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Homey Pro (2026): this is how a smart home should feel
Two weeks with Homey Pro 2026, Philips Hue and a refreshingly straightforward setup. A smart home hub that is as enjoyable to use as it is to look at.
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The Difference Between Testing a Product and Living With It
First impressions deceive. Learn why week-one excitement fades, how daily friction compounds, and what separates products that test well from products.
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Local LLMs with Ollama: Sunday-afternoon project: your own code reviewer that runs offline
A field-tested take on a Sunday-afternoon project: your own code reviewer that runs offline with Local LLMs with Ollama: what it rewards, where it breaks, and how to keep the workflow honest.
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How to Lock Down Your Apple Account: Passkeys, Two-Factor, and Recovery Keys
A careful 2026 guide to hardening your Apple Account: two-factor authentication, passkeys, a recovery key, recovery and legacy contacts, Stolen Device Protection, and physical security keys.
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How the Cotton Gin Reshaped the Global Economy
An economic history of the cotton gin and its consequences for American slavery, global textile supply chains, and the political economy of the antebellum South. Traces the full circuit from Whitney's invention through the Lancashire cotton famine of 1861-65 to show how a labor-saving device intensified rather than mitigated coerced labor.
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Molecules by Machine
AI-designed molecules are entering Phase I and II trials. Here's an honest accounting of which ones, by whom, and what the early data actually shows.
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emporiaSMART.8: three weeks with a very good idea
Three weeks with the emporiaSMART.8: clear controls, thoughtful hardware and an approach to smartphones for older people I'd love to see worldwide.
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Agentic coding: Building trust with agents the way you build it with juniors
A field-tested take on building trust with agents the way you build it with juniors with Agentic coding: what it rewards, where it breaks, and how to keep the workflow honest.
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First Impressions Are the Enemy of Good Reviews
The technology industry's obsession with launch-day reviews produces content that misinforms readers, rewards surface evaluation, and actively harms.
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The Emigration Question: Is European AI Actually Leaving?
Is the EU AI Act pushing AI startups and researchers to leave Europe? The exodus narrative is overblown — but the quieter signal of who isn't arriving is more concerning.
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The History of Currency Debasement and Inflation
A historical account of currency debasement from the Roman denarius to Weimar Germany, showing how governments across eras have used monetary manipulation as a substitute for fiscal discipline. Covers Gresham's Law, the medieval seigniorage system, the Price Revolution, and the political consequences of hyperinflation.
