The decision to switch away from Synology was never about running away from anything. I was chasing something — more power, control, and flexibility. And I got all that in a DIY setup. But what I didn’t account for were the small frictions that slowly start adding up when you leave a well-integrated system. Looking back, it feels like I left behind a well-oiled machine that just worked.

When I lived in a small apartment, a few CAT6 cables and a mesh router kit was all I needed for a stable home network. But I always dreamed of building an overkill network setup, and ever since we moved to this house, I've been testing various configurations, from prosumer setups to more consumer-friendly appliances and custom routers based on OPNsense.

When it comes to a custom NAS setup, you’ve got plenty of choices for the operating system. There’s OpenMediaVault for underpowered devices, Unraid for premium users, and even good ol’ Proxmox, once you arm it with the right packages. However, TrueNAS Scale is my favorite NAS-centric distribution by a long shot, thanks to its top-notch performance, free nature, data protection services, and ZFS support.

Owning a 3D printer has completely changed how I approach everyday problems. Instead of hunting for replacement parts online or settling for overpriced accessories, I can often make what I need at home. It’s not always about saving money, though that’s a nice bonus. It’s also about convenience, customization, and not being at the mercy of product availability. These are five times 3D printing came to the rescue when buying the original solution just didn’t make sense.

The library of games for the PlayStation 2 is populated with many classic and iconic titles that people remember vividly. Companies developed and released a ton of games for the console, mostly because the installation base was so massive. In the early 2000s, almost everybody had a PlayStation 2 in their household, whether they were just playing video games or watching movies on DVD on it as well. But with so many people owning the console, there was bound to be an abundance of titles available for it. However, many games on the PS2 have receded into the background over time, prompting many to reminisce about them, and hope to see them get a remake one day.

Laptop performance out of the box might be enough for most people, but we're not most people. The default laptop settings will get you a solid mix of power and battery efficiency, which is ideal when using the laptop unplugged. But if you want to get the absolute most power out of your laptop, making a few quick tweaks to your system will get you far more performance.

In my bid to find a new home for my older PC after Windows 10 loses support, I've been dipping a toe into several different Linux distros. The one I'm settled in with right now is Fedora with KDE Plasma pre-installed, and I've been really loving it so far. I think it'll take a lot for me to move away from KDE Plasma; for the time being, it's basically my forever home.

Handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck, Lenovo Legion Go, and Asus ROG Ally have become the hottest new gaming gear, and in a lot of ways they're similar to laptops. Whether your handheld is running SteamOS or Windows, you can use it for general laptop tasks like web browsing or email, or even for running a local LLM.

Over the past few months, we've seen AI companies work to make their models more human-like. First, it started with making the text it produced more relatable and people-like. Then, when text-to-speech came along, companies worked on making it so they spoke like a person and answered questions at the same speed as you'd expect from a real conversation. Now, the next step is giving those AIs the final touch: a face to gawk at you with.

Open-source tools are more prevalent and important to use than ever before, especially if you’re trying to make the switch from Adobe software like Acrobat. With more data farming, AI integration, and paid subscription contracts, it can be hard to find good products without feeling like you’re selling your soul. As someone looking to move away from Adobe products and my beloved Adobe Acrobat, here are the six open-source PDF editors I’d happily move to for managing, viewing, and editing my PDF documents.

Despite offering the ability to run any software you desire inside an experimental environment, home labs are versatile enough to accommodate a host of devices. You’ve got everything from routers and switches on the network side to a barrage of options on the NAS and storage front. There's also the virtualization/containerization rig that you could build using SBCs, mini-PCs, old systems, or server hardware (or even all of them, as a cluster environment).

I'm always on the hunt for tools to help me sort through my projects. As a freelance tech blogger, I've tried so many apps, hoping to find that sweet spot between powerful features, ease of use, and, let's be real, a price tag that doesn't make me wince. I've even played around with some of the big project management tools out there, but I really wanted something that gives me true control over my own data. That’s when I discovered Kanri. I decided to really give it a go by using it for a few days to manage my projects. What I found wasn't just another checklist app; I’m sharing my early experience of this free and open-source Kanban tool.