FEATURED ARTICLES / THE BEST OF HOW-TO GEEK
Horizon Zero Dawn is the best PlayStation game of 2017. I recently finished my first playthrough and have spent a lot of time just thinking about what an incredible game it really is. Let’s talk about it.
iOS includes several useful tools for displaying how much battery life your iPhone has left, as well as which apps are consuming the most of your battery. However, none of these tools actually tell you anything about your battery’s long-term health, which is just as important.
There are many Dungeon and Dragons purists who—even in the digital age—still rely on using old-fashioned tools from earlier decades. However, there are now a ton of digital resources that can enhance D&D greatly, both for players and dungeon masters alike.
There’s a not-very-well-kept secret in the online book world: reviews are extremely valuable. The good news is that it’s easy to get started reviewing books, especially if you’re willing to do so for the new crop of independently-published authors. The bad news is that you’ll be doing it for free…or more precisely, that you’ll be paid in books. Which isn’t all that bad if you love reading.
The Echo Dot is a great device, but Anker’s Eufy Genie ($35) aims to dethrone it with the same Alexa-based system and a $15 cheaper price tag (even more when it’s on sale). But is it worth saving a few bucks to get a third-party Echo device in the first place?
We’ve shown you the cheapest ways to stream (almost) every NFL game this season. Now we’re back to do the same service for college ball…with one really big caveat.
I get attached to the apps I use. I do all my photo editing in Photoshop and Lightroom, I use Airmail for email, I listen to music with Spotify, I read feeds with Inoreader and Reeder, I Tweet using Tweetbot, and most importantly, for writing I use Ulysses.
Technology is expensive. We geeks love to shower ourselves with new gadgets, but it’s awfully costly. There are a lot of ways to save money on your tech addiction, but none of them beat buying used.
Windows doesn’t offer a built-in way for users to make a window always on top. There are many third-party tools for this, but they’re often bloated and clunky. So, let’s take a look at what works well.
While the Nest Thermostat may be the coolest smart thermostat on the block, the Ecobee line of smart thermostats have all sorts of neat features that the Nest Thermostat lacks. However, are you actually taking advantage of them all? Here’s how to get the most out of your Ecobee smart thermostat.
Android tablets seem to be slumping hard: sales are down and developers aren’t interested in supporting them with specific apps…not even Google. But with slumping interest comes depressed secondhand market sales, so tablets are also hard to get rid of. There are a lot of things you can do with a tablet you’re not using, but my favorite use is sticking it on an elaborate PC desktop and using it as a dedicated widget pad and notification center. Here’s how you go about it.
If you let someone use your computer, they could gain access to your saved passwords, read your email, access all your files, and more. Instead of looking over their shoulder, just use your operating system’s guest account feature.
Microsoft distributes special “N” editions of Windows in Europe and “KN” editions of Windows in Korea. These are the same as the standard editions of Windows, except they don’t include Windows Media Player and other multimedia playback features.
If you have a Windows PC, open your Task Manager and you’ll definitely see one or more Client Server Runtime Process (csrss.exe) processes running on your PC. This process is an essential part of Windows.
Everyone loses data at some point in their lives. Your computer’s hard drive could fail tomorrow, ransomware could hold your files hostage, or a software bug could delete your important files. If you’re not regularly backing up your computer, you could lose those files forever.
The Kwikset Kevo doesn’t directly connect to the internet, so controlling it remotely isn’t possible unless you get the Kevo Plus add-on service ($99). It comes with an internet gateway in order to connect the lock to the internet for remote access, but is it worth getting?
If you’re working at your computer and your phone goes off, you can grab it, unlock it, and check the notification, likely throwing off your workflow. Or, you could just sync your notifications to your computer, so they show up right there—which really makes a lot more sense.
The WannaCry and Petya ransomware epidemics both spread using flaws in the ancient SMBv1 protocol, which Windows still enables by default (for some ridiculous reason). Whether you’re using Windows 10, 8, or 7, you should ensure SMBv1 is disabled on your PC.
The NES Classic Edition is an official clone of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and one of the best ways to play your favorite retro games. The SNES Classic is its successor. Unfortunately, it’s so popular that it’s nearly impossible to get your hands on either. Don’t pay $300 on eBay when you can use the modestly-priced Raspberry Pi to build your own—with even more games.
A macro lens is a lens designed for taking extremely close-up photos of the subject. If you’ve ever seen a photo of a spider’s eyes or the veins of a leaf, that was a macro photo.
Android “O” is officially Android Oreo, which is beginning to roll out to compatible devices now. As with most major Android releases, this one brings a host of new features and improvements over its predecessor, Android Nougat. Here’s a glimpse of what to expect when Oreo lands on your device.
You might think that smart locks are a security disaster just waiting to happen. After all, why would you trust an internet-connected device with the security of your house and everything in it? But consider this: locks are pretty insecure in general.
As its feature set expanded, Windows became something of an omnibus. It now includes not one, but two built-in browsers, a defragmentation tool, and even Candy Crush. But like most do-it-all tools, just because Windows can do almost everything doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do anything. So it is with the default photo viewer.
It seem like everyone is jumping on the streaming live TV train these days, and with Google getting YouTube on board, it’s worth a closer look. While there are things to like about YouTube TV, I feel like Google still has a lot of work to do to make this a legitimate option for everyone.
I was walking through the dorms in 2003 when I saw it: a desk with three computer monitors, all with a Matrix screen saver scrolling green text. It’s laughable in retrospect, but I thought it was just the coolest. Don’t lie, you would have too.
