Home & Consumer Tech
Smart home, consumer electronics, and everyday tech
242 episodes · Page 9 of 11
#2580: When Laws Regulate Appearances
Why do open container laws exist, and do they actually reduce antisocial behavior?
#2573: What's Actually Inside a Hotel Smart Room System
Hotels don't use Alexa or smart bulbs. Here's the industrial-grade tech running behind those sleek wall panels.
#2566: Why Your RGBW Bulbs Get Dim in Color Mode
Cheap bulbs aren't the whole story — physics limits how bright color LEDs can get. Here's what to buy instead.
#2555: How to Bluff Your Way Through Buying Red Wine
Body, tannins, and terroir — the cheat codes that make you sound like you know wine without reading a book.
#2542: The Best Permanent Markers That Actually Last
From ink chemistry to top brands: which markers hold up on plastic, metal, and in the sun.
#2537: Why Your Home Battery Shrinks Without Degrading
Your battery isn't degrading as fast as you think—software, temperature, and inverter limits are the real thieves.
#2399: When Permanent Means Surviving 400°C
Why do industrial markers like the Edding 780 outperform art store Sharpies? It’s all about chemistry, adhesion, and surviving harsh conditions.
#2365: Building a Custom Home Alarm Panel with ESP32
Discover how to build a tactile, local-control alarm panel for Home Assistant using ESP32, Omron buttons, and Zigbee sensors.
#2326: Voice Control Simplified: Home Assistant’s Local Stack
Discover how to build a reliable, vendor-agnostic voice control system for Home Assistant without relying on Amazon or Google.
#2299: The Open-Source vs. Commercial Tension in Self-Hosted Media
Dive into the world of self-hosted media managers: Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby. Why do millions choose to run their own servers?
#2275: From Catalogs to TikTok: The Psychology of Remote Shopping
Explore how remote shopping, from mail-order catalogs to TikTok Shop, taps into the same psychological impulses across eras.
#2273: The Curious Case of Kitchen Unitaskers
From banana slicers to motorized ice cream cones, we rank the most absurd single-use kitchen gadgets and explore their weird charm.
#2269: Ungrounded: The Hidden Danger in Your Israeli Socket
Why does your imported vacuum feel dangerous? We trace the fault path from a Europlug to a potential shock, explaining which appliances need ground...
#2245: Whiteboard Markers: The Tool Everyone Ignores
Why marker quality matters more than the board itself, and what separates a tool that sparks ideas from one that kills them mid-thought.
#2232: One Remote, Three Streams: Building a Sane Media Setup
A renter juggling six remotes and brittle integrations finds a simpler path: fewer devices, cleaner software, and accepting that Netflix won't play...
#2220: When Home Assistant Breaks Your Audio
Daniel's multi-room audio setup keeps breaking. We explore whether Snapcast, Volumio, and Mopidy can deliver reliable podcast playback across Raspb...
#2124: The Flashlight You Actually Need
Most cheap flashlights fail when you need them most. Here’s what to buy instead.
#2112: Your Rice Is Already Infested
That bag of rice in your pantry isn't a food item—it's a Trojan Horse for weevils pre-installed at the factory.
#2107: The Hidden Bureaucracy of Global Shipping
Why your international package gets stuck for six days, explained by the hidden mechanics of freight forwarders and customs brokers.
#2095: Bluetooth Finally Beats Wi-Fi for Whole-House Audio
Wi-Fi audio sync is a mess. A new Bluetooth standard called Auracast fixes it with simple, seamless broadcasting.
#2094: The Accidental Trillion-Dollar Loophole: 401k
Discover how a 1980s tax loophole accidentally replaced pensions and shifted retirement risk to workers.
#2091: Solving Problems That Don't Exist
From a $400 juicer that can't run without Wi-Fi to a toaster with more computing power than Apollo 11, we explore absurd gadgets.
#2090: Who Decides What Generation You Are?
We trace the history of generational labels from the Lost Generation to Gen Alpha, exploring who invents these names and why.
#2087: Why Refill Stations Haven't Gone Mainstream
We explore the technical and economic friction preventing refill-on-the-go from replacing single-use packaging in Western supermarkets.