The ESP32 quietly became the most important chip in my smart home
…its firmware and integrate it into a smart home platform like Home Assistant. Basically, no one needs to pry open those devices to solder any extra components to hack them. You can…
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These 4 PC maintenance tasks cost $0, but improve your performance drastically
…Configuring your BIOS right can feel like an upgrade Fan curve optimization and undervolting are underrated $0 performance hacks Most users will only ever venture into their BIOS during the initial setup…
I spent a week making Windows 11 usable, and the fact that I had to is the whole problem
…Let's discuss how Windows 11 broke my sanity and how I made it usable. Initial hurdles Poor setup experience I can rant about all the bad things in Windows 11, but…
10 quality-of-life services I self-host on my home lab
…Combine all three, and you’ve got an imposing setup that can help you create, store, and manage your notes. Firefly III Self-hosting a Firefly III instance is a great way…
I replaced my smart home hub with a $120 mini PC, and my smart home finally feels responsive
…I had to configure using skills and apply workarounds that felt like hacks. When my Philips Hue bulbs stopped cooperating with the Echo, I decided to move on. I impulsively picked up…
I tried multi-color 3D printing with Elegoo's AMS-like CANVAS module - here's how it went
…Long story short, the CANVAS module definitely lives up to the hype, and although the Centauri Carbon 2 has some drawbacks compared to premium 3D printers with multi-nozzle setups, it’s…
Tailscale is the only home lab change I made this year that I actually noticed
…It's on my jailbroken Kindles, every Android or iOS device I own, and anything else that I could find a hackable way to put the secure overlay network on. And that…
I finally unlocked NotebookLM's best feature, and now I use it for everything
…They've been around since November 2025 - so not new or a hack per se. I just had this default mindset that "real" sources are documents and links, and images were a…
I gave my home lab self-healing powers using Prometheus, Grafana, and one free monitoring stack
…You can import it directly into Grafana using the Import dashboard option and entering the ID number. Challenge Complete Your Score / 8 Thanks for playing! For my setup, I'm going with…
I stopped fighting Windows 11's Start menu — and found a fix Microsoft never bothered to build
…Start11 simply makes the shell feel more mature and efficient. I no longer rely on registry hacks and Group Policy workarounds, hoping Microsoft improves things someday. With Start11, I stopped waiting for…