You might think that monitoring your home network requires an expensive, extensive dashboard or perhaps some enterprise-grade software. I used to think the same. However, the more time I've spent running, configuring, and monitoring my home network, I've realized that's not necessarily true. While it's true that you might want something a bit more advanced if you are a network administrator, you'll be surprised by how much you can learn about what's happening on your network using tools you already have or free software that takes minutes to set up.

The PC hardware world is in a strange, slightly absurd place right now. DRAM prices are spiraling, VRAM is suddenly a luxury, and "RAMflation" has entered the gamer lexicon like it's been here forever. We're staring at 64GB kits selling for the price of an entire console, while GPU rumors suggest that future cards might ship to board partners without memory at all, leaving AIB partners to source it themselves like we're back in the wild west of PC hardware.

We talk a lot about laptops here, and for most people, that means you're either using a Windows or macOS product. If you're a Windows user, but have been thinking about moving over to macOS, it's hard to say whether you're going to like it.

It's no secret that I've fallen in love with Proxmox's versatility. And while I've dabbled with other virtualization platforms like Incus, I always seem to come back to my first crush. It's hard not to get mesmerized by how easy it is to throw up LXC containers, or virtual machines, or whole operating systems when I need them, while running on what seems like a tiny footprint of resources.

With 2025 about to finish up, we've seen a huge shake-up in the browser scene. We've seen Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge go all-in on becoming an AI browser, with Firefox taking things a little more delicately. The other two are going full-speed ahead, whether its users are into AI or not.

I may be a Linux newbie with only eight months of experience on my belt, but there's one thing that has already solidified itself in my mind: KDE Plasma is awesome. When I distro hopped a little while ago, I would always install KDE Plasma on whatever OS I landed on. Not only did it mean I knew where things were the moment I landed in brave new worlds, but it also made everything feel like home.

I thought I had reached peak productivity with Obsidian’s local-first, networked note-taking. I was wrong. By connecting Gemini to my vault, I have unlocked a level of insight that manual linking simply can’t match. From summarizing complex research to drafting a quick project plan, this AI-powered workflow hasn’t saved me time — it has upgraded my entire research process.

After covering a lot of DIY electronic projects, one thing I've realised is that people really, really like recreating the classics. Sure, there are companies out there that try to replicate the exact look and feel of old gaming hardware, but DIY enthusiasts often put a really cool spin on it. Like, for instance, a really big Game Boy that still tries to capture that old-school feeling.

There's no shortage of ways to write down your notes, journals, and knowledge bases on your computer. A popular tool is Obsidian, which saves your notes in Markdown format, though there are plenty of other tools using Markdown if you want something different.

The current PC hardware landscape is unfriendly to say the least. The DRAM price hike has made building a new PC basically untenable, and many are turning to the used market to at least try and offset costs a little bit. If you've made an upgrade to your system recently, or have older RAM lying around, you might be tempted to jump into the used market to make a buck, and while I wouldn't blame anyone for that, there are other ways to use your extra RAM that don't involve selling it.

If you've been trying to access Steam and wondering why nothing can connect, don't worry; it's not just you. As it turns out, Steam has been experiencing some downtime this Christmas Eve, likely as everyone floods onto the Steam store to purchase last-minute Christmas presents. In fact, this is the second time the website has gone down today, as Valve struggles to keep the website afloat amidst the holiday rush.

If you tried to log into Arc Raiders on any platform tonight and encountered an error, it's not an issue with your Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, PC, or internet connection -- the popular extraction shooter's servers are currently offline. Players are reporting login failures, long queues, and getting stuck on loading screens.