Hey friends!

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you had a wonderful time with your family this weekend.

It was a coldddd Christmas, so we snuggled up around some classic Christmas movies and warm drinks.

Fortunately our pipes didn’t freeze. Hope yours didn’t either!

Did you make anything tasty? I made the “pounded cheese” that I saw on TikTok (and mentioned here once or twice) and it was sooooo goooood.

I tend to try to make one “fun thing” for each Christmas dinner - usually, it’s my crab dip - but this year I was craving the beaten cheese.

Basically - it’s a cheese spread for bread - nothing fancy. It’s really easy to make, but you do have to gather a few extra ingredients you may not have laying around.

Here’s a link to the TikTok again. I really hope the creator comes out with a cookbook at some time. I’d totally get it.

Aside: Specialty Cooking also an easy way to niche down on TikTok. Go get a cookbook from the 60s and start creating a recipe a day, with a few videos, and you’ll have a massive account in no time.

Anyway - I watched that new “Christmas Story” movie and I gotta say - that was really good. They captured the spirit of the original AND managed to create a sequel that doesn’t feel like some sort of money grab.

It’s a great movie - watch it if you can.

OH - and go play with Dee-lights if you can. Put it up on the TV with your kids and mess around - It’s hilarious controlling someone’s Christmas lights in real time.

Well, let’s dive on in - shall we?

🤳Sup Audio

A lot of players have been trying to figure out the “Audio Social Media” space - and none have emerged victorious.

Clubhouse is so last year and Racket has disappeared entirely.

There’s a new player in town - and it’s here to say “Sup.”

It’s pretty fun - and has some pretty unique twists.

You can record 15-second audio messages, and post them like tweets.

However

Your followers will receive your audio OUT LOUD on their phones (as long as they’re not on mute).

Wait what

Yeah -so your phone could be sitting on the counter, andddd then you start hearing a voice pop out from your phone.

I tried this out - and it’s pretty wild to just start hearing a voice at random from your phone. I scramble to my phone to listen to it - and play it back.

There’s a lot of trust there - don’t be making random anon friends unless you’re a sucker for pranks.

You can DM your friends in audio, and see voice to text “guesses” at what you or others said.

There’s not a lot happening on the app, so it’s the perfect time to get on and start playing around with the idea.

Here’s a look at the UI.

It’s pretty clean and fluid - a lot like Twitter. The five icons on the top right are a bit cramped, but compared to a lot of other startup apps I’ve encountered - the app is CLEAN.

I’m excited to see how Sup does!

Go check it out at the link - it’s available for iPhone and Android.

Sup.Audio

🤖Mecha Diggers

Whether you’re 1 or 100 there’s something AWESOME about construction vehicles.

My children currently have an obsession with trucks and backhoes.

Yes - we’ve watched a few Blippi videos. Yes, I know Blippi’s past - but we make a point that we’ve watched it only once or twice, so the kids won’t remember them.

Anywayyyyyy . . .

I discovered that mecha excavators (or Spider Excavators) exist after reading this New Atlas article.

Here you go.

Nooo - I’m just kidding. That one might be 2030’s model.

Here’s what they actually look like

Isn’t that wild looking?

These fantastical diggers were created to deal with the unique challenges of mountains.

Walking excavators were originally designed to operate on the extreme gradients and difficult terrain of the Swiss Alps, where regular wheeled and tracked excavators could be flat-out dangerous . . . Today's spider excavators are magnificent beasts in motion. The legs extend, retract, lift, lower and articulate at the hip, knee and ankle joints. Hydrostatically-powered wheels, steel claw mountain stabilizers or individually driven caterpillar tracks on the ends of the legs can each be tilted, the cabin is fully rotating, and the powerful excavator booms can dish out more force than tracked excavators twice their weight. (source)

Of course, I had to head to Youtube to find some footage of these crazy-looking excavators.

Based on some of this footage, it looks like you’d be paid “the big bucks” to pilot these.

There’s a lot of YT content if you want to see more - just use this link to start exploring

Not many of these things are for sale out there either - based on how much this little one costs, I imagine that the really advanced ones cost like a quarter million.

Now when my daughter says “IT’S a BACKHOE” very loudly, I’ll have to remember to show her videos of the spider backhoes. :)

🦻Hide Those Earbuds

Oh where oh where do those earbuds go?

In the backpack, pocket, or purse?

There seems to be a new trend in the air . . .

Hiding those earbuds in something we already carry.

The Nokia 5710 XpressAudio phone hides a pair of earbuds within the phone itself. It’s a brilliant idea!
Not to be outdone by the Nokia, the Huawei Watch Buds store the earbuds within a watch. It’s a big watch, but no crazier than others out there . . .
The GravaStar earbuds come with a chain so you can wear them around your neck - either as bling or just an easy way to carry them.
The Dime earbuds by Skullcandy have a little strap for attaching to a keyring.

All of them seem to be answering the question - Where do I put these dang earbuds?

Of all of them - the Nokia 5710 Xpress Audio’s solution is the coolest one - but the Dime earbuds are probably the most practical. I have a pair of them on my keychain.

You can find carrying cases for just about every pair of earbuds under the sun - but they often add bulk.

You can find cases that will literally just add a spot for the AirPods to the back of the phone - like some sort of Frankenstein monster.

I’m curious to see if anyone finds an easier way for people to carry around earbuds - one that attaches to something we already own!

Here’s the smallest pair of earbuds that I found, thanks to this Reddit Post

The profile is insanely slim, and could easily fit into a pocket next to your cellphone, or in that little “useless” coin pocket that most jeans seem to have.

Now if only these could be placed comfortably on the back of a phone case . . .

🐙The Land of Random

Let’s . . . Get . . . . . .RANDOMMMMMMM

IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL

Could this FULL VIDEO KEYBOARD be real?????

Killed By Twitter

Is this a clever lead magnet by a marketing company? yes. Is it still interesting? yes. I had no idea about a lot of these dead Twitter products.

Killed by Twitter

Reddit Bot Armies

This fascinating post delves into a experiment where a Redditor created an army of AI GPT3 bots to overrun a subreddit. A great read for those interested in the dead internet theory.

Is the internet a lie anon?

Gut Hacking

Are you like me and not motivated in the absolute slightest to work out? We just need to hack our guts!

Say What?

The Atari Hotel

Based on how the Twitter account and website look (no updates recently) - I think the Atari Hotel idea could end up being “vaporware.” The idea is still cool though. Check out the site!

Atari Hotels

The Bonsai Net

This is a really nifty take on the “click a link to get spun to a cool random website” idea. Click on on the tree to unfold interesting links like branches on a bonsai tree.

The Bonsai Net

Is it Tuesday?

Nah, it’s Monday but check out the link on Tuesday.

Is it Tuesday?

Charge $$ for Links

Want to charge $$$ to access a link? Use this tool!

Paid Link

🎶TikToks You Can’t Miss

Ah yes - I never thought I’d want KFC for Christmas

I feel like Randonautica is cursed.

I made this mistake one year. Literally all they have to do is add more crackers and cheese.

Ok I’m gonna buy one of these next time i’m at Kroger.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. That’s really cool.

So I guess us adults gotta memorize where water heaters + AC units are in Walmart.

Shout out to this boss Santa. Also “old people” remember goths from the 80s + 90s.

This is why I watch TikTok. Right here.

📻Vybes

We’re still in the 12 days of Christmas so give this a listen! It’s awesome background music to work to.

That’s all for this week! See you next time . . .. or should I say . . . next Year? :)

The Land of Random

🤳Sup Audio, Mecha Diggers, and Hide those…