash drive, it changed my world. I was never concerned about how fast it was, even for a minute.

Despite legions of fellow nerds exclaiming the virtues of Linux or macOS, I still actively choose Microsoft’s Windows. I do so for the same reason I elect to play video games on my console instead of my more expensive, capable, powerful, and modular desktop: convenience. Windows 11 is far from perfect, though, and many default features and apps can be disabled to reduce clutter, improve performance, and make your computer better for you.

I have several old Echo smart speakers around my house that I've accumulated over the years. Despite not being a fan of Alexa, they still get regular use. Having repurposed my Echo Show devices, I missed having a screen with my smart speakers, so I decided to add my own.

Gboard has been my go-to Android keyboard for years, but lately, I’ve found myself wondering whether I’m really getting the best typing experience. Customization feels limited, privacy can be a concern, and some features I’d like to have simply aren’t there. None of these issues is a deal-breaker on its own, but together they made me curious about what else was available.

Mention the term "VPN" and most people picture a subscription app that hides their location and encrypts their browsing. Your router's built-in VPN does something different, though: it lets you tunnel back into your own home network from anywhere in the world.

Filmmaker Mode, created by UHD Alliance, is often considered the gold standard picture mode for your 4K TVs. It promises a viewing experience as close as possible to what a filmmaker intended by preserving the right aspect ratio, colors, and frame rates, and by removing unwanted post-processing.

Obsidian has always made waves in the note-taking space, competing with rivals like Notion. While the idea of building your second brain with Obsidian seems fascinating, it does require some effort upfront. Whether it's playing around with hundreds of plugins, tweaking frontmatter, or exploring Graph nodes before you even start writing a 200-word note, the setup can become overwhelming for many.

My favorite app store for Android isn't the Play Store—it's F-Droid. I find this repository of open-source software to be a more reliable way to discover new apps that I actually want to use. But I have a problem with how F-Droid looks. If the design also puts you off, this is thankfully an easily solvable problem.

If you haven't already guessed from the dollar amount and the distro's logo, I'm talking about Omarchy. It’s the new Linux distro developed by DHH — the guy behind Ruby on Rails. Now, version one actually dropped back in June 2025, but it really took off with its fourth major release, Omarchy Quattro, released August 2026.

There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of 3D models out there to choose from. I decided to 3D print some of the top models on Thingiverse, one of the gold-standard model websites, to see what I thought of them. Here's how I rank the top models from Thingiverse.