šBuy a Smart Typewriter, Unplug with Wisephone, and Zero Trace
The not so smart phone
Hellooooooo!
Iāve got some really awesome news for you this week. The Land of Random is NOW 1,000 subscribers strong. Weāve finally hot the big 1k!
Itās been a really long journey . . . and Iām so excited that weāre at the next step. From 1K to 10K here we come!
Thank you so much for reading along every week, sending me emails, and talking to me on Twitter. Iām so happy you join me on this wild ride every Monday. :)
To celebrate this huge milestone - Iām giving away a Steam Key to the fantastic Star Wars game Knights of the Old Republic II AND all 261 Seikomart releases on Bandcamp. Thatās 261 albums of Vaporwave and all kinds of fun music.
Hereās just ONE of the epic albums. Top Tier Vibes.
Well, what are you waiting for? Tell all your friends about The Land of Random.
Enter the contest now!
Maybe it has something to do with the Holiday season coming soon, but I seem to be up to my internet eyeballs in cool products. I do apologize, but all of todayās main topics are just that. š¤£š¤£
Well, shall we hop on into todayās topics?
šBuy a Smart Typewriter
Months ago we discussed the last remnants of the traditional typewriter industry. Today - weāll discuss its future.
Thereās a really cool company called Freewrite thatās bringing typewriters back with a techy twist.
For content thatās coming straight out of your noggin, the fewer distractions - the better. Occasionally, I write fiction - and I tend to get very distracted. Heck - Iāve got two books that I really need to finish.
Something like this would be perfect for going to a park or a coffee shop. Just imagine it . . . the idea of sipping a coffee, the clickity clack of the keyboard, and the coffee shop music/noise in the background. A few hours of distraction free writing. Nods and jealous looks for elder Hipsters. Yeah iām cool too.
Ok . . . back to reality. Hereās a picture of the main Freewrite.
Just look at those retro vibes. It has a bright e-ink screen, weeks of battery life, and connects to Wifi so you can backup your documents to Google Drive and Dropbox.
Thereās even a travel version - and itās the only one in stock at the moment - sadly.
This looks pretty nifty too. Great for some compact writing when you donāt want to lug around the other version.
Go check out Freewrite at the link!
š±Unplug with Wisephone
Finally, a Smartphone without apps that is ALSO minimalist. The Techless Wisephone feels like Blloc and Boringphone had a baby.
Hereās their copy
Wisephone is for intentional people who want to live life to the fullest. The perfect first phone for sophisticated kids, a trustworthy tool for digital minimalists, and a respite from the noble fight against addiction. Itās sophisticated and simple, with everyday tools, including calling, texting, maps, and a camera. More importantly, Wisephone has no app store, no social media, and no access to addictive media. (Source)
Itās a smartphone - but without the thousands of distracting addictive apps that eat our time . . . . Itās for people who are sick and tired of that grind. Heck, iāve had smartphones for almost 10 years and Iām getting tired too.
Just look at this beautiful minimalism. The tech message UI is as clean as it gets. Texting would be fun again on this haha.
Hereās the feature list
Phone
Texting (SMS + Group Text)
Calculator
Timezone
Camera
Maps
Stopwatch
Thatās it. Itās like the smartphone verison of the Light phone - except it doesnāt have music. Thatās honestly the one downside in my opinion. At least a basic mp3 player would be useful - or a stripped down Spotify/Bandcamp/Soundcloud.
Otherwise, Iād be tempted to use this phone as my daily driver when I want to have a tech detox. Of course you could pair it with a Mighty music player to make up the difference - and that could work just fine!
Check it out at the link.
š±āš»Zero Trace Pen
Once in a while, I find a privacy product thatās really cool - like the USB Kill device that you can use to instantly kill your computer.
The Zero Trace Pen is a pen shaped usb drive that you can hook up to your laptop
What Is The Zero Trace Pen?
Everything you do on the Internet goes through your ISP (aka Internet Service Provider), this includes anything you do outside of the Tor browser as well. Our Zero Trace Pen encrypts and anonymizes your entire connection by passing it through 3 different relays just like the Tor Browser. However, encryption happens at the operating system level. This means, you can browse applications and the internet completely anonymous without worrying about being tracked.
Illustration of the relays.
Sound pretty cool, right? The drive is also set up with a double kill switch too - so it starts deleting everything the moment you unplug *rip* out your usb.
It also contains a bunch of really useful apps - like the Electrum BTC wallet, Tor browser, Libreoffice, and many others.
Usually, these sorts of security devices look too complicated to use for the average consumer - or - they take too much time to learn. This certainly looks easier to use - and it will definitely provide more privacy than that āfree VPN.ā
Go check it out at the link!
šThe Land of Random
Those sweet sweet links of randomness
Windows 11 in React
Enjoy some Windows 11 vibes right there in your browser. Thereās even a few games!
Sick Samsung Prototypes
I imagine that one of these will be the next Galaxy Fold. I WANT the super foldy tablet phone.
Generative Drawing Tool
Ooooooooooooh. Pretty Spirals
Your 8 Bit Homepage
Set this beautiful 8 bit scenery as your internet homepage. So cool!
Focusli
A very minimalist Lofi (and other music) radio player. Itās awesome!
Vaporwave Sax Doggo
The title says it all . . .
Syne Display
This really nifty looking still-being-developed product is essentially a live photo screen - but for album covers from music streaming services. Just what I wanted for a music setup. Iād love to have this on the wall by my desk!
š¶TikToks You Canāt Miss
This is why you wear safety glasses
Now THAT is a nerf gun
No touch snekkkkkkkkk
I can show youuuu the worlldddddd
Catch that reference?
Locomotives in the woods!
Thatās all for this week! See you next time.