⚡ 26APR2026: I get crazy antsy
A fidget toy I love, fun email experiments, designer coffee cups, my new running hat, and more...
Happy Sunday everyone! This week, I've been admiring the design of this prototype off-grid satellite watch, feeling personally attacked by this Threads post, praying that this tiny Casio portable sampler eventually comes to the US, having my life saved repeatedly by this right angle drill attachment for drilling in tight spaces, geeking out on the first Godzilla Minus Zero trailer, and loving the launch of Joanna Stern's new thing.
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.
I love it when an indie app I already use every day sponsors the newsletter. Plinky is my favorite way to save, tag, organize, and sync bookmarks across my devices. In fact, every issue of the Hiro Report is basically a dump of my Plinky collection over the last week. Apart from the great functionality and excellent customizability, Plinky fully embraces the whimsical design style that feels right at home for those of us who grew up in a time where software design was more playful and fun than sterile and clean. This week, Plinky is sponsoring the Report to share the epic news that it now has a full-fledged Mac app to pair with its excellent iOS and iPadOS sisters. Go check it out!
On to the good stuff!
🧲 Magnetic Fidget Balls - I spend my work days staring down the barrel of my webcam on virtual meetings, and let me tell you— I get crazy antsy. My desk is littered with various fidget toys to keep me from going insane, but my favorite is a set of magnetic fidget balls like these that I picked up a few years back. Highly recommended.
✉️ Avec for Gmail - I have lots of reservations about Gmail overall, but unfortunately, it seems to be the only email service that anybody builds innovative/fun email software for. Avec is a great example of that. It takes an almost dating app–like approach to managing your inbox. Swiping away things to the archive, saving them for later, or, with the press of a button, quickly dictating a response that gets neatly formatted and fired off right away. It's a very simple and clean design that makes it actually pretty fun and fast to triage your inbox. It's worth checking out if you're in the Gmail ecosystem.
☕ La Marzocco x Polspotten Cappuccino Cup Set - The Italian espresso wizards at La Marzocco have teamed up with the Amsterdam-based design team at Polspotten to release these limited-edition handmade cappuccino cups, and I can't stop thinking about them. The set comes with four cups, one each of light blue, yellow, red, and grey, all with a lightly speckled finish and creamy white interior. They look great and are also available as latte cups, espresso cups, and breakfast bowls.
📖 Quick Reads - Matt Birchler (of Birchtree and A Better Computer) launched a really lovely read-it-later service this week that competes with Pocket, Matter, Instapaper, Omnivore (RIP), and the like. I signed up immediately. It's got a great distraction-free reader, highlights, reading queue, a full REST API for building your own tools and workflows around it, a Chrome extension, a TestFlight iOS app, and an Obsidian plugin that syncs highlights directly into the vault.
🧢 Alter Ego Hats and Melin Hats - As we head into summer, I'm on the hunt for hot weather gear to make the insane Austin heat a little more tolerable. One of my biggest pain points with summers here is that all my hats wind up sweat-stained and stinky after just a few weeks of 90ºF/30ºC+ weather. Somebody turned me on to Alter Ego hats for running, and I'm not going back to any other running hat. They have a ton of different shapes/colors, but most importantly, they are all ultra-lightweight, ventilated, quick-dry, moisture-wicking, and water repellent. While researching more of their hats to buy, I stumbled across Melin hats, which seem to have the same tech but be more everyday-wear oriented rather than sports oriented like Alter Ego. I'll be trying them out soon too.
That's it for this week. May your warm beverages maintain their warmth just a little bit longer.
My thanks again to Plinky for sponsoring this week's issue!