19NOV2023

Happy Thanksgiving week to all! As the cooler, fall weather settles in, we're getting in to winter decoration mode. I've just picked up a set of Govee Outdoor Smart Lights to string on the eves (whenever it stops raining), and have also cranked up the 3D Printer to make some nerdy, fun things to sell at the neighborhood Christmas market. BTW, a few people have asked, if I was just starting out with 3D Printing right now, this is the one I'd get.

Here are some other fun things:

• 🚀 Rocket Emoji - A super simply Mac utility app that lets you type a colon + any keyword into a text field and it will present you with a list of matching emoji, ASCII emotes, and unicode symbols to insert. So, for example, typing ": + shrug" gives me a dropdown list and I can use the arrow keys to choose ¯_(ツ)_/¯ or 🤷‍♂️ and hit enter. Boom! Emotion. It's free, and is one of those apps that once you start using, it just completely disappears from your consciousness and becomes muscle memory. I have been using it for about a year now and honestly forget sometimes that it's an app, and not just something happening at the system level.
• 🤖 Newji - Speeeeaking of Emojis, I stumbled across this fun little iOS sticker app this week. The pitch: Type whatever emoji you wish, and it will generate a sticker that looks exactly like a system emoji. Ever been disappointed there's not an emoji for a Squirrel riding a Dirt Bike? Newji. Ever been frustrated about not having an emoji for doing a backflip in your pajamas? Newji.
• 🤿 Abyss Trailer - After decades of people bugging James Cameron to release a high def restoration of his classic underwater adventure film, he's finally relented. Abyss is getting a 4K restoration and will be shown in theaters next month. Honestly, one of my favorites of his, and a big inspiration for me getting in to Scuba diving when I was a kid.
• ⌨️ Lofree Flow - I backed this keyboard awhile back when I was in "need" of a good travel keyboard-- it's a really delightful low profile mechanical keyboard that makes just the right amount of "clicky" and "thwock" sounds. I really like the clean aesthetic and the build just feels super solid without being heavy. I've been using it for a few months now and really digging it. The Verge just released a glowing review of it as well.
• 🕹️ Rooms - I honestly am not super sure what this is... but I really like it. It's both a site and app that lets you easily browse and create interactive virtual rooms in a cool pixel-art style. Really fun to just poke around and see what creative things folks have come up with.

Have a great, relaxing week filled with gratitude, family, food, and fun, everyone!