JUN.13.2026 - #71

Hi all 👋, it's been almost a month since the last c 'n c issue. What was supposed to be a 1 week break unexpectedly turned in 3—life happens, lots of ups and downs, but I am so grateful to be back behind the keyboard.

In these past few weeks while writing there have been nonstop announcements from all the video game giants. We're talking Sony, Xbox, Nintendo, PC, and of course the huge Summer Game Fest. It's a lot to process, but this next year of gaming is looking pretty sweet. Then of course there was all the buzz about Apple's WWDC iOS and macOS 27 announcements—most (all) of which centred around AI and the new Siri so I honestly didn't care for much of it. And to cap it all off, it was amazing to watch Canada score their first ever Men's World Cup point during the very first match held here in Toronto.

Today in keyboards, the 2026 Keycon meetup is unfolding in Chicago, MinoKeys and Omnitype have started their warehouse and anniversary sales respectively, and I've been micro-dose reading another longform essay (9,000+ words) by Marcin Wichary on keeb customization.

Welcome back, let's dive in!

→ Pool, a screenshot organization app, has gone public after years of closed betas and a seemingly infinite waitlist. The concept behind the app is simple—screenshot image recognition, sorting, and sharing—freeing your camera roll from assorted screen captures of items, to-do's, or things you'll likely never revisit. After testing Pool for a bit, I'm glad I never got off the waitlist as the app in its current state is incredibly wanting—features like sorting, bulk adding, tagging, and automatic pool (collection) sorting are missing. I definitely expected more from a team that spent this amount of time teasing greatness. I'm also skeptical of certain privacy aspects and the whopping 700+ MB app size, but don't want to be a too much of a hater here, so I'll wait patiently by the sidelines to see how further development plays out. Although, listening to and reading initial public feedback has already proven why building in public can be ruthless.

→ Cypherpunk—a word used to describe individuals who believe in cryptography, the inherent right to digital privacy, and the tools created to protect that privacy from government and corporate intervention. The word is born from the combination of “cipher” and “cyberpunk”, and while those two words are well known to me, I never knew of the amalgamated title for those who advocate for this cause. This website, A Cypherpunk's Library, has been an amazing source to learn more about this movement and the people like Eric Hughes, Phil Zimmermann (PGP email encryption creator), and Satoshi Nakamoto (Bitcoin creator) who belong to it. The site hosts a plethora of public-domain essays and writing snippets on privacy, decentralization, and digital rights in the modern era. Definitely not light reading, but marvellous for anyone itching to educate themselves on a topic I believe is becoming more and more pertinent by the day.

→ After spending some time away from the tech sphere and my workstation for a bit, I figured it was time to give my Mac a digital deep clean. It was loaded with a significant number of apps I've briefly tested over the years, a huge stockpile of stale downloads, and just generally bogged down from everyday use. Then I rediscovered Mole, an optimization and cleanup tool for macOS, hidden away in my Safari tabs. It proved perfect for the task—cleaned up a ton of cached disk space, optimized system services, completely uninstalled unused/inactive apps, and helped me analyze where disk space was being used up. Everything is local, fast, and felt lighter and simpler to use than CleanMyMac which I've historically defaulted to. I opted for the free CLI version, as I love working within the terminal, but I also purchased the newly released GUI version to support development, which is $9 for early bird pricing until June 15th, when it increases by $10.

→ A design studio in Philadelphia—Null Design—is bringing elegant and minimal woodworking aesthetics into the world of mechanical keyboards. I just missed the group buy of their new NULLPAD which is a standalone numpad that matches their other products, however, I hope to see it again either as an in-stock item or in another group buy, fingers crossed. What is available is a restock of their NULL65 keyboard—a barebones (no switches, stabs, or keycaps) all wood keyboard case (including PCB), available in 6 finishes, with side metal accents, and a matching wrist rest. I adore the little details Null includes and the care they put into their projects. From partnering with small, family-owned shops in Pennsylvania to manufacture the case, or offering the CAD files for the switch plate to make your own in any material, the attention-to-detail and thoughtfulness is seen.

→ Yay! It's Pikachu! This keycap set looks like Pikachu, but due to international copyright laws, it's not! Still, get excited like it is Pikachu…though it isn't. Inspired by everyone's favourite electric mouse, GMK Spark has a subtle two-tone yellow look for the alphanumerics and modifiers that help balance the colours so it's not overwhelmingly yellow. It also sports the classic red electricity storage cheek pouches as a tab and enter key. A few artisans by CraftKey and a lightning-inspired desk mat were also produced to expand the offerings in this set. Spark is available now in a group buy through vendor Cannon Keys and still has some units left in stock with Canadian site DeskHero.

→ Tamagotchi is returning to the keyboard community in another collaboration with CannonKeys for the recent-ish release of the new Tamagotchi Paradise line-up of toys. The selection this time around are four full size desk pads with completely unique and colourful designs featuring assorted Tamagotchi doing Tama-things. My favourite is the Growth Chart variant, as it features as many creatures as possible with their Japanese names and translations. It is also one of the only mats to feature my favourite Tama, Kuchipatchi, so that one is a no-brainer for me.

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. Email [email protected] (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!