The Flipper Zero is essentially a Swiss Army Knife of hacking and testing, but an ESP32 isn't too far off, either. I've already demonstrated how one can be turned into a Wi-Fi honeypot, but thanks to the ESP32-S3's USB capabilities, it can do a whole lot more. With some work, I was able to easily turn it into a BadUSB, just like what the Flipper Zero can do, and it's capable of running DuckyScripts.

Recently, Microsoft added Copilot to the Game Bar, allowing the AI assistant to hop in and help with your gaming queries. It seemed like a fun way to call up a guide and have it help you navigate a tricky part of a game or ask questions about stuff; however, a report came in claiming that the Copilot assistant on the Game Bar would harvest gameplay data to train itself on.

Zoos are cool and all, but what if you wanted to see some new, exotic animals? How about creatures that didn't even exist until you became the zookeeper? If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you may get a kick out of Let's Build a Zoo. This cute little game with adorable sprites is currently 70% off on Steam, and while it may look like your typical management sim on the surface, trust me, it's anything but.

Manually monitoring and tracking various gadgets and smart devices is quite challenging. Thankfully, Home Assistant’s integrations allow you to offload those duties and enjoy them in a more visually manageable way. While it takes more than a few clicks, these integrations have been a game-changer in helping me manage aspects of my daily life.

For most of us, Visual Studio Code is a text editor, a place to write code, preview Markdown, or maybe debug a script or two. But that perception barely scratches the surface. Over the last few years, VS Code has quietly evolved from being a popular code editor into something far bigger — an open source platform for building, extending, and even hosting entire development environments. Microsoft may still guide the core project, but the open source community and partner ecosystems have helped make VS Code a key part of the modern software landscape.

Network-Attached Storage rigs are often the most-used devices for transferring files, archiving data, and creating snapshots of other systems in home labs, and for good reason. File-based network shares can be hooked up with multiple systems (including virtual machines), and since NAS devices are essentially independent devices, you can use them as secondary nodes to self-host essential services. Heck, I’ve already got a dedicated TrueNAS storage server that runs alongside my Proxmox home lab.

OPNsense is at the heart of my home network. It manages my firewall, handles reverse proxies, virtual private network access, virtual local area networks (VLANs), tracker and advertisement blocking, DHCP leasing, and more. It's much more than a simple firewall firmware, and the entire process of going from an ISP-provided router to a custom DIY firewall solution can take around ten minutes. If you want more control over how your network operates and enjoy open-source software, OPNsense is the way to go.

I'm guessing you already know the importance of backing up your PC. Using the 3-2-1 backup rule to secure all your data is something each of us should seriously consider. Another thing I highly recommend is having a spare SSD ready with an OS installation of your choice for a rainy day. Sooner or later, you'll encounter a boot failure out of the blue. Your PC will either be stuck in a boot loop or report that your SSD doesn't have an operating system installed (shocking). Whether it's a drive failure or data corruption, a second, ready-to-go SSD can get you up and running while you try to fix your primary drive.

If you've ever used a Mac, you're probably familiar with its Time Machine feature. It's a system restore feature that lets you roll back to a saved point in macOS if something goes wrong while you are experimenting on your Mac. Windows also have a similar system restore feature. On Linux, however, such a type of safety net is absent by default. That's where Timeshift comes into play.

When done well, 2.5D games look really stunning. I think I started appreciating the style when Bravely Default released, and since then, people have been doing really amazing things with the tech, which is excellent, because more gorgeous mixes of old and new is just what the doctor ordered for me.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer beta gave everyone a chance to try out the online multiplayer of the game, offering a peek at some of the new changes to multiplayer coming with the game. While the core of the game is still the same kind of Call of Duty multiplayer everyone is used to, new movement tools and minor tweaks to player customization switch things up a bit to open up a wider pool of play styles for those looking to hop online. As someone who has played many multiplayer matches in the series, I have a few go-to ideas for setting up my loadouts and perks for my individual play style that has worked out in most Call of Duty games I've jumped into. But the changes to Black Ops 7 and how it approaches multiplayer have encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and try out new things with my loadouts whenever I spawn into matches online.

The BIOS is the home for essentially any setting you'd want to change about your hardware. There's a pretty absurd level of control given to you; voltage and current limits of everything from memory to your CPU itself.