How Long an Unplugged SSD Keeps Your Files
One year at 30 degrees is the only figure anyone guarantees for a consumer drive left unplugged. Heat, write wear and denser flash all shorten it.
Technology & Digital Culture
Making sense of the tools shaping how we create, work, and live
Public Art Now covers practical technology: AI tools, software, gadgets, and the digital culture growing around them. No hype cycles, just clear takes and hands-on guides.
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How to Run an AI Model on Your Own Laptop
A capable model runs on an ordinary laptop in about ten minutes, with no account and no data leaving the machine. The only real decision is…
How Much Energy One AI Prompt Really Uses
Google measured a median prompt at 0.24 watt-hours and five drops of water. Mistral reported 45 millilitres for one response. The gap is not a disagreement…
What Happens If You Use a Font Without a Licence
The letterforms are not protected in the United States. The file that draws them is, as software, and that single distinction decides every font licensing dispute.
Who Actually Pays for Public Art
Public art is mostly a rounding error on a construction budget. That single fact explains why it is durable, where it appears, and why so little…
How to Make AI Animations From Still Images Without Paying
Last reviewed August 2026 Several free tools convert still images into short animations using AI. AnimateDiff running inside ComfyUI offers the most creative control for loops…
What Is ControlNet and Why It Changed AI Image Generation
Last reviewed August 2026 ControlNet is a neural network architecture that adds spatial conditioning to AI image diffusion models. It accepts reference inputs — edge maps,…
How Open-Source AI Rendering Caught Up With Paid Services
Last reviewed August 2026 Open-source AI image generation has closed the quality gap with paid services. Models like FLUX.1 and SDXL now match or exceed Midjourney…
What we cover
AI without the hype
We test AI writing, image, and productivity tools on real tasks and tell you which ones are actually worth your time and money.
Software that earns its place
From note apps to design platforms, we compare the tools people rely on every day and highlight the trade-offs reviews usually skip.
Guides you can follow
Step-by-step tutorials written for normal people, not sysadmins. If a guide is on this site, it has been tested end to end.