The Manual #43 - End of year learnings

We’re at that time again, end of the year, and I want to share some of my favourite learnings and thoughts.

1. It’s either one day or day one. You decide.

2. Whether we like it or not, we are judged on how we look and what we have.

3. Controlling impulsiveness can be a superpower.

4. Nobody is coming to save you.

5. 10,000 iterations > 10,000 hours.

6. Doing nothing is sometimes the best thing.

7. If you need a drink or smoke to feel better, it means you need to work on yourself.

8. Pain, fear and shame > motivation. I realised that I’m not actually motivated, I fear the life I had growing up and don’t want that life ever again.

9. A fit and healthy body speaks more truth than an expensive car.

10. Don’t listen to advice from people who haven’t done it.

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My favourite tech and gear of 2023

A video sharing some of my favourite gear from this year.

The monitor for everything

I’m asked often what monitor would I recommend if you had a Mac but also want to hook up a games console or PC. Currently this is it.

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iPod wallpaper pack

Released this wallpaper pack in collaboration with another designer and absolutely blown away by the response. It’s a very clever design.

iPod Wallpaper Pack →

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Link Lowdown

A collection of links to stuff I think are worth sharing.

DeskHop — Pretty genius way to use the same keyboard and mouse across two machines.

iPhone Thief — Great short documentary on how a thief gets into people’s iPhones and steals money. You can have the most secure iPhone but if the user isn’t secure, it’s worthless.

Rolex Restoration — Incredible video showing the restoration of a 1958 GMT. I pretty much watched the whole thing.

Heroicons Micro — A set of micro icons of the popular Heroicons set. Will definitely be using this in future designs.

Klack — Add keyboard sounds to your Mac.

Spacedrive — Consolidate all of your files into one explorer.

Arc — A new browser I’ve been trying. I’ve shared it before but they’re adding new features regularly which is making it more and more of a safari replacement for me.