Home Gadget Geeks

Hosted by Jim Collison

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Episodes

Latest episode

Nov 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

We cover all your favorite tech gadgets that find their way into your home!

Listen to episodes

49 recent

November 7, 20261 hr 25 min

Dual Monitors, AI Troubleshooting, Solar Landscape Lighting and Tesla FSD with Brian Flanigan-Arthurs – HGG694

A better home office sounds simple until you start connecting two computers, multiple displays, docks and a KVM switch. Brian Flanigan-Arthurs joins me for HGG694 to talk about what worked, what didn’t, and how Claude helped troubleshoot the setup. We also get into practical outdoor lighting, home security and a Tesla road trip that ended with a very unexpected “take over immediately” warning.

October 31, 20261 hr 19 min

AI Agents, Local Models and Cybersecurity with Christian Johnson – HGG693

Christian Johnson returns to Home Gadget Geeks to discuss AI-powered coding, useful older PCs, local models on an RTX 3090, managed Docker hosting and the growing importance of security updates.

October 17, 20261 hr 25 min

Robots, AI TVs, Smart Vacuums and the Future of Home Tech with Erin Lawrence – HGG692

Erin Lawrence returns to HGG692 with IFA Berlin robotics, DJI cameras, ECOVACS robot vacuums, AI TVs, Mazda CX-70, GM Super Cruise, smart lighting and the question of whether smarter gadgets are becoming too complicated.

October 3, 20261 hr 27 min

Home Assistant AI Automation, Tesla FSD and Energy Monitoring with Phil Hawthorne – HGG691

Phil Hawthorne joins me to talk Home Assistant AI automation, the upcoming 2026.10 release, Tesla Full Self-Driving, smarter energy monitoring, climate zones and a 3D-printed presence-sensor planter. We also discover why my Home Assistant Container installation had fallen several releases behind.

September 26, 20261 hr 23 min

Tesla, Home Assistant, ESPHome and Smarter Automation with Gavin Campbell – HGG690

Gavin Campbell is back, and this one turns into a tour of what happens when Home Assistant stops being a dashboard and starts becoming the operating system for the house. We talk through Gavin’s first Tesla, garage-door automation, water and leak monitoring, ESPHome projects, lawn and soil sensors, emergency power, camera systems and the growing role AI can play in making sense of all that home data.

September 19, 20261 hr 31 min

POC Radios for Kids, Off-Site Backups, Remote Gaming and Frigate 0.18 with Mike Wieger – HGG689

Do kids need a full smartphone just to stay in touch? Mike Wieger joins me for HGG689 with a different answer: push-to-talk-over-cellular radios built around simple family communication. We also dig into practical off-site backups with Unraid, TrueNAS, ZFS and Tailscale, Apollo and Moonlight for using one gaming PC from almost anywhere, and Frigate 0.18 for a much easier local-camera and NVR setup. For a broader setup walkthrough, see the complete guide to Frigate and Home Assistant. Chapters / Timestamps Guest Context Mike Wieger returns to Home Gadget Geeks with three practical technology topics aimed at parents, gamers and homelab

September 5, 20261 hr 18 min

Concert Photography Gear, Backup Strategy and AI Editing with Jay Franze – HGG688

Jay Franze joins HGG688 to discuss concert photography gear, Nikon cameras, RAW workflows, redundant backups, AI photo editing, mastering and spatial audio.

August 29, 20261 hr 19 min

Pixel Lights, Robot Mowers, Maslow CNC and Home Automation – HGG687

Seth Johnson from HomeTech.fm joins Jim Collison to talk about programmable pixel lights, holiday displays and the hardware behind thousands of individually addressable LEDs. They cover HolidayCoro, QuinLED, WLED, Xlights, Home Assistant and why electrical calculations still need more than a confident AI answer.

July 31, 20261 hr 21 min

Phil Hawthorne on Smarter Home Assistant Automations, ESPHome, E-Ink and AI – HGG686

Phil Hawthorne joins Jim to explore Home Assistant Blueprints, area-based automations, ESPHome Bluetooth proxies, e-ink dashboards, AI integration and the Open Home Foundation.

July 25, 20261 hr 23 min