03DEC2023

December is here! Thanks to Texas being Texas, we had the unique experience of sweating while hanging up outdoor Christmas decorations this afternoon.

Here are a few fun things from this week:

• 🔌 USB-C Wall Outlet - I recently stumbled across these wall outlets with built in 30W USB-C plugs, and have started installing them in place of our house’s old standard outlets. It’s such a small thing but it’s a game changer to not have to find a charging brick each time we need to charge a phone, iPad, or Mac; Now we can just plug directly into the outlet!
• 🗿 Transcript: When they Came Up With Indiana Jones - When George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Lawrence Kasdan sat down to come up with the script for what would eventually become Raiders of the Lost Ark, they plopped a tape recorder on the table and captured the full 4 hour conversation, then had it transcribed. Indie Film Hustle has the whole thing up to read, and it's so fun to see their creative process as they crafted this amazing iconic character. (Fun fact: They initially envisioned his whip as being strapped to his back "like a samurai sword.")
• 🌍 Radiooooo - Radiooooo (yes, with 5 "o's") is a globe-trotting musical time machine. You load the app (or website) and are presented with a map of the world and a selection of decades from the present going back to 1910. Choose a country and a decade and get a stream of songs from that country and decade. All the songs are hand picked by a team of volunteer DJ's with what seems to be impeccable taste. I've loved just about every song I've come across.
• 🔩 Thread Boards - For those with access to a 3D Printer (or an army of 3D Printers), this project is pretty awesome-- It lets you print your own wall-mounted storage system with a rich ecosystem of hundreds of shelves, pen holders, cable organizers, buckets, and more. My printer is cranking out peg boards and screws as I type this.
• 🧘🏻‍♂️ Zenitizer - I've been using InsightTimer for years to time and track my meditation, but I've not been a fan of their recent turn towards "premium classes" and guided meditations. Looking for alternatives, I've come across Zenitizer after asking for suggestions on Mastodon. The developer of Zenitizer was kind enough to reach out after someone else mentioned the app as a good alternative, and made a good pitch for using it. I've only gotten to try it out a few times this week, but so far it's been great if, like me, you're looking for a simple timer with Apple Health integration and some nice options for timing and intervals.

That's it for this week– Be well everyone!