Build vs Buy Software ·
We Replaced a $500/mo Admin SaaS Tool With a 20-Hour AI Agent
We replaced a $500/mo admin SaaS with a 20-hour GPT-6 Astra agent. Here's what broke, what it cost, and the governance problem building doesn't solve.
Blog
AI for the work you do, and the rest of your life
Plain guides, templates and news for people at work: using AI in your job, what it means for your career, and where it helps at home.
For your role:AI for Engineering, AI for IT, AI for Executives, AI for Operations, AI for Security, AI for Finance, AI for Legal & Compliance, AI for Marketing, AI for Design · all 20 roles
AI Coding Tools ·
Can AI Write Code for Microcontrollers? Yes, But That's Not the Interesting Part
AI writes microcontroller firmware, decodes undocumented chips, and now designs PCBs from prompts. What it can and can't do, with real numbers.
can ai write code for microcontrollersAI firmware generationAI reverse engineering
Build vs Buy Software ·
Tauri vs. Tcl/Tk: Which Framework Should You Use for Internal Desktop Tools?
Choosing between Tauri and Tcl/Tk for internal desktop tools? Compare bundle size, security, dev experience, and longevity with real benchmark data.
Tauri vs Tclinternal desktop tools frameworkTauri vs Electron
Local AI ·
How Developers Reuse Old Hardware with Local AI Scripts
Learn how developers turn rotary phones, old laptops, Kindles, and spare phones into a subscription-free smart home using open-source local AI scripts.
reuse old hardware local AIlocal-first smart homeFrigate NVR
Build vs Buy Software ·
AI Is Repricing SaaS: Why Renting Software Just Got More Expensive Than Building It
Per-seat SaaS pricing assumed human-paced software. Real-time AI broke that math. Here's how to calculate your own build-vs-buy delta.
AI Governance ·
How to Govern Employee ChatGPT Use and Shadow AI
Banning shadow AI doesn't work. Here's how to govern employee ChatGPT usage and custom GPTs with a tiered, earned-autonomy trust framework instead.
Local AI ·
Mac Studio vs Cloud APIs: The Real Cost of Running Local AI Agents
Mac Studio TCO vs cloud API subscriptions for local AI agents: the three-year math, the 94/6 routing trick that cuts bills by 90%+, and the hardware catch.
Mac Studio local AIlocal AI agents Mac Studiocloud API costs vs local inference
AI Governance ·
Chrome Killed uBlock Origin. Here's What Enterprise IT Can Still Control
Chrome killed uBlock Origin's full power for good. Here's why enterprise policy couldn't stop it, and which browsers and tools IT teams can still govern.
Chrome Manifest V3uBlock Origin enterpriseManifest V2 deprecation
AI Pricing & Costs ·
The Hidden Bloat in Your AI Tooling Stack
From a hidden LibreOffice install inside ChatGPT to 5% GPU utilization, here's what's bloating your AI tooling stack and how LLM inference cost optimization fixes it.
llm inference cost optimizationai tooling bloatgpu utilization
Build vs Buy Software ·
Build vs. Buy for Internal Tools: How Fable 5.1 Flips the Math
Claude Fable 5.1's 4x cheaper cache reads flip build-vs-buy economics for niche internal tools. Here's the framework and the numbers behind it.
AI Models & Industry ·
What Are Looped Transformers in AI?
Looped transformers reuse the same layers repeatedly to reason in hidden math, not words. Here's how they work, why OpenAI's Astra uses them, and the safety tradeoff.
AI Image, Video & Audio ·
How to Block AI Videos on YouTube (5 Tools That Actually Work)
YouTube's AI labels don't filter your feed. Here are 5 browser extensions and blocklists that actually block AI slop from your recommendations.
block ai videos on youtubeai slop youtubeyoutube ai content blocker
AI Models & Industry ·
What Is Recurrent Architecture AI? GPT-6 Astra's Looping Explained
Recurrent depth loops shared transformer layers instead of stacking new ones. Here's how it powers GPT-6 Astra and why it raises governance concerns.
Build vs Buy Software ·
Niche SaaS Is Bleeding Out as Clients Build It Themselves
AI coding agents let teams replace mid-priced SaaS in days, not weeks. Here's the data on who's building, who's buying, and what still needs a vendor.
build vs buy internal tools with AIAI coding agents replace SaaSinternal tools with AI
Build vs Buy Software ·
5 Legacy Codebases AI Can Now Modernize and Let You Own
From 1993 Amiga assembly to 220 billion lines of COBOL, AI now automates the expensive part of modernization: understanding old code. Here's the proof.
AI legacy code modernizationmodernize COBOL with AIAI code migration
AI Coding Tools ·
The Best Tools for AI Coding Agents Aren't the Fancy Ones
Three independent studies show AI coding agents default to grep over LSP and embeddings. Here's the data and the layered toolchain that actually works.
best tools for AI coding agentsgrep vs LSPAI coding agent search
Build vs Buy Software ·
Building vs. Buying Identity Verification: The Real Cost Comparison
Per-check pricing makes buying identity verification look cheap. The IDScan and IDMerit breaches show what that price leaves out. Here is the real math.
cost of building vs buying identity verificationidentity verification SaaS breachKYC build vs buy
AI Coding Tools ·
The Taste-Tester Protocol: How to Evaluate AI-Generated Code When Benchmarks Lie
Benchmarks like ARC-AGI-3 and SWE-bench overstate real-world AI coding accuracy. Here's the pairing protocol that closes the gap before code ships.
Local AI ·
Self-Hosted AI vs Cloud AI: What the Triple Outage Proved
ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok all went down the same morning. Here's what that reveals about self-hosted AI vs cloud AI, and how to de-risk your stack.
Build vs Buy Software ·
How to Block Network Trackers With DNS
ISPs and IoT devices monetize every DNS query by default. Here's how self-hosted and protective DNS filtering block trackers network-wide.
block network trackers dnspi-hole setupprotective dns
Local AI ·
Local AI vs Cloud LLM for Enterprise: Why the Real Shift Is Happening Quietly
GPT-6 Astra owns the headlines, but enterprise inference is quietly shifting local. Here's the cost, governance, and workload math behind the move.
AI Coding Tools ·
How to Secure AI-Generated Code: A Practical Governance Framework
AI-generated code fails security checks far more than human code. Here's the governance framework: inventory, scanning, secure defaults, and ownership.
AI Models & Industry ·
How Do LLMs Actually Work? Beyond 'Next-Token Predictor'
LLMs predict the next word, but that training objective builds real internal reasoning. Here's the proof, including a 13M-line Lean proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
how do llms actually worknext-token predictorlarge language models explained
Build vs Buy Software ·
Self-Hosted Alternatives to SaaS: The Category-by-Category Guide
A category-by-category map of self-hosted alternatives to SaaS, backed by cost data, sovereignty stats, and real government case studies.
self hosted alternatives to saassovereign stackopen source saas replacement