Straight-talking posts and how-tos on Home Assistant, macOS browsing, AI tools and the things the studio builds.https://theidea.works/enhttps://theidea.works/blog/minecraft-sphere-generator/https://theidea.works/blog/minecraft-sphere-generator/Build a perfect sphere or dome in Minecraft with a free layer-by-layer generator. Pick a radius, slide through every horizontal layer, read the block pattern, and stack — solid or hollow.Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTMinecrafthttps://theidea.works/blog/minecraft-circle-generator/https://theidea.works/blog/minecraft-circle-generator/Make a perfect circle in Minecraft with a free, live block-circle generator. Pick a radius, read the block pattern, and build circles, cylinders, domes and spheres — plus the rounding trick that makes it work.Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTMinecrafthttps://theidea.works/blog/reduce-claude-code-token-usage/https://theidea.works/blog/reduce-claude-code-token-usage/Eight practical ways to cut Claude Code token usage and cost — manage context with /compact and /clear, scope your requests, use CLAUDE.md, pick the right model, and track it all in real time.Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI Toolshttps://theidea.works/blog/track-claude-code-usage/https://theidea.works/blog/track-claude-code-usage/Every way to watch your Claude Code usage and limits — the built-in /usage command, the ccusage CLI, and menu bar apps like Claude Pulse — compared honestly, with setup steps for each.Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTAI Toolshttps://theidea.works/blog/best-home-assistant-air-quality-cards/https://theidea.works/blog/best-home-assistant-air-quality-cards/An honest comparison of the best HACS air quality cards for Home Assistant dashboards — glanceable animated scenes, multi-pollutant panels, colour-coded bars, AQI cards and trend graphs, with install notes for each.Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTHome Assistanthttps://theidea.works/blog/home-assistant-air-quality-dashboard/https://theidea.works/blog/home-assistant-air-quality-dashboard/Get PM2.5 and CO₂ readings into Home Assistant — with or without buying a sensor — and put them on a dashboard card you'll actually read. Entities, cards, EPA thresholds and automations, step by step.Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTHome Assistanthttps://theidea.works/blog/best-browsers-for-mac-2026/https://theidea.works/blog/best-browsers-for-mac-2026/An honest, no-hype roundup of the best macOS browsers in 2026 — Safari, Chrome, Arc, Brave, Firefox, DuckDuckGo, Zen and Sill — with who each one is genuinely for, and the trade-offs.Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTmacOS Browsershttps://theidea.works/blog/reduce-browser-memory-mac/https://theidea.works/blog/reduce-browser-memory-mac/Why browsers dominate Activity Monitor, and every real fix for macOS — built-in memory savers, tab suspender extensions, and workspace hibernation — compared honestly.Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTmacOS Browsershttps://theidea.works/blog/private-browser-mac/https://theidea.works/blog/private-browser-mac/What 'private browser' actually means — four questions that separate marketing from architecture, applied honestly to Safari, Firefox, Brave, Chrome and Sill.Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTmacOS Browsershttps://theidea.works/blog/word-count-character-count-reading-time/https://theidea.works/blog/word-count-character-count-reading-time/When word count matters versus character count, how reading time is actually calculated, and the limits worth knowing for SEO titles, tweets, essays and ads — plus a free word-counting tool.Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTWeb Toolshttps://theidea.works/blog/how-to-find-hex-colour-codes/https://theidea.works/blog/how-to-find-hex-colour-codes/Understand hex, RGB and HSL colour codes, grab the exact colour from any image, and build a palette that actually works — complementary, analogous and accessible — with a free colour picker.Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTWeb Toolshttps://theidea.works/blog/how-to-calculate-percentages/https://theidea.works/blog/how-to-calculate-percentages/Work out any percentage without the panic — percentage of a number, percentage increase and decrease, percentage difference and reverse percentages, each with a simple formula and a worked example.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTWeb Tools