How-To Geek

5 new shows to watch this weekend across Netflix, Prime Video, and more (August 7-9)

Dan Girolamo — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 22:00:13 GMT

The streaming services are coming out strong to start the month with new and returning shows. Prime Video has a new teen drama, and no, it's not The Summer I Turned Pretty. Instead, it's a refreshing entry into a crowded teen drama field, and it happens to be my top show to watch this weekend.

I finally ditched VLC for its faster open-source rival

Nick Lewis — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 21:00:13 GMT

For years, VLC has been my gold standard for media players. It'll happily open every weird file format I throw at it, and it doesn't cost a dime. It has only crashed two or three times in the decades I've been using it.

I stopped using the official Google Drive app and switched to this simple terminal tool

Bobby Jack — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:45:13 GMT

Google Drive’s free online storage is a popular, convenient way to share files across devices and keep copies in the cloud. As the backend store for Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Photos, it’s a service that many of us use, whether we like it or not—whether we even give it a moment’s consideration.

This 1,115-horsepower hypercar uses an engineering trick that saved WWI pilots

Carl Anthony — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:30:13 GMT

Most Allied fighter planes early in World War I used rotary engines, a design in which the whole engine spun with the propeller rather than being bolted to the airframe. The spinning mass created a powerful gyroscopic effect. The Sopwith Camel, one of the era's most feared fighters, turned so much faster to the right than to the left that novice pilots crashed when attempting sharp right turns. Veteran pilots learned to fly the Sopwith Camel despite the quirk.

3 magnetic Paramount+ documentaries to watch this weekend (August 7-9)

Derek Malcolm — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:00:13 GMT

If you can tear yourself from the Big Brother live feeds and are all caught up on Lioness's third season premiere, give yourself a break from the reality TV mayhem and the intensity of Zoe Saldana's covert ops with something from Paramount+'s solid library of documentaries and docuseries.

Your kid's Android phone can now hold their allowance with Google Wallet

Jon Fingas — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:44:59 GMT

The days of giving your children cash allowances are over — at least, if your family lives in Google's universe. You can now send money to your kids through Google Wallet for use on their Android phone or Wear OS smartwatch.

The used Mazda with BMW-like performance and class for under $30k

Tyler Dupont — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:00:13 GMT

Shopping for a used luxury SUV usually comes with a catch. You might get premium performance, upscale materials, and an impressive badge, but you're also likely inheriting higher maintenance costs, expensive repairs, and reliability concerns that can quickly erase the savings of buying used.

Why I bought a Walkman cassette player from 1988

Joe Fedewa — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:47:13 GMT

It's been over 20 years since Sony released a cassette player, and cassette sales are so minuscule they barely show up on market reports. So, naturally, I decided now would be a good time to buy a Walkman. I can explain.

5 ways to add storage to a laptop without upgrading its SSD

Sydney Butler — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:45:13 GMT

So you have an internal SSD in your laptop, and you're running out of space. For some reason, upgrading the SSD inside the laptop isn't an option.

5 sure-fire Netflix comfort shows I download to every device I own

Derek Malcolm — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:30:13 GMT

If you're like me, your life of streaming usually happens at home or somewhere with a strong Wi-Fi connection—but not always. Between flights, subways, cottage/camping weekends, waiting rooms, or the random dead zone, I've often found having a handful of comfort shows downloaded on the Netflix app on my devices really handy.