Hiro.Report - 23JUN2024

Happy Sunday, everyone! Welcome to the newly redesigned Hiro Report! Beyond changing up the logo and formatting, I’ve also switched to a new email provider that will hopefully make subscribing, sharing, and unsubscribing easier for everyone. If you experience any issues with delivery, formatting, or links not working, please let me know!

• ⌨️ Micro Journal Rev.6 - There’s a kinda fun “anti-tech” tech trend right now. Think the Daylight DC-1 and other minimalist, screen time-reducing devices. The Micro Journal fits right in with this trend. It’s basically a digital typewriter with an e-ink display. While there are other offerings like this, this one stands out by being a) $169, b) customizable for keyboard nerds to change out the keycaps, and c) open source, so everyone can build their own rather than buying it. I’m intrigued.

• ✅ Toodles - I collect to-do apps like I collect backpacks—at least once or twice a year, I find a new one that I swear will be the only one I use from now on. Toodles is a fun new indie to-do app for iOS, and its developer is doing a great job “developing in public,” regularly sharing design updates with followers on Threads. I like the sharp design and the good-looking dark mode. TBD whether it replaces Things, my longtime favorite to-do and project management software suite, but it’s fun trying out something new.

• 🪄 Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - Nintendo announced a bunch of new games this week that are all coming to the Nintendo Switch later this year. The highlight for me was a new Legend of Zelda game, where you finally get to play as Princess Zelda rather than Link. Instead of using a sword, Zelda uses a magic wand to copy and paste elements from the environment as tools and weapons. It looks like a fascinating mechanic, and I can’t wait to try it. As the dad of two young gamers, I’m thrilled they’ll have another great action game with a kickass female protagonist.

• 📸 Circuit Bent Sony Cyber-shot - DocPop, the yo-yo master and polymath, shared this epic blog post about his experiments with a Sony Cyber-shot pocket digital camera from the early 2000s that had undergone some modding to its sensor. The effects it produces make for totally epic retro cyber futuristic photos. Check them out. If you want to grab one of your own, here’s the link to the vendor.

• 🔫 Spyra Go - My kids and I love us a good water gun fight. We also (as you might guess) also love us some tech. These USB-C powered Spyra Go water guns act like a semi-automatic rifle, i.e. each time you pull the trigger, it shoots out a powerful blast of water, no pumping required. It also has LED’s on top to keep track of water and battery levels. It’s not the farthest reaching water gun I’ve used, but it’s definitely the most fun.

That’s it for this week! What do you think of the new format? Any issues with deliverability or links? Just reply to this email to let me know. Thanks and be well, everyone!740