18AUG2024

Happy Sunday, everyone! The kids are back to school this week, and somehow we’ve already had our first case of the flu brought home. As we adjust to new schedules and earlier mornings, I’m on the lookout for little pockets of chill and grounding. Things bringing me peace this week include this great Lofi remix playlist of MF Doom tracks, the amazing Japanese Typography prints of Kenichi Minami, and thinking about this brilliant, simple way of introducing people to Dungeons & Dragons. I’m also geeking out about the launch of Wimp Decaf this week—review forthcoming once I get my hands on some of their beans.

On to the good stuff—

• 📊 iStat Menus for Mac - I’ve been using iStat Menus on my Macs for years, and they just released version 7.0 this past week. The app runs in your menu bar and offers a customizable stack of readouts on all kinds of things—local weather, CPU/GPU usage, memory/storage, and more. The new version looks like another fantastic iteration. It’s super helpful for figuring out which app is causing your fan to spin up or quickly checking if you have enough space to download that movie for a flight. You can buy it directly from Bjango or get it as part of SetApp’s subscription catalog of Mac and iOS apps.
• 🏡 Meross Smart Garage Opener* - I’ve been through quite a few “smart garage” openers, and I’ve finally found one that works consistently—this Meross model plugs into your existing garage opener and connects with Siri/HomeKit. You can check in the Home app from anywhere to see if you remembered to close the garage, tell Siri to open it for a delivery, or set an automation to make sure it’s closed every night. One less thing to worry about.
• 🔦 X3 EDC Flashlight* - The X3 flashlight is a pocket-sized marvel that’s quickly become one of my favorites. Despite its compact size, it packs 700 lumens of output, plus a single-lumen moonlight mode and a night vision-preserving red light mode. I love its rotating head for traditional or candlestick-style carry, its magnetic bottom for sticking to cars/poles, and its built-in clip for attaching to the brim of a baseball hat. It charges quickly via wireless Qi chargers or its portable recharging case for off-grid adventures. Among my embarrassingly large collection of flashlights, this little wonder stands out as a top pick.
• 🃏 Slay the Spire - Love card games, RPGs, or just fun in general? This crazy addictive game combines the mechanics of collectible card games like Magic the Gathering with rogue-like dungeon crawlers like Dead Cells and Hades. It’s perfect for quick 2-3 minute sessions or an entire 2-hour flight. It came out a few years ago on basically all platforms, but I recently picked it back up and am totally engrossed again. If you subscribe to Apple Arcade, it’s available for free here.
• 📝 Quick Journal - QuickJournal is a minimalist iOS journaling app created by an indie developer looking to simplify and beautify the journaling process. It’s bare-bones and text-only but has everything you need to jot down thoughts, feelings, or important notes throughout the day. While Day One remains my favorite long-form journaling app, it’s great to see others exploring this space. This could be a cool solution for someone just looking to get some thoughts down in a clean, delightful interface.

That’s it for this week, be well everyone!

p.s. Are you on Threads or Mastodon? Let's be internet friends!

*Amazon Affiliate links