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  1. Would you buy the new Ring drone security camera?

    Question: does anyone think this would actually change the outcome of someone breaking into your home? Think about it: if you’re the kind of person that buys this product, you will already have surrounded your house with smart cameras. At that point, if somebody breaks in, you’ve caught them on film anyway. Equally, if they do break in and you’re hundreds of miles away, you’re kind of screwed either way. Hence, a little drone that someone could easily smash out of the sky and stamp on strikes me as totally pointless. Just me?

    PetaPixelRing's AI-Powered Drone Automatically Patrols Inside Your HomeRing Drone Cam keeps an eye on the inside of your home from the air.

  2. More on the hardware custom firmware front…

    The M-Wave FM-1 has already ascended to the “totally sold out everywhere” pantheon, thanks entirely to its firmware being completely open source and available for anyone with Claude to customise.

    My buddy Pete certainly went to town with this CULTBOX firmware he made, which combines an Elka drum machine, a Polivoks synth and his own custom dub siren, among other things.

    Check it out:

    Really though the point is that we’re moving to a state where people can basically create their own grooveboxes now. IMO this reinforces the point I made in an earlier post, i.e. that I’d imagine the future will be less about owning loads of hardware, and more about owning a select few pieces that can be rewritten to do whatever you want at the time.

    I am seeing the same thing with my Polyend Tracker, which now has upgraded (and brilliant) firmware, but also other downloads that can turn it into a 4-track looper, a 303 and a vocoder, among other things.

    Exciting times!

  3. Interesting move from Splice here

    Splice knows its market here - that is, beginners who just want to smash a tune out but won’t go as far as to just use Suno.

    I think we’re going to see an increasing tension between seasoned music makers who like the hard work of learning a DAW etc, versus the people who just chat into apps or platforms like this and make whatever they like. Will that de-legitimise their efforts? Time will tell I guess…

    SpliceSplice Create: All-in-One DAW with Splice Sounds Built InSplice Create is a DAW for Mac with millions of human-made Splice sounds, instruments, and effects built in. Control it by voice or text. Try it free.

  4. One for the productivity nerds: Mojito

    It always bugged me that you cannot start typing any emoji by typing it’s name in - e.g. “:laughing:” - as you can on things like Slack or WhatsApp and Signal etc.

    This free app, Mojito, fixes that by enabling that method whatever app you are using on your Mac. I’ve had it for a week now and it’s already indispensable, LOL

    MojitoMojito — Autocomplete :emoji: everywhere on macOSAutocomplete :emoji: everywhere on macOS. Type a colon and search any emoji, symbol, or shortcode in seconds — in TextEdit, iMessage, Terminal, anywhere.

  5. RIP Arc Browser, on to Crest?

    I’ve been a user of Arc browser since it launched. It was far more capable than Chrome and soon became an essential part of my workflow. It annoyed me then, when the makers basically mothballed it in favour of a new AI-infused browser called Dia. Earlier this week, they went even further and basically announced the browser was being fully shut down.

    Enter Crest. I installed it last night and so far it’s been a like-for-like replacement. It even has a migration feature to import your Arc spaces, extensions and history. Very effortless. Worth a look if you’re also an Arc user wondering where to go next.

    CrestCrest Browser for Mac, iPad, and iPhoneAn independent browser made with a love for Arc's best ideas, including Spaces, a calm sidebar, and Peek.