19JAN2025: The Newsletter that Came In From the Cold

Happy Sunday, everyone! I’m sending warm thoughts to everyone huddling up trying to fight the crazy cold spell in the U.S. this week.

Beyond geeking out over the reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 this week, I also found myself tempted to revisit some of my vintage handhelds after seeing this reel about a workshop in Brooklyn where you can go refurbish your very own vintage Game Boy with all parts supplied (including a used Game Boy).

Speaking of cobbled-together tech, I’m also drooling this weekend over Un Kyu Lee’s next Micro Journal release. This one is giving serious vintage PC/keyboard vibes, and I think I need it in my life.

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On to the good stuff!

• 🖼 Aura Frame* - Being a photo nerd, I’m always on the lookout for ways to display family and travel photos around the house. We’ve tried a few different solutions, but far and away, my favorite is the Aura Frame. It’s got a great-looking digital display and a really easy-to-use app. I particularly appreciate that anyone in the family can send photos directly to the frame via the iOS share sheet.

• ☕ HOTO Micro Vacuum* - I’ve shared this in the past as a great desk accessory, but I’ve actually found an even better use for it— It’s become an integral part of my coffee/tea station for cleaning up stray coffee grounds, loose tea leaves, and just aggregated dust. It’s a little handheld, USB-C device that comes with various attachments for blowing focused air to clean keyboards or inflate things, as well as a surprisingly effective micro vacuum attachment. I just love this thing.

•🥃 Vero Glasses - Speaking of coffee, I got a set of these Vero cappuccino glasses for Christmas and have really been enjoying them for small lattes, Americanos, and turbo shots. Great colorways, chunky thick glass, and comfortable in hand. A winning combination.

• 📷 Topaz AI - I’ve been helping my parents restore some old family photos lately, and while I’ve been able to do a decent amount of color correction and dehazing with my meager Lightroom and Photoshop skills, I quickly ran into issues when dealing with a set of priceless but ever-so-slightly blurry photos taken by a drunken wedding guest at my parents’ wedding quite a few decades ago. In searching for a solution, I came across Topaz Photo AI and have been blown away by its ability to bring focus back to out-of-focus subjects, upscale old low-res photo scans, and generally denoise/color correct on the fly. It’s pricey, but a really impressive tool.

• 💰 Orbit for iOS - Orbit just launched this week as a beautiful subscription tracker. It lets you quickly input all your recurring subscriptions (think Netflix, DoorDash Plus, etc.), how much you pay for each, and the frequency with which you’re billed (weekly, monthly, annually, etc.). Then, it shows you how much you’re spending each year on subscriptions or the average cost per month. Beyond the beautiful design and easy UX, I also appreciate that it lets you track free trials and reminds you when they’re about to convert to paid. In honoring the spirit of the app, it’s also nice that it’s a one-time purchase after a free trial, rather than being one more subscription to track.

That’s it for this week! Wishing everyone good health, happiness, and peace.