u/DatemiLaCalma

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to manage email properly. Nowadays, email is basically your digital identity online: it’s tied to accounts, password resets, banking, services, subscriptions, etc. But maybe I’m giving it too much importance?

Right now, I have three email addresses, each on a different provider:

Private/personal email – for important things and accounts I really care about.

Collaborative/work-related email – for things where I need to communicate with other people.

“Spam” email – for newsletters, random websites, shopping, trials, etc.

I’m wondering if this setup actually makes sense, or if I’m overcomplicating things.

A few questions:

1. Does it actually make sense to have three separate email addresses? Would two (one primary + one “junk”/spam) be enough?

2. is there any real benefit to having your primary email with a privacy-focused provider like Proton or Tuta? I’m already considering using one of them for my spam/junk address, but I’m not sure whether moving my main address there is actually worth it.

3. what about using your own domain? I’ve considered buying a domain and using it for email, since it gives you more control and portability between providers. But once you add the cost of the domain, email hosting/provider, and potentially aliases, it starts becoming relatively expensive. Is it worth it?

So I’m curious: how do you personally manage your email?
Do you have one address, two, several? Do you use aliases, your own domain, privacy-focused providers, or something else?

I’m trying to build a small local home server, mainly to run Immich, and maybe Syncthing and a few other apps later on.
I started with an old laptop I had lying around. I removed the lithium battery, and so far the laptop has been running perfectly fine and seems to handle the workload without any issues, so I don’t really see a reason to upgrade it.
Then I thought: why not improve the setup a bit and add a UPS?
Well… turns out buying a UPS is apparently way more complicated than I expected. I went down the rabbit hole of offline/online/line-interactive UPSes, modified vs pure sine wave, AVR, and a bunch of other things I had never even heard of.
After all that, I ended up looking at a CyberPower UPS with pure sine wave output, costing around €200.
Okay, fine. What’s next? Maybe a proper 3.5” HDD designed to run 24/7.
I found a 4 TB IronWolf for another €200, plus another €30–40 for the enclosure/USB hub.
So now I’m looking at roughly €450 just for these two relatively minor upgrades.
Am I missing something here? 😅
Is there a more sensible/cheaper way to approach this, or am I simply discovering that home servers are a very expensive rabbit hole?

Unfortunately, when it comes to big tech, there are basically three giants: Google, Microsoft and Apple.
They obviously have their problems: tracking, data scanning, profiling, privacy concerns, etc. But there’s also something they give you that is difficult to ignore: peace of mind.
They are extremely unlikely to disappear overnight, their infrastructure is incredibly mature, and, for the most part, their services are stable and available 24/7. If something goes wrong, there are huge teams and resources behind them.
This is what makes me hesitate about switching to Tuta.
I really like what Tuta stands for, and the idea of using a more privacy-focused and ethical provider is very appealing. But can I realistically trust Tuta with something as important as my main email account?
I’m talking about the email address linked to my bank accounts, my devices, password resets, important software/services, government accounts, subscriptions, and basically everything else in my digital life.
What happens if one day I have a serious problem with the account?
What if there’s a major outage?
What if the company changes direction?
What if, years from now, Tuta is no longer around?
And there’s another question I’m struggling with:
How important is it, in practical terms, to prevent Google from scanning my emails or calendar?
On one hand, Google gives me 15 GB for free, which is more than enough for my needs, together with an extremely mature and reliable infrastructure.
On the other hand, Tuta costs money, but in exchange I get a much stronger privacy philosophy and a provider that, at least on paper, seems much more aligned with my values.
So I’m wondering:
Is switching to Tuta actually worth the money and the potential loss of the “big tech reliability safety net”?
I’d especially like to hear from people who have been using Tuta as their primary email address for years, particularly for banking, password recovery, devices, and other critical accounts.
Have you ever had a serious problem with Tuta?
Do you consider the privacy benefits significant enough to justify the switch?
I’m not trying to argue that Google is better or that Tuta is worse. I’m genuinely trying to understand whether I’m overestimating the risks of moving away from Google, or underestimating the value of privacy.

Unfortunately, when it comes to big tech, there are basically three giants: Google, Microsoft and Apple.
They obviously have their problems: tracking, data scanning, profiling, privacy concerns, etc. But there’s also something they give you that is difficult to ignore: peace of mind.
They are extremely unlikely to disappear overnight, their infrastructure is incredibly mature, and, for the most part, their services are stable and available 24/7. If something goes wrong, there are huge teams and resources behind them.
This is what makes me hesitate about switching to Tuta.
I really like what Tuta stands for, and the idea of using a more privacy-focused and ethical provider is very appealing. But can I realistically trust Tuta with something as important as my main email account?
I’m talking about the email address linked to my bank accounts, my devices, password resets, important software/services, government accounts, subscriptions, and basically everything else in my digital life.
What happens if one day I have a serious problem with the account?
What if there’s a major outage?
What if the company changes direction?
What if, years from now, Tuta is no longer around?
And there’s another question I’m struggling with:
How important is it, in practical terms, to prevent Google from scanning my emails or calendar?
On one hand, Google gives me 15 GB for free, which is more than enough for my needs, together with an extremely mature and reliable infrastructure.
On the other hand, Tuta costs money, but in exchange I get a much stronger privacy philosophy and a provider that, at least on paper, seems much more aligned with my values.
So I’m wondering:
Is switching to Tuta actually worth the money and the potential loss of the “big tech reliability safety net”?
I’d especially like to hear from people who have been using Tuta as their primary email address for years, particularly for banking, password recovery, devices, and other critical accounts.
Have you ever had a serious problem with Tuta?
Do you consider the privacy benefits significant enough to justify the switch?
I’m not trying to argue that Google is better or that Tuta is worse. I’m genuinely trying to understand whether I’m overestimating the risks of moving away from Google, or underestimating the value of privacy.

Hi everyone,
I’m trying to understand something about Nmap and network isolation.

I have an OpenWrt router with two separate networks:

**LAN**: 192.168.1.0/24
**Guest**: 192.168.3.0/24

The firewall is configured so that Guest clients can access the WAN, but should not be able to access the LAN. Guest clients can also query the router for DHCP and DNS.

I came across this YouTube video where the author discusses Nmap discovering the hostnames of devices on the LAN, apparently because of DNS resolution.

I tested this myself from the Guest network:

nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24

and got:

Nmap scan report for iPhone.lan (192.168.1.135)
Host is up (0.0027s latency).

Then I disabled DNS resolution with:
nmap -n -sn 192.168.1.0/24

and got:

Nmap scan report for 192.168.1.135
Host is up (0.0022s latency).

So I understand that DNS explains why iPhone.lan appears instead of just 192.168.1.135.

However, I’m wondering about the **“Host is up”** part.
Is it expected that Nmap can still report Host is up even after DNS resolution is disabled? Does this mean that the Guest network is actually able to reach the LAN host, or is Host is up based on some other kind of probe that doesn’t necessarily imply normal IP connectivity?

I’ve been using Joplin on Linux, iPhone and iPad for a while, and I really like it. The one thing I keep missing is an infinite canvas / whiteboard.
I’m considering developing a plugin that would add something like a lightweight Excalidraw-style canvas, with:

- Infinite canvas + zoom/pan
- Apple Pencil support
- Text shapes and arrows
- Images

Before I start, I’d love to know if something like this would actually appeal to other Joplin users.
A few questions:

- Does something similar already exist?
- Is it true that iOS only allows “Recommended” plugins, unlike desktop?
- If I publish a plugin, is there a realistic path to getting it marked as Recommended so it can be installed normally on iPhone/iPad?
- Can an unreleased plugin be tested on a real iPhone/iPad?

I’d especially appreciate feedback from anyone who has developed Joplin plugins or dealt with the iOS/mobile plugin system.

Hi everyone,
I have a 100 Mbps internet connection (200 Mbps max in the next few years), and fiber is unlikely to be available soon.

I want to segment my home network into different VLANs: IoT, Guest, and Trusted devices. I’m planning to use a TP-Link Omada ER605 + OC200 controller, but I’m unsure about the access points.

Would it make sense to buy an EAP225 (Wi-Fi 5) in 2026? I can get one for around €35, while Wi-Fi 6 APs cost at least €100 here.

Is Wi-Fi 5 still a good choice for a home network today, or should I worry about it being an older product and potentially losing security updates soon?

Thanks for your advice!

I’m a complete beginner, and I’d like to set up my home network properly, with separate networks for my main devices, IoT devices, and guests.
At the same time, I’d like to be able to access my IoT devices from my main network in a one-way manner (main network → IoT only, not the other way around).
How can I achieve this? Do I necessarily need to move to systems like TP-Link Omada?
My goal is to have as little maintenance as possible. Is this something that can be done in a simple and reliable way?

Hi everyone,
What’s the best way to use LibreOffice on an iPhone while being able to access files stored on different cloud services like OneDrive, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, etc.?

I’m looking for a note-taking app that can do all (or most) of the following:

\- Support both keyboard typing and handwritten notes with the Apple Pencil.

\-Be cross-platform (Windows, iPad, etc.).

\-Let me save or sync my files through OneDrive.

\-Ideally support both A4-sized pages and an infinite canvas/whiteboard mode.

I’ve tried OneNote, but I’m wondering if there are any solid alternatives that meet these requirements.

Does anyone have recommendations or experience with apps that fit this use case?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some advice on how to improve my home network setup. I’m a complete beginner when it comes to IT and networking.

At the moment, my setup is very simple:
I have an all-in-one modem/router provided by my ISP (Eolo).
From there, an Ethernet cable goes to an old router that I’ve modified to work as an access point.

I have several IoT devices at home (cameras, Shelly devices, etc.) and I also run a local Immich server for my photos.

I was wondering: does it make sense to create VLANs to separate different types of devices?
I was thinking something like:
VLAN for PCs, phones, and servers
VLAN for IoT devices
VLAN for guests
Again, I’m a complete beginner, so I’m not sure if this is actually useful or if I’m overcomplicating things.

I’ve been looking into Omada devices and it seems like a proper setup could get quite expensive: a router (~€80), multiple access points (~€90 each), and possibly some managed switches.

Do you think this kind of setup is worth it for a home network? What would you recommend as a starting point? Should I invest in VLANs and better networking equipment, or keep things simple?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi,
I’m using an iPhone 15 and a Samsung T9 1TB SSD.
I know the SSD works directly with the iPhone 15 without any adapter, but I’ve noticed that in some situations it can be unstable, especially during longer use / transfers or when the phone battery drops.
What I’m looking for is a compact solution that allows me to:
-connect the T9 to the iPhone for data (file transfer / recording)
-charge the iPhone and SSD at the same time.

If anyone has experience with this or already knows a suitable adapter/hub that works well with this kind of setup, I’d really appreciate your help or recommendations.

Thanks!