MAY.31.2025 - #26

Hi all 👋, this week while writing this issue I was a bit under the weather so there wasn’t much going on as I took a lot of time to recover and rest. But, I found some time to try the Particle News (an AI-powered news app) beta where they released an interesting new “focused feeds” feature—you can even share those feeds and I created one for mechanical keyboards here. I also found this interactive, data-driven analysis and breakdown by Dorothy Lu on Asian misrepresentation in pop culture incredibly poignant and informative; perfectly timed to round out AAPI Heritage month. I've also been keeping a close eye on the deals for many PlayStation products during their “Days of Play” event.

Lets get into it!

clicks 🔗

Smart puzzles for big brains

→ Originally started as a website in 2023, daily puzzle/game service Puzzmo launched their iOS app this month—bringing Game Center integration, a hidden secret game, and some other minor improvements to their web-based interface. It has classic games with unique and thoughtful twists like “Cross|Word” which expands on the standard format with multi-word answers and easier hints, or “Memoku” which combines Sudoku with a memory matching system. Those are just two out of their total 10 puzzles, not including all the remixes, variations, and bonus games offered. I've been thoroughly enjoying playing it, I love inviting others to complete daily crosswords together—it's a nice alternative if you don't want to support a large (and problematic) publication like the New York Times just to play your daily Wordle. Puzzmo is developed and operated by a great team of creators like Zach Gage, Orta Therox, and more (they do have a corporate partnership with Hearst newspapers, but operate with editorial independence). It's also free to download, which is a huge plus—the paid tier is completely optional and provides access to the crossword archive.

Crank it up

→ Playdate is a simple, small, bright, and approachable gaming handheld with a mechanical hand crank to add a unique layer of interaction to games. The creators of Playdate, Panic Inc., collaborate with small studios and independent developers to release new games in “seasons” for the device. Season 2 started on the 29th, and every week two new games are made available—Puzzmo developer Zach Gage even had a game release as part of Playdate's Season 1. This little device has been on my wishlist for a while, and now with their Season 2 in full-swing, its looking even more enticing.

Classic and timeless Mac vibes

→ In the days of System 7 and Mac OS 8 & 9, Kaleidoscope was a third-party theme manager that could overhaul the look of your OS—it greatly surpassed Apple's own Appearance Manager at the time and had a sizeable community of designers, creators, and users. It is now, of course, defunct since the release of Mac OS X, but a devoted few have attempted to keep its aesthetic alive—Damien is one of those few. He created Mac Themes Garden as an archive and source of knowledge for these relics—the site has almost four thousand ‼ themes, and 70% of those are fully recorded with screenshots and up-to-date information. The recording process (done almost entirely manually) is fascinating—using a combo of past archives, a VM of Mac OS 9.2, and some research/verification, Damien ”live-screenshots” and uploads every theme to the Garden. It's awesome to see so much hard work being put in to preserve all this, with so much respect and credit given to the authors of the original themes as well. If you're on Bluesky I would follow the Mac Themes Garden bot which highlights a new theme from the archive every hour.

clacks ⌨️

Next-gen switch innovation

→ Leader and veteran switch manufacturer Cherry announced their new lineup of MX switches and innovations at Computex (annual computer/tech trade show held in Taiwan) this past week. Three new switches will be joining Cherry's MX family, called Honey, Blossom, and Falcon—each one reflecting a different switch domain (silent tactile, light linear, and heavy tactile respectively). I usually go for switches that are on the heavier side, so the MX Falcon—Cherry's first long-pole stem switch and described as being “built for heavy typists who crave bold feedback and inspired by the crisp snap of typewriters”—certainly caught my attention. Another huge part of this announcement was their new IK switch, which is inductive, meaning there is no physical contact made to actuate the switch, it operates using an electromagnetic field. This switch concept is similar to Hall Effect magnetic switches, but Cherry claims they are more cost effective and consume less power (ideal for wireless boards). This is an exciting step for the company, as they will be the first to mass-produce inductive switches available to individual consumers—bringing this fairly new niche into the mainstream.

Lunar legends illuminate your board

→ Sweeping sands, magnificent moonlight, and divine deities come to life with the Khonsu keycap set—designed by Mori and manufactured by Keykobo. Rocking an awesome gold and grey colour scheme with beautifully contrasting white Arabic sublegends on the alpha-numeric keys, I think this combo really stands out and creates a striking look. The novelty caps for this set—by stellaidoscope—also complement it nicely with the skull of the Egyptian god Khonsu, hieroglyphs, and other moon icons.

Back in time typing

→ Wrapping up this week of clacks is the Yunzii QL75 Retro, this board has vintage-style keycaps, lots of throwback features, and comes in 4 pastel colourways. My favourite components on the QL75 have to be the toggle-arm and knob that mimic the carriage return lever and platen knob from vintage typewriters, but here they are fully functional and programmable! It's even got a built-in stand to place your phone or tablet and works with every platform (PC, Mac, Android, iOS, and even gaming devices like the Nintendo Switch of Xbox) wired or wireless!

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!!