Good morning! January is a dreary month — not necessarily for the crummy weather, but the fall-off from the high of Christmas and New Year's celebrations is fast and sudden. Our family had events booked 3 or 4 times a week in December, and now we’re on the radar looking for things to do in the evening to get out of the house. I’m sure this is why half of Canada ends up on vacation in Mexico between now and the middle of February.
I hope your 2025 has kicked off with a bang. Here are a few fun things I found this week on the web.
It could seem like insanity to spend more money on keycaps than for an entire — perfectly functional — keyboard like the Apple Magic Keyboard or Microsoft’s Surface Keyboard. GMK is expensive.
But I’m calling it a “hobby” these days, so I can spend money willy-nilly without any judgement. And every keyboard hobbyist has to have a set of GMK keycaps in their arsenal.
Last week I received my first set of GMK keycaps — a base set of GMK’s new Granite MTNU profile keycaps. The base set comes with a full slate of number keys for a numeric keypad, the entire row of function keys, and a few additional fun keys for macro-keys you’ve created on a custom keyboard.
My quick review: There’s a reason GMK is known as a top-end keycap maker.
The 1.5 mm thick double-shot PBT plastic feels almost soft to the touch. The MTNU profile is unique, with rounded-square landing pads for your fingers and a really uniquely shaped home row. The profile is unique like Keychron’s profile, but not so unique that you might find it off-putting. And I really dig the centered legends.
I don’t have too many downsides to these keycaps. However:
A few of the keys are a little wobbly — the 1.75u shift key could pop right off the key switch at any moment, and the stepped caps lock key was effectively dead on arrival because of its wobbliness.
The base set does not include any macOS modifiers.
The “F” and “J” keys don’t come with a bar option; as far as I can tell, there are only scooped-key indicators. (Scooped are fun, but I don’t find them as good for feeling your way around a keyboard.)
In the same way I’ve grown to appreciate the understated qualities of Mode Design’s keycaps, I’ve quickly grown to love the louder design of GMK’s MTNU keycaps. There’s a reason these keycaps are so expensive — they are wonderful to type on. If these ever come back for sale, I’m going to have to jump on them in a heartbeat.
I’m really not a podcast guy. I listen to maybe one or two a year and never the full episode. I’ve certainly never been able to listen to a Joe Rogan episode from start to finish — three hours is lengthy. But when I saw a few clips of Wes Huff’s episode with Rogan and the manner in which Huff discussed the earliest Biblical manuscripts and documents, I knew I couldn’t miss it.
Wesley Huff is a Christian apologist from here in Canada. Based on the podcast episode, Huff is 32 years old, a PhD candidate in New Testament at the University of Toronto’s Wycliffe College, and apparently a sound speaker. His depth of knowledge of old Biblical languages, documents, and methodologies is little short of jaw-dropping.
I was especially interested in his discussion around how the Law is a mirror — it shows you how you’re dirty, but you can’t become clean by washing yourself with a mirror. Fascinating way of building an analogy around one of the harder Epistle lessons to learn.
If you don’t have three hours, check out the last few minutes of the episode. For a little while there, Huff actually interviews Rogan, and you can see Rogan’s mind extend into the universe. It’s a beautiful sight.
I’ve shared Marcus Lloyd’s work a few times on this website. Lloyd is bar-none my favourite photographer on the planet. He shoots Leica, yes, (and film, yes), but there’s little doubt the camera is the least impactful element in Lloyd’s shooting style. Lloyd has a way of capturing a scene unlike anyone else. Just when I feel Lloyd’s best shots are clearly shot in the beautiful sunrise, he pulls out a few midday photos that are as stunning as the last.
Your Consciousness Can Connect With the Whole Universe, Groundbreaking New Research Suggests — (Popular Mechanics) – Most of this is beyond me, until you hit the part where you're thinking about something can change the properties of something completely disconnected from your current environment.
The Espresso 15 Pro Portable Display — (9to5Mac) – What a wonderfully handy display to have kicking around for short jaunts away from the office.
Benefits of a Daily Diary and Topic Journals — (Derek Sivers) – The idea of a topic journal is fascinating. One notebook per subject. Imagine reading the first and last lines next to each other.
Happy Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
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I remember just a few years ago when some of my favourite writers surpassed the 10, 20 and even 30-year mark in their writing careers. To do something consistently for 30 years — to show up day in and day out for decades on end — that’s something special.
I’m no poster child for consistency. The Newsprint’s archive is sparse. I haven’t shown up each day.
Or, at least, I haven’t shown up here. I’ve been elsewhere. I’ve been being a father. I’ve been being a professional, a local volunteer, and a local athlete. I’ve been a regular church attender, something I was never before. I’ve been on the Peloton, lifting weights, reading my Bible, hanging out with my wife, and excitedly introducing my little girls to the fun parts of life. I’ve been studying.
I’ve been busy, like everyone else. Honestly, I don’t miss writing at all.
What I have missed, however, is a strong creative muscle. The muscle that sees something in real life and has a creative way of flipping it on its head. My brain right now is like a human body with strong arms but a weak core — the analytical muscle is strong, but the creative muscle is weak.
The Sunday Edition debuted over 10 years ago on this website. Crazy. The original Sunday Edition scraped together some interesting links from the week that was, and it included some minor commentary on a few of the links I found most interesting. The Sunday Edition easily became my most-read piece each week — for this little blog, 1,000 readers each Sunday was quite the exhilarating rush. I envisioned turning The Sunday Edition into a small business at one time.
Those 1,000 readers are mostly gone now, as is my drive to please everyone. You can like what you read. You can disagree with it. You can even flat out dislike it.
All I ask for is the common understanding of how hard it is to show up every week, to put yourself out there every week, to — as my dear friend Marius put it recently — be that vulnerable with an audience each week.
That’s what The Sunday Edition aims to be going forward.
This is my 2025 New Year's Resolution. My mental fitness. My 5:30AM psychological Peloton ride.
No promises. No guarantees. Just an exertion of creative energy.
No app has done more for me in 2024 than Superhuman. This is odd, given I bounced off the app the first time. This second go through, though, has unlocked more time, increased response speed, and has me leaning more into email than ever before.
Superhuman’s keyboard shortcuts are the king of keyboard shortcuts. There is a single key-press for just about every action in the app. Archiving email is as simple as pressing “E” on your keyboard. Reply with “Return”. Move with “V”. It’s so ridiculously fast and easy to use.
It’s so good at getting through your email quickly that you might feel you don’t need to pay the money for the app once you have your endless email list cleaned up. Email, in many ways, feels too easy with Superhuman.
On the negatory, Superhuman has two core issues with it:
It’s expensive as hell. — Indeed, it is. I can look myself in the mirror and know I’m saving $40 CAD per month in billable time. But for someone who may not be able to deduct the cost of their email app, I understand all apprehension. It’s spendy.
It sucks on the iPad. — The iPad is a particularly good device for email, but Superhuman flat out sucks on the big touch screen. The navigation is extra poor. I never know when to swipe up or to the side to get back to where I was before. The rest of the app on Mac and iPhone make up for this, but it flat out sucks on the iPad.
I’m not here recommending you subscribe to Superhuman instantly. I am, however, recommending you use the referral link above to check out the app for a month. You may find yourself saving time and feeling less anxious about checking your email a few times a day.
Superhuman, for me, has been game-changing in 2024.
I mentioned my pal Marius earlier, and his wisdom spans far beyond blogging. I’d venture to say his core competitive advantage is his knowledge of sound — the gentleman has more sets of headphones than I can count, and finds ways to discern an audio figment like I do decimals in a tax return.
So when you get a chance to read the complex thoughts of an audiophile on Apple’s most controversial audio product, you can’t miss it. I’d recommend dumping the link into an AI bot somewhere and listening to the article as though it were a podcast. Sometimes I feel this is how Marius intended for his writing to be digested.
Just make sure you pick your favourite set of headphones.
Morgan Housel, writing at perhaps my favourite blog right now, Collab Fund:
If you develop an early system of savings and living well below your means – congratulations, you’ve won. But if you can never break away from that system, and insist on a heavy savings regimen well into your retirement years … what is that? Is it still winning? A lot of financial planners I’ve talked to say one of their biggest challenges is getting clients to spend money in retirement. Even an appropriate, conservative amount of money. Frugality and savings become such a big part of some people’s identity that they can’t ever switch gears.
There are two types of final tax returns out there: Those who could never bring themselves to part with their wealth, and those who parted with their wealth much too soon.
The Second Cup
Here are a few more links to get you through that second cup of coffee this Sunday morning.
Touring the $250,000,000 Highest Penthouse IN THE WORLD — (Ryan Serhant) – It didn’t actually sell for $250,000,000, just so you know.
Unboxing the Mac Studio — (Grovemade) – Old article, but I love Grovemade’s photographic style.
Notion Calendar — (Notion) – My runner-up for 2024’s app of the year.
An awesome Mac setup — (Workspaces.xyz on Threads) – Not sure whether it’s the photographic angle, the light, or the gear, but what a great shot.
Simeon praises God for meeting Baby Jesus — (Luke 2:29-32) – Isn’t it interesting that a man had been told through revelation that little baby Jesus would be a light unto the Gentiles, yet Jesus was crucified because (among other reasons) He was a light for the Gentiles? How did Simeon know when the powerful Pharisees did not? I think the Pharisees did know, which makes it all that much worse.
Happy New Year to you all. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
Though not one of my top five favourite things from 2024, the M4 Pro MacBook Pro's nano texture display is one of my favourite laptop features in years.
Without sounding completely out of touch with the rest of the world, I want to outline my five favourite purchases from 2024. My writing and storytelling days are largely behind me, so I expected a shift away from the normal new-product testing cycle. Yet, I still found a way to keep every device in my bag up to date, and I found a few other giddy-inducing products along the way.
I’m getting older though. Change is much less fun than it used to be. There’s only so much mental power each day, and large change for incremental gain is falling further and further down my interest list. More and more these days, once I’ve found something that sticks, I tend to stop hunting. Life’s better this way. I think.
Nonetheless, here are the five best products I’ve come across in 2024.
5. Mode Envoy (But More Specifically, Durock Silent Shrimp Switches)
The Mode Envoy with Mode Anthracite keycaps. Underneath are the Durock Silent Shrimp switches. The wrist rest is from Nuphy.
The Mode Envoy has nearly ended my hunt for the best keyboard. Surely there are better keyboards. But they’re all three times the price, require you to build yourself, and require you to search the depths of the internet for the most arbitrary parts. I’m simply no longer interested in hunting for a better writing keyboard for at home.
The key to my love for the Envoy, though, are Durock Silent Shrimp switches. These light blue beauties probably hover on the line of not being allowed to call themselves a “silent” switch, given their deep pop, pop, pop sound. But once you get going though, that pop, pop, popping is one of the best sounds in the world.
I think the key difference between these Silent Shrimps and the Boba U4 Silent switches is the upstroke of each switch. On the way down, there’s about the same amount of force and feel of each keystroke. But on the way back up, the Silent Shrimps return to their normal state in a faster, less scratchy, more instant way.
These Silent Shrimps, combined with the Mode Envoy’s lattice mount system and internal foam make for the best keyboard I’ve ever typed on in my life. Over a year later, I still get giddy when I sit down at my home office desk to do some writing.
The only keyboard I really want these days is the Sonnet.
4. iPad Pro M4 13-inch
The M4 iPad Pro is the best iPad I've ever used. Not in terms of specs. But in terms of an overall package of speed, beauty, and functionality.
I’ve had more iPads than I care to admit, and the interest level has been waning in recent years. The M4 iPad Pro is the iPad that reignited the iPad for me. It wasn’t an operating system change that did it for me. It wasn’t the addition of new professional-level apps either. It happened to be a hardware and chassis change that put me over the top.
I long felt the 11-inch iPad Pro was the quintessential iPad size. It was the original iPad size, after all. It’s also the iPad that fits best in your hand and provides the best experience when using it on a couch or in a comfortable setting.
This incredibly thin, incredibly light, and incredibly bright 13-inch M4 iPad Pro puts all those monikers to the test, though. This big iPad feels wonderful to hold, even in one hand. It has a magnificent screen, capable of putting all other display in my life to shame. And there’s something about the way Stage Manager works on the big iPad that makes me think Apple actually is onto something. Perhaps most people just aren’t able to try out Stage Manager in its purest form.
For me, the iPad Pro M4 13-inch is Apple’s best device of the year. It has completely changed my personal computing life. I have a newfound separation between work and play, and it’s all thanks to this giant, insanely thin iPad Pro.
3. Ugmonk Gather
Ugmonk's Gather system will revamp anyone's workspace in an instant.
In my head, there are two versions of the ultimate desk setup: either perfect minimalism with next to nothing on the desk (like this one here), or a desk with Ugmonk’s Gather accessories. Minimalist desk setups look great, but I feel don’t have as much true functionality.
Jeff Sheldon’s ability to mould a beautiful set of high-quality desk accessories with an ultimate form of functionality is second to none in this category. Including magnets in each Gather component ensures everything stays where intended. Magnets also ensure you can move things around to your preference or give things a switch up if you’re looking for some inspiration.
If you made me pick one single Ugmonk Gather piece, it would be the Small Tray with a wooden lid. I don’t have one of the Large Trays (which could fit a set of glasses, for instance), so I can’t say for sure, but I feel the Small Tray is the perfect combination of form and function. The little box looks fantastic and stores anything from a set of AirPods, to a few SD cards, to a few paper clips. A close second is the Pencil Cup, which I feel works great for storing highlighters, pens, and a small ruler.
Perhaps the best part of the Gather system is its ultimate quality. This is a set of desk accessories I’ll have for the rest of my life. Their design is very likely timeless, and sure to be on my desk for the rest of my career.
2. Weber Slate Griddle
Food tastes at least three times better coming off a griddle. Especially when the prior meal was a whole package of bacon.
Like everyone (and everything) these days, I discovered the idea of a griddle on Instagram. A mom of three was showing off how easy it was to cook a gigantic breakfast for her rugrats and I immediately forwarded the video to my wife. Of course, we both figured it was probably one of those Insta-mom-influencers just trying to make a buck, but we couldn’t shake the idea of having one of these cool griddles on our deck.
While researching, the Weber Slate Griddle had just been recently announced, and I had to jump onboard. The griddle arrived in the early summer. We probably cooked upwards of 50% of our meals on the griddle thereafter.
There’s something about the way food tastes on a griddle. It’s most likely the greases and oils from yesterday’s meal making their way into your current slate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It could also be the oily and buttery mess you have to throw on the cooking surface ahead of every cook session. Whatever it is, food tastes at least three times better coming off the griddle.
You can also cook up a far larger number of items (burgers, pancakes, French toast, etc.) at once, or you can cook all the eggs, bacon, and pancakes in one or two passes, rather than working through each breakfast component one by one in your kitchen.
We ultimately chose the Weber Slate because we have a Weber barbecue. The Slate does have the ability, though, to cook at one of the lowest griddle temperatures on the market, making cooking those eggs a little easier. The Slate also comes pre-seasoned, meaning you can cook basically out of the box. We quickly made some breakfast burritos during our first cook — we were eating within 15 minutes of firing up the Slate for the very first time.
1. ESV Study Bible in Olive Tree Bible Study App
Olive Tree's Bible Study app has been around for almost 2 decades on the iPad. The ESV Study Bible in Olive Tree is my most used app on the iPad right now.
I bought my first Olive Tree book way back in 2010 when working through my first arts degree. Back then, I had this cute obsession to try to put everything possible onto the first and second generation iPad, and that meant purchasing the NRSV Bible. I chose Olive Tree at the time because it was the prettiest Bible study app on the iPad. Little did I think the app would still be around 15 years later, let alone still have one of the best Bible experiences on the iPad.
I’ve been using the physically massive and wonderfully constructed Crossway Heirloom Study Bible for the last few years. It has a number of highlights and notes inside and even has a massive wine spill stain from a late night study session 5 years ago. Shame on me. At least my Study Bible has some additional character.
I tend to read twice a day — once at the office and once at home — and I wanted to have those ESV Study Bible notes for whenever I was reading. Carrying that Study Bible around is the worst. It’s massive. And it’s too pretty to be rough with. I needed a digital version.
The ESV Study Bible in the Olive Tree app is as good as it gets for a digital Bible. The notes are feature-complete relative to the physical ESV Study Bible. The notes can stay locked-in to the verses you’re reading, or you can scroll forward or back while keeping your passages locked-in at the top of the view. The best part about the digital notes, though, is the ability to tap on a cross-reference and have the verse or study note pop up in a little window. This keeps you focused and reading the relevant sections to the verse you’re studying, rather than having to flip through the Bible to find the referenced note.
In my opinion, the ESV Study Bible in the Olive Tree app is the best way to study the Bible right now. Big-time pastors seem to be picking Logos. But the ability to have these sorts of pop up windows in the reference and study notes, while also having the Apple Pencil ready for some note-taking or some highlighting, is truly one of its kind. Connect the iPad to an external display and you can even have multiple windows open for multiple-reference studying.
The Olive Tree Bible Study app is now my most-used iPad app. And it’s all thanks to that 21st Century ESV Study Bible inside.
Wrap Up
I could have multiple shout-outs or push the list to seven or eight. I’m really, really happy with the M4 Pro MacBook Pro I recently picked up, and I’m specifically enamoured with the new nano texture display. That display is the best of its kind and I can’ see myself wanting any other kind of display again.
I could also mention Superhuman, perhaps my second favourite app of the year. I bounced off it the first time, but the second pass at the app has made my email workflow a dream. I finally feel on top of my email after what feels like years.
All the items above have provided a level of delight far beyond their price tag this year. I could not recommend any of these five items enough for anyone’s Christmas list this year.
