James A. Chambers

365Explorer is now available as a PowerShell module designed to make Microsoft 365 security investigations faster, simpler, and far less painful than the usual Entra admin workflow.

I’m extremely excited to finally share what I’ve been up to with hydroponics.

If you’ve ever tried shopping for a single board computer (SBC) on Amazon, you already know the problem: the search is powerful, but it’s not built for this niche.

One of the things I’ve been trying to optimize lately is running larger local models with higher context windows without spilling over into system RAM.

SharePoint storage is one of the most underestimated cost drivers in a Microsoft 365 environment.

This morning I woke up to a noticeably slow blog.

It had been quite a while since I first reviewed the original Google Pixel Watch and I ended up using that watch daily for much longer than I expected.

When you're investigating a potentially compromised Windows endpoint, the last thing you need is another tool that dumps endless raw output into a console window and calls it “forensics.”

SYSVOL replication failures are one of the domain controller problems that keep IT teams up at night.

One day I was wrestling with my old trimmer having to manually wind the spool.

A user reports their workstation keeps going to sleep "on its own."

Command & Conquer: Red Alert was one of the earliest computer games I ever played.

I’ve been using the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 for a little while now after spending a long time with both the original Pixel Buds and the first Pixel Buds Pro series.

Windows Update breaks.

If you’re looking to ditch gas without sacrificing performance, the EGO LM2156SP self-propelled electric lawn mower is one of the most compelling options on the market today.

If you manage older UniFi environments, you’ve probably run into a frustrating issue: legacy Cloud Key Gen1 devices that are too outdated to connect to the UniFi Portal.

I’ve been wanting to use AI to analyze my website, https://pibenchmarks.com, and uncover potential improvements (especially security issues) but without spending money on APIs or exposing my code to third-party services.

External sharing is a compliance nightmare.

Despite the massive hype around AI I have always had a lot of trouble getting the AI to generate usable code.

Pi Benchmarks has officially passed over 100,000 tests submitted!

I recently went through the trouble of figuring out how to install Steam on the Orange Pi 5 and it worked really well.

The new RK3588/RK3588S boards have much more power than we've typically had available to us in the past on ARM boards.

It had been a while since I had given using a wearable device a try.

I've been exploring using Adafruit Stemma QT to create really cool DIY prototypes without any soldering here on the site.

I recently covered the extremely cheap and popular ESP32-CAM here on the site.

I've reviewed the Pine64 SOQuartz compute module alternative in the past.

I've been integrating my entire home into Home Assistant using as much open-source software and hardware as possible.

I've been running my Home Assistant instance on a very old Tinker Board S with a 16GB eMMC.

I've covered making a wireless Adafruit IoT button that can run any action within Home Assistant when you press the button using automations.

I've previously covered creating a Home Assistant air quality monitor system using a XAIO ESP32-C3 module and ESPHome / Home Assistant to create a 7-in-1 air quality monitor sensor.

I've been covering integrating my entire home into Home Assistant here on the site.

I've been upgrading all of the devices in my home to work with Home Assistant and eliminate subscriptions to proprietary services.

I've been investigating ways to make my garage doors on my home "smart".

I've been doing a lot of coverage of ESP32-related chips lately on the site.

The Raspberry Pi continues to suffer from supply chain issues.

The Radxa Zero can definitely be set up to boot from USB storage / using a SSD.

I've been documenting my journey building out my smart home powered by Home Assistant here on the site.

I've been building out various sensor arrays for use with Home Assistant in my home using ESP32 modules and ESPHome and it has been working really well.

I'm certainly not the first to review the Orange Pi 800 computer kit.

I have been ordering a lot of gear from Adafruit lately to help build my Home Assistant sensor array for my home (as well as other projects I have going here on the site).

The Radxa Zero has been extremely popular since release and is still pretty hard to find on many major retailers.

I recently ordered many of the official Orange Pi accessories for review with my Orange Pi 800 order (also coming up for review).

I've previously reviewed the Pine64 SOQuartz here on the site and found that if you used Armbian it was a feasible alternative to the CM4.

I've been integrating all of my smart home devices into Home Assistant to have everything managed by an open source system.

Recently on the site I've been covering my journey exploring the world of microcontrollers.

I recently covered using the XAIO-ESP32-C3 with the Grove Expansion shield to create a sensor panel to be used within Home Assistant via ESPHome.

The Pine64 Pinecil is described as a "smart mini portable soldering iron".

I've been working with the Grove series of sensors lately as I previously covered in my K1100 Grove Sensor prototyping kit article.

People have been asking me for years how they can convert a Minecraft Bedrock world to Java edition (or vice versa).

With the Raspberry Pi 5 delayed until 2024 and older models unable to be kept in stock the single board computer market is wide open for competitors to really shine this generation.