Learn systems by building them.

Block many ad and tracking domains across devices on your home network by running Pi-hole as the DNS server your router gives to clients.

Install Home Assistant OS on a Raspberry Pi 5, bring up a local smart-home dashboard, verify integrations and automations, and create a recovery backup.

Run Jellyfin 12.1 in Docker on an Intel-powered Ubuntu home server, organize your own media libraries, and enable Intel Quick Sync for efficient local streaming and transcoding.

Turn a used Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny PC into a wired Ubuntu Server home lab with stable LAN addressing, SSH administration, Docker Engine, Docker Compose, and a verified container service ready for future self-hosted projects.

Build an ESP32 breadboard transceiver that captures raw timing from common 38 kHz consumer IR remotes, reports the decoded signal over Serial, and replays the latest learned command through a transistor-driven 940 nm IR emitter.

Run Immich 3.2.2 on a private Ubuntu/Docker home server, store phone-photo uploads on dedicated local SSD storage, verify Android backup, and establish database recovery material without pretending one home-server copy is a complete disaster-backup strategy.

Turn an existing Ubuntu home-lab server into a split-tunnel WireGuard gateway so one Android phone can securely reach private home-LAN services from cellular or other outside networks.

Build an ESP32 + PN532 SPI tool that reads UID/type/NDEF data from user-owned NFC Forum Type 2 tags and safely rewrites a test NDEF URL on a rewriteable NTAG213.

Build a two-drive TrueNAS home NAS with mirrored CMR disks, authenticated SMB file sharing, snapshots, drive-health monitoring, and a documented replacement path when one disk fails.

Build a solderless ESP32 + AHT20 room sensor that sends temperature and humidity into Home Assistant through ESPHome's encrypted native API.

Build a 4.2-inch ESP32 e-paper desk display that pulls three U.S. National Weather Service forecast periods, performs one full refresh, then sleeps for 30 minutes while the image remains visible without a backlight.

Run Vaultwarden on your existing Ubuntu/Docker home server and sync a private password vault across trusted devices over tailnet-only HTTPS without exposing the service to the public Internet.

Flash a GL.iNet Beryl AX with official OpenWrt, create a private travel Wi-Fi network, and route your devices through authorized hotel, hotspot, or guest Wi-Fi with Travelmate.

Run Uptime Kuma on your existing home-lab server to track router reachability, external DNS, Pi-hole DNS, and a local web service from one private dashboard.

Build a single-node Proxmox VE 9.2 lab on a dedicated ThinkCentre Tiny, then run and recover both a Debian VM and an unprivileged Debian LXC container.

Build a dedicated OPNsense edge firewall with a managed-switch trunk that isolates Trusted, Guest, IoT, and Lab devices into separate routed security zones.

Run NetAlertX on your existing Docker homelab to inventory one local LAN and clearly flag a device the first time its MAC address appears.

Add Unbound to your existing Pi-hole so allowed DNS queries are resolved recursively from root servers instead of being forwarded to one public DNS provider.

Enable Suricata IDS on your existing OPNsense firewall, inspect routed home-network traffic with ET Open rules, and learn to verify and tune real alerts without blocking packets.

Build a six-button wired USB macro pad with an ESP32-S3, three desktop shortcuts, and three media-control keys.