22DEC2024: A stickler for good lighting

Happy Sunday everyone! It’s been a doozy of a week professionally, so I’ve been relishing every opportunity to unwind and distract myself. First and foremost, I’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole of Civilization VI, which is (weirdly) free to play on the iPhone and iPad with no ads and no in-app purchases for Netflix subscribers. Heck of a deal and a fantastic game.

I’ve also been geeking out on space stuff, including really enjoying this great animated explainer video from Jared Owens that answers the question, “How does a Space Telescope work?”

Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Federico Viticci’s write-up this week on how he is running the MacStories empire entirely from his 11” iPad Pro.

On to the good stuff!

• 💡 Govee Bedside Lamp* - I am a stickler for good lighting. If a room is not lit enough or is lit poorly (e.g., too many different color temperatures from the various light sources), it makes me physically uncomfortable. I should probably talk to a specialist at some point about my affliction. All that said, I’ve been looking for good bedside lighting for a while, and after trying a lot of different options, this new Matter-enabled lamp from Govee is my strong favorite. It integrates handily with HomeKit, letting you control it with Siri and set up automations. It kicks out plenty of light and even has a bunch of fun RGB scenes that you can install.

• ⌚ The DSKY Moonwatch from Apollo Instruments - Well, this sets my nerdy heart aflutter– The DSKY is super-upscale calculator watch that takes extensive design cues from the Apollo program’s Mission Control boards. It nails the space race-era technology vibes, and I, for one, am completely here for it.

• 📖 Flyleaf for iOS and iPadOS - I mentioned in last week’s report that I am revamping my RSS reader setup. Hand in hand with that, I’ve been playing with different read-it-later solutions. Thanks to Lou’s great write-up, this week I’m trying out Flyleaf, a beautiful new app for storing and reading articles. I like that its default reading mode is paginated, meaning it breaks articles into pages you can flip through like reading on your Kindle. Something about breaking out of the common scrolling mechanic is really soothing.

• 😴 Viory Mouth Tape* - I’ve written previously about using mouth strips to help me sleep better. The short version is these weird-looking strips promote nasal breathing while you sleep, minimizing a number of common sleep disturbances like snoring and mouth dryness. They’ve been a game changer for my wife and me. After trying a bunch of subpar alternatives to the Hostage Tape brand I'd previously recommended, we’ve found this obscure third-party brand on Amazon to be as good, if not better, and at a slightly lower price point. Recommended.

• 📷 Peak Design Camera Leash - Since getting a new camera recently, I’ve been searching for a new camera strap to go with it. After looking at a bunch of beautiful leather straps and other popular/trendy options, I’ve ultimately decided to stick with the Peak Design Camera Leash, the strap I’ve had on my Fuji X100V for years. It’s lightweight, super adjustable, very durable, and I love the Peak Design anchor system that makes it SO easy to swap the strap on and off while still remaining very secure on the camera. I like it so much that I added one to my Christmas list so I can have one on each of my cameras rather than swapping back and forth each time I go out.

That’s it for this week! Wishing everyone who celebrates a wonderful, relaxing Christmas!

*Not sponsored, just an affiliate-link to support the site.

Hey, how was this issue?

• 👍🏽 Lots of good stuff!
• 🤙🏽 Nothing really new, but it was fun.
• 👎🏽 Not interesting to me.