How-To Geek

We’ve been told over and over again how Gemini is an “upgrade” over Google Assistant. In many ways, it is—but the areas where it still lags behind feel infuriating. Google says Gemini can help you remember where you parked, but the reality feels embarrassing.

While subscriptions seem to be becoming the normal in the modern world, I've found a way to avoid paying for them: self-hosting. Here are five self-hosted apps that replaced my monthly subscriptions (and why I won't ever go back to paying for those services again).

The average new-vehicle transaction price is hovering at or near $50,000 today, the highest it has ever been in the automotive industry. Even buyers with a solid, steady income are feeling the squeeze when factoring in insurance, fuel, and financing, on top of a sticker price that would have seemed far-fetched a decade ago.

Home networks are easy to ignore once you set them up to perfection. Before that, not so much.

Over 10 years since its introduction, systemd can still get some Linux users riled up. I happen to not be one of them. Even though I try out systemd-free distros, I'll still likely regularly use systemd-based distros. Here are some of the reasons why.

The 2026 Oscars have passed, with One Battle After Another walking away with the prestigious Best Picture award. Earlier in the night, Sentimental Value came away with a historic win in the Best International Feature Film category. Because Neon acquired the North American distribution rights to Sentimental Value, it is now streaming on Hulu in the U.S.

Some of Excel's most common "best practices" aren't actually best practices at all. Believing the wrong advice can lead to bloated workbooks, broken formulas, and unnecessary manual work. Here are six spreadsheet myths worth leaving behind.

Android is special not because of what it is, but what you can turn it into. This was especially true in the early days, when the out-of-the-box experience was quite rough, and you needed to install a custom launcher to get the most out of your device. For those of us who lived through it, we can remember different eras of Android based on which custom launchers were dominant at the time.

Years of various internet-related problems, combined with working from home, gave me some serious trust issues. As in, I just don't trust my network to perform 100% of the time, even though I go to great lengths to make that happen.

Anthropic has been touting the power of its Claude Mythos AI model to find and help fix security vulnerabilities, and it has finally released a public version, Fable 5. However, some cybersecurity experts are complaining that the guardrails meant to prevent abuse are stifling its real-world usefulness.

Most new vehicles begin losing value the moment they leave the dealership, making depreciation one of the largest ownership costs buyers face. While reliability, fuel economy, and features often dominate purchasing decisions, resale value can have an equally significant impact on the long-term cost of owning a vehicle. Choosing the right model can mean recovering thousands more dollars when it comes time to sell or trade in.

When assembling a PC, everyone always thinks about the big three first—the CPU, the GPU, and the motherboard. After that, people tend to piece together the rest, depending on what they want. However, everyone always overlooks one component: the humble sound card.

I used Plex for years, but I jumped ship and left around 2018. Watching the latest extraordinary price hike has only made that decision seem better than ever. While many people are only now reconsidering their support because of the cost, I’ve been enjoying the benefits of Jellyfin for years now.

I took a five-year break from building PCs and came back feeling like a complete beginner when my sister asked me to build one for her. Here's what actually changed, what didn't, and how I found my footing again.

Historically, I haven’t been a huge fan of LLMs. AI and machine learning are fascinating topics, sure, but I have some issues with them.

Waymo says its robotaxis crash less often than conventional cars, but it still believes its vehicles can learn from humans. The Alphabet-owned company has unveiled ReD (Reference Driver), a virtual human that teaches autonomous cars how a "careful and competent" person thinks behind the wheel.

The preparation leading up to a trip is always my least favorite part. You need your ID, flight tickets that are scattered between apps, various emails, and maybe a screenshot or two. This is important information scattered across an aggravating number of locations. After getting unbelievably frustrated with the situation, I tried loading everything into Google Wallet.

Using a TV to control your smart home makes sense, which is why Google Home and Samsung SmartThings come baked into many TVs. But what if you want something a little more private? In the absence of a Home Assistant Android TV app, Homey's new release is your next best bet.

Excel is well-known for being a versatile and powerful desktop app, but I always found the mobile app (iOS and Android) frustrating to use. As it turns out, I was looking at my spreadsheets the wrong way. A little-known feature called Cards View replaces cramped grids with a touch-friendly layout.

Presumably, the whole reason you went to the trouble of setting up a smart home in the first place was to make your life easier, not add more frustration to it. In particular, after putting up your feet in the evening following a long day's work, you want to benefit from all the automation you've carefully installed.