How-To Geek

Don't panic! That "lost your Excel file" moment is scary, but your work is probably still hiding somewhere. From temporary files to hidden recovery folders, Excel and Windows both have safety nets—you just need to know where to look.

Home Assistant releases regular updates, with a major release of Home Assistant Core once a month, and Home Assistant Operating System (HAOS) every few months. While keeping Home Assistant updated is a good idea, giving you access to new features and security fixes, these days, I never update on the day of release.

Have you tried building a second brain but ended up just building a pretty folder structure? Tried Zettelkasten, PARA, and every other note-taking framework—only to abandon them all? Me too. And here’s how Obsidian’s daily notes feature finally helped me build my second brain.

Luxury cars aren’t getting any cheaper in the U.S., and it’s easy to see why. Development costs keep climbing, logistics aren’t getting simpler, and automakers know they can charge more for premium models and protect their margins.

Not all screens and monitors are built to the same standards of color depth and accuracy, and your eyes also have their limits. Now, you can find out just how well you (and your devices) can tell colors apart, potentially for bragging rights.

Who wants to start the week off on an exciting night? If yes, then head to Netflix to check out the thrillers ready to be streamed with the push of a button. This week, our top selection is a crime thriller about the drug war between the United States and Mexico. One scene in particular is considered one of the best action sequences of the 21st century.

Looking for a good movie to watch this week? I think I can help. Paramount+ has a library of an estimated 2,500 movies in it, from Paramount Pictures, CBS, Showtime, and other studios. Some are hits, some are not, but there's a breadth to choose from, including blockbusters, biopics, and classics to dramas, comedies, action movies, and everything in between.

Hot take: If I were buying a GPU right now, in 2026, I wouldn't touch Nvidia with a ten-foot pole. I wouldn't buy AMD, either. I'd buy Intel. No, I'm not joking.

Who remembers walking up and down the aisles of DVDs and (gulp) VHS tapes at Blockbuster on Friday night looking for something good to watch? I mean, I don't either; I was just testing to see if you did. With its rows and rows of movies and shows to watch, Netflix can feel like that, too, sometimes. Well, since I've been around the, er, Block, let me help.

I often write about the best practices for homelabbers, but I don’t always follow my own advice. That came to bite me in the butt recently when my homelab was compromised and a crypto bot started running my server’s CPU at 100%—here’s what I did to fix it.

In honor of the 98th Academy Awards last night, this week we’re focusing on movies that have claimed the golden statue. There’s a catch, though. Instead of looking at current nominees and winners, we’re exploring some of the 20th century's Oscar winners streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Most people like to upgrade their phone every other year. Resourceful people hold off for three or four. I blew right past that by keeping my last phone for over five years. The truth is, I probably would’ve held on even longer if it weren’t for the phone that replaced it.

Eufy recently released its new flagship robot vacuum, the Omni S2. The best part is that you can save $250 right now with the code EUFYS2FANS.

The automotive world is filled with incredible success stories. Ford gave us the Model T, Mustang, and F-150. The Chevrolet Suburban is the longest-running nameplate in automotive history, and the Corvette is the longest-running sports car nameplate. And from Europe came the Volkswagen Beetle, Porsche 911, and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Routers are usually set up once or twice and then they sit in a corner somewhere until a setting needs to be changed, or the router gets replaced. However, they're mini computers capable of doing far more than we normally use them for. Here are a few good ones to try.

SSD over-provisioning used to be a common practice for pretty much anyone who remotely cared about the long-term performance and longevity of their SSDs. These days, though, it has fallen out of practice. And there's a pretty good reason for this.

We are now living in a post-Oscars world. One Battle After Another winning Best Picture closed the book on 2025 movies. Now, it's time to set our sights on the new movies coming this year. As for now, the best new movie to watch this week is the continuation of a famous crime series with an acclaimed actor leading the way.

GIMP has been one of the most popular alternatives to Adobe Photoshop over the years, even though it still has some lingering usability problems. The latest GIMP 3.2 update is fixing some of those issues, along with a few other new features.

For years, the premium compact SUV segment has belonged to Germany. Shoppers looking for a small luxury SUV almost automatically considered models like the BMW X3, the Mercedes-Benz GLC, and the Audi Q5, thanks to their polish and prestige.

You’ve probably seen a slew of “AI laptops” advertised over the last few months, and perhaps even years at this point. “AI” is the hot buzzword, and everyone wants to catch some of that hype. The problem is that not every laptop that calls itself an “AI” laptop is really what it claims to be. But what makes an AI laptop worthy of the name?