20JUL2025: The Ghost Last Summer
Subscriber + Supporter Giveaway, indie apps for focus and productivity, a kitchen level-up, a travel hack and more...
Happy Sunday everyone!
This week, I've been loving the vintage 90's Weather Channel vibes of this amazing retro weather website, learning about the idea of a dopamine menu and starting to build my own, trying out some beginner tricks with the Kendama I wrote about last week, playing a whole bunch of Donkey Kong Bonanza, and framed and hung this stunning irezumi-style Kaiju poster.
(Quick side-note on acquiring Donkey Kong Bonanza— For those of you with Costco memberships, they're selling the game for $7 off, which is pretty compelling until you realize they ALSO sell $100 Nintendo eShop gift cards for $75. I'm normally on team hard copy, but 25% off AAA Switch games is hard to say "no" to.)
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Through a clerical error on my part, I wound up acquiring an extra copy of Cyberpunk 2077 for the Nintendo Switch 2. Rather than send it back, I thought I'd give it away as thanks to all of you reading and supporting the Report each week.
Entry is simple: you just need to be subscribed to the Report, be 18 years or older, and have a Nintendo Switch 2 (or plans to get one). Members of the $1/month Super Secret Supporter Cabal get double entries.
I'll announce the winner in next week's Report!
On to the good stuff!
🔅 Smart Night Light - I wrote recently about my project to set up more lighting automations, and this week I grabbed a two-pack of these smart color night lights that can function as traditional night lights with a motion sensor that turns on a small light pointed at the ground. Because it is HomeKit enabled, you can also run all sorts of automations on the lights, like "only trigger the lights when motion is detected after 10pm," or you can use the motion detectors as triggers for whole-home automations, like "turn on this night light but also turn on the light in the bathroom." You can also trigger the lights and change their colors using automations, you don't have to rely on the motion sensors— i.e. "If it's going to rain today, change the light to blue," or "The night before trash pick-up change the light to red to remind me to take the cans down."
🛫 Focus Flight for iOS - I had several people reach out to me this week recommending I check out Focus Flight (thanks Luke and Jay!) This app helps you block out distractions by setting a timer and then your phone goes into a simulated flight, to include engaging a mock-up "Airplane mode". The app then cuts off outside distractions, setting a screen time restriction on not allowing you to open certain apps of your choosing. It also plays white noise and shows a plane on a map flying various destinations around the world. It is a simple premise that is replicated in other ways in other apps, but the execution here is just beautiful. Lots of really thoughtful design choices that make for a luxurious experience and a lot of little delightful moments.
📝 SideNotes for macOS and iOS - SideNotes is a handy Mac utility that lets you keep a really clean, minimalist notepad on the side of your screen. It has built-in Markdown to Rich Text translation and quickly slides on and off the side of your screen by either clicking a little bar or sliding your cursor to the edge of the screen. Your notes on the Mac sync to the SideNotes iOS and iPadOS companion apps via iCloud, and it's only a one-time payment to purchase.
🎒 Matador BetaLock - I plan to pick one of these up for my travel kit: It is a really smooth-looking carabiner for quickly attaching things to other things. The twist is it includes the added bonus of having a small built-in lock and key so that you can slightly more permanently attach things to other things. I've had a few other products from Matador and have found them to be pretty great.
🍋 Eurolux Premium Citrus Juicer - Summer in our household means lemonade stand season. Our motorized lemon juicer gave up the ghost last summer, and we recently picked upthe Eurolux Premium as a replacement. It is about twice the price of the last one, but a significant level up. The parts feel premium, and it juices remarkably quickly and efficiently, leaving nothing but the pith behind. It has adjustable filters for controlling how much pulp you want to let through and is fairly quiet. I definitely recommend it if you like making your own orange juice or plan to make citrus-based drinks in bulk.
That's it for this week! Thank you, as always, for reading. May you get one extra walk in this week than you would otherwise.