guide
The Vault: A private cloud in a shoebox: your files, your hardware — Build Guide
A Raspberry Pi 5, an NVMe HAT and a terabyte of flash running Nextcloud or Samba. The subscription you cancel pays for the kit in a year.
Dev Hardware
Laptops, docks, mini PCs and the homelab that quietly takes over a shelf. What is worth owning and what is a hobby.
13 articles
The machine is chosen by your employer or your budget; this section is about everything around it. The one-cable desk — a dock that charges the laptop, drives the monitors and holds the peripherals — is the single upgrade that makes a hybrid week tolerable, and it is also the purchase most people get wrong first time. Start with the dock guide, then the stands.
guide
The Blackhole: A network-wide ad blocker in a case the size of a biscuit — Build Guide
Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W blocks ads for every device on your network. One evening's work, one dashboard showing everything that tried.
guide
The Beacon: An on-air light that knows when you are in a meeting — Build Guide
Wire an ESP32 and LED strip to your calendar or mute state. The household knows to stay out without asking.
guide
The Fleet: Three climate sensors that end the thermostat argument — Build Guide
Wire three ESP32s with BME280 sensors and graph temperature, humidity and pressure per room. Finally settle why the office runs three degrees hotter.
guide
The Graph: Your GitHub contributions, framed in e-ink on the wall — Build Guide
A Raspberry Pi Zero, an e-ink display and one cron job turn the little green squares into silent furniture that updates once a day.
guide
The Deck: A pocket cyberdeck for terminals on the move — Build Guide
A Raspberry Pi 5, a 7-inch touchscreen and a low-profile keyboard in whatever chassis you dream up. It SSHes into everything and looks like the future 1985 promised.
guide
The Screamer: An Atari Punk Console: the synth that started a thousand basements — Build Guide
Two 555 timers on a breadboard become the legendary square-wave noise box. No code, no firmware — just electrons and regret for your neighbours.
guide
Build a Desk-Mounted, AI Aim-Assisted Foam Dart Turret
A webcam, a pan-tilt servo bracket, OpenCV face tracking, and a motorized Nerf blaster make a weekend project that defends your desk — or starts an office war.
roundup
The Best USB-C Docking Stations for a One-Cable Desk
The right dock delivers power, dual monitors and peripherals through one cable. The wrong one crashes your display or charges too slowly to matter.
roundup
The Best Laptop Stands: Screen Height Without a Monitor
A laptop stand raises the screen to eye level but makes typing worse. The right one depends on whether you're adding a keyboard.
field-test
Thermal throttling at the desk, and what actually fixes it
Laptops throttle CPU and GPU clock speeds when internal temperature crosses manufacturer-set thresholds, typically between 85°C and 100°C. Vertical stands and…
guide
How to Keep Your Home Office Cool During a Heatwave
Block direct sun before it enters the room, move heat-generating equipment away from your seating position, and run ventilation that pulls air across your body…