---
title: Blog
canonical: "https://consideredgear.com/blog/"
description: "Research notes and plain-English explainers on local AI, self-hosted software, home automation, and practical hardware decisions."
---

# The notebook

Technical research and plain-English explainers, with sources, dates and explicit limits on what has been tested. Use the evidence to plan your next experiment.

- [What to check before running Cloudflare Clef at home](https://consideredgear.com/blog/cloudflare-clef-at-home/) — Open weights make Clef worth investigating for local automation. The hardware and software deserve a closer look before you buy anything.
- [AI classifiers: small decisions, useful local AI](https://consideredgear.com/blog/ai-classifiers-explained/) — What an AI classifier actually does, how it differs from a chatbot or model router, and where small, testable decisions can help in a home AI setup.
- [Jev: a practical guide to TypeSafe's decision model](https://consideredgear.com/blog/jev-decision-model-guide/) — Jev makes typed decisions through a hosted API. Here's what its choice, score, and yes/no outputs mean, what it costs, and what to check before using it.
- [Laya: an open-source classifier for local decisions](https://consideredgear.com/blog/laya-open-source-classifier-guide/) — Laya brings typed AI decisions to your own hardware. Understand its open license, model choices, hardware needs, and the limits behind the benchmark headlines.
- [Zigbee vs Z-Wave vs Thread vs Wi-Fi vs Bluetooth](https://consideredgear.com/blog/zigbee-vs-wi-fi-for-sensors-what-actually-changes-when-you-pick-one/) — A plain-English comparison of Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth for home sensors—plus where Matter actually fits—covering battery life, mesh behavior, and hub dependency.
- [You don't need the cloud to run your own AI](https://consideredgear.com/blog/you-dont-need-the-cloud-for-ai/) — A plain-English explainer on running AI models on your own hardware — what it means, what it costs, what you give up, and why it's the front door to everything else we cover here.