AI · Robots · Automation

Toys for Bots

Practical notes on AI, robots, automation, and the tools around them.

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Privacy Basics

A practical way to audit app permissions on a computer

Review and trim app permissions on your computer by targeting high-risk capabilities and removing unused access.

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Energy

Oil Detours Are The Real Hormuz Price Signal

Oil prices fell on truce hopes, but tanker detours through Suez and around Africa keep the Hormuz shock alive.

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Privacy Basics

How to review browser site permissions without breaking everything

Site permissions control what websites can access on your device. Learn how to review and adjust camera, microphone, location, notification, and storage settings in major browsers.

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Energy

The Hormuz Fertilizer Shock Is Not Over Just Because Urea Fell

Hormuz fertilizer panic eased, but spring nitrogen costs are still sitting in farm budgets and food inflation risk.

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Software Troubleshooting

How to collect a useful software version and environment report

Support requests become solvable when they include precise version numbers, build metadata, platform details, and relevant logs instead of vague descriptions.

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Energy

Diesel Is The Hormuz Tax You Feel First

Diesel is the clearest Hormuz price signal now, hitting trucks, farms and construction before the broader oil story reaches shoppers.

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Software Troubleshooting

How to back up application settings before troubleshooting

Before changing settings or reinstalling, copy configuration files to a safe location so you can restore them or compare against clean defaults.

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Developer Tools

GitHub Stacked PRs Make AI Code Review Less Miserable

Use GitHub stacked PRs to turn AI-generated code into smaller, reviewable changes with cleaner CI and clearer ownership.

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Software Troubleshooting

What clearing an application cache really does

Cached data speeds up apps but can cause glitches. Clearing it refreshes local files without touching accounts or cloud data.

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AI Tools

Codex Security Makes Threat Models The New Code Review Input

Agentic security scanners are useful only when teams review the threat model, validation proof, and patch trail.

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Software Troubleshooting

How to read an application log without getting lost

Application logs contain the clues needed to diagnose issues, but only if you know how to read them systematically.

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AI Tools

Rootless Containers Are The AI Service Boundary Worth Using

Run AI services with rootless containers to reduce blast radius, isolate risky workloads, and avoid fake security theater.

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Software Troubleshooting

When a clean reinstall fixes software problems and when it does not

A clean reinstall clears corrupted local files but cannot resolve problems rooted in user accounts, cloud sync, or external services.

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AI Tools

AI Contribution Policies Need Maintainer Receipts

AI-assisted code needs disclosure, review ownership, privacy rules, and maintainer receipts before it belongs in serious projects.

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Practical AI

When Structured AI Output Is More Reliable Than Free-Form Text

Schemas and validation turn unpredictable AI text into consistent, machine-readable data that automation can trust.

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AI Tools

Claude Opus 5 Makes Model Routing The Real AI Skill

Claude Opus 5 shows why teams need routing, effort levels, fallbacks, and receipts instead of one default AI model.

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Practical AI

A practical checklist for checking AI-generated technical answers

AI outputs mix facts, guesses, and gaps. Run this checklist to separate what can be verified from what cannot before you copy, ship, or decide.

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AI Tools

AI Evals Need Network Receipts

After the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident, AI evals need network receipts, egress controls, and boring audit trails.

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