If you've ever used a mesh Wi-Fi system, you've probably noticed that the satellite nodes usually have a spare Ethernet port. It is tempting to use that port to attach a NAS. After all, it seems like a good way to get your NAS connected without running a cable across the floor or through a wall.

Most Linux distros you'll find are basically a pile of separate programs—a panel, a compositor, a window manager, and so on—all exchanging information and coordinating their behavior to create a cohesive experience.

Owning your own media, be it movies, music, or TV shows, is a great way to ensure that a change to a licensing agreement doesn't suddenly deprive you of one of your favorite pastimes.

You can buy a small ESP32 microcontroller for a few dollars—less than a Starbucks coffee. When you combine it with a special LoRa radio, you can create a device that can send encrypted text messages between locations without relying on a cellular service, Wi-Fi, or satellite data.

Any time I recommend software to a friend, there is always an inevitable question: How much does it cost? The quality isn't necessarily the discerning factor—no one wants to pay for something if it isn't necessary. That makes free, open-source tools very easy to recommend to most people without a moment's hesitation.

Linux is famously smaller and lighter than Windows, but that understates just how small Linux distros can really be. There are complete, general-purpose operating systems that only take up 200MB of storage—truly tiny by the standards of 2026.

Spreadsheets are difficult to avoid, and a lot of what you have to do with them is pretty tedious: endless formatting, cleaning up data, and other repetitive tasks. And, worse yet, you often can't just throw AI at the problem—spreadsheets can contain information that you can't upload to Claude or ChatGPT because it is confidential, or even legally privileged.

Memory price hikes have pushed new Raspberry Pi prices up across the board and the secondhand market has started looking more appealing than it has in years.

Every time you upload a file to a cloud AI service, you trust that they'll be responsible stewards of that information. When you're talking about medical data, financial records, personal details about your life, or any other sensitive information, that is a big ask.

Most of us have an old bookshelf speaker, soundbar, or Bluetooth speaker lying around somewhere. They still sound good, the problem is that they're not very "smart."