How-To Geek

Annabelle has nothing on the murderous doll Chucky. Debuting in the late 1980s, the serial killer possessing a toy has become as much of a slasher icon as Freddy Krueger or Jason Vorhees. He might be small, but he’s got a filthy mouth, maniacal laugh, and brutal methods of taking out people three times his size.

Sometimes, choosing the exemplary streaming service has less to do with taste than budget. There are so many options for streaming movies and television, even the abundance of selection isn’t a factor. Of course, plenty of free streaming services exist, but sometimes you want to splurge for something a little without ads.

It seems hyperbolic to say that nobody answers the phone anymore, but with spam calls reaching unprecedented levels and younger generations who prefer to communicate by text and audio messages, it’s not exactly a false statement.

GEEKOM's IT15 is one of the most powerful mini PCs available today. Packed with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor and priced at $1,200, it should be an absolute winner, but I don't think it makes sense beyond some specific professional or hobbyist use cases.

We're now several weeks into the 2025-26 NFL season, and it's been nothing short of electric. Watching from regular TV stations is still possible, but things are changing. The NFL recently cut the cord and gave YouTube the Sunday Ticket, and several upcoming games will air exclusively on streaming platforms. It's a mess.

Monster movies are entertaining, but there are times when those old monstrosities look a little basic. While it’s essential to pay respect to such classics as Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein’s monster and Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, not all of their scary nature has stood the test of time. Some padded makeup and stuck-on appendages might’ve been enough to scare audiences of the 1930s, but times change, and you need a little more.

Python’s open function should be your first port of call when you’re looking to read the contents of a file. Give it a filename and you’ll get back a versatile object, letting you read and write data, both in plain text and binary formats.

CarPlay lets you control your iPhone using your car’s dashboard or entertainment unit, but did you know you can also use it to control your smart home?

For decades, wired mice and keyboards were considered the only option for serious PC gaming. Bluetooth was just too unreliable for competitive play. Today, however, wireless technology has advanced to the point where there’s little reason to stick with wired.

If lightning-fast, wicked-smart zombies ever chase us, I’m tripping you. I’m kidding. But seriously, traditionally, the zombie genre of movies and TV tends to be full of sluggish, easy-to-kill, dumb-dums, which makes for some gory, fun entertainment. But as the genre has evolved, some of the scariest zombie movies are now known for their rapid-paced, agile, infected beings, who’ve evolved into hybrid monsters of incredible speed and smarts.

Moving files and configuring settings and preferences when setting up a new Windows computer (or after a reset) can be frustrating. But with Windows Backup integrated into Windows’ Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), the process has become much easier. Here’s how it works and how you can put it to use.

Video games demand more performance from our PCs with every passing year, but we can't all afford to upgrade. But there are some shortcuts and workarounds we can use to help bridge the gap between PC performance and the demands of the next big game.

Ever waited an hour (or more) for an AUR package to compile on your Arch system? Do you find yourself avoiding certain apps simply because the compilation time is unbearable? Well, let me introduce you to Chaotic-AUR and how it completely changed my Arch experience.

On occasion, you might have seen a red warning from your internet browser when it blocks access to a potentially harmful website. Blocks like those are only one of the many, many security measures modern browsers have in place to keep you safe online.

Python has some wonderful libraries for statistical analysis, but they might be overkill for simple tasks. The built-in statistics library might be what you want instead. Here are some things you can do with it. You don't have to remember complicated formulas or look through tables anymore.

The cp command on Linux has some cool options that extend its usage. Most users only do vanilla copying and never bother to explore the flags that come with it. After trying out a few, I realized that there are some flags that I keep using for a better experience.

If you have to sleep, you’re never safe from Freddy Krueger. He was unlike any previous slasher villain for his ability to slaughter teenagers in their dreams. While there might be places to run from other horror villains like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, there’s no escaping Freddy's domain, where he has a frightening level of imagination to toy with his victims.

Is your Netflix watch list looking a little dry after the September high of new releases? With the new month comes newer, exciting titles, as Netflix has lined up a string of new releases for October.

There are many horror sub-genres, but cosmic horror is one of the most fascinating. Mixing in science fiction and monster elements, the terror from the skies can take many forms. Sometimes a strange force threatens our realm, and other times we stumble upon it when venturing across the stars.

Whether you're building your own PC or just trying to save as many cents as possible on your power bill each month, there are many areas in which your computer may be unnecessarily drawing power. Follow these tips, and you can tone that power draw back as much as possible.