The console wars are a little weird right about now. Decades ago, each console would be lined up and inspected from head to toe to gauge which one was the most powerful and feature-rich, and then people would spend hours on internet forums arguing which one was better. Flash forward to today, and we have the PS5 powerhouse, the portable Switch 2, and the Xbox, which is trying its best to assimilate every device on the planet and turn them into consoles.

Google's AI-powered research assistant, NotebookLM, is one of the few tools that truly gets AI right. I've been using it since before most people even knew about it, and it's completely transformed my workflow. Though I haven't stopped testing new AI tools since discovering NotebookLM, none of them have fit into my workflow quite like it does.

My Raspberry Pi Zero W may be old, but it’s far from obsolete. With the right Linux distro, it still has real value in low-power projects and dedicated tasks. I chose DietPi because it maximizes the potential of limited hardware without requiring me to go through unnecessary hoops. It’s small, efficient, and purpose-built for exactly the kind of tinkering I want to do.

If there's anything owning a lot of keyboards has taught me, it's that there are so many different ways to have a typing experience. Some are really particular about how their keyboard feels during work or play, and while I have my preferences, I've always been pretty amenable to different typing experiences.

If you spend a lot of time working with numbers, you might have tried several apps and programs to process data, only to realize that Microsoft Excel is the undisputed king. There are lots of factors that contribute to this notion, including cross-platform support, a handy mobile app, built-in templates, and powerful features that enable you to create dashboards, compare databases, etc. Excel also supports integrations with programming languages, which means you can use Python with Excel to further enhance its capabilities. While that's already a boon for power users, I recently discovered another integration that takes working inside Excel to the next level. It's a Jupyter extension that can ease your workflow and save you a significant amount of time and effort.

Video games have been getting more expensive in recent years, both at a base price and for the more expensive versions of games. Not only has the base price of games risen to $70, but some games like Mario Kart Worldand The Outer Worlds 2 cost $80, and some games don't even actually come on the disc, if there is even a disc to buy. One aspect of this has been the increase in $100 "premium" editions of games. While the name might make this sound like the expensive collector's editions that have existed in the past, these are quite different, and those differences make it clear that these versions only exist to increase the average sale price of the game.

You don't always need to spend tons of money just to get a great laptop. This one from Lenovo is a perfect example, featuring an AMD Ryzen 7 processor that's paired with 40GB of RAM. This combination is going to be more than enough for most people, and the best part is that it is now on sale from Newegg, with a steep discount that knocks it down to just $538.

I've admitted — multiple times, in fact — to not being a fan of RPGs (role-playing games) for the longest time. Sure, every once in a while, a title came along that I loved despite its RPG elements, but by and large, I wasn't all that sold on the genre, knowing full well that it was a personal issue. Now, however, things couldn't be more different. Playing Elden Ring, and subsequently, the entire Soulsborne collection, I've grown a deep love for the genre.

Polypropylene, or PP, filament offers durability, chemical resistance, and flexibility that make it perfect for a range of functional 3D prints. Unfortunately, most YouTube guides stop short of covering the frustrating parts that come with it. If you've been trying to get good results and running into problems with warping, adhesion, or finish, you’re not alone. Whether you’re new to 3D printing or just want to expand your material repertoire, these lesser-known tips can help you get much more consistent and successful prints with polypropylene.

It feels like Linux is reaching an inflection point. That's not a new sentiment, but for probably the first time since Valve introduced Proton, it's felt like the stars are aligning for the Linux curious to become full-on converts. Support for Windows 10 is ending, and Windows 11 is slowly morphing into a dumping ground for whatever AI features Microsoft wants to push. If there's ever been a time to try out Linux, it's now. Even JayzTwoCents, one of the most popular mainstream PC hardware YouTube channels around, recently published a video about switching to Linux.

It's fair to say that Windows 11 comes with a lot of stuff that most people don't need, but it wouldn't be correct to say that everything Microsoft has added to the operating system is useless. There are many apps Microsoft bundles with Windows 11 that are actually quite useful, and many of them can be severely underrated due to the stigma that everything included in Windows 11 is fluff.

As a DIY enthusiast, I was aware that maintaining a smart home requires time and attention to detail. I use a lot of affordable smart devices that operate over the Zigbee protocol with Home Assistant. Most of my IoT and smart devices utilize the MQTT protocol, also known as Message Queuing Telemetry Transport, to communicate with each other over a network. I chose it since MQTT is lightweight, ideal for low-power devices, and efficient for enabling smart devices to communicate in real-time.