⚡️ 21SEP2025: A slice of the future

Happy Sunday, everyone!

I’m visiting the Pacific Northwest this week, which has been the perfect test ground for all the new Apple gear that just dropped. (I am team Cosmic Orange this year.) I’ve also been enjoying Nine Inch Nails’ original soundtrack for the new Tron Ares movie, catching up on the latest issues of Ryan North’s run on Fantastic Four, playing with a new (to me) Voigtländer 28mm lens, and making lots of calls to my representatives—which, as it turns out, is having a measurable impact on my blood pressure.

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On to the good stuff:

⌚ Train Fitness Tracker – I’ve been testing a few new fitness apps, and this one stands out. It lets you build and track different workout types—nothing groundbreaking there—but the rep- and rest-detection on Apple Watch is the best I’ve seen. It somehow nails the exact number of reps I do and automatically detects when I’m resting between sets. Bonus: you can have it generate workouts using AI.

🕶️ Meta Ray-Ban Display – Let me start by saying, I’m not advocating you buy these… but they are definitely worth noting. Meta unveiled smart glasses this week with a tiny embedded display and a “neural wristband” that tracks discreet hand and finger movements for controlling the device. It’s undeniably cool, and yes, I signed up for a demo. But no, I don’t plan to buy them. I still like my Ray-Ban Metas from last year for POV footage on adventures, but I stash them away when I’m done. The real magic of this new version comes from wearing them all the time—and I’m not prepared to give Meta that much access to my life. Still, I’m excited by the tech and hopeful for either an Apple version or a stronger privacy commitment from Meta (I think we all know which will come first).

🖥️ Notion 3.0 – I switched from Obsidian to Notion earlier this year and have been enjoying its cleaner, more user-friendly approach to information and database management. The built-in meeting transcription and note-taking, combined with the beta of Notion AI, have been especially handy. With version 3.0, the AI gets a serious power-up: it can now handle agentic tasks inside Notion and across popular web services, meaning it can actually help you knock things off your to-do list. I’m excited to see what it can really do when I get back from my vacation later this week.

⚡ Belkin 3-in-1 MagSafe Travel Charging Station – My last travel charging setup died a tragic death between trips, so I picked this up for travel this week. It’s a clever foldable 3-in-1 station that charges your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods at the same time, now with Qi2.2 support for 25W MagSafe charging. It even comes with both a cable and a beefy but diminutive charging brick—nice touch.

🔪 Ultrasonic Chef’s Knife – This one feels like a slice of the future. (See what I did there?) Seattle Ultrasonics has released the world’s first ultrasonic chef’s knife for home cooks. Press a button and the blade vibrates 40,000 times per second—so fast you can’t see, hear, or feel it. They claim it cuts through food 50% easier, with less sticking and faster cleanup. The demo video is compelling, and I’m really eager to try one for myself.

That’s it for this week. May you have at least three extremely cleansing deep breaths.

Thanks again to Foofaraw Press for sponsoring this week’s issue!