Selecting the ideal components for your file-sharing and data archival workloads is pretty important when you’re planning to build a NAS. However, the file system, caching tools, and software-based backup provisions are just as important as the underlying hardware. Luckily, the NAS ecosystem has several cool distributions designed to help you make the most of your storage server, ranging from FOSS operating systems to their premium, licensed counterparts.

Fall 2025’s Prime Big Deal Days is the perfect time to jump on some amazing sales and invest in home essentials that will support your long-term health. What better way to commit to your well-being than with everyday, healthy hydration? From October 7-8 Waterdrop Filter is offering up to $700 off its premium water purification systems, ranging from its high-end, flagship under-sink systems that can support large families to its ultra-convenient countertop models designed for small spaces.

When the GeForce RTX 50 series was first released, it was a nightmare to get one. The cards would frequently sell out, and places would hike up the price in response. Fortunately, the days of seeing cards go for eye-watering prices are gradually fading away as they creep back towards MSRP.

If you're one of the millions of workers who lives on video calls, you know the value of a good webcam. Well, the Insta360 Link 2 is about to be even better value for Prime Day, because it's now $50 less. That's the lowest price it's ever been, by the way, just in case you were wondering how good of a deal this is. We're all used to stores increasing the price before these mega sales to make things look more of a deal, but this is a genuinely great one.

The in-Discord Fortnite demo only works if you don’t already have the game installed on your PC. Epic Games is trying to attract more players to its Fortnite free-to-play battle royale by letting you instantly demo the game within Discord. The feature, powered by Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service, provides two 30-minute trial sessions per week to Discord users who don’t have Fortnite installed on their PC.The Fortnite trial will be available until October 30th, with sessions updated every Tuesday at 9:59AM ET, according to Epic’s announcement. You can access the demos by clicking the sign-up link on Epic’s announcement page, which will then redirect you to Discord. Availability is limited to PC players in the US, UK, Mexico, Canada, and several European countries. However, it’s worth flagging that myself and another UK-based colleague were unable to launch the experience in Discord without using a VPN that connected to the US.There are no requirements to install Fortnite to play the demos, but users need to be signed into both their Discord and Epic Games accounts to connect them for the trial. Epic says that it doesn’t share players’ data with Nvidia or Discord, but notes that the companies “may independently” collect it. The Fortnite trials are the first of Nvidia and Discord’s instant game demo experiments, which may enable Discord users to instantly try out other titles in the future.

Notion has a lot to flex with how powerful, feature-rich, and connected it is, but it’s far from the only productivity app worth your time. There’s a growing wave of open-source apps built by indie devs and small teams that are quickly catching up to their proprietary counterparts. Some of them even surpass Notion in flexibility, features, and almost certainly in privacy. Some are similar to Notion in terms of layout and function, but they don’t just copy Notion’s vibe– they’re powerful in their own right and switch up what digital organization looks like compared to a closed ecosystem.

Free VPNs typically get lumped into one of two categories: sketchy data harvesters you should avoid at all costs, or sluggish alternatives to paid services that aren't worth the buffering. I used to think the same way until I started using them as productivity tools. When you're constantly experimenting with workflows like I am, you start noticing patterns in how digital tools behave differently depending on where you're "located."

The semi-annual Prime Day celebrations are a fantastic time to find those devices that have been sitting on your wishlist all year, at deeply slashed prices. But it's not that often you see something that was recently released and is on deep discounts, but that's what we have here with the Ecovacs Deebot X11, which is currently 20% off on a Prime Big Deal. That's $300 off the sticker price, for the pinnacle of Ecovacs' expertise in automated floor cleaning.

The idea of self-hosting and running your own personal services has never been more accessible. With the rise of Docker, containerization platforms, and lightweight open source apps, it only takes a few clicks to spin up your own media server, cloud storage, or productivity tool. It's no surprise that the temptation to open those services for easy remote access is strong. It seems like the obvious thing to do. Of course, you'd like to access your files or dashboards from anywhere in the world. But exposing a service to the broader internet isn't just about convenience. There are things you need to be cautious about.

There are tons of deals floating around for this Prime Day, but let's face it, many of them are boring. That said, it's also a great time to pick up some hardware that will entertain you year-round, and this Xgimi Horizon Ultra projector at 35% off will fit the bill nicely. This is the 4K Android TV projector that I use at home every day to get my fill of movies and streaming services, and it's no slouch at gaming, too.

What's the one smart home product I would recommend buying this Prime Day? Smart plugs! These handy little devices have transformed the way I interact with and monitor my smart home. From allowing me to cycle specific products when not at home, such as my aquarium lighting system with an internal clock that resets during power outages, to monitoring energy usage for my Proxmox server and other computing equipment. The best part? You can do the same and for less thanks to Prime Day with this pack of four U.S. energy monitoring plugs for $34.

There are certain games that become so popular when they come out that end up embodying a time period. For most gamers in the 2000s, there were a number of major releases on platforms that became benchmarks for the era they were in. Part of this was due to the constant crossover between video games and other aspects of pop-culture, more specifically the music industry. With franchises like Halo and other big budget titles making such a splash in the public eye, some musical artists would release tracks to pair up with games that were going to be smash hits. You could go anywhere and see a popular video game marketed alongside a trending artist, or a song that would stick with people.