The Conversation: What we’ve learned from citizen science: 5 projects that made a difference. “Astronomers need more eyes to sift through vast databases of stellar explosions. Climate scientists can learn from our history, but deciphering the records takes time. Below we introduce five citizen science projects where large numbers of people have contributed impactful results, or yielded new […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/04/05/what-weve-learned-from-citizen-science-5-projects-that-made-a-difference-the-conversation/

Lifehacker: These Apps Can Help You Find the Cheapest Gas. “If you’re heading out to fill up the tank, it might help to do a bit of research first, so you can save some money in the process. Using dedicated, community-sourced gas pricing tools, you can find the cheapest gas stations around your area, as well as cheaper options that are a short drive away. These apps can help.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/03/27/lifehacker-these-apps-can-help-you-find-the-cheapest-gas/

New York Times: Traveling With Disabilities Is Often Hard. These Tools Can Help. This link goes to a gift article. “Google Maps isn’t the only mapping app for navigating accessibility when you get to an unfamiliar city. AVIV ScoutRoute customizes routes for people with limited mobility or vision, relying on user feedback and A.I. to account for factors like sidewalk width, steepness, surface […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/03/19/new-york-times-traveling-with-disabilities-is-often-hard-these-tools-can-help/

MakeUseOf: I stopped my data from being used to train AI (you might want to too). “Copyright laws are tipped in favor of AI companies because, so far, the onus is on users to ‘opt out’ of their personal data, chats, and creative work being used to train AI models. Opting out won’t remove work from a dataset that’s already been used to train AI models, but it could prevent it in the future. […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/03/17/makeuseof-i-stopped-my-data-from-being-used-to-train-ai-you-might-want-to-too/

MakeUseOf: 7 creative tools that are completely free (and professionals actually use). “When you need some capable design suites, development tools, and editing software, it’s easy to assume that serious work requires some serious spending. Many beginners and enthusiasts end up spending hundreds of dollars, without even knowing that even professionals rely on completely free tools for their […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/03/06/makeuseof-7-creative-tools-that-are-completely-free-and-professionals-actually-use/

MakeUseOf: 3 free password managers that are actually better than the paid ones. “Turns out, not all free apps are stripped-down tools that only try to get you to subscribe to higher tiers. The following three free password managers are actually great to use, and offer solid features, transparency, and trust.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/03/05/makeuseof-3-free-password-managers-that-are-actually-better-than-the-paid-ones/

It’s FOSS: Here Are Your Choices for a Self-hosted eBook Server . “If you have a good collection of ebooks in various file formats, you probably organize them in various folders based on the genre, reading state and other critera. An digital library software helps you organize it automatically and beautifully with poper thumbnails, author name and other metadata. But this stays on a single […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/02/12/its-foss-here-are-your-choices-for-a-self-hosted-ebook-server/

How-To Geek: Stop wasting money on dashcams and repurpose your old smartphone instead. “With the right app, an old phone can handle loop recording, manage storage automatically, and start recording hands-free every time you drive, which makes it a surprisingly practical alternative to buying dedicated hardware.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/26/how-to-geek-stop-wasting-money-on-dashcams-and-repurpose-your-old-smartphone-instead/

Spotted on Hacker News: Search Bench. From the announcement: “I built Search Bench as a small experiment to compare search engines without showing which engine produced which results. It was inspired by the idea behind the LLM Arena, but applied to search.” I did two searches, one with a common word (cows) and one with a much rarer word (agrivoltaics). The cow query was a close choice but I […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/23/spotted-on-hacker-news-search-bench/

Lifehacker: These Are the Best Price-Tracking Tools I Use As a Deals Writer. “As a shopping and deals writer, that is what I do for a living, and I know how time-consuming it can be. Luckily, you don’t have to figure it all out yourself: Here are the best websites and extensions I’ve been using for years to check price history and track prices so that you can be sure you’re getting the best […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/21/lifehacker-these-are-the-best-price-tracking-tools-i-use-as-a-deals-writer/