Handing over your personal information to sign up for a mobile carrier is expected, but what if it didn’t have to be that way? If you’re tired of your data being misused by the company that keeps you connected, then a new startup wireless service might be right up your alley.

Home Assistant is amazing because it’s free, but it’s not always the easiest platform in the world to use. Though you can choose to pay for remote access by signing up to Home Assistant Cloud or go it alone with VPN access, there’s actually another easy way to add remote access to your smart home.

Home Assistant is a free, open-source, and independent smart home platform, but did you know there’s a company called Nabu Casa chipping in behind the scenes? If you want to pay to make remote access and cloud backup as easy as possible, that’s where your money goes.

Google Drive is a storage solution, but most of us treat it like a digital junk drawer. Files end up in random folders, duplicates stack up, and finding anything becomes a pain. The good news? With a bit of cleanup, you can sort out the clutter and tidy up your storage in just one afternoon.

You've heard that the world's infrastructure runs on Linux, and how important Free and Open Source (FOSS) software is to just about all the technology we enjoy every day, but there are some (to bring out the old cliché) unsung heroes of FOSS without which your stuff just wouldn't work—and you should at least know their names.

Google and Amazon are particularly good at selling the smart home vision, but these platforms have some big drawbacks, too. Consider switching to or starting out with a more capable and reliable alternative, which will save you money and frustration in the long run.