hands-on reviews, side projects, and diy builds.

parts you can buy to diy — plus writeups and videos.

My New Home Media Setup: Building a Clean, Automated Streaming Hub on the Beelink ME Mini

I used AI to set up my media center, and it worked like a charm.

Building a High-Performance OPNsense Router on the Beelink ME Mini

How I replaced my home router with a Proxmox-powered OPNsense box and automated the entire setup with AI.

Picking the Perfect Always‑On Mini PC for My Mini Rack

Finding the perfect balance between performance, price, and expandability for my home server

Building a Practical Doomsday PC: A Radxa X4 Survival Vault

The build that made sense for long-term survivability without being a budget-breaking prepper fantasy

Hosting My Entire Blog On A Phone Powered By A Single Solar Panel

How I built a budget-friendly, off-grid, always-on blog using a phone, solar panel, and a battery.

A realistic smart home build without unnecessary frills

How I automated everything that actually matters

Brando's Toolkit – The Ultimate Automated Flash‑Drive Utility

A one‑command, AI‑crafted PowerShell script that formats, partitions, downloads, and organizes a bootable tech‑tool flash drive. Open‑source, FOSS, and ready for your own files.