How-To Geek

If you've got a new pair of headphones, but the sound quality is barely better than what you've got on your old pair, you're not imagining things. Android often defaults to Bluetooth settings that prioritize stability and low latency over pure sound quality, which can hold your audio back. If music quality matters to you, it's worth tweaking the settings to maximize sound quality.

I spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars overbuilding my homelab over the years. I really wish I didn't do that. Here's what I wish I did, and why I think you should follow in my (untaken) footsteps.

I've always been the kind of DIYer who ends up with a lot of weird problems to solve. Between cars, motorcycles, vintage arcade games, pinball machines, guitars, and the endless list of things that break when you own a home with a small farm, there's always something that needs attention.

I've been using Linux exclusively on my workstation for almost four years now. But well before that, I had tried (and failed) to make the switch for just as many years. I'd like to share the many mistakes I made along the way and what I learned from them.

If you're using Windows Terminal for WSL or Powershell, there are some features from Linux terminals that you might miss. Fortunately, it's easier to customize Windows Terminal than ever. Here are some tweaks that can make it behave more like Linux terminals.

One of Google’s oldest Pixel-exclusive features is the ever-present “Now Playing” music recognition. It also happens to be one of the most difficult to hack onto other Android phones. Thankfully, there’s already a built-in solution that’s almost as good.

There's no doubt that Google Sheets has closed the gap on a ton of everyday spreadsheet tasks. However, Microsoft Excel still offers a handful of specialized power tools that set it apart. From automated data cleaning to heavy-duty optimization and brilliant layout tricks, these features are a big reason Excel still leads in many workflows.

Espressif’s ESP32 series is the go-to choice for many people looking to take on microcontroller-powered projects. Not only are they cheap and versatile, but they’re also available in a variety of configurations for just about every need.

Did you know that an estimated 75% of all American silent films have been lost? Over 90% of the films made before 1929, and about 50% of American films made before 1950.

Be honest: When did you last check your Ethernet cables? If the answer is "probably not since I've installed them," I can't blame you. I also didn't care about the state of my wired connections until they finally backfired and prompted me to investigate.

Samsung makes some of the best phones, and I've been buying and reviewing them for the last 14 years. A common problem is all the bloatware and pre-installed apps, which is why one of my first steps is to purge most of them. Samsung is slowly moving toward Google apps by default, but here are the apps I uninstall or disable on every Galaxy phone.

Our daily routines are rarely fixed. The way we interact with our smart homes changes from day to day. Using Home Assistant, my smart home has learned my routines without the aid of AI or cloud services.

As summer arrives, Paramount+ is turning up the heat with a spunky lineup of new content and returning shows blending true-crime intrigue, espionage thrills, character-driven storytelling, and action-packed entertainment. It’s also time for Tony Awards.

Adobe Acrobat is the definitive software if you need to work with PDFs, but for the vast majority of people, it’s almost a bit overkill. Acrobat costs between $15 and $30 per month, which works out to a $240 annual subscription just to work with PDFs.

Have you noticed small vertical lines on your 3D prints that look a bit like scars? These are seams, and they’re an inescapable part of extrusion-based 3D printing methods.

I stopped keeping a spare Windows computer around for testing sketchy software once I deployed a virtual machine server. Virtual machines are the perfect disposable Windows install for testing things that could harm your system. Here's why you should switch your Windows sandboxes to virtual machines.

Life is usually all about compromise—less flavor for fewer calories, less fun for more practicality, that kind of trade-off. Cars are no different, especially if you’ve spent any time looking at sports cars versus something you can actually live with every day.

June is upon us, and with it, HBO Max has announced its June lineup, which includes some hugely anticipated new seasons of shows, the biggest of them being the third season of House of the Dragon (June 21) and season 9 of Rick and Morty (June 15). Things don't start heating up until a bit later in the month, but now would be a great time to delve into an older HBO show you maybe haven't given a shot yet.

A Galaxy Watch is a lot easier (and cheaper) to upgrade than a Galaxy phone, which means you may have one or two lying around if you’ve been in the ecosystem for a while. Thankfully, these old smartwatches don’t have to be useless pucks in a box. Let’s get creative.

The Subaru Outback used to occupy a unique space in the market, blending wagon practicality with SUV capability in a package that felt refreshingly different from the sea of crossovers around it. With the latest redesign pushing it further toward a traditional SUV shape, some longtime fans have been left wondering where that distinctive wagon-like character went. Ironically, the answer may have arrived wearing a different badge.