Self-hosting your own LLM is usually born out of the desire for two things: absolute privacy and total control. You configure the hardware, extract the models, and finally see that familiar chat box on your screen. It feels like a victory, but for most people, that’s where the journey ends. We’re so conditioned by the … Read more
As a self-hosting enthusiast and someone who writes about cool new open source tools, I install and test way too many tools and services every week. Yes, I have a separate environment fully set up for testing, and things break sometimes. For the longest time, I thought that backing up my Docker configuration just meant … Read more
I used a wide range of PC monitors over the years, from early monochrome CRTs to high-speed 480Hz OLEDs, using a diverse range of connectors during this time. However, since switching to digital from VGA and DVI, I use a single standard display cable exclusively for my desktops and laptops. It’s DisplayPort, whether on a … Read more
For more than two decades, Windows has had a bizarre, almost stubborn, relationship with folder views. You set things up correctly, and somewhere down the line, File Explorer decides one day that it knows better. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t, and somehow he always chooses the worst possible moment to reset everything. So suddenly you’re back … Read more
Before AI, I rarely heard non-developers talk about building their own apps, tools, or automations. Now it’s everywhere, and this is largely due to “vibe-coding” tools, including Claude Code. The reason I’m specifically highlighting Claude Code is because Claude has become the tool that everyone (and I mean literally everyone) has been talking about lately. … Read more
One of the big changes now that I’m no longer renting is that I’ve moved to wired for most of my devices. Before that, the only things that actually had wired connections were my hotspots, which helped but never seemed quite complete. And there’s a good reason for that. Ethernet isn’t affected by your neighbor’s … Read more
I used to think of NotebookLM as one of those Google tools that seemed interesting at first, but not enough to open every morning. I could see the call, but I already had my tools to dump my information and was hoping that would help me later. Everything changed once I tried using NotebookLM to … Read more
Talking about hard drives in 2026 may seem a bit strange, but not everyone is using an all-SSD PC yet. Spinning drives were long ago abandoned by SSDs, at least for primary storage, but they remain very valuable for secondary and NAS storage. In fact, buying HDDs rather than SSDs in this market might be … Read more
I recently built a 10 inch e-paper dashboard for my 3D printer using the new reTerminal E1003 from Seeed Studioand I was surprised at how much I loved it for what it was. It sat next to the printer, told me what I needed to know at a glance, and was otherwise an easy piece … Read more
The only CI who returned to elementary school was in art class. I am, by all accounts, bad at design. Although I like to think I have a good aesthetic sense, I’m not good at bringing what I have in mind to life. Over the years, I’ve really tried to hone my design skills. I’ve … Read more