Editorial Standards

Last updated: 2026-06-10

TechFuel HQ is a single-author publication written and signed by Lowell K. Wood IV from St. Louis County, Missouri. This page describes how content on the site is researched, written, dated, and corrected. It is the standing reference for the rules every guide and review here follows.

1. Who writes the articles

Every article on TechFuel HQ is researched, written, edited, and signed off by Lowell K. Wood IV (byline: LK Wood IV). There is no anonymous contributor pool and no sponsored ghostwriting. The full bibliography of articles, plus biographical detail, Person schema, and contact information, lives on the author page.

2. AI in the workflow, and where it stops

AI tools are used here as a research and drafting aid. Specifically:

  • Research aggregation across primary documentation, manufacturer spec sheets, and published third-party reviews
  • First-draft outline and prose generation
  • Cross-checking factual claims against cited sources
  • Identifying inconsistencies between articles

Every article is then read end-to-end and edited by Lowell K. Wood IV before publication. Numbers, version strings, prices, and product claims are verified against the cited source in the article. The byline and the accountability are human; the assist is named. There is no surrogate authorship — when a Council-of-models review is referenced anywhere on the site (for example in /ops/council/), the underlying verdicts are real distinct model dispatches with full provenance, not agent synthesis.

For the public version of the agent pipeline used here, see the colophon.

3. Sourcing rules

Every measured number, version string, price, benchmark, or product specification must be either:

  1. Backed by a primary source URL cited in the same article, or
  2. Labeled as operator-bench-verified with a date and the hardware tested.

If no source is available and the claim cannot be bench-verified, the claim is omitted and the gap is flagged in the article. We do not invent numbers. We do not paraphrase manufacturer marketing copy as if it were a test result. We do not borrow benchmarks from a third party and present them as our own.

When an article relies primarily on third-party sourcing because first-party bench data is queued, this is stated explicitly in a Sources and methodology section near the bottom of that article, with every primary source URL listed.

4. Dating and updates

  • date: — original publication date, never changed
  • Updated — surfaced in the byline whenever a substantive edit lands
  • lastmod: — front-matter timestamp surfaced in the sitemap and Article schema; bumped whenever any substantive edit lands (typo fixes do not bump lastmod)

When a price changes materially, when a product is updated, when a software version changes, or when reader feedback proves a previous version of the article was wrong, we re-edit the article rather than letting the page drift. The original date: stays; lastmod and the byline reflect the most recent meaningful edit.

5. Banned phrases and excluded topics

For style consistency, these words and phrases are banned in body prose: delve, landscape, crucial, leverage, tapestry, navigate, realm, embark, harness, foster, bolster, ever-evolving, in today’s, as we, it’s worth noting, ultimately, overall. This is enforced by an automated check on every build.

Excluded topics on this site, absolutely: EMS, paramedic-specific clinical content, prescription drug content, peptide content, seizure/TBI/injury content. This site is about homelab and PC infrastructure, not about the operator’s medical background. This rule is enforced by an automated check on every build.

6. Affiliate disclosure

Some articles contain affiliate links to Amazon, Newegg, B&H, and similar retailers. Recommendations do not change based on commission rate. If a product is the right pick, it is the pick regardless of whether the affiliate link earns anything. If a product would be a bad pick at a higher commission, it is omitted. The standing affiliate disclosure covers this in full.

When advertising via Google AdSense is enabled on the site, that is also disclosed; the privacy policy covers AdSense’s cookie behavior and the opt-out path.

7. Corrections

If you find an error — a wrong number, a broken claim, a deprecated product reference — email hello@techfuelhq.com with the article URL and the section in question. The address is monitored by Lowell K. Wood IV. Confirmed corrections land in the article body within 72 hours and the lastmod is bumped.

Reader-supplied bench data is welcomed. If the data is reproducible and the methodology is sound, it lands in the article with an attribution line and the lastmod is bumped.

8. AdSense and review state

The site is currently in AdSense post-application review (Review #2). The full state of the AdSense submission, including soak windows, gate states, and what is and is not being changed during review, is documented in the public-facing colophon and the repository’s ops/adsense.md.

This site does not place advertising during the review window. Once AdSense is approved and ads are served, the privacy policy §“Cookies and similar technologies” describes the cookie behavior and the opt-out path. Affiliate links remain regardless of advertising state.

9. Independence

TechFuel HQ is independently owned and operated by Lowell K. Wood IV. No content on this site is sponsored, gifted, or sample-driven without explicit disclosure in the relevant article. No content is paid placement. No commission, brand partnership, or advertiser influences which product wins a comparison.

10. Contact and accountability

These pages are the standing reference. Every article on the site is published under the rules above, with no exception.