Raspberry Pi boards are powerful little machines, but they come with a few surprises you might not expect until you're already in the weeds. Whether you're eyeing one for retro gaming, home automation, or running your own cloud, there’s more to know than just plugging it in and going. These are the kinds of lessons most people learn the hard way—unless you get ahead of them.

There’s something powerful about taking control of your digital life, especially when it means your devices talk to you on your terms. I’ve set up systems to self-host all sorts of services, but adding notifications to that mix has been one of the most rewarding upgrades I’ve made. I used to rely on email alerts or proprietary push services, but they always felt either too slow, too noisy, or too locked down.

I’ve always loved the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. It’s inexpensive, compact, and performs well despite its simplicity. When I discovered Bjorn, a self-hosted Wi-Fi monitoring tool that requires minimal hardware, I knew I had to try it. Turning this $15 board into an innovative, portable scanner was a perfect weekend build, and it exceeded my expectations.

When building out your network-attached storage (NAS) enclosure or working with a few home lab servers, it's vital you get the filesystem right. The choice of filesystem depends on what you plan on using the system for and how you plan to go about backing up all the data. ZFS is a favorite among many for NAS and data storage, thanks to its robust feature set, namely snapshots. This handy addition to the file system makes it among the best for storing data, and I've relied on it for years to keep my servers up and running.

There's nothing that strikes fear into the heart of a PC gamer quite like a CPU bottleneck. Not only does a CPU bottleneck limit your performance in games, it can also be difficult to nail down and access the severity of. Thankfully, there are a handful of quick ways that you can check how severe your CPU bottleneck is, and even more ways to combat the bottleneck without coughing up the cash for an upgrade.

TrueNAS is the gold standard of NAS operating systems for anyone building a NAS from scratch. It’s so flexible that it suits both home and enterprise users — you can make it as easy or complex as you like. And once you move past the basic file management setup, TrueNAS opens up a whole ecosystem of features that elevate your simple storage box into an all-capable home server. I discovered some of its handy features along the journey, and every single time, I thought — why didn’t I see this earlier?

The tiny stature of single-board computers (SBC) might deceive you into thinking they aren't fit for anything more than basic tasks. But at the core of every DIY home project, an SBC manages everything behind the scenes. Raspberry Pi comes in all shapes and sizes, and each model holds the potential to create something extraordinary. I know about several Pi projects that can spruce up your home aesthetics and introduce automation for rudimentary tasks.

Undervolting has seen a massive surge in popularity over the past few years, and for good reason. As AMD and Intel look to squeeze every drop of performance out of their CPUs, the headroom for overclocking has become less and less for most PC builders — assuming you don’t have a tank of LN2 hanging around at all times, that is.

I have mastered these tools to enhance my productivity on the system because Windows has improved over the years, but it hasn’t reached the level I need. Using free, paid, and open-source alternatives gives me a better chance at getting things done faster.

With the Nintendo Switch 2 practically here, now seems like a great time to ask Nintendo to bring back the activity log. The activity log appears on the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS, providing a detailed log about your gaming history on the console. The Switch 2 comes with tons of improvements, even if it didn't include everything we wanted from the Switch 2. There has been no mention of the activity log making its return, but the feature could be added, and should be, to the Switch 2 with a firmware update. The original Switch featured a lackluster game tracking system that just didn't provide the same level of detail as the activity log. Here's why we want it to return with the Switch 2.

After a long time of relying on Photoshop for nearly everything, from image editing to digital design, I didn't expect to find other apps that could come close. But in my search for Photoshop alternatives, one option that stood out to me was Affinity Photo 2. It's a fast, powerful, and thoughtfully-designed editor with features that not only rival Photoshop but also outdo it in some areas. Plus, there's no subscription, it's a one-time purchase tool. Here's why Affinity Photo 2 is worth a closer look...

Ever since its introduction, Notion has felt like the undisputed king of productivity. It was the all-in-one workspace that promised to organize everything from our personal lives to complex team projects. I invested countless hours in perfecting my setups and believed it was the future of work.