How-To Geek

It’s no secret that the Apple Watch is widely considered the best smartwatch for iPhone owners. That doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for everyone’s needs, nor is it the only game in town. Whether you’re after longer battery life, greater durability, or a lower price, you have options that aren’t an Apple Watch.

The world of Raspberry Pi accessories is vast and wonderful. Thanks to the Pi's form factor, the community (and businesses) have come up with add-ons that make these tiny computers so much more versatile than anyone could imagine.

Even if you've never heard of the VP8, VP9, or AV1 video codecs, you've probably had a better video streaming experience because of them. The organization behind the AV1 project, the Alliance for Open Media, is now turning its attention to audio with plans for a revamped Opus codec.

SSDs have gotten faster, but hard drives, for better or worse, haven't. There's a reason why they haven't, and that's mostly due to to the way they work. So any attempts to make hard drives faster would need to get around that.

Did you know that Microsoft makes a lot of apps that they don’t include pre-installed with Windows? I know, it’s hard to believe, especially with how bloated Windows 11 has become. Here are the three apps that I wish Microsoft would include with Windows 11.

Hybrid SUVs are supposed to deliver the best of both worlds—lower fuel costs and long-term dependability, but affordability often comes with compromises. In 2026, however, the cheapest hybrid compact SUV on the market is challenging that assumption. The Kia Sportage Hybrid undercuts many rivals on price while posting reliability scores that rival, and in some cases surpass, the long-trusted Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.

Even though Linux might only hold a tiny part of desktop market share, its influence goes much further than the small number of regular people who use it every day. Most of the infrastructure in the world, such as web servers, run on some form of Linux. Software developers commonly use Linux for their work, and certainly the people who work on Windows are not only aware of Linux, but are intimately familiar with it.

Google Gemini is supposed to maintain a record of your conversations, so you can search through them later or use them as context in new chats. Unfortunately, Gemini's chat history is disappearing for some people.

Spring is right around the corner, which means it's time to lay pre-emergent and get ready to take care of your yard. With the right Ryobi tools, you won't just be maintaining the grass and trying to keep it alive; it'll thrive.

I still have some CDs from two decades ago that work just fine, but I know better than to assume that this will be the norm for all my CDs and DVDs. The fact of the matter is that CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, much like any storage media, can be susceptible to data loss, and your old files could be in major danger.

It's the perineal problem on desktop computers: a Downloads folder that's out of control, full of sundry items with varying levels of importance. Mine is no exception, but I managed to write a simple Bash script that can handle it for me.

How do you create a rock-solid development environment on Ubuntu? I'll show you how to do it in just a few minutes with VS Code and Docker Desktop.

I write thousands of words a day and share them online for others to see. I take photos, conduct research, and chat with colleagues. I do all of this remotely, and yet, despite living my professional life online, I do all of this without owning a PC. And you know what? With the other options available, I’ve never been happier to get to work.

Using simple CLI commands to manage and troubleshoot Docker containers gets really annoying, really fast. That is, if you even want to memorize and type in the commands over and over for simple things like checking logs, container status (whether it's healthy or crashing), and monitoring the resources each container is taking up. There's a better way to do just that without leaving the terminal.

HBO Max has got some real bangers on its hands right now, and your couch is calling this week. Don't worry, though, we know you need a machete to slash through all the weeds, so I'll just leave these three suggestions here, and you can do with them as you wish.

SSDs come in all shapes and forms, and depending on which one you buy, pretty much every internal component can vary in quality and capabilites. That includes the very NAND chips that actually store files.

One of the first things I learned about Power Query—and a rule I still follow religiously today—is to not select a column and delete it. To build a truly resilient dashboard, you must instead tell the editor what to keep, not what to remove. Here's why Remove Other Columns is your new best friend.

Luxury SUVs have gotten wildly good over the past decade—and wildly expensive. As buyers chased bigger screens, more power, and every badge upgrade imaginable, sticker prices climbed right along with them.

Netflix's homepage is probably where many customers find new movies and shows. The homepage is curated to show programs that you might like based on your streaming habits. If you know the type of movie you want to stream, then visit the specific genre page to explore popular categories like dramas, comedies, and romance.

Most Linux users settle into a stable setup. Pick a distro based on convenience or support, install it once, tweak it slowly, and then try not to think too hard about what is happening under the hood. That is fine, and often sensible, but sometimes, it is worth looking at the edges of the ecosystem, where people are asking stranger questions and building operating systems around them.