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- FEB.08.2025 - #10
FEB.08.2025 - #10
Bite-sized productivity, shiny new apps, cyberpunk racing, and too many details about lube
Andrew
February 8th, 2025
Hi all 👋, I hope everyone is enjoying their February so far, here's to hoping there is warm weather and sunny skies ahead of us soon ☀️!
This week while writing this issue, I've been testing out three new apps: Opera's new mindfulness-focused Air browser, SyncTasks by @heyeaslo and @tohkarle to help me combine my Notion tasks and Apple reminders, and a new camera-roll organizer called Proof. Additionally, I've been reading about Proton's predictions for the state of the internet in 2025, being mildly terrified while reading this breakdown of how easily your geolocation data can be accessed/sold, and also watching the new MCU-rebooted Fantastic Four trailer 🔥 🙆♂️ 🪨 🫥.
Onto the clicks!
clicks 🔗
→ This short news release outlines the development cycle and details of Martin Lexow's new app, Pieoneer, all the way from concept to final launch and everything in between. Pieoneer is a free macOS app switcher/launcher/controller that is fast, efficient, and highly customizable. I've been testing out this app since it's launch on February 4th, and it has been a game-changer for me. The most useful feature I've found so far is the “controller” interface, which allows me to set up and quickly use keyboard shortcuts for every app. I love the speed and utility of keyboard shortcuts, but no matter how hard I try, I can never remember all of them between all my different apps. The controller wheel lets me configure them once, and I only need to remember one shortcut (I set it to SHIFT + TAB) to pull up the Pieoneer controller. Everything about this app release is so refined, polished, and it's been such a joy to use. I've been following along with Martin's “build in public” journey on Threads for a few weeks, and I was so excited to finally be able to get my hands on it this week.
→ Next up is a lovely write-up following Arun Venkatesan's journey into minimizing his analog to-do/task setup. In this blog post, Arun speaks about some of the issues that come along with paper and desk-based productivity systems, namely portability. Similar to Arun, I have always had a fascination with paper-based to-do and note-taking systems—for me, it was Field Notes, Bujo (Bullet Journal) Pocket, Grovemade's notebooks/pads, and many weekly/daily planners. Unfortunately, I've never settled on one system that I truly loved, often switching between all of these or giving them up entirely when something new comes along. While I don't think that is going to change anytime soon, I do love reading about other people's ideas and how they tackle productivity. Arun's solution, called Meishi (Japanese words for business cards), takes inspiration from Ugmonk's Analog system, and makes it into a tiny, portable system that fits into a MagSafe iPhone wallet. I love this new system Arun has created, and I may even adopt some of it for my own use. I highly recommend you give this, and other awesome blog posts by Arun, a read-through.
→ Diverging from the trend of linking to apps, tech, and articles, I present to you this futuristic racing game called Punkrunner. Made by Max Parata, this game lets you fly through the streets and airways of a neon-lit cyberpunk-esque city. Just recently this game entered Early Access for free, meaning you can give this game a test drive (if you have a Windows PC), and help support the development of the game by providing feedback! Take a break from work and all that productivity to do a little street racing, in style 😎.
clacks ⌨️
→ Continuing from issue #07 of clicks 'n clacks, where I linked to a blog post by alexotos, this follow-up blog (also written by Alex) lists some of the best switch choices in mechanical keyboard builds for 2025. My favourites from this post, and switches I never knew about, were newcomer KeyGeek and the roller switches. This post also couldn't have come at a better time for myself, as I am currently planning a new Dymium 65 build soon, and I have been plagued with indecision when it comes to switches. Top three contenders for the build currently are the Gateron Milky Pro (also mentioned in this link), HMX Hibiscus, and Akko Rosewood. Now with all these new suggestions from Alex's post, I have an even bigger decision to make, so not quite sure when this Dymium 65 build will actually take place.
→ On the subject of completing a new keyboard build, this tool, Lubi, could certainly help in the switch lubrication process. If you are asking yourself, “What the heck is switch lubrication?” or are simply interested in the why and how, check out this write-up and some educational videos here and here (videos also from alexotos). Lubrication is very necessary for a majority of switches and stabilizers, even if they come pre-lubricated from the factory in which they are produced. This is a process I have never completed myself, as I have always relied on pre-lubed products, but I am looking at tools like this to help with my new builds and beyond (lubing my older keyboards, stabilizers, and switches). I found Lubi when scrolling around on Threads and loved the layout, construction, and the colours of the product. I'm not sure if I am going to pull the trigger on a setup like this just yet, but I am definitely keeping it in mind for the future.
→ This is the Aurora, a fully custom-built keyboard created by Musab Hassan—shared and fully open-source on GitHub. I really like the look of this split board and admire the amount of work and detail that is present in this build. Musab even wrote an incredibly detailed guide, which outlines every step to accomplish this build. Certainly not a beginner's board or build, but I find it so fascinating to discover one-of-a-kind boards like this and follow along every step of the way.
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!!
