Notes from the workshop.
Product updates, engineering notes, and thinking on privacy-first AI tooling.
Why we built a desktop app in the browser era
Every app became a tab. We shipped a download instead: your files, your GPU, and a plane at 30,000 feet explain why.
What AI can actually do in 2026: a plain-English tour
Half of US adults now use AI chatbots. If you're in the other half, this is the tour: eight everyday abilities, zero jargon.
AI for learning a language: the conversation partner you never had
Ten million people hold a 365-day streak. Most still can't order the coffee. The missing half of language learning finally showed up.
AI for weddings: help with everything except the feelings
54% of couples now plan with AI; 63% keep it away from the vows. Both are right. Here's the split that saves the speech and the seating chart.
AI for personal finance: real help without your bank login
The lease clause, the budget, the bill call, the debt plan: AI does the paperwork. The trick is never telling it who you are.
AI for parents: homework, schedules, and the family mental load
Mothers carry 71% of the family's mental load. AI can hold a real share of it, without doing the homework or meeting your kid.
AI for job hunting: a coach and an editor, never a ghostwriter
Recruiters call a pure-AI resume their top red flag. Used as a coach and editor instead, AI can double your interview rate.
AI for meal planning: dinner from the fridge you already have
Photograph the fridge, get three dinners. The week plan, the grocery list, the diet swaps, and the one rule you can't skip.
Plan a trip with AI: eight days in Japan, start to finish
We planned eight days in Japan with AI: every prompt, the real budget, and the ¥21,000 mistake it makes if you don't check its math.
Small models are the real story of 2026
A 4B model on a plain laptop now rivals last year's 72B, and Apple, Microsoft, and Google just bet their operating systems on it.
How much energy does AI actually use? Your prompt vs. the grid
One prompt costs nine seconds of TV. The fleet serving them will out-consume Japan by 2030. Both are true; here's how they fit.
The AI model comparison table: every model that matters, five numbers each
Three launches in twelve days and a 70x price spread. One sortable, dated table holds it all: five numbers per model, every one sourced.
AI for customer support: help your agents, don't wall off your customers
Klarna's bot did the work of 700 agents, then the humans came back. Where AI actually earns its place in a support team.
Build a PC for local AI in 2026: the VRAM-first guide
VRAM decides everything, and 2026's memory crunch repriced it. What each tier runs, and the builds that still pencil out.
AI for researchers: delegate the reading, never the rigor
84% of researchers now use AI. The good ones treat it like a first-year assistant: tireless on the reading, checked on every citation.