⚡ 01FEB2026: Cyber Futuristic Waters
A whole bunch of robot stuff, 3D printing, apps for connecting with strangers, book stuff, and more...
Happy Sunday everyone!
This week, I enjoyed touring Stephen Robles' Apple Smart Home set-up, dreamed about building a PS-85 cyberdeck (courtesy of Andrew), dipped my hairy toes into the cyber futuristic waters of OpenClaw / née ClawdBot (my initial impressions here), finished reading Automatic Noodle and started reading the MurderBot Diaries, slapped a new mist + polarizing filter on my camera, and played laser tag at home with the kids.
Note that some of the links in this issue of the Hiro Report are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.
On to the good stuff!
• 🖨️ Bambu Lab A1 Mini - I've had a couple of friends reach out lately asking about 3D printers, so I thought I would reshare the A1 Mini— It is my easiest recommendation for anyone looking to try out 3D printing. For just ~$220, you get a machine that works great and is ready to print within minutes. I've owned 5 different 3D printers and my Bambu Lab is far and away the easiest to use and has given me the best results with minimal tinkering. If you want to spend just a little more, the regular Bambu Lab A1 gives you an even larger print bed.
• 📬 Lost Post - This is a surprisingly heartfelt and delightful app. The premise is simple: Every day you get a prompt with a thoughtful question to answer. Once you've answered it, you will receive someone else's answer to the question from the day before. It's totally anonymous apart from getting to see what country the respondent is from, and they can choose whether or not to share their age and gender info. It's just a sweet way to learn more about other people and cultures, in a lovely app design.
• 📖 Pagebound - If you like geeking out on books, you should really be checking out Pagebound. It's a woman-run, independent alternative to Goodreads that has lots of great discoverability features, plus a clever review and discussion format for chatting with other folks who are currently reading the same books as you. If you join, let's be friends.
• 📔 Yamamoto Bullet Journal - I have recently been getting back into fountain pens, and my good buddy sent me this as an added temptation this week— This is a beautiful, simple Bible-sized journal/folio that opens to hold two reporter-style slim notepads for note taking, drawing, journaling, etc.
• 👝 WotanCraft Mini Rider Sling Bag - I'll admit, I have a bag problem. This one is my new obsession. A compact (and expandable) sling bag perfect for carrying a small mirrorless camera and a few other everyday carry things. This Taiwanese company makes a bunch of beautiful leather and canvas bags for travel, biking, etc., and although I don't bike, I like that this bag has the extra around-the-waist strap available to keep the sling in place while hiking/running.
That's it for this week— May you smell something delicious on the wind in the most unexpected of places.