Your router is one of the most important devices you use regularly, but unless you purchase a prosumer router, you probably can't do that much with them. The firmware is locked down, security updates are issued on someone else's timetable, and they often have remote management features enabled that you can't get rid of.

Most people have played around with the smart automation features on our phones. Between Samsung's routines, Google Assistant, and Gemini, it feels like there are plenty of ways to automate a job. However, I've always found that they're disappointingly surface-level, especially when you compare them to the Shortcuts app for iPhones, which is stellar.

Free and open source software (FOSS) is the default choice when you're running Linux—it is a huge talking point and a very real part of Linux culture. However, while that is an ideal worth striving for, the reality is that some of the best tools available for a given job don't yet have FOSS alternatives.

For a long time, I've recommended an off-the-shelf NAS unit for anyone that wanted networked storage in their home. For a few hundred dollars you could get a device that worked and then add whatever storage you'd like. It wasn't necessarily the most cost-effective way to build the setup, but it was extremely easy.

Windows notepad has been a staple of the Windows operating system literally for decades. It is lightweight, simple, easy to use, and it won't mess with your files, which makes it a great option if you need to quickly edit a configuration file. However, recent additions to the program are a pretty significant departure from what originally made notepad appealing to me.

Any time you look into switching to Linux, you'll come across the same advice: install Linux Mint. It looks just like Windows and you won't have any problems adjusting.

For a very long time, if you wanted to try Linux on a semi-permanent basis, you needed to shrink your Windows partition, install a Linux distro of some variety, and just suffer through any of the numerous problems that can occur with dual booting.

Google Photos caps your free storage at 15GB, and that isn't just your email—it is pooled between Drive, Gmail, Photos, and every other Google service. Given how many things it gets used for, that storage space disappears pretty quickly. If you need more storage, or if you use iCloud, you're basically forced to opt into a monthly subscription.

Subscription creep is a real problem. It is one thing for $20 a month, and then another for $5, and before you know it, you're forking over hundreds monthly for services you might not even use. If you have a Raspberry Pi sitting around waiting for a project, you can turn it into a small self-hosting hub that can replace several subscription services as long as you take the right precautions.