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- DEC.21.2024 - #04
DEC.21.2024 - #04
Godzilla’s big year, new movie premieres, throwback video games, and two awesome new keyboards!
Andrew
December 21st, 2024
Hi all 👋, welcome to issue #04 of clicks ’n clacks! This will be the final issue of 2024, and next week (DEC 23 → 29) I will be taking some time away from content-making/social media to spend time with family and friends during this wonderful holiday season. I will be back on JAN.04.2024 for the release of issue #05, the first of the New Year! Side note: I know I feature a lot of products and nifty things to buy, but remember there is absolutely no pressure to spend money or buy certain items, especially at this time of year. Happy Holidays, make sure to dedicate some time for yourself (you’re worth it), and I will see you in the New Year!
This week was a litter calmer than previous weeks—I’ve been watching the new Superman trailer, seeing Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on opening night, reading about the origins of one of my favourite Lego toys (Bionicle) when I was a wee one, and catching up on more of the WordPress drama (here’s a refresher if you’re not sure what is going on with that whole mess). Now, onto the good stuff!
clicks 🔗
→ A fantastic interview with Annie Rauwerda, an editor for Wikipedia who also runs the “Depths of Wikipedia” Instagram account (which features niche, weird and interesting pages on Wikipedia). In this interview, Annie provides insight into the community of people who manage and edit Wikipedia, dubbed “Wikipedians”. This group of editors are made up of Wikipedia-enthusiasts that are incredibly dedicated to keeping Wikipedia relevant, accurate, and safe. Along with this self-appointed job/title, however, there are many arguments, discussions, and turmoil within the Wikipedians. For example, how the “yogurt/yoghurt” Wiki page title should be spelled, which rules should be followed/enforced, and which pages should be deleted or featured. Also discussed in this conversation with Annie is the difference between the Wikimedia Foundation (the non-profit organization that owns/hosts Wikipedia) and the “Wikipedians”, and who actually has control over the content of Wikipedia. I always thought that Wikimedia would have the majority say, but apparently, their influence is very minimal. Wikimedia deals with hosting, technology, infrastructure, and bigger trust/safety issues—while the actual content, discussions and rules, are largely up to the community of Wikipedians. Another point near the end of the article, which really surprised me, was about the looming threat of AI and LLMs (Large Language Models) on Wikipedia, but Annie and her community of editors don’t see it as a threat. They see it as a win-win—if LLMs “learn“ from the Wiki pages written by them (and “regurgitate” it), then more people are exposed their content, and if LLMs “learn” more from other AI-generated blogs or slop, it could push people toward Wikipedia in search of other reliable sources. Either way, Wikipedia will stand out and become even more valuable as a huge online encyclopedia written and managed entirely by humans.
→ Next up, we have a huge announcement from Marvel about the upcoming release of its comic book crossover event featuring Godzilla. In this monumental event, Godzilla will re-enter the Marvel comics universe for the first time in almost 50 years. In this event, we will see Godzilla team-up with some of Marvel’s most popular superheroes to take down Godzilla’s arch-nemesis, King Ghidorah, who is now “imbued with power cosmic and crowned as the new herald of Galactus”. Okay, I can totally see some of y’all reading that and having absolutely no clue what I just said. That’s alright, basically it’s giant monsters fighting other giant monsters, but Spider-Man is there now. To me (a huge nerd and avid comic-reader), this sounds like a recipe for success and I don’t how it could possibly go wrong. Along with this Marvel crossover event, Godzilla is also making his Fortnite debut in January, and is going to be featured in another comic book crossover event with DC later in 2025. It’s looking like a pretty stacked year for the big guy (sounds like he got a new publicist).
→ Ever imagine what Minecraft would be like if it debuted in the era of the Nintendo 64, Playstation 1, and Sega Saturn? Well wonder no more, this here is a demake of Minecraft, styled after the handheld gaming system, the Gameboy Color! Made by Psyco, the aptly named “Microcraft” is a tiny version of Minecraft that you can run in your browser, or in my case, on my Analogue Pocket (you can see me playing the game at the YouTube link embedded at the end of this paragraph). Playing this game is a cute, calming experience and I especially love the 8-bit renditions of the classic Minecraft music, made by Reddit user Bitcrunched, playing softly in the background as I build away. If you’re a fan of Minecraft definitely give this a go, it’s super easy to play in the browser. And if you like it, I would also consider supporting the creator to help further fund development of this little project.
clacks ⌨️
→ First up on the list of clacks this week is a keyboard I have been incredibly hyped about for a very long time, the Nomad [E] by Work Louder. I initially pre-ordered this keyboard way back in May of 2023 and, this week, it arrived after much anticipation. So far I have been loving this transparent, low-profile, productivity-suited keyboard, and I’ve been using it to write this very issue! It’s amazing to see this dream finally become a reality after following along the with all the updates and behind-the-scenes from Work Louder’s Instagram. If you want a more in depth review on the Nomad [E], you should go check out this video by Frank from Yogomi. I recently discovered his channel and I love his takes on low-profile keyboards and the Nomad [E] specifically. As you can tell from the main link above and embedded video down below, I also filmed a short unboxing video for this keyboard. I really enjoyed filming/editing this video and I hope I can film more content like this in the future (stay tuned to the YouTube channel 👀).
→ Next up is keyboard vendor (and fellow Canadian) VintKeys who sell a wide variety of old keyboards, switches and keycaps from IBM, Apple, Memorex, NMB (aka Hi-Tek), and more. Not only do they sell these boards, but their wiki page is also filled with fantastic detail, information, and history on the inner workings of the keyboards and switches themselves. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love learning about the intricacies, behind-the-scenes, and deep-dives into peoples’ amazing hobbies/niches in the mechanical keyboard community and there is so much to learn here. Speaking of community, VintKeys creator TheInverseKey runs an amazing Discord to assist anyone looking to enter the niche realm of vintage keebs and also helps people stay away from scams or issues when purchasing vintage keyboards/switches. It is very apparent that TheInverseKey cares about the community they’ve created and are willing to help anyone who is stepping into this hobby. I highly recommend you give VintKeys a look.
→ This last clack also comes from a fellow Canadian keyboard vendor, Osume. This week, they launched their very first keyboard, the Nemui, designed in collaboration with Bachoo. This 65% aluminum board comes in 5 beautiful colorways, and exudes all the comfy, cozy, and soft vibes that I love from Osume. They also released the Nemui switches and exclusive keycaps, which pair perfectly with the vibe/look of the board. It’s thrilling to see Osume expand into new territory and finally release their own keyboard. I recently visited their physical store, located in Markham, ON, and adore their new artisan trays and keyboard shelves. 10/10 experience, visit them if you are a local looking to try out some cute keycaps and adorable keyboards.
That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it, and now it’s time to hear from YOU 🫵. I want to know your opinion—what you liked, what you loved, what you didn’t like, what you skipped. Reach out at mail.clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this email!) and have a great weekend!!
