How-To Geek

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We explain technology. Learn more with our articles, reviews, tips, and the best answers to your most pressing tech questions.
Updated: 6 min ago

Save $250 on the eufy Robot Vacuum S2 with this code

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 19:54

Eufy recently released its new flagship robot vacuum, the Omni S2. The best part is that you can save $250 right now with the code EUFYS2FANS.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 cars that had everything going for them but failed anyway

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 19:45

The automotive world is filled with incredible success stories. Ford gave us the Model T, Mustang, and F-150. The Chevrolet Suburban is the longest-running nameplate in automotive history, and the Corvette is the longest-running sports car nameplate. And from Europe came the Volkswagen Beetle, Porsche 911, and Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Categories: IT General, Technology

4 things you can do with your router's USB ports

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 19:33

Routers are usually set up once or twice and then they sit in a corner somewhere until a setting needs to be changed, or the router gets replaced. However, they're mini computers capable of doing far more than we normally use them for. Here are a few good ones to try.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Stop wasting your storage: Why SSD over-provisioning is dead in 2026

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 19:20

SSD over-provisioning used to be a common practice for pretty much anyone who remotely cared about the long-term performance and longevity of their SSDs. These days, though, it has fallen out of practice. And there's a pretty good reason for this.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The 5 best new movies to watch this week on Netflix, Prime Video, and more (March 16-22)

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 19:00

We are now living in a post-Oscars world. One Battle After Another winning Best Picture closed the book on 2025 movies. Now, it's time to set our sights on the new movies coming this year. As for now, the best new movie to watch this week is the continuation of a famous crime series with an acclaimed actor leading the way.

Categories: IT General, Technology

GIMP 3.2 gives Photoshop another run for its money, with new editing tools and interface improvements

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 18:45

GIMP has been one of the most popular alternatives to Adobe Photoshop over the years, even though it still has some lingering usability problems. The latest GIMP 3.2 update is fixing some of those issues, along with a few other new features.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This luxury SUV feels German—without the price

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 18:45

For years, the premium compact SUV segment has belonged to Germany. Shoppers looking for a small luxury SUV almost automatically considered models like the BMW X3, the Mercedes-Benz GLC, and the Audi Q5, thanks to their polish and prestige.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Is the new Dell XPS an AI laptop?

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 18:32

You’ve probably seen a slew of “AI laptops” advertised over the last few months, and perhaps even years at this point. “AI” is the hot buzzword, and everyone wants to catch some of that hype. The problem is that not every laptop that calls itself an “AI” laptop is really what it claims to be. But what makes an AI laptop worthy of the name?

Categories: IT General, Technology

Stop using generic TTS voices in Home Assistant—this local setup sounds like my real family

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 18:30

I was using a generic Text-to-Speech (TTS) voice for spoken announcements in my smart home for ages. It allowed me to generate audio without having to use the default Alexa voice, but it's still fairly bland. Now my Echo announcements use far more interesting voices—those of my family and me.

Categories: IT General, Technology

3 essential Milwaukee tools for beginners

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 18:15

If you're a new homeowner getting ready to start a project, or finally ready to buy your first power tools, you'll notice all sorts of brands at your local hardware store. You have plenty of options, and Milwaukee is one of the most popular. The company has a vast selection perfect for beginners to pros, so once you get started, you'll have room to expand, learn, and grow.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Stop typing the same 4 commands: How a simple Python script saves me time every day

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 17:30

Every developer has a setup ritual before they start their day. Mine went unquestioned for almost two years – they were four terminal commands, typed in the same order every morning. It didn't feel like a problem until I recently measured it; the time, missed steps and debugging that followed all added up. So I wrote a python script to replace them, and it became the most useful thing in my development environment.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Some Windows PCs can't see their C: drive, but it's not Microsoft's fault

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 17:27

Following the latest round of cumulative updates to Windows 11, some people lost the ability to open the C: drive on their PCs. This time, it's not actually Microsoft's fault—a Samsung app seems to be the cause of the problems.

Categories: IT General, Technology

IntelliJ IDEA, PhpStorm, and other IDEs are about to lose this feature

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 17:13

JetBrains has several integrated development environments (IDEs) for various programming languages, including IDEA for Java/Python, PhpStorm for PHP, PyCharm for Python, and others. Soon, they’re all going to lose ‘Code With Me,’ a feature that allowed collaborative editing in shared workspaces.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I tested 6 Google Maps alternatives—this is the one I'm sticking with

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 17:00

As good as Google Maps is, I've long found it cluttered and bloated, offering features that I never use. And since I'm also becoming increasingly aware of how much data Google has on me, I decided to find an alternative. After testing out six of the best, with hundreds of millions of downloads between them, there's one that I really recommend.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Why I love my new Linux window manager

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 16:40

Bloat is the bane of modern computing. Have you ever uninstalled apps or disabled services just to put your system on a diet? i3 is like a desktop on a diet, a lean, simple, yet powerful system that improves my workflow efficiency dramatically—and it's not just for experts either.

Categories: IT General, Technology

How to name Excel objects like a software dev

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 16:30

In Excel, unnamed things work, though nobody knows why. But as soon as you give all elements of a workbook identifiable labels, you suddenly become a developer, not a mere user. Proper naming reduces mental load, keeps formulas tidy, and makes debugging 10 times faster. So, stop guessing and start coding.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Why treating DisplayPort like an HDMI cable is bottlenecking your gaming monitor

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 16:15

Your monitor has a DisplayPort input, your computer has a DisplayPort output, and you've been told that's the best connection to use. So you've bought the requisite cable and plugged it in. Everything seems to be working, but is that it?

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 smart security cameras that run without subscriptions or cloud storage

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 15:45

Smart security cameras can make your home more secure, but they can also pose security risks of their own. If your security camera stores video in the cloud, there's no telling who may be able to see it. Thankfully, there are plenty of options that don't need cloud storage, keeping your recordings more secure and saving you from paying for a cloud subscription.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 built-in Windows apps I ditch on every new install (and what I replace them with)

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 15:30

Microsoft's built-in applications are slowly changing from simple, dependable tools into intrusive, resource-heavy freemium services. The apps you once depended on for basic things now frequently become a way for aggressive upsells, unwanted ads, pushing AI, and wasting background resources. It's a fundamental breakdown of your experience and privacy. While things can go wrong if you're not careful, the good news is that for each of these problematic apps, you'll find a better solution, often free and privacy-respecting, ready to take its place.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Double the failure risk, zero real-world speed: The hard truth about RAID 0 today

Mon, 03/16/2026 - 15:00

If you spend enough time in storage forums or Reddit threads, you will eventually encounter the same piece of advice repeated with quiet confidence: if you want speed, use RAID 0. The reasoning seems obvious because RAID 0 stripes data across multiple drives, so instead of one disk doing the work, two or four disks share it. In theory, that means double or quadruple the throughput and benchmarks often reinforce the idea. But the moment you step outside synthetic benchmarks and look at real workloads, the story becomes more complicated (not boring).

Categories: IT General, Technology

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