Independent field notes · 2026
AI tools, explained by doing
Every page here answers one question: how do I actually do this. No release notes, no hot takes — the tool, the steps, the command, and what it costs.
11 published pages4 sectionsNo paywall
Just added
Latest additions
New pages land here first.
By theme
Narrow it down
Recurring tasks, not category pages.
- open-source5
- local-deploy4
- code3
- video3
- free2
- model2
- text2
- tool2
- tutorial2
- agent1
Sections
Four ways in
Tools & models
One card per tool or open model: what it does, what it costs, how to start.
All 2 →News
What just changed, whether it matters, and where to read the permanent guide.
All 4 →Tutorials
Workflows you can reproduce, with the exact commands and settings.
All 4 →Deep dives
The longer argument behind the guides.
All 1 →Frequently asked questions
Is everything on the site free?
Yes. Every entry, tutorial and update is readable without an account, and there is no metered paywall or cookie wall. A membership is planned for the longer research pieces, but the reference pages stay open.
How often are pages updated?
Entries are re-checked roughly once a quarter and immediately when a product changes its pricing or drops a free tier. When that happens the page is corrected and the date at the top moves; the URL never changes.
Do you take payment for reviews or rankings?
No. No company has reviewed a draft about itself, and no payment changes what appears here or where it appears. Where an outbound link is an affiliate link, it is labelled as one next to the button.
Are the numbers on the page measured or quoted?
Measured numbers are labelled as ours and carry the hardware or connection they were taken on. Anything from a vendor benchmark or a third-party report is marked as reported in the sentence itself, not in a footnote.
Do you cover every new AI tool?
No. A page exists when there is something useful to add: a working install path, a measured limit, or a clear answer to what it replaces. Tools we have not used do not get a page just because they launched.