How-To Geek - We Explain Technology

How Secure Are Wi-Fi Security Cameras?

Everyone’s seen the horror stories. Someone placed an Internet connected camera in their home and left it open to attack, allowing strangers to eavesdrop on their most private moments. Here’s how to pick a camera that guarantees your privacy.

You Don’t Need a Smart Thermostat

There are a lot of really great smarthome devices that are truly useful, but a smart thermostat isn’t one of them.

Nest Hello Installation: 3 Things You Should Know

If you’re thinking about getting the Nest Hello to replace your existing doorbell, it’s a great option. However, there are some things to keep in mind about the installation that makes the Hello a bit different than other video doorbells.

The Most Durable Micro USB Charging Cables For Any Situation

Whether you’re charging your Android phone, Bluetooth speaker, or other device, you likely put a lot of miles on your micro USB cables. Here’s a slew of cables designed to withstand all your abuse.

How to Change Windows 10’s Wallpaper Based on Time of Day

Apple’s macOS 10.14 Mojave offers “Dynamic Desktop” wallpapers that change based on the time of day. You can get something similar on Windows, either by using the standard background settings or by digging into the Task Scheduler.

Six Android Features You Won’t Find on iPhone, Even After iOS 12

Android and iOS are constantly running in parallel, copying (and expanding on) each other’s features. But they’re not always at parity. Here’s a closer look at a handful of things Android can do that you won’t find on iPhone—even after you upgrade to iOS 12 this Fall.

What is a T-Stop in Photography and Videography?

If you start to move from photography into videography, you’ll quickly start hearing about something called a t-stop, which are a combination of a lens’ f-stop and light transmittance value. Let’s take a deeper look at what that means.

Every To-Do List App Sucks, Switch To todo.txt Instead

Todo.txt stores your tasks in a simple text document, and I’ve been using it for a year now. I honestly wonder why I ever used anything else.

How to Convert Your Favorite Earbuds Into Noise-Isolating Earbuds on the Cheap

Noise-isolating headphones are great, but if you have a favorite pair of earbuds that you just can’t part with, you can turn them into noise-isolating earbuds of sorts that block out outside noise without spending a bunch of money.

The 10 Best Gifts for Beer Lovers (Just in Time for Father’s Day)

Do you know someone who loves beer? Maybe they crack open a cold one occasionally. Maybe they travel the country looking for the best breweries. Maybe it’s your dad and you forgot that Father’s Day is just around the corner. Whoever you’re shopping for and whatever the occasion is, we’ve compiled our top ten best gifts for beer lovers of all sorts.

What Is storedownloadd and Why Is It Running on My Mac?

Something called storedownloadd is taking up a lot of CPU power, which you noticed while using Activity Monitor. Don’t panic: it’s just the Mac App Store downloading some software for you.

Switching to Android? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

If you’re moving to Android from another platform, the switch can be a little daunting. Some things may work in a familiar way, but there are so many other things that are different. Here’s everything you need to know about making the switch.

How to Shoot RAW Photos on Your iPhone

RAW is an image format that contains a lot more data than JPG. It’s designed so that you can capture as much data as possible with your camera, giving you more editing flexibility later. Here’s how to capture RAW photos on your iPhone or iPad.

What’s New in iOS 12, Coming to Your iPhone and iPad This Fall

Apple’s iOS 12 will debut in Fall, 2018. The developer beta was released in early June, and a public beta should follow in the coming weeks. Here’s what we know about the new changes so far.

How to Watch The 2018 FIFA World Cup Online (Without Cable)

The biggest sporting event in the world starts today, June 14: the FIFA World Cup in Russia. If you want to watch the games without cable, you’ve got options—depending on where you live. Here’s a look at the situation in the USA, the UK, and Canada, and where to look for information in other countries.

Can Alexa Hear You Through Windows?

Amazon recently added the ability for users to unlock their smart lock-equipped doors using Alexa. This is a welcome feature, but it does raise some concerns about intruders yelling through windows to tell Alexa to unlock your door. Is this a concern you should worry about, though?

10 Gifts You Can Still Get Your Dad For Father’s Day

Father’s Day is coming up, but don’t worry if it’s slipped your mind. There’s still time to find a great gift with our handy recommendations.

What is Google Play Protect and How Does it Keep Android Secure?

Android is open, flexible, and all about choice. Unfortunately, that flexibility comes more potential security issues. The good news is that Google has a system in place named Play Protect that helps keep Android secure.

The Best Ergonomic Keyboards For Improved Typing And Comfort

Keyboards have come a long way since PCs took over the world, but most still use the same basic layout from decades ago. If you want something more comfy, an ergonomic model is the answer.

How to Turn Off Popular Highlights on Your Kindle

Kindle Popular Highlights appear as underlined text in your book when more than ten people have highlighted that passage. It sound like a nice feature theory, but in practice, it can get annoying. Here’s how to turn it off.

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In The 1980s, Computer Hobbyists Would Double The Capacity Of Floppy Disks With?

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This Free App Searches Your PC Way Faster Than Windows Explorer Can

Why is search in Windows Explorer so slow after all these years? We don’t know, but Everything is a free Windows search app that’s pretty much instant. Read More »

This Command Prompt Trick Searches Way Faster Than Windows Explorer

Searching for a file in Windows Explorer takes forever, but there’s a faster way if you’re willing to use the command prompt. Read More »

Microsoft Won’t Help Windows 7 and 8 Users On Their Forums Anymore

Microsoft is done answering your questions about Windows 7, 8, and 8.1—at least, on its official support forums. Read More »

Quickly Check World Cup Scores With Cortana or Spotlight

Stuck at your desk during the 2018 World Cup? That sucks, but you can quickly check the scores anytime by using Cortana on Windows or Spotlight on macOS. Read More »

Free Download: EarTrumpet Adjusts Each App’s Volume From the System Tray

Windows 10: Quickly adjust the volume for all of your applications, separately, and send audio from different applications to different playback devices. Read More »

Patched Cortana Bug Let Hackers Change Your Password From the Lock Screen

A Cortana bug meant hackers could change the password on locked PCs, but they had to ask really really politely…by which I mean execute a bizarre series of steps. Read More »

Microsoft Boldly Plans to Revert the Ribbon Back to a Toolbar

Microsoft plans on stripping down the ribbon interface in Microsoft Office, freeing up vertical space in a way that’s reminiscent of the toolbars used before Office 2007. Read More »

Plex DVR Now Offers a Traditional Grid View

Love watching TV with Plex DVR, but wish there was a grid view for checking out what’s on now? A grid view is now offered in the web version of Plex, and is coming to other platforms soon. Read More »

Spanish Soccer App Was Spying on Fans To Narc on Bars

La Liga, an app for Spanish soccer fans, was spying on fans using otherwise unnecessary GPS and microphone permissions to identify bars showing the game without a license. Read More »

Add a Dark Mode to Every Website With This Browser Extension

Chrome/Firefox: Your monitor is basically a lightbulb, which is why white backgrounds are hard on the eyes. Dark Reader is a browser extension that turns bright websites dark, sparing your retinas. Read More »

macOS Mojave Will Break a Bunch of Safari Extensions

Bad news, Safari users: Apple is breaking all directly downloaded .safariextz extensions with the release of Safari 12 later this year. Read More »

Not Phishing: Google is Changing Its Login Screen This Week

Google is tweaking its login prompt this week and you should take a quick look at the new design. Read More »

How to Use Emoji in Ubuntu 18.04

Love them or hate them emoji are a fact of modern life, and now Ubuntu users can get in on the game. Read More »

How to Customize What Gmail’s Swipe Gestures Do

Android: It’s one of the better Gmail features—swiping across an email in order to archive or delete it. The latest version of Gmail’s Android app lets you customize what swiping does. Read More »

How to Turn Off YouTube’s Annoying Auto Playing Thumbnails on Android

Android: YouTube now shows video previews in the Home panel, which uses up data and is otherwise just annoying. Happily you can turn them off. Read More »