Issue 016
The July Edition
elcome to the July newsletter. Casio cameras, old menus, and uhh… a few AI things as well.
Sorry about that.
stay ready
via taurean
1 — open super whisper
Pedro and I have had a mostly unspoken agreement not to feature much AI stuff here. Not because we were taking some grand stance, but because even if we were fully bought in, you have probably already been buried under enough of it. So, without ever making a real rule, we mostly avoided it.
I’m going to try to get away with packing it all into one issue.
First up is OpenSuperWhisper, an open-source alternative to the now-popular Whisper app, minus the $20 monthly subscription. Given how many mid-to-higher-end machines can do genuinely great transcription locally now, it feels criminal to make that a recurring payment. OpenSuperWhisper really shines here. It’s already producing better results than some of the other dictation subscription apps I tested.
2 — goldfish
Next up is Goldfish. I’m less confident about outright recommending this one, but I do find it really interesting. Goldfish watches what’s on your screen and, over time, learns what you tend to focus on. It builds nodes for people, projects, topics, tools, organizations, and so on.
Its current flagship feature, writing the way you write “in your voice”, is mostly the wrong goal imo. But the way it records and organizes memories automatically has already proven useful. And as much as I want to judge the writing-in-your-voice feature, it did one-shot a cover letter for me. So… there’s that. It's currently free while in beta so for the time being, they've piqued my interest.
3 — osaurus
Finally, Osaurus. I haven’t used it long, but from the little I’ve seen, I’m impressed by what it’s trying to offer. It feels especially interesting for people who want to move away from American frontier models, or use local models more seriously, but have still been stuck with Claude because of how polished the Claude app is.
Osaurus lets you create distinct profiles for different kinds of work, each with its own skills and sandboxed environment. I’ve usually found AI services’ attempts at memory and personalization to be more trouble than they’re worth: they surface things I don’t need, clutter the context window, and nudge the model down the wrong path. Osaurus seems to offer more of the control I actually want without sacrificing the polished app experience, or forcing everything back into the terminal.
stay curious
via pedro
1 — the space cadet pinball machine, but in real life
One night I was deep in the rabbit hole of nostalgia, and came across CNCDan, a YouTuber specializing in 3D printing, CNC, Electronics and DIY projects, creating the Space Cadet pinball game from my millennial childhood into a real, working game. Right now there are only two videos in the series, but the way he has been going about it has been really fascinating to watch—even if you're not super savvy into the technical bits of it.
2 — casio made...a camera?
I love my Casio F91W so much, and while browsing for my next one and lurking the Casio subreddit for custom modifications and the like, I came across someone who had a Casio...camera? My interest piqued, and the design looked stunning. Released in 2003, this camera looks like something that could've been released today in terms of aesthetic. This CNET review from 2003 is a fun read, but the pictures it takes are even more fun. Might have to get one myself, but they're currently fetching for over $100 on eBay...
Photo credit: Arvin1980
3 — browse an incredible, robust archive of menus from 1850-1924
Taurean posted this in our Discord channel, and as a foodie, I just had to steal it for this months issue. This magnificent library of vintage menus (all in high resolution btw) is a beautiful time capsule of design, taste, and most importantly—food. Get lost in this site, and discover what folks ate back in the day (spoiler: it's a LOT of boiled food).
updates
Our new series "CRIT" is this Friday! We'll be using this time as a "show and tell" where you can showcase any projects you may be working on, and using it as a live feedback session from people on the call. Have a cool project and need another set of eyes? Come through, and RSVP with Luma here: https://luma.com/n6rw8bgr
July is half over… this time the buttons should work and everything. We’re still experimenting with how we show up both in your inbox and on your screens, including this Friday. And if you missed last month’s links because of a little bug, you can check out June’s issue too. See you Friday!
Did you enjoy this article?
Recommend it — Standard Reader surfaces well-loved writing to more readers across the network.