How-To Geek

It's an unfortunate fact of reality that most people get their ideas about space from movies, TV, and video games. Science-fiction is all well and good, but only when people can separate it from reality. Unless you're a real space fan, it's likely that even you believe one of these common myths.

When building a new PC, it's only natural to focus on the big-ticket items, like the CPU, GPU, and RAM. Fans almost feel like an afterthought. But unless your PC case comes with a few pre-installed fans, it's easy to overlook one essential component—the rear case fan.

2024 was a year of many spectacular aurora displays, and this is set to continue into 2025, thanks to a peak in the Sun's solar activity.

Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, named after the Roman god of commerce, is the planet closest to the Sun. It also circles the Sun the fastest, at an average speed of almost 106 thousand miles. This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding cool facts about Mercury.

Alternative text (or alt text for short) is a short description of a graphic that helps people with visual impairments fully understand the content of what's on their screen. Screen readers read alt text aloud, meaning those who can't see the details of the graphic still know what it contains.

In a program like Excel, which is designed to handle numbers, you'd expect to be able to use fractions without any hiccups. However, because Excel is programmed to automate and simplify, it often converts your fractions into something other than what you typed. Here's how to stop it.

I used to update to the latest version of Windows the moment it became available, but when Windows 11 launched, I didn't really like it and quickly reverted to Windows 10. Now that Windows 10 support is ending soon, I've given Windows 11 another try, and it's not as bad as I thought.

Mac gaming is better than ever, but is Mac gaming good enough to give that gaming PC a skip? Spoiler alert—no! However, that might not be true for long, and if you already have a modern Mac, you might not need to buy a gaming PC to supplement it.

Windows 11 Home and Pro are designed to meet different user needs. While Windows 11 Home is better suited for everyday users, Windows 11 Pro offers advanced features geared toward professionals. But what exactly sets them apart, and which version is right for you?

Just like the moon can eclipse the light from the sun for us here on Earth, the Earth can block light from the sun so that it casts a shadow on the surface of our beloved over-sized satellite. There are three major types of lunar eclipse you can observe when the time is right.

Many of us love to show off our PC build, proudly placing them on our desks to admire the hard work. However, a full-tower PC also takes up valuable desk space, so why not mount it to the wall instead?

Robots are bound to be part of our medium-term future, and so you're probably going to consider some sort of robotic system to spend money on, however the sad story of Moxie is a cautionary tale of buying robots that need an internet connection to work.

This was a big week for the iPhone, as Apple finally revealed the iPhone SE's replacement and the iOS 18.4 beta release. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

Following are some Ubuntu Linux security suggestions for several different use cases. Whether you’re a casual desktop user, a programmer, or a Linux power user, there are easy to implement security measures that will help safeguard your system.

I've been buying smart home devices for many years. I love some of them and would absolutely buy them again if they stopped working. However, I own several types of smart home devices that I wouldn't replace like-for-like, as better options are available.

If your PDF is too large to be sent via email, or you simply want to reduce your file’s size, it’s easy to compress PDF files on Windows 11. You have both desktop apps and online tools to do that.

There's a reason why we love headphones: excellent sound quality, portability, and noise-canceling. However, despite all their merits, they can't replace speakers in certain situations. Simply put, you need both for a complete sound experience.

The curl command-line tool is one of the most useful and versatile programs you can learn. Its versatility and comprehensive HTTP implementation mean that, if there’s a URL for it, curl can do it.

Ever wanted to quickly check something on your PC while you're away? Or maybe grab that one file you forgot to transfer to your phone? Here's what I use to seamlessly access my Windows PC from my Android phone, no matter where I am.

With Apple taking Mac gaming more seriously than it ever has before, it’s tempting to speculate about what a Mac designed for gaming would look like. Personally, I’d rather not.