Navarre Bartz – WindowsTechs.com

A Smarter DIY Air Filter

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A vaguely perforated metal cylinder sits on a wooden box with a grey cylinder and LCD display atop it. There are holes in the top of the grey cylinder for air to flow through.

As predominantly indoor creatures, it’s important to maintain a healthy habitat for the hacker. [Kishan Pratap Singh] designed a clever solution in AirSense, an ESP32-powered air filter. If you’re thinking …read more Continue reading A Smarter DIY Air Filter→

Who’s Building that Data Center?

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A map of the lower 48 US States with an overlay of various colorful bubbles indicating data center developments, whether proposed, contested, under construction, or operational. There are a lot of bubbles! Hawaii isn't pictured, but looks to have one project currently, but nothing in Alaska for now.

One of the biggest “David versus Goliath” stories in tech right now is the towns beset by AI data center projects they may or may not have asked for. Powered …read more Continue reading Who’s Building that Data Center?→

Google Maps Killed the Restaurant Star

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

Two maps of London turned into hexagonal regions heat mapped from white to peach to purple. The left map is according to: density, ratings, surprise, cuisine diversity, and independent share. The map on the right of merged data assigns the dominant hub type in a region. Purple is assigned a value of "Elite", reddish orange is "Strong", peach is "Everyday", and white/grey is "Weak." The five locations deemed to be the highest scorers were Ealing-Acton, Kingston Upon Thames, Enfield, Bromley, and Havering.

We all know that Google and other big players pick and choose what information people see, but we sometimes overlook it outside of the search and social media space. [Lauren …read more Continue reading Google Maps Killed the Restaurant Star→

Echolocation for Drones

Posted on July 20, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A quadcopter with a clear, U-shaped shield up front and red propellers navigates between a close stand of moss-covered trees.

Bats are remarkable creatures, able to fly at night or inside the confines of caves without light to guide their way. A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) …read more Continue reading Echolocation for Drones→

A Pop-Up Truck Camper for Less

Posted on July 19, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A black pickup sits in front of a snow-capped mountain range in the background. It has a white camper shell with a sci-fi looking "01" emblazoned on the side in black text. An orange, wedge-shaped tent pops up above the campershell and truck roof.

We live in a veritable Cambrian Explosion of camping options, ranging from a tarp on the ground to multi-million dollar RVs. Somewhere around the middle is the pop-up truck camper, …read more Continue reading A Pop-Up Truck Camper for Less→

A New Challenger Approaches the Open Source Vehicle

Posted on July 6, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A man in a black shirt with the word "Mutiny" in yellow letters next to a short set of red, orange, and yellow stripes like a 1970s truck graphics package guestures to the camera while holding a sketch of a blurple truck consisting of a tube frame cab, flat loading deck, orange seat, and a silvery front bumper.

Cheap vehicles are thin on the ground in 2026, but [Andy Didorosi] thinks he has the answer for low-speed applications with an open source kei truck. Still in the early …read more Continue reading A New Challenger Approaches the Open Source Vehicle→

A New Twist on the To Do List

Posted on July 3, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A device with a brown plastic gear cylinder and indicator on the left and a series of black pieces approximately the size of tongue depressors sits on a butcher block workbench. A thin brown divider with the word "Finished" sits between sets of the presumably chalkboard tongue depressors.

Humans are odd creatures, and no two are exactly alike, which is likely why so many different methods exist for tracking the progress of tasks that must be accomplished. [Simone …read more Continue reading A New Twist on the To Do List→

World’s Biggest RC A380 is a Big Deal

Posted on June 28, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A man standing next to an RC model of an Airbus A380 aircraft. The fuselage is at elbow height and the tailfin appears to be over his head.

RC planes are a lot of fun, and the bigger the better! [Ramy RC] has built the world’s biggest RC A380. At 29 ft (8.83 m) long, with a 32 …read more Continue reading World’s Biggest RC A380 is a Big Deal→

Do Metal Roofs Turn a Bird House into an Oven?

Posted on June 27, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A white man in a dark t-shirt and glasses stands next to a pegboard. On the pegboard is a cylindrical wooden bird house with a small piece of metal roof attached to the top. A set of heat lamps are suspended above and give the image a reddish-orange glow. 87˚F is in white text in the lower left corner.

Birdhouses can be a great way to help out nesting birds in your area, but they can be a bit intensive to make. As part of a 500 birdhouse marathon, …read more Continue reading Do Metal Roofs Turn a Bird House into an Oven?→

EVs Always Beat Combustion Emissions Performance

Posted on June 24, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A heat map of the US showing the difference in emissions between an EV and ICE or EV and PHEV by county. Rural areas, particularly in Colorado in Wyoming seem close to no difference (in blue) whereas densely-populated areas on the coasts are colored on the red end of spectrum exceeding a 70% emissions reduction over ICE vehicles.

A pervasive story is that electric vehicles (EVs or BEVs) are actually dirtier than combustion vehicles if charged by a fossil fuel-based electricity grid. A new study reaffirms others that …read more Continue reading EVs Always Beat Combustion Emissions Performance→