Great Articles
Useful pieces I’ve come across on AI and the tools around it — each with a short note on why it’s worth your time. Every link goes straight to the original source.
Claude Code Just Solved My Biggest Productivity Problem
Why it’s worth reading: A columnist's honest struggle: he takes tons of notes in Apple Notes, but could never surface the right one again when he actually needed it. Rather than settle for an existing note-taking app, he used Claude Code to build the exact tool he wanted and shipped it to the Mac App Store — without being a professional developer. A relatable example of solving your own small, specific annoyance instead of adapting to someone else's software.
5 features Claude used to make you pay for that are now free
Why it’s worth reading: A useful check-in if you've been assuming the free tier of Claude is bare-bones. The piece runs through five things that used to be paid-only and have since moved to the free plan: Memory, Projects, Artifacts, web search, and file uploads. Worth a look if you're curious what you can do with Claude before ever paying for it.
Your CLAUDE.md is probably wrong, and here's how Anthropic's engineers actually structure theirs
Why it’s worth reading: A CLAUDE.md file is the project notes Claude reads automatically at the start of every session, so it doesn't need the same context re-explained each time — this site's own repo has one. This piece breaks down what actually belongs in it (a short project summary, the directory structure, dependencies and conventions) versus what just adds clutter. Worth a read even if you already have one, to see if it's pulling its weight.
I test AI coding tools all day — here are 9 hidden Claude Code features you're probably missing
Why it’s worth reading: A roundup of Claude Code features that are easy to miss if you never dig past the basics — including keeping a CLAUDE.md file in your project so Claude remembers your rules and conventions without you repeating them, spinning up subagents for parallel work, and rewinding to an earlier point when something goes sideways. Useful even if you've been using Claude Code for a while.
Show, Don't Tell: Claude Cowork Now Learns Skills from Your Screen Recordings
Why it’s worth reading: Covers Anthropic's new 'Record a Skill' feature in Claude Cowork: instead of writing out a prompt, you record your screen while talking through a task, and Claude turns that demonstration into a reusable skill it can run again later. A genuinely promising direction for non-technical users — showing Claude what you want done instead of trying to describe it in words.
7 unusual ways to use Claude Cowork that have nothing to do with coding
Why it’s worth reading: A good reminder that Cowork isn't just for programmers. The piece rounds up everyday, non-coding uses — decluttering a messy folder of files, turning a pile of receipt photos into an expense spreadsheet, writing alt text for images, and building a daily briefing from your email and other apps. Worth a look if you've only ever thought of Claude as a chatbot or a coding tool.
I asked Claude to build 3 Excel automations—and it saved me hours of manual work
Why it’s worth reading: A hands-on test of Claude building real Excel tools rather than just formulas: an employee-onboarding workbook with a dashboard, a macro that auto-generates and files a PDF report per salesperson, and a reusable tool that audits any workbook's structure. Good reading if you live in spreadsheets and want a sense of how far Claude can go beyond "write me a formula."
5 apps anyone over 50 can build with AI — no coding skills needed
Why it’s worth reading: This one lines up closely with why I started this site. It walks through five practical, everyday apps — a travel planner, a medication or finance tracker, a quiz app — that anyone can build by just describing what they want in plain English, no coding required. A good starting point if you want a small, real project to try Claude on for the first time.
I turned my terminal into a video editor using Claude Code, and it actually works
Why it’s worth reading: A surprising one: instead of opening a traditional video editor, the author asked Claude Code to trim, caption, and tighten up raw footage from the terminal — turning a rambling nine-minute clip into a sharp minute-and-a-half video. A good example of Claude being useful well outside of writing and spreadsheets.
I let Claude read all my newsletters for me — now I wake up to a 2-minute AI briefing
“Using Claude's email connector and scheduled tasks, I created a morning briefing that automatically scans my newsletters, pulls out the biggest stories and delivers a short digest before I start work.”
Why it’s worth reading: If you're ever overwhelmed by email, this article shows how to get more efficient without worrying about missing something important. Here, the author uses it to manage verbose newsletters — but the same approach works for any topic or inbox you want to keep on top of.
Anthropic Claude Review: The Most Comprehensive AI Toolset
“Claude has changed a lot over the past couple of years. What started as a text-only chatbot has aggressively changed to add unique and helpful features ahead of other platforms.”
Why it’s worth reading: A broad, professionally-written overview of everything Claude offers today — the chat app, the desktop app's three modes (Chat, Cowork, Code), and how it stacks up against other AI tools. It runs long and covers a lot of ground, but if you want a single article that maps out the whole Claude landscape before diving into my own stories, this is a solid primer.
I self-host Speakr to transcribe every meeting and voice note, and it beats Otter.ai for free
“an open-source transcription platform that can run on your own server rather than uploading recordings to someone else's cloud.”
Why it’s worth reading: If you work in a highly regulated field like healthcare or law, recording patient or client conversations comes with strict requirements — HIPAA, attorney-client privilege, and more. This is a promising middle path: a self-hosted, private transcription tool that captures the GenAI convenience of automated meeting notes while keeping your recordings private and under your own control.