SEP.13.2025 - #40

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I was watching the unveiling of the new iPhone lineup—nothing outstanding in my opinion, but as a 13 Pro owner, at least the upgrades now seem worth it. I'm also giving Assassin's Creed Shadows another go after the latest update (and incoming DLC) as well as hoping to finally give No Man's Sky a real try after years of amazing and dedicated updates. There was also an exciting Nintendo Direct where they announced a new Virtual Boy accessory and the name of the upcoming Super Mario movie (which just so happens to release right on my birthday 🥳). Additionally, I've been exploring, reading, and testing out Neon Ichiban's comic service now that it is in “Neon Ichibeta”.

Not too much going on in the keeb-space this week, but Canadian vendor Apex Keyboards does have a fantastic “out-of-office” sale (40% off of keycaps, 30% off everything else) going on while they are out of the country on a business and family trip.

Onto the main event!

clicks 🔗

Retro surprise

→ Camera maker RETO (standing for “Reinvent together”) started making Kodak licensed products in 2022. Their first camera under the brand was the Kodak Ektar H35—a small, reasonably priced, and uncomplicated half-frame camera with a retro two-tone look that comes in a few colourways. I own an H35, and I simply love it—I get more out of a single roll of film and the half-frame ratio forces me to be more intentional about framing every shot. Now, RETO has released the Kodak Charmera—an even smaller (this time digital) camera built to live on your keychain and be taken anywhere, visually inspired by Kodak's own Fling one-time-use camera. They are sold exclusively in a “surprise box” format (please don't call them blind boxes), meaning you are unaware of which of the 7 retro-styles you receive until you open up the box. Of course, my favourite transparent colourway is the secret 8th style and only has a 1/48 chance of being pulled 😡. I think this format is a fun way to increase hype/sales and it's certainly worked so far—these went out of stock on the site quickly, but you can check out local retailers here.

Curious companion

→ Dockitty is an adorable digital cat companion to keep you company while working. It was created by dev Lazare Kolebka, who so aptly describes it as “ lightweight, playful, and non-intrusive—brings a small spark of life to your desktop without ever getting in the way.” You can feed it files, let it roam around the screen, interact with it in the dock, and change its style (Lazare even added a new Clippy companion)! I love that you can optionally turn on “trash mode” so that any files you feed it are sent to the recycling bin—a fun way to banish files into the kitty abyss. Best of all it's free, with a few completely optional premium features (more cat-colour options and a mouse-chaser).

No more AI

→ Now for a bit of a divergence from what I usually talk about here and time to get a little meta. I've seen this article floating around a lot lately and it has pushed me to act on thoughts I've been pondering more and more lately—abandoning AI. I was additionally inspired by Aftermath and their honest, awesome support of human creativity and writing (amazing t-shirt in the image made by Kim Hu btw). My use of AI was minimal to begin with, but now even those little interactions make me feel uncomfortable and quite honestly unethical given all the valid critiques of the technology (of which this article links to many great examples). I am making the choice to no longer elevate, feature, or push content that prominently supports or uses AI. In reality I know I can't escape it all, and I acknowledge how incredible new creations were made and independent devs everywhere are being supported by AI—but doing this feels right to me. I'm not going so far as to scrub old AI apps/features from previous issues of this newsletter, this is only for future features. While this article puts forward a strong “hating” stance, I want to clearly state that I hold no animosity towards users of AI or related technologies and I will certainly not berate anyone for their own usages—to each their own. This is an entirely personal choice, and since this newsletter reflects my personal opinions, you'll start to see that change here.

clacks ⌨️

Norbauer's Seneca put to the test

→ Following up on its feature in Issue #17, the Seneca by Norbauer is back in this deep-dive video from Tested, hosted by Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame. In this video, Ryan Norbauer and Adam discuss how the Seneca came to be, why Ryan obsesses over the “stabilizer problem” so much, and how the Seneca fixes these problems (and overachieves) in the keeb space. I found it very interesting to hear Ryan talk about the path that lead to where the Seneca (and its niche popularity) is now. My favourite quote from their discussion comes from Ryan describing the Seneca as “my subjective expression of the perfect keyboard”. Also so fun to see how retro-futurism, escapism, and Star Trek influenced the aesthetic and vibe of this board—an outstanding watch.

Contagious caps

→ These bright neon keycaps from designer Nephlock can't be contained—bring in the hazmat suits and handle with caution!! A very special set I've never seen the likes of before, I love the bright white printing, glow-in-the-dark pigment in each cap, and extraordinary novelty kits. This dangerous set is available in a group buy through Novel Keys until the 26th of September—grab it and the matching deskpad while you can!

Ortho-maxxing

→ While the Seneca in the first clack fixed the “stabilizer problem” with obsessive engineering and technical genius, this Reddit user solves it in a slightly different way—simply remove all the stabilizers! U/piercejenkins on the Mech Keys subreddit posted their daily use keyboards, the RC128bm and S112B—two boards with over one hundred 1u keys in an ortholinear configuration. These are more commonly used in video production or point-of-sale terminals, but they look right at home in Pierce's setup. They even hand-wired the RC128bm, which is an incredible feat to see.

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!!