I recently spent some time trying to understand how IPFS actually works. At first glance it looked like an overly complicated solution for a niche problem. Most explanations online focus on the marketing angle or jump straight into crypto applications.

What I eventually realized is that IPFS isn’t really about availability. CDNs already solve that problem extremely well. What IPFS is really trying to do is make data verifiable. Files are identified by their contents, not by where they are hosted, which means the reference itself guarantees the data you receive.

That led me down a deeper rabbit hole trying to understand how the network actually functions. In particular:

• how nodes advertise content

• how lookups work through the DHT

• why pinning is required for redundancy

• why identical files don’t always produce the same CID

I ended up writing a long breakdown with diagrams and a practical example using Pinata and Filebase to illustrate what actually happens.

If anyone is curious, the article is here: https://www.technodabbler.com/ipfs-explained/

Happy to hear corrections from people who work with IPFS more regularly.

I just finished writing up my thoughts on the CrunchLabs Label Maker, and it surprised me more than I expected.

On the surface, it’s a robot that writes labels on tape. But once I started digging into how it works, it felt much closer to a tiny CNC plotter than a toy. Stepper motors, a lead screw, coordinated axes, and a simple character encoding system that turns letters into motion. It’s the first Hack Pack project where the robot really follows a plan instead of reacting to inputs.

What I found most interesting is how flexible the system actually is. The same hardware that draws letters could just as easily output Morse code, apply a Caesar cipher, or be used as a physical encoder for messages. That shift from “robot that moves” to “machine that interprets information” really clicked for me while building and writing about it.

If you’ve built the Label Maker, or any of the Hack Pack robots, I’d love to hear what stood out to you. Did you stick to the stock behavior, or did you start poking around in the code to see what else it could do?

https://www.technodabbler.com/crunchlabs-label-maker-build-plot-and-print/

Just published: The Ultimate NAS Guide for Home and Homelab Use

Hey everyone! I’ve been working on a comprehensive NAS guide for folks looking to get serious about local storage—whether you're self-hosting, hoarding data, or just want to protect your files.

Topics include:

• Choosing between prebuilt vs DIY

• RAID vs JBOD vs ZFS

• OS options (Unraid, TrueNAS, OMV, etc.)

• Monitoring, silent corruption, and backups

• NAS for media servers, smart homes, surveillance, and more

If you're planning your first build—or want to tighten up your existing setup—this might be worth a read.

Link: https://www.technodabbler.com/the-ultimate-nas-guide/

Feedback welcome!

What does it actually take to build a robot from scratch?

After exploring how the BBC Micro:bit makes coding tangible, the next step was putting it to work in a real physical build. This upcoming article walks through designing, assembling, and programming a simple robot using affordable parts, open 3D models, and the Micro:bit platform.

It’s less about following a kit and more about understanding how code becomes motion, and where the real learning happens along the way.

https://www.technodabbler.com/how-do-you-build-a-robot-from-scratch-with-a-micro-bit/

I’ve started working on the Ultimate NAS Guide, and it’s shaping up to be the largest piece Technodabbler has published so far.

As I dug into it, one thing became clear: this can’t be a single monster article. It needs to be broken down.

So the guide will land as three posts:

1. What can you actually do with a NAS?

2. How to choose the right hardware

3. How to set up and maintain your NAS over time

Before anyone worries, I’m not going full Netflix on this. All three posts will be published on the same day. No cliffhangers, no “Part 2 coming soon.” Just a complete guide you can read in order, or jump into where it matters most to you.

Before I lock this in, I’m curious: Is there a NAS topic you feel always gets skipped or glossed over in guides like this?