We've all been there at some point in our home lab journey. The decision to run a stack of Docker containers on our NAS, maybe because we didn't want to run experiments on our desktop PC, or perhaps because we thought that using the NAS as a mini server was a good idea. But the longer I had this setup, the more I got the nagging feeling that I shouldn't be continuing, and that a dedicated machine for container experiments was a better idea.

A Raspberry Pi 5 can do far more than power a novelty gadget. It offers enough performance to replace small appliances, automate daily tasks, and serve as the backbone of a smarter home. Many people underestimate how capable it is, especially when paired with modern software tools and good storage. These projects show where the Pi 5 can step in and deliver real value, without feeling like something you built just for fun.

It's a shame when some games come out and start looking dated within a couple years or more of their release. At the same time, it's magical when others remain stunning for decades, and what it all comes down to is art direction. The PS3-to-PS4 leap was one of the most amazing generational leaps between consoles, and it gave us worlds that looked and felt richer than anything we'd ever seen before.

Wave goodbye. According to the Financial Times, Tim Cook could step down as Apple CEO as early as next year. And the board has started to seriously work out a succession plan. FT says that John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice-president of hardware engineering, is considered the frontrunner for the position.Cook, who turned 65 recently, has been CEO for 14 years and overseen both incredible growth and his fair share of controversies. He’s also largely seen as responsible for Apple’s shift to outsourcing manufacturing, which has enabled it to operate at much larger scales than it did traditionally. Rumors of Cook’s stepping down follow the retirement of Apple COO Jeff Williams, whose last day at the company was Friday. As part of that departure, there has been some shuffling of responsibilities at the executive level, including expanded roles for Services chief Eddy Cue, head of software engineering Craig Federighi, and Ternus. Regardless of who winds up taking over as CEO, it’s unlikely to be someone from outside Apple. Tim Cook has previously said there is a strong preference for an internal candidate and that the company has “very detailed succession plans.”

Considering that a Network-Attached Storage system is essentially a low-power device whose only purpose is to transfer files and archive backups, it may seem like an unassuming little node for newcomers to the home lab ecosystem. But as your server projects pile up, you’re bound to end up requiring more mileage out of your NAS – both in terms of storage capacity and performance.

On November 18, November's batch of new PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra catalog additions will arrive. Every month, Sony updates its subscription service with new AAA, indie, and retro games for its subscribers to try on PS4 or PS5. Some months are better than others, and it seems like we have a pretty good month on our hands.

You wouldn't be blamed for getting caught up in the hype of a new generation of graphics cards. Once the marketing machine ramps up and the release comes ever closer, it can feel like that's the only upgrade that matters for your system. This year, the RTX 5000 series was no different, especially with the optimistic claims of "4090 performance for $499" that we heard in reference to the RTX 5070.

The ability to tinker with cool projects without worrying about breaking anything is what I adore about virtualization platforms. In fact, I’ve spent a long time experimenting with virtual guests on Proxmox, and have ended up with VMs that run well despite their weird premise. A remote Windows 11 daily driver VM is one such project, and the same holds for Arch-based Dev environments.

If you've just built yourself a brand-new PC or simply bought a new kit for your current PC, the first thing you'll want to do is enable the XMP or EXPO profile in the BIOS. While these memory profiles are designed to run on a wide variety of system conditions, there are certain cases where your RAM will simply refuse to boot with its rated speed.

As a software engineer turned tech blogger, I live and breathe digital control. I’m constantly tinkering with servers and open-source tools to manage my data. For many in the tech community, the goal is often to cut the corporate cord entirely and run everything locally. I used to chase that ideal, believing total self-sufficiency was the only way.

Moving from Windows to Linux wasn't as difficult as I first thought, but that doesn't mean it was smooth sailing. In fact, there were a few things I never had to worry about in Windows that became pretty important when using Linux, and the only way I learned that I wasn't paying attention to those elements was when it was far too late. But hey, that's just part of the learning process, and getting myself properly set up felt really good once I had some notches on my belt.

If you're trying to wrangle even a moderate number of personal projects, you've probably stumbled into the world of Kanban boards. I run a few boards myself, and benefit immensely from this beautiful system of visual management. Instead of plastering Post-Its all over my fridge and monitor's edges, I run the digital equivalent on a Kanban board. Mine typically include columns for stuff to do, what's in progress, and what's done already. Each column is populated with cards for individual tasks, and the expanded view gives me all the details I need for each task. I've grown habituated to the small, satisfying dopamine hit of dragging a card from one column to the next, watching my life progress.