Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been watching Google Japan continue the 10/1 wacky keyboard day tradition, reading the #1's of Marvel's horror Midnight universe as news of its upcoming issues are announced at NYCC, diving deep into the differences between Mac and Windows keyboard evolutions, and finally starting to play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — with the co-op mod for my partner and I!

Let jump right into the features!

clicks 🔗

Where there's a clickwill there's a clickway

Courtesy of clickwilldev.com

→ I love my iPod classic, however, when I first got it a few years ago, I greatly underestimated how difficult and annoying it would be to use modern Macs + old iTunes in order to load it up with my music. I struggled to even get the device recognized on my Macbook, and I was only saved when I had access to a Windows machine with an older version of iTunes installed. I even weighed the cost of loading the iPod with custom firmware — my concern was bricking this new device I just got my hands on, so I held off. And oh boy am I glad I did. This week I came across Clickwill, an iTunes/music manager alternative specifically made for iPod Classics rocking OG Apple firmware. Some of the legacy → modern Apple headaches still apply, but Clickwheel — even in its Alpha stage — has made it 10x easier. I can change album artwork, re-order tracks, fix metadata typos, and ensure I don't have any duplicate files. The nicest feature here is the automatic backup, meaning save states of the iPod and tracks are made so you can revert to a previous state at any time, before any new changes are applied. Can't wait to see how this niche piece of software grows and what updates are in store!

Gather 'round

Courtesy of kerrithedesigner.com

→ Creating a “second brain” using something like Obsidian, Craft, or even Apple Notes can be a daunting task. I am always touting the payoff once it's all set up, as most of my life, notes, journal, and work live in Obsidian, but it took a lot of setup and tweaking to get it to its optimized state. That high barrier of entry is why I can never recommend many of these apps — but Gather was created by Kerri Brillinger to combat that exact problem. It's a personal dashboard for your life to take notes, tackle tasks, track hobbies, and reflect on whatever you need. Onboarding was super simple, drops you right into a workspace to record and hit the ground running right away — super local, runs on every device, no plugins or setup required, you can just hop right in. It's the perfect recommendation for anyone who's looked at those other apps and immediately felt overwhelmed.

clacks 🔗

Luminosity tax

Courtesy of KeebKit

→ KeebKit, a one-man independent keyboard publication that produces build guides, reviews, best-of lists, and other cool keeb finding tools, just released an in-depth study into the RGB tax. This is a very common marketing tactic I see all over keyboard advertising — the battery/longevity of a device is often promoted using the “lights off” number, but for many manufacturers, the default RGB setting is one where the light are on. KeebKit found that 24 out of the 30 wireless boards they tested used this “lights off” statistic, even though those very same boards ship with RGB blasting right out the box. I've always found this interesting, but of course never had the time to comb through all the data provided by the manufacturers. Hats off to KeebKit, especially for all the due diligence they put into disclosing how they got their data and how it can affect a buyer's decision. Highly recommend giving this one a read if you're in the market for a new board, or if you want to see just how outlandish the claims of some companies can get. The nifty chart above was provided by KeebKit exclusively for the newsletter and gives a quick breakdown of the ratio between on versus off stats for some major boards!

Go with the winner

Courtesy of thekapco.com

→ Ending off the week is a huge collection from The Kap Co and Hot Wheels. Over 20 speed-themed keyboard products are packed into this release — including 1 keyboard, 2 keycaps sets, 2 artisans, and tons of deskmats! My favourites here have to be the classic deskmat with the iconic Hot Wheels logo and the checkered flag wrist-rest to match. I think the keycaps are a little kitschy, but regardless I think they fit the vibe of this official collection very well. If you're a big baller and want it all, they even have a legendary collector's edition available to pick up every item in the collection in one fell swoop!

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been itching to replay Skyrim (this time as an IKEA shelf), waiting for a watch drop from the mysterious Donut Watch Co, reading about underground film preservation, waiting to play Control: Resonant (while already listening to its soundtrack on repeat), and testing out my Clicks Power Keyboard after its arrival last week.

Previous feature Clink also hit some milestones recently, including a public launch on Product Hunt, and an Android version that is coming very soon. As we settle into slightly cooler weather and spooky vibes, keyboards sites like Akko and Nuphy are also starting up their Fall sales!

Let's dive into this week's finds!

clicks 🔗

For the love of listening

Courtesy of sudo.music

→ New Matter Inc just announced this little music box, Sudo, that's already stirring up a lot of buzz and discourse on my feeds. Looking almost identical to the classic iPod, the Sudo is looking to recapture that feeling, haptic click wheel and all. There are still so many questions to be answered here, but I think the most important one is about the audio quality itself. If this is going to have any chance at competing with anything else in the portable music player space — like what Fiio or Sony already have on offer — New Matter needs to publish some more details, and quick. As of now, all we have for audio details are “3.5mm + Bluetooth” which means essentially nothing to even an entry-level audio enthusiast. However, considering this information is omitted, I have a feeling that's not the crowd they are aiming for. Regardless, I'll be keeping a close eye on Sudo to see how it all unfolds.

Terminal time

Courtesy of Elvis Mederos on apps.apple.com

→ I'm always on the lookout for ways to spruce up my phone's homescreen and I've always turned to apps like Widgy or Koco Widgets to get the job done. Sometimes, however, apps like that require a lot of time and effort to create the perfect setup. I found Backtick by Elvis Mederos to be the perfect blend of widget options and simplicity in the setup process. It's loaded with 35+ widgets of different sizes that can fit on your lock screen, home screen, or even in Standby mode. They all fit a specific terminal-esque aesthetic that I love, and I am very impressed by how interactive the widgets are, even at the smaller sizes. For example, the small weather widget (my favourite) packs all the forecast information needed by rotating through three different screens on tap, while also being able to open up the full weather app upon tapping the main temperature display. Setting something up like this in Widgy — which I've struggled with before in the past — could take hours to fine tune. But here it just works, and looks great too.

clacks 🔗

Dressing up

Courtesy of imdression.online

→ Revisiting the Dressthing split keyboard from over a year ago now that v2 has been released to the public! Many small changes over the last few months have drawn my attention to this DIY board once again. More layout options (integrated, split, and folding), detailed build guides, new case materials, and a PCB that supports hot-swapping of 3 popular switch styles — MX, Choc V1, and V2. Overall, it's been refined and even the website/purchasing process seems much more streamlined, making it clearer what you need to grab in order to complete your kit. Love seeing this grow from a passion project into a fully fledged product that is still going strong a year on.

Hear me roar

Courtesy of bowlkeyboards.com

→ This keycap set is based off of a children's keyboard from the 90's that is barely internet-traceable (could only find a few people talking about it and a sound test here). Dinokidz (with a “z” cuz it's cool 😎), brought back to life by mcmcmc offers up a nostalgic pastel colour palette that will add a playful splash to any keyboard setup it's a part of. GMK is the manufacturer here and this set just entered its group buy phase on the Bowl Keyboards website. The only thing missing from the original keyboard is the dinosaur tail that doubled as a carrying handle — maybe one day.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been (im)patiently waiting for my Clicks Power Keyboard to arrive now that it has finally shipped, taking note of all the new e-ink devices BOOX dropped, seriously debating picking up an MX Master Mouse just to transparent-ify it, and using my own keyboard theme on my iPhone!

I also found out that one of my favourite keyboards, the Eave65, is getting a metal face-lift with new top cases — further deepening my appreciation of this budget board. And I was browsing Osume's new fall drop/restock and found out they restocked their Eclipse deskmat I thought I missed out on long ago, score!

Onto the clicks, and into the clacks!

clicks 🔗

Clicking on the fly

Courtesy of wallhack.com

→ After their K-001 keyboard released last month, the time has come for Wallhack's M-001 clicking device to make its debut. M-001 is a premium gaming mouse with all the bells and whistles — the latest optical sensor/switches, a lightweight magnesium shell, and fits within the design language that the K-001 introduced. Similar to that board, on the fly adjustments and reliability are the focus here. The wireless receiver sports dials inspired by the ISO and shutter speed dials you'd typically find on analog cameras, that instead adjust the mouse's DPI and polling rate (Hz). Having the receiver provide a usually software-based function here is an elite feature in my opinion — not only does it look cool as a desk accessory, but customizing (and battery swapping) is always within reach. Another design choice I appreciate — which I've discussed before — is the solid shell. Instead of reducing mouse weight by creating cut-outs or perforations on the top of the mouse, the M-001 remains solid and slims down weight by carving out the entire underside of the shell, creating a more minimal, and frankly, actually appealing look.

I'm not your friend, pal

Courtesy of instax.com

→ Ever since the Kodak Charmera hit shelves, I've seen huge spikes of hype surrounding any palm-sized or cute mini-camera, and now Fujifilm wants a slice of that pie. They are updating their Instax Pal line-up with the Pal 2 — a tiny rectangular cam reminiscent of the Charmera but with a distinctly Fuji look. I'm a sucker for when physical controls are loaded into devices, and the Pal 2 has got it all — command dial, optical viewfinder, shutter button, and a film forwarding lever. But best of all, it's got a push-out USB-C terminal to jack directly into your phone to upload photos! I know it seems simple, but I love the idea of jamming this little guy right into your phone and not having to deal with a Bluetooth connection — just another level of physicality that the Pal 2 adds to the fun. Like the Charmera and many other mini-cams, the Pal 2 also has a ton on built-in effects, filters, has the ability to shoot on various Instax frame ratios (mini, square, wide, and no frame), and can even change the megapixel resolution.

clacks 🔗

Deep in the mushroom forest

Courtesy of modedesigns.com

→ Mode Designs has followed up on the promise they made earlier this year when they announced a brand new lineup of boards that concludes with the Prologue. A 98% keyboard that uses the “Crown Mounting System” which was teased before, however we now have more explicit details on its inner-workings. An in-depth article and video outline just how much effort went into creating this innovative top-mount hybrid system that reduces unwanted pinging within the case and produces a clean sound. Aside from its amazing looks and sounds, the Prologue has an option to use a “Linen Micarta” material for the plate which is a linen-reinforced plastic composite material that I have never seen anywhere else before in the keyboard world. I built my own with Mode's customizer here, and I just love how these aesthetics come together to create a warm and forest-y board.

Be the reds

Courtesy of omnitype.com

→ Red Devils is a keycap set being brought back in a new group-buy/pre-order for the first time in six years. Thanks to Omnitype and GMK, this bright red set inspired by the colours of the South Korean football team (and their passionate supporters club of the same name) is getting a new kitting and second run. The set includes new novelties featuring the eight Korean Trigrams, national flag, and the Korean name “Daehan Minguk” stylized on the enter keys. Since it's GMK, there is of course support for many different keeb layouts and separate options for some of the more obscure configurations.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been reading ThereminGoat's in-depth switch review on the Kailh Xuan's, traversing through a low-poly neon village, diving even further into the Obsidian/Markdown rabbit-hole with Obsidian's creator's new Knap language, and trying out a new social-recommendation site called Rec League.

Let's dive into the week!

clicks 🔗

Duo-ble duty

Courtesy of apple.com

→ Over a year ago, I rambled on in this newsletter about the MindOne by iKKO — a square shaped phone that dared to be different. Back then I praised the uniqueness of that form factor and asked the technology gods for more of it — and this week I was finally heard. Using words I didn't have to describe this format, Apple has now released their own “passport style” device, dubbed Duo. As much as I love this new shape, it's a bit of a double-edged sword for me. Love the one-handedness of it, love the portability, love the Apple-ness, but hate the price. Starting at $3,000 CAD, this thing would really have to go above and beyond to get me to pull the trigger. I'm happy to hear all the positive news coming out about it so far, but the last step for me is always longevity — how long can this new format, especially the folding hinge and inside screen, hold up to everyday use. And that's something only time can tell us.

Time travelling

Courtesy of unico-usa.com

→ Sticking to square aspect ratios, the Traveller is a CRT-esque modern gaming monitor that just went live on Kickstarter, from a brand already well-known for delivering retro emulation products in both hardware and software forms. Aiming to evoke that nostalgic feeling that CRTs provide, it's built to work with older gaming consoles and any modern PC; and since this uses a slim LCD panel, there's loads of space in the rest of the unit where CRT innards would usually lie. This creates a nifty compartment in the back to store your console, or maybe even a mini-PC to create a unified, transportable, retro device! While there are no solid details on final pricing yet, backer prices on Kickstarter seem to have it at around $300 a unit — placing it on par with how much most (higher end) secondhand CRTs go for these days.

clacks 🔗

Clinks 'n clacks

Courtesy of Clink: Custom Keyboards on apps.apple.com

→ If you're like me, you love changing up the vibe and look of your daily-use devices, and just like how I like to change out my real keyboards, giving my virtual ones a refresh is nice too. I used to do this all the time when I had an Android, as the third-party keyboard ecosystem is larger (and more unmonitored) over there, but good iOS keyboards are harder to come by. Clink by Will (aka anti) is the first iOS keyboard app I've actually started using as a full-time replacement. It's fast, includes all the stock features you'd expect — autocorrect, multi-language, emojis, etc. — while packing in tons of customization and additional tools. So much here can be tuned — key placement, additional rows, sound, feel, looks, everything! I've been using it for weeks now and I am so happy to see it gain some popularity. Every update brings something new and improved. I'm especially liking Will's journey to get a keyboard company on-board by making a new themed version based on popular brands everyday! @-ing Nuphy — get on it!

Virtual insanity

Courtesy of unikeyboards.com

→ MW Virtual is a new keycap set designed by Kei Designs that is bringing back an aesthetic I thought I would never (intentionally) see again, Vaporwave. Long ago I was obsessed with this style — bright neon pink, blue, and cyan tones, cyperpunk-y and digital glitchy vibes. Virtual brings back all of it with an entire set featuring some novelties, two different alpha sets, and even a deskpad to match. I was really impressed with the quality and production of my other MW keycap set, Dim Sum, so I'd be happy to pick up another MW set in a heartbeat. Link above is for the Canadian retailer UniKeyboards, who currently have MW Virtual as an in-stock item.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, and welcome back! As mentioned previously, last week I was the presenter for 3&3's August monthly meetup where I gave a short talk about the scary career transitions I made, feeling like an imposter, and the creation of this very newsletter. The VOD went live earlier this week for anyone that wasn't able to attend — I'd highly recommend giving it a watch, I had so much (nervous) fun yapping. I'd also encourage signing up for the next 3&3 meeting, each month is pretty low-stakes and there's never any pressure to participate, but every meeting always ends up being a great time with fun discussions to be had.

This week while writing I've been watching the new DC Lanterns show, discovering that MapQuest has been revived in the aftermath of a certain local lake renaming drama, and reading about the sad and unnecessary destruction that AI has brought to physical books. Nuphy has also been hard at work, finally releasing their Raycast collaboration keyboard and a brand new retro Braun-inspired keycap set all within the same week!

clicks 🔗

Livin' that lo-fi life

Courtesy of teenage.engineering

→ I'm sure many of you have seen a number of Teenage Engineering's products scattered around the internet at some point in time, even if you didn't realize it. Their music production and minimal/retro aesthetic products have made appearances in many videos and reels in my feed, especially the TP-7 audio recorder and CM-15 microphone. I love these looks, but to me, everything they've made has always been out of reach — too expensive, not very accessible, and obviously not in my wheelhouse as I'm not into music production. However, I'm very intrigued by their recent lo-fi inspired releases — the PO-80 portable record cutter (linked above), and a matching standalone microphone. While these are significantly cheaper ($1200 → $60 just for the microphone) I still see these as not as accessible, because you have to have a pretty specific use case to enjoy them (I'm not looking to cut any of my own vinyls anytime soon). Regardless, the “lo-fi lineup” looks fun, it matches that retro-orange look I've seen a lot of — like the Nuphy caps from above and Syitren N200 from two weeks ago — and the microphone might just be my first ever purchase from them.

Weaver of threads

Courtesy of @trevware on github.com

→ Obsidian sits at the core of my workflow — every idea, note, link, thought, or image gets organized within it. Sometimes however, needing to sift through and place each thought in its correct folder, with the correct tags, and format everything slows me down. Oriko, a community plugin for Obsidian that turns links and web clippings into local attachments and notes is helping me solve this issue. Right now, I've added it to my Obsidian workflow as a “drawing board” of sorts — throw everything at it and see what sticks. I don't have to worry about shuffling it away or how it's formatted, just copy the link, hit CMD+V, and Oriko places it in a beautiful grid of images. It's been a while since I've switched up or added anything to my Obsidian setup, and I have a lot more to explore within Oriko — like creating multiple grids or custom properties — but I'm loving it so far.

clacks 🔗

Too full

Courtesy of kbdfans.com

→ The Tofu Universe of keyboards by KBDfans is a collection known for embracing simplicity and convenience while still offering multiple materials, layouts, and reasonable price points. The newest addition — the TOFULL, a 100% premium board — follows that same legacy. I personally don't use full-size boards, but it feels like the pendulum may be swinging back towards their favour, as I've seen more and more projects offer this layout. Just like the other recent Tofu group-buys, the product page lets you fully customize your TOFULL exactly to your liking — lots of top and bottom case colours and materials to choose from as well as a healthy amount of internal component offerings (plates, foams, weights, etc.).

Keyboard combos

Courtesy of acer.com

→ For the last clack this week, we'll switch gears a little to some keyboard-adjacent news. The DualPlay Mini by Acer is another new release in the rapidly growing realm of handheld gaming PCs that innovate specifically in the keyboard space. Similar to the OneXPlayer 3 and GPD Win Max 3 (shout out to my handheld-obsessed friend Peter for showing me every single one of these 😄), these devices are making it a point to integrate keyboards and dedicated “laptop modes” into these micro powerhouses. I don't think these keyboards and attachments are up to the standards of keyboard-enthusiasts yet, but as I said, this is a rapidly growing area of gaming tech and I believe it's only a matter of time until mechanical switch technology gets incorporated into one of these bad boys. And that's a handheld this keyboard-lover would be very interested in.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

clicks 🔗

Think thoughts

Courtesy of @another.indie.hacker on threads.com

→ Fitting right into my recent e-ink obsession is this new RSS reading app called think by Iced Tea Labs. It displays your feed in a minimal e-reader inspired interface — light mode and dark mode, grainy backgrounds, easy-to-read serif font, and dithered images. Nothing fancy, just simple reading and no distractions. It's already quickly replaced Reeder on my homescreen as I test it out, and it gets major bonus points for already being available on both iOS and Android, even though it's only in open beta. Despite being in this early stage of development, think feels like a fully-fledged app, with updates adding multiple feed views and OPML importing already being rolled out within the few days I've had hands-on with it.

The little speaker that could

Courtesy of syitren.com

→ Been debating swapping out the rarely used studio monitors in my setup with something a little cheaper and more aesthetic to reclaim some much needed desk space. The N200 Desk Speaker by Syitren came across my feed and seemed perfect for what I was looking for — two retro/minimal colourways, dot-matrix display, volume knob, 3.5mm and Bluetooth connectivity, and a stereo-pairing option with two devices. I'm not expecting the greatest sound quality from these, but considering the $60 USD price point, I feel there's a lot of good here for something this visually pleasing. Might even pick up one of each colour to swap out and match the vibe whenever I change keyboards — which happens a lot.

clacks 🔗

Keyboard 1

Courtesy of wallhack.com

→ Wallhack — a company known for making glass mouse pads and accessories — is releasing their first gaming peripheral, the K-001. It's an all aluminum hall-effect keyboard that focuses on speed, gaming-functionality, and looking good (of course). The knob here works a bit differently than the typical default (usually volume adjustment) action — it changes the switches' actuation point on the fly, encouraging you to actually take advantage of what HE can do. Their switches are also a star here — custom developed with Gateron in three spring weight options (light, medium, and heavy). The K-001 launched with a bit of controversy when the price of the board was first announced ($360 USD, since lowered to $280). It's my opinion (and maybe yours as well, seeing this newsletter feature other HE boards of the same calibre) that with the materials and tech loaded into this board, the price is (now) reasonable enough. Perhaps just the wrong audience to be introducing such a premium board to, for a company's first major product. A huge surprise for me here, though, was the choice to make the board tray mounted, as it is the cheapest and often worst sounding mounting option. Due to some heavy lifting in other areas of the board (switches, foams, acoustics, and maybe some luck), the K-001 still manages to sound decent.

Lava-like caps

Courtesy of deltakeyco.com

→ GMK Pandemonium was a group-buy I thought I missed out on a few months ago, but am glad to see it here as a pre-order from designer Delta Keycap Co. The red and black theme is fantastic, and nordic rune sub-legends give it a hardened and wicked look. This is the second set — the first being “Upside Down”, the winner of GMK's keycap design contest — to heavily feature the “streaking” special effect that GMK offers in their production process. The molten plastic flows into their molds using extremely high pressures to create these intentionally marbly lines that are completely unique on each set and cap. It really works for these dark and edgy projects, and creates a great looking keycap set.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing I finished season 2 of both X-Men '97 and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, realized that Game Informer came back and no one told me, started getting into a new hobby (it's MTG and oh boy do I have a lot to learn), and spent some time attempting to fact-check this thread about the McLaren Technology Centre (which is impressive in its own right, but nowhere near the claims made in the thread).w

A chill week in the keyboard community, but more back-to-school sales are ramping up with Nuphy, KBDFans, RoyalKludge, and MechanicalKeyboards.com announcing ongoing sales!

Lets dive into the week!

clicks 🔗

Authentic human responses

Courtesy of chattjb.org

→ AI this, AI that… everything nowadays is littered with AI features, LLM buzzwords, and promises of infinite productivity/capability by way of instant machine responses. Tucker Bryant is taking a slightly different approach to point out the absurdity of today's tech landscape — enter ChatTJB. Named after himself, the half art project, half real-working chat interface is a website that looks no different than your usual chatbot interface. However, all queries go directly to Tucker, who methodically and intentionally responds to each one — “answered through a proprietary biological reasoning substrate, delivering responses that are fully interpretable, non-synthetic, and accountable at the source.” After a marketing stunt/reel gone viral, the project exploded, and understandably so, Tucker couldn't respond to everything anymore. So, it's becoming a public community project — anyone can sign up to be an AI (Average Individual) and answer any queries that come through the website. As the sign up page says, it's a good way to add some levity to this crazy AI-induced hype affecting everyone and everything right now.

Time to slow down

Courtesy of snailos.org

→ The small but mighty X4 e-reader is getting another huge overhaul with the help of Snail OS from designer/developer Joey D. Smith. This custom firmware is a complete rework of the X4 device and utilizes it in ways I didn't even think possible. You're still able to use it to read epub files, but it also adds a bunch of apps and tools like a clock, weather, calendar, web browser, and even a few games. With all this, the device and OS still feels light, responsive, and capable of doing more — that's where my favourite part comes into play, the dev documentation. Snail OS is built to enable devs, or anyone willing, to create their own apps that would work well on an e-ink device, and the website is loaded with knowledge and information necessary to do just that. I've been running it on my X4 for a few days now, and it's re-sparked an interest in it, allowed me to tinker even more, all while still letting me read my books.

clacks 🔗

Main character energy

Courtesy of wiredinstore.com

→ One of my favourite keyboard storefronts, Wired In, known for an amazing selection of cables and a few exclusive boards, just launched an in-stock hall-effect version of one of their first keyboards — The Protagonist. Described as the culmination of their “neo-industrial brutalist aesthetic”, the board is visually stunning and I love how the negative space and crisp edges create a sharp look. It's not just a looker, however, all the traditional HE features are here thanks to the Venom PCB, it offers two mounting styles straight out of the box, and maintains a reasonable price point of $190 with a fully aluminum body. All-in-all I'm very impressed — my hunt for an HE board has been ongoing for quite some time, and this one just jumped to the top of my list.

Going dark

Courtesy of omnitype.com

→ X-Ray caps were a huge hit from Mod Musings and Omnitype (you may remember them from WAY back in Issue #1), and now their dark, brooding, and mysterious brother has arrived. The Thermal set uses the same layering technique from X-Ray which envelops each key in a translucent top to give the whole set a 3D, almost floating, appearance. Inspired by thermal imaging and the colourful readings achieved with heat signature detection tech, the set comes with an entire row of muted blues, reds, and greens to contrast the other dark keys. It's nice to see this layering technique being used more, I do however wish this style was possible with PBT plastic, which would increase the longevity and usability of the caps 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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing I watched Spider-Man: Brand New Day 🕷️, studied Blade Runner's title card typography, and got hyped over the new Neuromancer trailer (I think you can see the Cyberpunk vibe emerging this week). There was also a big update for one of my favourite features in recent newsletter history, Pocket Bird, and One of Zero has a great selection of promos and sales ongoing!

Here we go!

clicks 🔗

I'm all ears

Courtesy of daisysound.com

→ In general, I'm not a fan of in-ear or closed back headphones — I have trouble getting behind basically anything that reduces the outside environment during listening sessions. Hard to work around, considering the popularity of products like the AirPods or the Sony XM series — that's why two recent releases have caught my eye. The Daisy One, a debut over-the-ear headphone with focus and transparency modes, and the Clip Pro, a unique clip-on design that is completely open, from Nothing's budget sister brand, CMF. Two very different designs, price-points, and visual styles, however there is a surprising amount of similarities here. I like the open-air sound profiles present in the two, they also both prominently feature a rotating dial/knob in their designs, and each one is priced competitively within their respective domains. CMF's option is probably going to be the easier of the two to get your hands on — the Daisy One released very recently and is already out of stock, and I've had no problems getting Nothing/CMF products in the past (big fan of my Nothing Ear (stick)) through various retailers.

Bite-sized browsing

Courtesy of tinypad.app

→ There's a lot of bookmarking tools out there, and rather than attempt to replace my current solution — Raindrop soon to be moved to LinkWarden — with another confusing setup, I wanted to supplement it with something new. Tinypad turned out to be just what I needed. It's an always online bookmarking tool/starter page for any browser, meaning you can access it from anywhere, including mobile devices. This is where it's been especially useful to me — using it less like a bookmarking tool to save everything, and more of a jump-pad to start my browsing sessions from. The free version is quite generous, but it also has a one-time paid version, and you can import your existing bookmarks to get started.

clacks 🔗

Typing on a cloud

Courtesy of logitech.com

→ I wanted to revisit this board, which was mentioned way back in Issue #17, when an r/MechKeys Reddit user modded one with TouchID. Back then this was only available in China, without distribution in North America. Time flew by and the K98M was released in NA markets at the end of 2025. Now, I wanted to take the chance to feature it as a more “relatable” board. I feel like the keeb community, myself included, tends to get caught up in the high-end enthusiast level boards, caps, and accessories. And while these are awesome projects, they are often unobtainable for most people, even long-time or hardcore keyboard hobbyists. So, this is the Alto Keys, a wireless 98% board by Logitech that has all the keys you'd ever need, a brand new “UniCushion” gasket mounting system, a 12-month long battery life, hot-swappable keys, and slightly more modest price tag. UniCushion is the star of the show here — when a bigger name brand or company releases a board like this, I often expect it to be loaded with foams and sound too dampened, muted, and mushy. That's not the case here — it sounds unexpectedly good, and if this is the way Logitech is going to be developing the rest of their keyboard line-up, it's a lot of steps in the right direction.

Happy trees, happy keys

Courtesy of apos.audio and slam.co

→ Double deskmat feature! Following up on the promise made last month by Apos Audio, they've begun to roll out a plethora of mechanical keyboard projects and products. One of them being the Bob Ross deskmat — 6 officially licensed landscapes from The Joy of Painting printed on premium mousepad material. Relive the iconic artistry and add some calm vibes to your setup with these happy little trees. Switching gears, another deskpad on my radar just opened up for pre-order yesterday — The Blueprint by Slam&Co. This one is a double-sided (blue and black) pad based off the traditional white on blue technical drawing process. With The Blueprint, not only does it emulate the look of those drawings, but it is totally functional as well! It comes with a white pen to scribble out notes, drawings, to-dos, or anything else you think of — and it wipes away easily with water to draw and draw again!

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing I reviewed the amazing deals part of the summer edition of Indie App Sales, watched how an F1 car is made, and played a Pokémon Red recreation after seeing it blow up on Threads. I was also trying to keep up with all the news spinning out of SDCC last weekend, including all the amazing books and creators that won Eisner awards. Side note: of all the plentiful coverage from comic con, it's surprisingly hard to find a news article that focuses on the actual comic side of comic con.

In keyboard-town, LumeKeebs is holding an anniversary and moving sale, SaberKeebs underwent a rebrand/update (great DIY/accessory selection here), fan-fave X-Ray keycaps are back-in-stock many places worldwide, and QwertyKeys launched a back-to-school sale!

Onto the features!!

clicks 🔗

Desk control to Major Tom 🚀

Courtesy of @godeskos on instagram.com

→ DeskOS feels like the ultimate command centre upgrade — kind of like if the popular Stream Deck and now defunct Spotify Car Thing had a baby! Made by Toronto-local Connor Savage, this small-screened device is Windows and Mac compatible, and adds three super-powered screens to your setup. The first is a homepage filled with easily glance-able info (time, date, weather), second is a detailed music page that displays lyrics, tracks, album art, etc., and the third is a controller page that's fully customizable. Launch programs, execute shortcuts, control apps, adjust volume with precise control, and it's even got a dev API to create your own custom plugins. All this and it's $60 cheaper than a Stream Deck, which retails for around $150 — sounds like a steal to me. Only addition I would love to see (which I'm not even sure is technically possible) is a BYOS (bring-your-own-screen) option to use an existing monitor or tablet to replicate the DeskOS feature-set.

One file to rule them all!

Courtesy of @louiscada on threads.com

→ Productivity apps are always fun finds to test out and explore as I'm always looking for new ways to help organize my life and creative projects — masterfile by Louis combines a ton of useful tools into one central place. 5 tools in 1 app are on feature here — scratchpad, notes, vault for passwords or accounts, budgeting, and a kanban board for projects. Two standouts for me here are the scratchpad and kanban. Scratchpad feels mandatory for an app like this — without diving into other sections of the app, you just jot anything down on the pad when you launch the app, and masterfile will recommend where and how to file it. It also acts as a temporary space for thoughts to live before they get more officially dealt with or stored away. Kanban board is great here as well, something I've sorely missed when switching from Notion to Obsidian, so it's nice to have that visual task breakdown format here.

clacks 🔗

Retro-futuristic clacks

Courtesy of @its.hymn on instagram.com

→ A project over four years in the making, Type Box 101800 has finally arrived. Keyboard designer and render artist hYmn first posted about this board in 2022 and while small design changes and new variants were developed over the years, the project skyrocketed when Werk Technica joined the effort in December of last year. Werk is a keyboard company based out of Tübingen, Germany with a few boards and GBs already under their belt. Their other boards fit beautifully with the design language and style of the Typebox — as Zaum from Werk puts it best, their “futuristic yet nostalgic” boards were the perfect match for a collaboration. The Type Box is a big (and heavy) board, so that means it's also going to be expensive. Regardless, it's amazing to see this project come to fruition after this long. It's invite only for now, but the board is launching tomorrow, August 2nd, on a first come-first serve basis through Werk Technica's website.

I'm sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.

Courtesy of keychron.com

→ One of the standout announcements at CES this year was one that flew a bit under the radar from Keychron — their new Nape Pro. After a few months of mostly radio silence, the Nape Pro, a trackball/macropad hybrid, has finally released. It's got a unique look with the main trackball in the middle, surrounded by a dial, and 6 silent click buttons. The idea here is that it can be placed anywhere, in any orientation — under the spacebar, left/right of your board, in-between a split, etc. — and acts as a full mouse replacement or supplement to any existing setup. Big draw here is also the ZMK firmware compatibility, meaning every button, click, and function on the mouse can be programmed and changed to another key or action. I only wish they kept the HAL 9000-esque red trackball.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, due to a new work schedule and just general life responsibilities, for the foreseeable future clicks 'n clacks will be shortened to 2 clicks and 2 clacks for each issue. It's a slightly smaller, more manageable weekly format I'll be testing, and I hope you all still enjoy!

This week I've been playing a bunch of 007 First Light while also obsessing over not only the most recent Bond watch, but also the entire line-up of Omega watches worn by the notorious secret agent. I've also been flying around retro video game maps in my browser, finding out what nature is doing in my area, and having a chuckle reading Sasha's take on em-dashes.

Let dive right in!

clicks 🔗

A breath of fresh air

Courtesy of @goodairapp on threads.com

→ In the wake of less than superb weather and air-quality in recent weeks for Toronto and other major north-east American cities, keeping an eye on the sky has become crucial. Good Air, by Nihal and Asha Singh, came across my feed at the perfect time last week just as the air was at its worst. It's a simple app, pulling from the amazing OpenAQ — a non-profit org that is unifying official air monitoring data and sources worldwide, and presenting it with a clean, liquid-glassy design. Initially built for cities and regions in India, they just recently launched on the US App Store, and are working hard to add other locations to the app. Free, no login, no ads, Apple Weather built right in, and some super useful widgets to boot!

Old tech, new creations

Courtesy of openmote.io

→ At the recent 2026 Open Sauce Festival — a creators, makers, and DIYers convention in San Francisco — two developers, Samson and Ezra, showed off the OpenMote. A gutted Wii-mote that has been transformed into a fully programmable remote that can control almost anything! It upgrades the OG remote, loading it with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Gyroscopes, an IR Blaster and more — which could be used to control your phone, entertainment system, smart lights, or even thermostats. Soon they will begin to sell some of these PCBs that will be super easy to install into any existing Wii-mote, no soldering or fancy wiring required. I'd love to grab this, upgrade an old Wii-mote, and use it as an all-in-one TV/media controller, adding a little blast of nostalgia to the living room setup!

clacks 🔗

All work, all play

Courtesy of @boyu on kickstarter.com

→ Switch meets keyboard meets Lego in this upcoming release from KBDcraft! The Saha (again named after an angel from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series) takes on a new form factor, adding two fully functional — and detachable — gamepads to the left and right sides of the low-profile, Lego-built board. I'm pleasantly surprised to see this stay within the same price range of KBDcraft's other keyboards. This is due to the omission of some common, but premium, board features — it's wired-only, no plates, no foams, and has a simple gasket mount that creates a fairly barebones keyboard which I think sounds great regardless of the price.

Sips tea

Courtesy of zfrontier.com

→ Occasionally in the keyboard hobby, group buys fail, interest checks don't pass, and some great projects unfortunately never get to see the light of day. But zFrontier has swooped in to save RAMA CAPS — a project from Rama Works that took a very long time to get off the ground, disappointingly ending with buyers being swindled out of their products and getting ghosted. You know it's bad and can tell some drama went down when you take a quick peek at the Rama Instagram and see that all their post comments have been turned off 😬. I hadn't heard of this keycap set and its related controversy until Captain Sterling's recent post (which includes some amazing photos of these caps, btw), and was instantly hooked. The in-stock drop offers the Rama keys in 8 different colourways — all which are too exquisite to pick a fave. zFrontier is even offering 50% off to anyone who was affected by the original cancellation of the project, classy move.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been browsing through one of my favourite newsletter's gear archive and redesign, side-loading SideStore on my iPhone to play 3DS games, digging through this great resource of why physical media is important, and feeling bittersweet about Marvel Comics' move to LA.

This past weekend I also had the privilege of attending the Canadian Mechanical Keyboard 2026 summer meetup. It was amazing talking to so many passionate people, I loved chatting with everyone, and I finally attended with some keyboards to show off — specifically my Eave65 and QK Alice Duo. Can't wait for next year!

Onto the features!

clicks 🔗

Spin the wheel

Courtesy of durobo.com

→ The Krono by DuRoBo is a new Android powered e-reader that's looking to provide a more minimal and tactile experience to the e-reader ecosystem. It sports the same Carta 1200 e-ink display as another popular reader — the Boox Palma — but cuts down on some of the flash and features to reduce costs. At $285 USD, it's still not cheap, but at least for someone like me who owns the budget-friendly Xteink X4, it's more reasonable. Aside from a very basic case and frame, the highlight here is the smart dial, a multipurpose haptic crown to control what you see on the screen. My hope is that using it feels like the Apple Watch crown, as that's the bar to set for scroll-wheel experiences. Jury is still out on final thoughts, but the Krono's only been available for a few weeks and I'm eager to see more reviews soon.

Arranging awesome assets

Courtesy of asekachov.com

→ I've never had an elegant solution for asset management. Files for my creative projects (especially this newsletter) are scattered across too many places — Finder, Figma, Canva. But indie dev Alexey Sekachov sums up all my complaints perfectly: “eagle is too clunky, mymind is too ugly, arena is too slow, freeform is too buggy, figjam is too web, cosmos is almost perfect, but not local”. In response to this, he created his own solution called Atlas. Built for Mac, everything is stored locally and it's surprisingly fast. It's only been a week since release and Alexey is already iterating quickly, adding new features, fixing bugs, and has a whole roadmap laid out.

Magic Mac power-ups

Courtesy of trymainspring.com

→ Maybe it's just happenstance, but I've been finding so many great utilities and tools (like Mole from 4 weeks ago) lately to help speed up my Macbook. It's an M1, so not slow by any means, but it's getting older I have to be more careful with daily usage. Mainspring has helped me enable some trickier power-user type tweaks without worrying about breaking anything. Even though I'm very comfortable in command line and diving into system files, this app creates a user-friendly, centralized location to control all the “power-ups”. Best of all, whenever you toggle anything off, everything goes back to the way it was, no need to panic over restoring your Mac to baseline. It's also completely free to test out and see if it's right for you!

clacks 🔗

Small, mini, micro

Courtesy of kbdfans.com

→ The Agar family of boards by KBDFans continues to grow! I was going to feature a recent release — the 40% Mini — a couple of weeks ago but then KBDFans beat me to it and released yet another board, the Micro, so let's talk about both! The Micro and Mini stay very true to the design language of previous iterations — HHKB layout, curved edge case, magnetic pin header, and a solid, unified chassis — while still offering some new layouts. The Mini is a basic 40% while the Micro is an Alice 40% layout. I actually got to see, hold, and test the Agar Micro that Alexotos built and brought to the CAMK meetup. It was compact but weighty, sounded great, and even though I feel like I'd never use a 40% due to the lack of a number row, the Micro felt really appealing to me. The Agar family continues to impress — even with their cute accessories — and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Handheld keyboard

Courtesy of novelkeys.com

→ Designer PromoType's first project is starting off strong — a nostalgia filled board based off of the design language of the Game Boy Advance with working shoulder buttons! Featuring an interesting 50% layout, the Key Boy Advance has a super unique shape and size that borrows certain elements of the OG Nintendo handheld and morphs it into a usable keyboard design. I enjoy the “Tanzanite Purple” colourway which matches the OG purple that I think is the most recognizable of the GB Advance's. The group buy is available now on the NovelKeys website worldwide and on UniKeys in Canada.

Mo' metal keycaps

Courtesy of moee.tech

→ Keyboard storefront Moeetech has created a new portal to help you bring your keycap artisan design to life. The new website allows you to upload and edit your designs and create a laser engraved metal keycap from them. The experience seems simple and straightforward, and I've heard nothing but glowing reviews, especially from this write-up from KBD News. It's a great idea for bringing one-off ideas to life for those who don't know where or how to start. Maybe I'll make a clicks 'n clacks one soon!

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, it's issue 74 dropping on 07/04!! This week I've been watching season two of X-Men '97, building an oversized cart of games from the Steam Summer Sale, witnessing the construction of an unnecessary music video time machine, and reading about Costco's inherently anti-Amazon existence.

This week I also discovered an unusually high number of keyboards made out of materials you wouldn't think of. Notable features include concrete, everyone's favourite dessert Tiramisu, a slab of marble that took two years to make, and a gnarly, burly, wooden board.

Weird keebs aside, let's dive into this week!

clicks 🔗

Mapped apps 🌐

Courtesy of appatlas.co

→ The app landscape is littered with subscriptions—monthly or annual, it's a huge pet peeve of mine when I discover a lovely app and am presented with a mandatory subscription-based access model. While I completely understand the benefits of recurring revenue (especially for indie devs), if every app I used was subscription-based, I'd be broke. On the flip side of this scenario, I love when apps offer Lifetime Access—one-time purchases, subscription free, and loaded with the same great features. App Atlas created by Geo is a directory for applications and services that do just that. The project's in its early stages, but Geo is active on Threads and updating the directory with new finds often. Give it a browse—it has some fantastic features you may recognize or have even seen in this very newsletter before!

Cool dock bro where'd you get it

Courtesy of dock.cool

→ Speaking of lifetime access, I discovered Cooldock this week—a macOS dock add-on/replacement tool that is sticking to the one-time payment model. This fully customizable dock adds some great widgets and glanceable information to your Mac environment. The flexibility is what initially drew me to Cooldock—it can act as an entire dock replacement, a productivity panel that neatly tucks away when not in use, or as an always-on floating toolbar. I chose the second option—most useful for my already packed setup—so it displays the time, date, weather, upcoming calendar events, and now playing media directly over top of the native dock when I mouse over it. The colour picker became my most used feature, which collects a library of any colours I find. I previously used Raycast for this, but now HEX codes are neatly sorted (instead of lost in the sea of clipboard management).

Invisible stationery 🫥

Courtesy of kokuyo.com

→ In past c 'n c issues, we've transparent-ified pens, screwdrivers, e-readers, mice, keycaps, and of course, keyboards! Stationery titan Kokuyo is here to transform the rest of our desk setups with a brand new collection called Transparent Mechanism. It includes a staple-less stapler, two-way blade/scissor combo, and correction tape dispenser—all sporting ultra clear casings to highlight the inner workings of each product. There are a few different colour variations for each item as well, and I love that they all stay under the $30 USD price point. Kokoyu does have a global online store you can purchase these from, but it would be great to see these items make it to my fave Canadian/Japanese lifestyle store, Oomomo.

clacks 🔗

Fly, fly away 🪽

Courtesy of omnitype.com

→ The Wing by Clever is a brand new premium 60% board available in a group buy via Omnitype. It's loaded with a whole bunch of outstanding options that I've been loving in other GBs lately—3 layouts (WKL, WK, HHKB), 2 colourways (Solare Orange & Polare Blue), and 3 PCBs (MX, HE, DynaCap/EC). The choice offered here is great, and is just enough to get exactly what you want while not being overwhelming. This aliferous board gets its name from a detachable bottom bar (wing if you will) that acts as a riser, giving it a steep typing angle of 9°—something I'm also seeing more of in boards I would like to try. The removable wing additionally shows off the underglow from the bottom plate-mounted RGBs—yet another trend I'm seeing lately, so this board really feels like a culmination of board culture recently.

Pixelated keys 👾

Courtesy of unikeyboards.com

→ Double keeb week! Pixtendo Lab and Key Kobo are teaming up to launch a nostalgia-filled board called the Pixel 67. I really appreciate the prebuilt versions here—they take the mess out of the buying process, and with a lower price point compared to other premium boards, I think this is a great option even for non-enthusiasts. Sealing the deal for me are the paired Key Kobo keycap sets that come with each prebuilt colourway—some, like the Riddim Supertone (featured on my personal fave Terminal Green version) aren't even released yet!

Community conglomerate

Courtesy of apos.audio

→ In the wake of Drop shutting down, with the brand still operational but in a semi-revived/new state, I bring more good news for lovers of the old Drop format! Folks from Apos Audio—an online audiophile equipment retailer—recently announced they'll be bringing back a plethora of keeb related projects, group buys, and interest checks, just like the heyday of Massdrop. Many people currently employed by Apos were at Drop during the height of its popularity and have kept an ear close to the ground of the keyboard community. They see a hole that can be fulfilled, and being an already trusted name in the audiophile community with many friends and contacts in the keyboard space puts them on the path to success. A few keycap sets are already proceeding with ICs on the site, and I've heard nothing but great things from the Apos crew in the past, so I think this is a big win!

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week I've been reading about the Steam Machine and RAM costs, reviewing everything that happened at Config '26, thinking about starting a handwritten blog (will never happen with my chicken scratch), and checking out Grovemade's “Little Big Sale” on desk accessories.

Osume released a wonderfully simple and cute universal keyboard case, ScottoKeebs created another super unique low-profile board, and Mode Designs gave an update on their highly anticipated boards for the summer.

Let's dive in!

clicks 🔗

Easy, breezy, file sending

Courtesy of breezeit.app

→ I recently reentered the Android ecosystem with the purchase of a Samsung tablet for media watching and comic reading. This brought about a new need for software symbiosis across all my devices. While setting up the tablet, I was searching for ways to simplify file-transfers—photos, files, configs, etc., and came across Breeze. It's a local file sharing app akin to AirDrop, currently in Beta and works across all devices including iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux. It's simple, quick, colourful, and is built on the LocalSend protocol—an already popular and existing LAN sharing application. The “Inbox” feature was most useful for me, which stores and tracks what you historically received. Overall, super useful for sending files to myself, but I'm also keeping it in my back pocket for whenever AirDrop is unavailable (or when it doesn't work which feels like 9 times out of 10) for sharing with others.

Welcome to the club

Courtesy of usb.club

→ Switching gears a little, but staying within the file-sharing lane, we are going to talk about USBs. Shout out to Micah's fun write up on the topic for leading me to USB Club. A file-sharing social network (similar to Pinterest, Dribble, or Cosmos, just to name a few of the many) with a twist—you must have a physical USB drive to access it. They offer two USB club branded drives (one $40, one $180, guess which one I lowkey want) which upon purchase grant you access to the network. Plug in, get files, share files, rinse, repeat. The main idea here being that even if the site is shut down, these files will still exist out there, in the form of many shared copies. It's an interesting concept, kind of gatekeep-y, but the history and research behind its creation is captivating and feels genuine.

Playing games

Courtesy of afterplay.io

→ Afterplay is one of the simplest and easiest ways I've found to play retro games and ROMs. In the past, I've talked about the Analogue Pocket and Delta for iOS, but neither of them are as accessible and quick as Afterplay. It allows you to bring your existing GameBoy, Atari, Sega, and other console games anywhere, and I mean anywhere. Not only is there an app for every major OS and mobile platform, there's also a browser-based version for any outlying use-cases. Best feature by far (other than it being free) is library cloud sync—I no longer have to store the large ROM files on every device I want to play on, just upload once and I'm good to go.

clacks 🔗

A scheming board

Courtesy of bowlkeyboards.com

→ Building off the bones of the premium Manta board, Bowl Keyboards and Alexotos have released the Schema M60. It keeps features like the steeper 8° typing angle, aluminum case, and back-fin design, but takes a detour to focus on PCB compatibility, simplicity, and customization. Lots of configurations can be created when selecting parts from any one of the vendors, including Canadian vendor Keybay, and I particularly like the look of the Frosted top and Machinist aluminum bottom. If you are really into mix-and-matching while also wanting to support the creators big time, there is a “Signature Bundle” that contains every top, bottom, and weight colourway, so you can create a new keeb everyday!

Manual. Input. Device.

Courtesy of aokay.cool

→ Back when the newsletter was on break, this one-of-kind, industrial, toolbox-like keyboard called the MID.1 became available in a short reservation window. Unlike most group-buys or pre-orders, this window was treated more like an interest check for the first production batch. Since this is a one man show by Sean and his A.Okay! project, this will help guide the quantities for the very first batch. The stainless steel frame, carrying handle top case, and exposed screws/rivets paired with a pale fiery glow from the front LED grill and overall refined design give it a soft cyberDeck vibe that I really enjoy. Going to follow this one closely and hope I can revisit it once some in-stock units become available.

Less mouse, more clack

Courtesy of mouseless.click

→ If you're ever tired of constantly lifting your fingers away from home row for a few simple clicks of your mouse—this little utility called Mouseless is for you! Trade out clicks for clacks by transforming your entire screen into a coordinated grid of key combos with a double press of the CMD key and magically move your mouse cursor anywhere! You can trigger left clicks, right clicks, scroll wheels, and even dragging movements. There is also a Free Mode, a mode I've long been searching for in a keyboard utility, which changes your IJKL cluster into left, right, down, and up bindings. There is a rich amount of configuration here, you can change keybinds, alter cursor speeds, edit overlay colour—it's all able to be personalized. The learning curve is steep, but well worth it, and I love to see that accessibility tools like this exist.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing I've been playing the cross-platform Pokémon battling app, Champions, browsing through the virtual OS museum, watching Nothing dream up the Internet's ideal phone, and listening to a ton of great new music releases. In keeb-news, two sites, RGB Keys and Nuphy, have whipped up sales for the Summer!

Let's explore this week's features!

clicks 🔗

Bounce, the sequel 🕹️

Courtesy of Bounce 2 on store.steampowered.com

→ Pong meets The Way of the Ninja in this sequel to an impossible-to-find-traces-of-online-and-might-not-actually-exist Atari game, Bounce. The aptly named, Bounce 2, was co-developed by fellow Torontonians Jack Harrison and Owen Hooper to capture the essence and fun of playing retro games on old CRT displays. As Jack describes in the very in-depth introduction video, Bounce 2 was created with CRTs specifically in mind—which is where a majority of Jack's recent design and art work lay. Because of this, the game looks incredible with bright contrast, fun shapes, and beautiful shaders. Even if you're not playing this on a CRT, it's amazing. Best part is, you can play it right now on Windows or Mac for $12 Canadian dollars from the Steam storefront—solo, with friends, or even competitively online.

Easy on the eyes 👀

Courtesy of paperman.cc and innative.in

→ This one's a double! These two clicks are here to help your screen-strained eyes and to spruce up your Mac a little. First up, Paperman uses science-backed research to make your screen less harsh by lowering the contrast ratio of your monitor, and adding visual noise/patterns (paper-like textures). I used it while writing this issue, and really enjoyed how it helped while using light mode on my device. I didn't notice as much of a difference when switching over to dark mode, where the contrast is already more comfortable, but the app has tons of settings, textures, and customization to make it just right in any mode. Glaze is a free alternative to Paperman that provides a very similar (albeit with less customization) paper-texture, along with other built-in screen shaders like VHS, Comic, Game Boy, or even CRT. A great way to play Bounce 2 perhaps?

Time to get a watch ⏱️

Courtesy of prolost.watch

→ As someone who is just starting to dabble in the watch collecting game, Prolost Watches came at a perfect time. I can add every watch I own to the app with an insane amount of detail—basic info, prices, features, and statistics I didn't even know I wanted to (or could) track, can be tracked and saved here in Prolost. Just shows how much I still have to learn in the watch game (especially when it comes to the lingo for movement types). It covers all aspects and the entire life cycle of watch ownership—from the day you pick it up, to when you decide to pass it on, and every single wear in between. I haven't been using this app for long, so this one click I'd love to revisit in the future, as I need some time to build up wear stats and test other features, like the timekeeping accuracy records.

clacks 🔗

Nova Numpad 🔢

Courtesy of luminkey.com

→ I've never seen this amount of customizability out-of-the-box for a numpad. The Nova Kine by Luminkey comes with three extra plates, no extra purchase necessary, that allow you to disassemble and transform it into any type of layout you'd like. Traditional numpad, macropad, even a gamepad, it's all possible here. Paired with stock low-profile caps, a CNC aluminum case, and a cassette-style vibe, this new release looks pretty solid. I've been interested in their other popular 12% board for a minute, but the Nova fits my aesthetics, use-cases, and love of customization more, so it's just screaming to be pre-ordered.

Orange and blue blur 🏎️

Courtesy of bowlkeyboards.com

→ Inspired by the famous Gulf Livery, the Vintage Motorsport keycap set is now available in a group buy via Bowl Keyboards. Designed by Madmax13, this set is a more refined version of their original motorsport set, also produced by Signature Plastics. Now sporting SP's iconic DCS profile, a slightly more Gulf-accurate orange and blue colourway that's sure to stand out, and brand new novelty keys with car-inspired iconography. I've highlighted some motorsport-esque features here recently, in both the clicks and clacks, and hope it sparks a few want-to-be motorheads to join in, learning more about the past and future of the sport.

Machined mastery 🤖

Courtesy of gmk.net

→ As you've likely noticed in this newsletter, GMK has been mentioned a lot (40+ times according to a quick search of the archive) and that number will only grew as they are a monumental institution in the keeb community. So it's fitting that we are getting another amazing artisan from MVKB, this time in collaboration with GMK, creating a collector-worthy piece that proudly sports the GMK branding. Producing this cap is also another pillar in keeb-creation and longtime collaborator with MVKB, Belgian machinist Salvun. I'm always adding releases from them to my wishlist and this artisan is no exception. Editing note: It's not just wishlisted anymore. This issue is now the “What Andrew bought this week” edition, as I've purchased 5 out of the 6 features here—a new record!! 😅.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

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!

clicks 🔗

splish, splash, screenshot scrutiny 🌊

Courtesy of pool.day

→ 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.

Hashing it out 🔐

Courtesy of cypherpunkbooks.com

→ 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.

Holey mole-y 🐀

Courtesy of mole.fit

→ 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.

clacks 🔗

Tree-tacular boards 🌳

Courtesy of nulldesignco.com

→ 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.

Thunderbolt ⚡

Courtesy of cannonkeys.com

→ 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.

Tama-time again! 🥚

Courtesy of cannonkeys.com

→ 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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋. Heads up for the upcoming issue of c 'n c—I'll be taking some time off from writing next weekend as I'll be visiting Montreal to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix 🏎️. But, it will be back to the regularly scheduled programming after that.

This week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been reading about swapping out doomscolling for comic books, adding Mixtape to my video game backlog while simultaneously making my own, and trialing the long-awaited Raycast 2.0.

In the land of clacks, I've been hoping keyboards aren't soon becoming relics while reading dueling opinions on “voice typing”, debating picking up the now in-stock GMK Mictlán caps, and installing new HMX Snowfall switches on my Eave65.

Let's explore all the new finds for this week!

clicks 🔗

Pocket watch pop 💥

Courtesy of hodinkee.com

→ Making waves in the watch community this week is an exclusive drop from Audemars Piguet and Swatch. The Royal Pop—one part nod to the “Royal Oak” Audemars product line and one-part POP revival—is a colourful, hand-wound pocket watch that comes in eight vibrant styles. The collab, which is only available in select Swatch stores starting today (the 15th), has generated a ton of buzz on my feeds. Long time collectors are worried it will dilute the AP brand and reduce demand for other Royal Oak products, but others are happy to see a more accessible (and fun) piece bring new enthusiasts into the world of horology. I'm in the latter camp and convinced this can only be a good thing, as long as production and plenty of inventory can keep resellers and scalpers at bay. AP is also donating 100% of the profit made from this collab to “fund a dedicated initiative supporting the preservation and transmission of watchmaking savoir-faire, with a focus on rare skills and the next generation of horological talent”—super cool.

Chromatic discoveries 🎨

Courtesy of Color Snap on play.google.com

→ Colours are all around us—hues, tones, shades, pigments—the whole world is a wonderful palette! This next feature turns everyday objects and the world around you into a fun, colourful scavenger hunt. Color Snap by Adam Molina started off as a web application, evolved into an Android app, and even has an iOS version coming soon! It's simple—each day you're presented with a random colour, you take a picture of anything that matches that colour, and then earn points based on a pixel-analysis of the HSL (hue, saturation, lightness) of your photo! I've tried it out on my Android tablet, snapping pics directly on the device, but you can upload any past photos via the app or website as well.

How do these clicks click? 🤔

Courtesy of mechanical-pencil.com

→ What do a Zippo lighter, PEZ dispenser, and mechanical pencil all have in common? They all click! In some way, shape, or form, these products have famous looking (or sounding) mechanisms that give them their iconic sound and feel. Mechanical engineer Bryan Macomber has created this website to share highly detailed, illustrated tear downs of household items. Each entry, like the newly added retractable pen, is an interactive experience that walks you through each of the mechanisms and teaches you the secrets behind these moving parts. Highly recommend you check out the website and Instagram to learn more and see some wicked cross-sections.

clacks 🔗

One-of-a-kind 1️⃣

Courtesy of oneofzero.net

→ ONEofZERO is a keyboard-focused online storefront that sells a variety of gaming and productivity devices from big brands including Nuphy, Keychron, Wooting, Ducky, and more. I discovered them during a recent trip to the new KeyBay store and found they had a sample of ONEofZERO's own keyboard, which they created in partnership with Keychron. This prompted me to do a little more research on them, only to be delighted to see they offer solid shipping rates, warranties, and fulfillment for many overseas brands! Their new collection Design Syndrome, created in collab with the graphic designer of the same name, caught my eye and the BLEED red and white keycap set from it has shot its way to the top of my wishlist.

Permanent preservation ♾️

Courtesy of @archetype_mk on threads.com

→ An artisan keycap display, Chronos by Archetype, is returning for a 4th round of pre-orders to present, protect, and preserve your keycap collection. 5 new colourways in this round bring the total number of variants up to 14. Plenty to choose from. Now, I know the price for this piece—$190 USD—seems outrageously expensive for a display case, but as soon as you start using premium materials like copper, brass, and aluminum, these prices become quite the norm. It's why (for now) I'm sticking with 3D printed alternatives like this one from Marmech, and the Chronos can stay on the “endgame” list for a while longer.

Klever keyboard ⌨️

Courtesy of klava.space

→ Straying from the realm of physical keyboards this week, I've found a new digi-board for iOS (and soon Android) called Klava. It takes inspiration from later iterations of the Blackberry keyboard, including the flick up motion to select word predictions and swiping left to delete words. It even has a custom Blackberry theme to match! For the autocomplete suggestions, it intelligently learns your vocabulary and most used words from your typing patterns—all private and on-device. A few more advanced features, like creating your own swipe shortcuts, are available for only $0.99 and individual themes are an additional $0.99 each. Although, the iOS6 themed “Skeuo” is free and is by far my favourite.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week I've been reading about the living room PC lifestyle, watching Charlie Cox talk about Daredevil: Born Again (Season 2 was a 10/10 in my opinion), and poking around in the huge 4.0 update of Snapseed on Android. Unikeys still has some great deals on for their Spring Sale (and had a major restock of keycaps and switches), MinoKeys is offering some new Mystery Switch bundles, and Osume is prepping for a big new release next week!

In the aftermath of the chaos that was Free Comic Book Day, I've also had a crazy busy week with next to no downtime, so in light of that, this week’s a shorter one—only 2 clicks and 2 clacks. But that doesn't make them any less special. Let's dive in!

clicks 🔗

Flip the script

Courtesy of ANBERNIC on youtube.com

→ Retro handheld company Anbernic recently announced a gaming device with a unique rotating display and I'm just now beginning to see unboxings and hands-on reviews of the unit. Anbernic usually makes Android-powered devices in recognizable shapes that modernize retro designs (like the Gameboy or PSP) but this new RG Rotate breaks that mould. The gimmick here is the flip-up touchscreen display that reveals the gamepad (D-pad and action buttons) when opened. Simple enough, looks very fun to fidget with, and I appreciate the pricing approach they took here—$88 for a plastic version, and $108 for a build with an aluminum body. Stays within a reasonable budget, has plenty of power for any game emulation that requires a D-pad, is super-pocketable, and isn't like anything else out there in the emulation market right now.

Second brain superpowers

Courtesy of capture.surf

→ In the little spare time that I had this week, I was very happy to test out and witness the launch of Capture—a macOS utility made by fellow newsletter writer Chris (of The Hiro Report). Capture is made for second brain productivity system lovers (like me) and helps reduce the friction of saving ideas, notes, links, quotes, etc. into something like Obsidian. It adds a new hotkey (⌥ + C) and quickly pulls in context-aware information from what you're browsing—like the URL or highlighted text on the screen—and captures it upon activation. You can jot down what you need, add tags, throw the snippets into folders, redirect ideas to other locations in your vault, and append to existing notes (my most used feature). It's keyboard-friendly, I'm loving how speedy and customizable it is already, and I can't wait to see it update and grow. Congrats on the launch Chris!

clacks 🔗

Seeing double

Courtesy of machina.mx

→ A highly anticipated second version of Machina's Overture has arrived. Machina is a keyboard design company based in Sydney, Australia which started in 2022 and has already made waves in the short time since its inception. The Overture 2 is a premium Hall Effect board that expands upon the original, adding a redesigned Tadpole mounting system (silicon bumpers shaped like, you guessed it, tadpoles), and the board is now available in two prebuilt versions. These new prebuilts are the standout upgrade to me as they have two stunningly different colourways—Virtue and Moon. Virtue is a white and parawood pairing with yellow and cream keycaps, while Moon combines silver with transparent components and caps for an edgier vibe. I love the contrast this creates in the product lineup, and with these new versions, the board is more accessible than ever.

New drops

Courtesy of corsair.com

→ Not too long ago, I discussed the sad news that Drop (the audiophile, keyboard, and tech storefront) was shutting down. But the even more recent (and happier) news is that Drop is here to stay! Debuting a new format, they are shifting focus to their existing brand collaborations, and introducing new ones like this Fallout Nuka-Cola themed setup. Even though it's not the same as before, I like seeing the brand stick around and still offer a range of products through collabs with popular IPs—like keyboards, microphones, and even artisan keycaps!

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing I've been wondering about how the heck Shazam works, reading up on big elevator business in Canada, using previous feature DelphiTools on iOS, and watching these incredible ASL re-animations of popular Disney songs. All this while prepping for the inevitable madness of Free Comic Book day that's happening over the weekend (right when this issue goes live actually) at my local comic book shop.

Let's dive right in!

clicks 🔗

New tab territory

Courtesy of samsung.com

→ A new tech treat for myself arrived this week—the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11. I bought it during a recent sale at Best Buy to replace my aging iPad Mini which I've been noticing has been slowing down even during regular browsing. I originally intended to wait for a new mini to release, but I wanted a taller form factor (about the same size as a comic book as that is the bulk of content I read) and needed something cheaper. Before I went Apple-everything, I was big into Android and Windows, so diving back into that realm has been…interesting. I love the device, but many software quirks that existed back in the day are still present, and I am overwhelmed with the sheer amount of choices for launchers, apps, icon packs, themes, and fonts. On top of that, I'm not a huge fan of how both Google and Samsung push AI into the hardware, but I do like how incredibly easy it has been to avoid it on the device so far. All in all, a great recent pick up, and excited to get to use it more.

Let the ink flow

Courtesy of ia.net

→ The writing software by iA—aptly named Writer—is my favourite to use when I need to get completely distraction free, focused writing sessions done. While I've known that they recently branched out into slides/presentation software, I didn't realize they also had a physical product—a notepad that follows many of the same principals of their app's design. It's simple, functional, and made for one purpose: writing. It uses watermarked lines on the page to guide your pen that visually “disappear” after writing, a cool concept instead of simply printing finer or thicker guidelines. As with many other premium notebooks and pads, it uses paper that can sufficiently handle the flow and ink of most fountain pens, which is another hobby rabbit hole to fall down.

Go wide or go home

Courtesy of wideluxx.com

→ WideluxX, the Jeff Bridges backed revival of the Widelux F8 panoramic film camera is finally available to the public for pre-order. This new camera shoots standard 35mm film and uses the same sweeping-lens mechanism to capture ultra-wide photos, while also focusing on maintaining the legacy of the brand and ensuring the cameras are repairable and easily serviceable. You might have seen Bridges flaunting his OG Widelux in places around the web—on The Late Show, this iconic behind-the-scenes shot from The Big Lebowski, or a plethora of shots on his Instagram as far back as 2015. The passion Jeff brings to this format is awesome to see, and while these first production units are incredibly expensive and limited, I'm always a fan of conserving the past and refurbishing it for the future.

clacks 🔗

Zero compromise

Courtesy of ateliermagnus.com

→ Atelier Magnus (throwback to Issue #24) is adding a more reasonably priced board to their Slate line-up—the slate zero. It's an HHKB layout 60% board milled from a solid piece of aluminum. The PCB and internals are placed into the board via silicone gaskets—no top or bottom case here, just a simple slab that still stays true to Magnus' design language. Feels like a rational step in the right direction for the company's second board. While the slate75 was awesome, it had a hefty price tag, even for a premium board. Canadian vendor for this project is KeyBay Tech—check it out!

Splice, trim, and cut it up

Courtesy of bowlkeyboards.com

→ Designed by Shark from the Bord Keycap design studio, Grass Valley is a brand new keycap set available in a group buy which started yesterday. The beige and muted colour-tone set is inspired by keyboards which were used for film editing in the eighties and nineties. A prominent media equipment manufacturer, Grass Valley (still operating today), produced unique boards that had colourful caps that corresponded to editing functions (trim, play, pause, mark, etc.). It's an impressive take on a vintage look, and I really hope the MOQ is met for this set and the caps see the light of day. More pics, specs, and a detailed description of the GB and MOQ requirement can be found here on the Canadian Mino Keys page.

You pass butter

Courtesy of cannonkeys.com

→ Oh my god. CannonKeys has knocked it out of the park again with…a deskmat that looks like the packaging on a stick of butter. What else can I say? This outrageous desk accessory could be easily confused with a common kitchen item, but I think it's just goofy enough that I'm bound to see this online in a setup sometime soon.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I've been hyped up watching the Devil May Cry Season 2 and Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake trailers. I discovered a new menu bar macOS tool called FineTune to help me independently control the volume of apps (closer to that of a Windows experience which I missed). Also browsed through Hideo Kojima's dope new collab/collection with high-end performance apparel brand Acronym, and wanted to pick up these unnecessary but awesome Unown-shaped AirTag cases.

Additionally, I've been reading about designing a completely unique keyboard mounting system, and Framework's take on the couch keyboard. And last but not least, one of the best places to get keyboard cables and accessories (in my opinion), Wired In, is having a Spring sale—15% off all cables using discount code SPRING2026!!

Let's dive right into the clicks!

clicks 🔗

Preview all the filters!

Courtesy of prelens.app

→ This past week, the live-previewing Lightroom preset app, Prelens by Marcel Jereb, became available for all! I've been testing it in beta for a few months now, and it has been amazing to see the progress from initial vision to full launch. I tried all the default filters, and even threw some of my favourite Fuji Film sims and other free presets at it—and it handled them all wonderfully. Prelens simply takes an existing XMP file and previews the filter through the viewfinder in the app. There is a huge community of Lightroom enthusiasts who have created and shared thousands of already customized XMP files, so even if you're not well versed in Lightroom or creating presets, it's still super easy to use Prelens. Bonus points here for its incredible skeuomorphic design and tactile-knob interface that's super fun to use/play with.

Now I've really scene it all

Courtesy of scene.hillmanchan.com

→ I enjoy using the window management tools baked into Raycast (my macOS launcher of choice), but always felt it lacked some key features. No window presets and the speed of getting all my windows set is the most frustrating—having to change each window's size and position individually really slowed things down. Apple's Stage Manager didn't work for me/was too simple, and another Raycast extension called Window Layouts was almost perfect for me, but just missed the mark. Some customization and layout-launching was still difficult, so I kept searching until l I found Scene—a tool that lives in your menu bar and has a lot of the functionality I'm looking for. Create custom layouts, keyboard shortcuts, auto-launch and auto-quit apps, and best of all, it's completely free. For now, a mix of Windows Layouts and Scene is my go-to, but I would love to see a Raycast extension for Scene, or for some of the best features from Scene to get added to Window Layouts.

Pica font, any font

Courtesy of pica.joshpuckett.me

→ Discovering, using, and organizing fonts has been a new pastime for myself ever since I started this newsletter. Typefaces have a major impact on how my thoughts, ideas, and brand identity are presented to a reader like you. I've featured cool fonts here in the past—Monocraft, Fran Sans, or Geist just to name a few—and I know I've only scratched the surface. On macOS, the font book to preview these beautiful creations always felt lacking—it's hard to use, barely updated, and never did the fonts justice on a plain white background. Designer Josh Puckett has a solution—Pica, a modern font management application that looks good and does it all. Better performance, colour themes, TFF and OTF support, and best of all, “watch” folders so you don't have to install a font just to preview it. It sounds pretty niche, but it has fixed a problem I didn't even know I had, and rediscovering my fonts with Pica was a blast.

clacks 🔗

Mechanical keyboards for all

Courtesy of Joe Scotto on youtube.com

→ An extraordinary one-take video by Joe Scotto that summarizes all the work he does in the accessibility community. Creating custom boards, teaching DIYers about hand-wiring, offering workshops, and developing new ideas for everyone to have accessible input devices for computer use in this ever-increasingly digital world. Joe sells many of his keyboards as kits or individual parts so you can build them yourself, but also offers reduced-cost or completely free builds to those who are differently-abled to keep them as accessible as possible. Always heart-warming to see this kind of love and care in the community and I'll amplify voices like this any chance I get.

World's first dual mag-mech board

Courtesy of lofree.co

→ The company Lofree, responsible for popular boards such as the Flow and Block, is releasing a brand new gaming keyboard with some huge innovations in the magnetic switch space. They partnered again with switch manufacturer Kailh to create a “Nexus-Magnetic Mechanical Switch” that supports the traditional metal leaf mechanical activation system, and has a magnet built into the stem to also support magnetic activation. In simpler terms, it's an all new mechanical/magnetic switch hybrid and the keyboard can toggle between the two detection/activation modes with a single keybind. Therefore, you could use the mechanical features of the switch for general use (fixed activation point, reliable for typing, etc.), and quickly switch to magnetic mode for gaming (custom actuation, rapid trigger, etc.). I think it's monumental, but more important on this board is the PCB, which supports both types of switches, so the hot-swappable options here are endless! Side note: I always caution against Kickstarters and this campaign is no different— it is exciting and Lofree is a larger company with a positive history, but always be careful putting money down before a tangible product is produced.

Ocean Waves

Courtesy of lelelab.store

→ Loving this mixed opaque and transparent keycap set by Lelelab, their first foray into low-profile territory. The combo of light and dark blues, plus a variety of retro pixel novelties, creates a calm aesthetic I'd love to use on one of my low-profile Nuphy boards. I've been seeing a lot of transparent keycaps lately and while I used to be indifferent towards that style, it's certainly growing on me as I see more designers and creators use the style sparingly. LeleLab works with many other brands and designers, but also has a healthy portfolio of traditional profile caps to peruse.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!

Hi all 👋, this week while writing clicks 'n clacks I didn't have too much time to wander the cyberspace. But I still managed to build my new Eave65 keyboard, play a bit of the new LEGO Fortnite Ninjago update, read about Cybersecurity and AI, and check in on the Mode Designs team and their 2026 keeb lineup (again).

Here's what I rounded up for y'all this week!

clicks 🔗

Workspace on wheels

Courtesy of grovemade.com

→ I'm a big fan of anything that Oregon-based design company Grovemade puts out, and their newest rolling desk accessory is no exception. This new desk cart acts as a companion to the rest of their office furniture line-up, adding more versatility, more storage, and more organization. Now, the price of this new piece—and many of their other products—starts ridiculously high, and I don't want to breeze past this. Their products are pricey, and pulling the trigger on something like this should not be taken lightly—it took me years to finally commit to purchasing their desk stand. But I am very pleased with the build quality of the stand, and the durability/longevity is something I don't think you'd get in any dupe or cheaper alternative. Grovemade's design ethos, commitment to high-quality components, and transparency in the creation process are what initially drew me in, and keep me a long time fan. Other more reasonably priced options from them are the desk tools—pens, pencils, notepads, trays, etc.—which are all staples that have found their place in my setup.

Capy companion

Courtesy of typibara.com

→ Helping me write the newsletter this week was Typibara, a simple macOS utility that is the “work buddy you didn't know you need”. It adds a customizable animated Capybara that lives anywhere on your screen, hangs out with you, and mimics your keystrokes as you type. Totally private, totally fun, and dev Edward Chiang has teased more capy-skins and themes coming soon. I know it seems silly, but I love featuring little companions like this—they're harmless, cost next to nothing compute-wise to run, and always bring a smile to my face when I'm deep in productivity mode.

Terminally sick beats

Courtesy of @lalo-space on github.com

→ There are some great studying/focusing music videos I love to listen to when working that aren't on any streaming services, and I prefer not to have a RAM-hungry YouTube tab constantly running. So when I found ShellBeats, I was delighted to discover it could solve my problem. Using its super lightweight terminal interface, I can play the audio from any YouTube video, search, create playlists, and control everything without my hands ever leaving the keyboard. With ShellBeats and a previously discovered command line app called Yatoro in my arsenal, I can play anything from Apple Music and YouTube directly from the terminal. And for those who aren't comfortable digging around in the command-line interface, a GUI version is available for macOS and Windows.

clacks 🔗

Curated clacks

Courtesy of sheets.works

→ The Listening Museum is an interactive online exhibit and archive of 36 different mechanical switch sounds. The audio samples and recordings are curated from across the mechanical keyboard community, and I think this piece does a great job at highlighting its references and giving credit where it's due. This is a solid start for anyone looking to learn more about switch sounds and their history—keeping in mind these recordings are a mere snapshot of the full sound-profile every switch and setup can produce. The essay is entry number 49 in an online series called The Data Drop—self-described as ”Not a newsletter. Not a chart. A visual essay you'll actually finish”. This was the first Data Drop I read, and after digging into their archive, The Dunder Mifflin Social Network, LEGO Colours, and Every Block Ever Added to Minecraft are my standout picks. An instant subscribe for me and I can't wait for future issues.

170°

Courtesy of unikeyboards.com

→ Three years after its initial run, the Sonic170—a 10% macropad and 65% board all-in-one—is coming back for a second round. Designed by Keynex Studio, the Sonic features a unique left-side macro cluster that contains a customizable LED module which can be placed along the top or bottom of the cluster (or removed entirely if you like more keys). It also features a rotary encoder (knob) but in an orientation not commonly seen on boards—mounted to the side of the case instead of on top. This creates a visual blank space on the board that nicely balances out the macros on the left and allows for an aesthetic light bar to be added in. A nice touch in this second iteration, which I like to see on my boards, is an offset USB port. This just means that the main plug for connecting the keyboard is closer to the right side rather than dead centre, leaving room to show off any fancy cable (coiled or otherwise) you may have in your setup.

Addicted to mayonnaise

Courtesy of uchu.club

→ Mayo-fiends rejoice, the perfect keycap set is here for you! DSA Mayorā (named after the Japanese term for “mayonnaise freaks”) is an adorable in-stock collection from creator Uchu Club. Loving the combo of the whites, off-whites, and the red-orange accents here, along with the modifiers featuring artwork of mayo bottles, mayo dollops, and assorted mayo squiggles. And yes, because I know you're dying to find out, you can get a 18 inch tall mayo plushie to go along with your mayo-everything setup.

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 mail@clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this issue!) and have a great weekend!!