Home Assistant is a fantastic piece of software that forms the backbone of many smart homes, including my home. With a seemingly endless number of integrations, automations, and scripts on the internet, it's difficult to find something not supported by Home Assistant in some way. However, if you install Home Assistant OS or Home Assistant Supervised, you'll also get access to "Add-ons." These are containerized applications designed to work within Home Assistant, and there are some extremely useful tools available.

I have been 3D printing for a while now, and throughout, I have created my files for 3D printing using a 3D modeling program, as well as occasionally downloading them from 3D printing websites. It wasn't until recently that I acquired a MetroX 3D scanner to explore a new method for generating files for existing parts, then 3D printing them. Just like any other skill, mastering 3D scanning comes with its own learning curve. It wasn’t just about holding the scanner and moving it around the part or design to create a digital file. It’s more than that. I have learned valuable lessons since acquiring the scanner, which I wish I had known before getting started, and I have shared them below.

If you've seen my previous pieces, you'll know that I have a huge affection for e-ink displays. Something about them gives off a classy and stylish look that I absolutely adore, and thankfully, the Raspberry Pi community seemingly agrees with me. There have been a ton of Pi projects that use these lovely displays, and there are always more to check out every month. However, they're not always in color; they're sometimes in black and white.

If you've dipped your toes into the world of custom mechanical keyboards, you've likely heard whispers of QMK. For the uninitiated, QMK stands for Quantum Mechanical Keyboard Firmware. It is an open-source code bundle that resides in your programmable keyboard's microcontroller, acting as an intermediary between the keystrokes you make and the input of your computer registers. However, it is completely open-source and largely community-driven, meaning it's the ingredient that transforms a simple input device into a highly personalized tool, perfectly tailored to your comfort and preferences.

Xbox has declared that Game Pass is "not for everybody" and serves a particular purpose in the gaming company's ecosystem. The CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, spoke to Variety during an interview released on Tuesday (April 15) and broke down how Game Pass exists in the lives of the modern gamer.

When Intel Arc B580 came out last year, many reviewers, including our own Lead PC Hardware Editor Rich Edmonds, hailed it as an excellent value-focused graphics card. While Intel's B-series (Battlemage) GPUs are aimed at budget gamers, the company also has plans to compete with the likes of AMD and Nvidia in the premium GPU segment.

For 22 years (till 2022), I only used air coolers. Stock Intel and AMD coolers and a cheap Cooler Master air cooler were enough to keep each of my processors (up to the Ryzen 5 1600) cool enough. When I got a new PC in 2022, I had the option to stay with air coolers or finally "upgrade" to an AIO liquid cooler. Since I had won this PC in a PC building competition, I decided to splurge a little by picking a 240mm liquid cooler from Cooler Master.

Like many of you, I used to feel locked into a cycle of paying for software, often for features I barely used. I decided to see just how many of my essential tools I could replace with free alternatives, and the results were astonishing. I successfully managed to reduce my monthly software expenses without sacrificing productivity or quality. Let me walk you through the exact free tools I now rely on and show you how you, too, can cancel those recurring costs and bring the monthly credit card bill down.

Meta is expanding how it uses AI to detect teens on Instagram — and, in some cases, will begin overriding account settings.Instagram announced it was using AI for age detection in 2024; the system looked for signals that users were under 18 years old, like if messages from friends say “happy 16th birthday,” for example (Meta also says it uses engagement data — people in the same age group often interact with content they see in similar ways). Teen accounts on Instagram are subject to more restrictive settings: by default, teen accounts are private, strangers aren’t able to send them messages, and Instagram limits what kind of content teens see. Last year, Instagram changed the settings for all teens on the platform so that safety features were automatically enabled.The company now says it will use AI to proactively look for teen accounts that have an adult birthday, and change settings for users it suspects are kids. In a blog post, Instagram says it will begin testing the feature today in the US. If it detects that a user is actually a child but the account says otherwise, Instagram will automatically place it under the more restrictive teen settings. Instagram acknowledges the possibility that the system will make errors — the company says users will have the ability to change their settings back.Meta has gradually offered more settings that it says will protect teens and kids on the platform, often in response to concerns from parents and lawmakers. Last year, the European Union launched an investigation into whether Meta was doing enough to protect the health of young users. Disturbing reporting into predators on Instagram targeting kids prompted a lawsuit by a US state attorney general. There’s also disagreement among tech companies — namely Google versus Meta, Snap, and X — over who should be responsible for keeping kids safe online. In March, Google accused Meta of trying to “offload” its responsibility onto app stores following the passage of a bill in Utah.

Back in the day, ESXi was all the craze in the home lab community, as it provided several enterprise-grade virtualization features without forcing users to pay a dime. However, the free version of the platform was discontinued after Broadcom took over VMware, forcing server enthusiasts to seek greener, open-source pastures for their home lab workloads.

Sony has been giving Nintendo a run for their money regarding game prices and increases. Not to be outdone by the controversial Nintendo Switch 2 retail price, Sony has moved to make another price increase with this one aimed at their beloved PlayStation Plus subscription, which appeared to have gone into effect on Wednesday (April 16).

I always like to have a YouTube video going on my second monitor while I work. However, when I need to bring something up on the second monitor, I'll pop the YouTube video in a picture-in-picture window so I can keep watching. The thing is, it gets annoying to continually pop the player in and out of the window, especially when YouTube will automatically create a picture-in-picture if you do the same thing on mobile with a Premium subscription.