How-To Geek

Your Linux computer probably has repositories full of free and open source software waiting to be installed. It's hard to know what's worth trying, so that's why I've been digging around the Linux development world for the most useful.

You’ve got a fully equipped workshop in your basement or garage. Maybe it’s outside in your shed. But let’s be honest: when a hinge is feeling a little loose or a picture frame needs hanging, the last thing you want to do is put on shoes and trek outside. You should have a stash of tools in your immediate living space.

When your fingers are your primary method of interacting with a browser, you can use some neat tricks to get around faster. Safari for iPhone is full of these time-savers, and they’re all fairly easy to remember.

It’s a big, important weekend as we make our final preparations for Halloween—my favorite holiday. As such, we’re focusing on some fun but creepy-themed shows to watch—two of which are must-see award winners worthy of as much of your time and attention as you’re willing to give. There’s even a one-of-a-kind competition you can binge in a flash, just in case your weekend plans pull you away from your television.

In the wave of 25W chargers currently hitting the market, power banks are the most impactful for their charging-on-the-go prowess. The Ugreen MagFlow 10000mAh 25W Power Bank delivers on this promise, but it’s going to be too big for many people to use comfortably.

Windows doesn't display your PC's serial number anywhere in its interface, and neither do popular system information tools. But you can often find a PC's serial number with a simple command, a peek in your BIOS, or on the hardware itself.

Fellow streaming entertainment enthusiasts, I must say, this is a weekend of thrilling releases. From true-life documentaries and anticipated horror-thriller movie premieres to new seasons of a Taylor Sheridan show and a Kristen Bell series, season premieres of a Stephen King-approved prequel, a Harlan Coben miniseries, and another installment in Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe, there’s plenty here to keep you occupied until the candy knockers arrive.

ntfy.sh lets you send notifications to your devices from your own scripts, home lab, or automation projects. It's free and does all the work of delivering notifications to multiple platforms. All you need to do is know how to call it.

I have just about every type of display device in my house other than a projector (for now!), but I've rarely used any of my TVs for computer monitor duty.

TP-Link is one of the best-known Wi-Fi router makers for a reason. It was one of the first companies to go all-in on Wi-Fi 7, and now, it's launching a new router as part of its gaming router range.

Spotify Free and Premium users across the globe are constantly seeing changes to their app: from new and updated buttons to experimental features that aim to customize your listening experience on the music streaming platform.

Microsoft has just revealed a new expressive avatar for Copilot, and it's called Mico. This is a digital helper that finally replaces the spirit of the well-loved Clippy in a way we never saw Cortana take on. This new pet admittedly makes Copilot much more approachable, and it's hard not to like it.

Symbolic links are a great way to organize your files, but they’re not perfect. Symlinks are pretty fragile, and it’s easy to end up with links that point to non-existent files. The find program can help you tackle this problem, but there’s a third-party tool that does the job even better.

The Toyobaru Twins—Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86—have been shaking up the sports car scene since 2022. Affordable, fun, and built for driving enthusiasts, they’ve quickly earned a loyal following.

You can now buy Pixel Bud replacement parts, specifically charging cases, eartips, and individual earbuds, through the Google Store. These replacement parts are slightly overpriced—maybe $5 or $10 more than what you'd hope to pay—but hey, it's better than buying a brand new set of earbuds.

Checkboxes in Microsoft Excel are a great way to simplify data entry and track task psrogress, and they can be used alongside formulas and conditional formatting to automate spreadsheet processes. Here's everything you need to know about this versatile Excel tool.

Canonical, the developer of Ubuntu, just launched Canonical Academy, a new platform that lets both individuals and companies officially validate their open-source and Linux skills qualifications. These tests were designed by the same engineers who created Ubuntu.

I’ve been a fan of mini PCs for some time, and I love how much performance they can pack into an enclosure small enough to fit into the palm of your hand. They’re quiet, efficient, and work as a home server, a travel PC or even a full-on desktop replacement, if you don’t need a dedicated GPU.

It's no secret that TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram Reels want you to watch endless videos on each respective platform. Social media can be quite addictive, but now YouTube has a new feature to help prevent doomscrolling and endless YouTube Shorts playback.

For years, Spotify teased listeners with promises of higher-quality audio to its users. Back in 2021, the world’s most popular music streaming service first announced its “HiFi” tier, and then went radio silent, while competitors like Apple Music and Tidal rolled out lossless, CD-quality, and even hi-res streams—Tidal built its whole brand around it. Still, Spotify users waited.