June 2026
What Should Happen to Your Homelab During a Power Outage?
A homelab should fail in a predictable order: keep the network alive first, shut down storage cleanly, stop compute before batteries are exhausted, and restart services only after power is stable.
Windows 10 ESU and Windows 11 Privacy Survival Guide
A practical plan for staying patched after Windows 10 end of support, choosing ESU or Windows 11, and tightening privacy settings after migration.
Browser Password Managers vs Dedicated Vaults: How to Choose
Choose Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Apple Passwords, Bitwarden, or 1Password based on devices, sharing, recovery, and threat model.
Passkeys Still Need a Backup Plan
Passkeys reduce phishing risk, but phones, hardware keys, cloud sync, and account recovery still need documented fallback before critical accounts depend on them.
Direct Play vs Transcoding: The Media Server Cheat Sheet
Diagnose why Plex or Jellyfin is transcoding, how to force more Direct Play, and when hardware acceleration is worth it.
Plex-to-Jellyfin Migration Weekend Guide
A low-risk weekend plan for moving from Plex to Jellyfin while preserving media paths, metadata, users, and rollback options.
Plex in 2026: What Still Works Free
A practical guide to what Plex still does without Plex Pass, where Remote Watch Pass matters, and when free local streaming is enough.
Local-First Smart Home Without Becoming a Sysadmin
Build a smart home that keeps working when the internet is down without turning the house into a fragile homelab.
Smart Home VLAN, Guest Wi-Fi, or Second SSID?
Smart-home isolation can improve security, but it can also break discovery, Matter, Thread border routers, casting, and app setup.
Zigbee vs Thread for Home Assistant: Which Mesh Should You Build?
Zigbee remains the practical mesh for many Home Assistant sensors and switches, while Thread is the Matter-forward path. The right answer is often both.