How-To Geek

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.

I love Claude, but it can be incredibly frustrating to use. I constantly found myself having to type the same prompts over and over again to force Claude to do what I wanted. The solution was simple but now Claude is removing the feature it relies on.

One of the worst things about the explosion of AI tools is how much more advanced scam calls have become. It’s now entirely possible to get fake calls with voices that sound exactly like people you know. The June Android drop is here to address this (and add some other goodies).

I like a good, well-designed and visually appealing website as much as the next guy, but more and more often, I find myself turning to RSS feeds to cut through the clutter and distraction.

Having the right tool for the job can make all the difference, which is why many DIYers and mechanics still use a wide range of air tools. Milwaukee is well-known for its wide array of tools, but it also makes a bunch of specialty items. A prime example is the all-new M18 STRIKER Hammer Chisel (3771-20), which Milwaukee says is the world's first cordless option.

Old office mini PCs have been flooding online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace for years. They’re often listed for as little as $50 or even less, but with limited demand, they can easily be overlooked. At first glance, they might seem like outdated hardware that isn’t worth much attention, but once you install a Linux server OS, it could quickly become one of the most useful pieces of tech in your home.

It's no secret that the MacBook Neo has been selling well, but now it's clearer just how strong that demand really is. IDC analysts report that Apple shipped over 1.1 million units of its first budget laptop within the first three weeks of its March launch.

When I first discovered Excel's dynamic array functions, my entire approach to spreadsheet design shifted. They replaced my clunky, multistep workarounds with smart, self-expanding formulas that adapt as data grows, turning complex workflows into single-cell systems.