Welcome to the third installment of my newsletter. Your support as always means everything to me.

Let’s dive in.

What I’m watching, listening, reading

[video] You’re Not Forgetful: My System for Memorizing Everything

Most people think they have a terrible memory. I know I did. This video by a YouTuber doctor challenged me to rethink that. I haven’t noticed a change in my memory’s capacity, but I’ve learned how to remember more.

[video] Apple TV+ Masters of the Air

Exceptionally shot. Solid 3.5 rating and worth the watch. Apple TV+ has been killing it.

[music video] Sample Breakdown: Daft Punk - Discovery

Sampling is the art of reusing a portion of a sound recording in another recording. It’s had a complicated history, especially with music licensing concerns and whatnot. Young Guru (Jay-Z’s tour D.J) has a good video explaining this.

But to fully appreciate sampling as an art, it’s not enough to hear the music; you have to visually “see” it. See watch Daft Punk do their magic now.

[audio book] Leadership Strategy and Tactics

I’ve been looking for good reads on leadership and this book by an ex-Navy seal came recommended. I have qualms with the narrator’s voice but I must say this was a good book with apt analogies.

Tips

🚫 Apple Music

I use bluetooth headphones with my Mac and it drives me 🦇 💩 🍌 😡 every time I hit the play/pause button and see this window:

I don’t use Apple Music. I don’t want it to open every time. I’d love to disable it. Heck, I’d love to uninstall it altogether. Sadly, Apple doesn’t allow you to do this. No worries, noTunes has got your back:

brew install --cask notunes

A minor yet significant annoyance, zapped away.

New font - CommitMono

Readers of my blog know I’m obsessed with monospaced fonts. For my daily programming, I used a custom version of IBM Plex Mono and now more often San Francisco Mono ¹. I’m weary of using SF Mono though because of Apple’s restrictive licensing.

Imagine my happiness finding a new worthy contender - CommitMono. I admire the Danish creator’s philosophy around it:

There are better ways to design than putting a big effort into making something look special. Special is generally less useful than normal, and less rewarding in the long term. Special things demand attention for the wrong reasons, interrupting potentially good atmosphere with their awkward presence. — Jasper Morrison, Super Normal Manifesto

There’s an option to customize it and you bet I did…

I do wish there was an alternative version of “r” with the extender at the baseline. That would make it 🧑‍🍳 💋.

Signing off

This was a tough month. A few of my colleagues and friends who I deeply admire were let go. Turbulent times in tech :/.

Thank you once again for your support and readership. Your feedback is always welcome.

Until the next one.