A Better Way To Buy And Read Books

1 day ago

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Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 69, your line to nan champion and Verge-iest worldly successful nan world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, get caller for immoderate web-slingin’, and too you tin publication each nan aged editions astatine nan Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been reference astir Elon Musk’s gamer habits and spy satellites and how Bluesky works, trying Llamao for immoderate offline AI-ing, organizing my photos pinch nan Proof beta, buying overmuch BonBon candy than I’m proud of, testing nan Marginalia hunt engine, plotting to break into the caller Dude Perfect office, and seeing if a $56 Casio tin beryllium tin smartwatch for me.

I too personification for you a caller spot to bargain and publication books, nan return of 1 of my favourite shows, a awesome book for anyone looking for a amended online life, a mates of awesome Spider-Man things, and tons more. Let’s do it.

(As always, nan champion information of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into correct now that everyone different should beryllium playing / building / reference / watching / learning / penning / hanging from ceilings? Tell maine everything: [email protected]. And if you cognize personification different who mightiness bask Installer, guardant it to them and show them to subscribe here.)

Bookshop.org ebooks. Bookshop.org does a awesome business of supporting independent conception bookstores, and now it sells ebooks! The corresponding app is beautiful basal truthful far, but it works, and I’m shifting my book-buying beautiful quickly. (It useful nicely connected my Boox Palma, too, successful suit you were curious.)
Mythic Quest season 4. This is 1 of those shows that would beryllium 100x overmuch celebrated if it were connected Netflix and not Apple TV Plus. I deliberation nan first play is fundamentally flawless, and since past it’s been consistently astatine slightest very good. I’ll ever thrust for 30-minute, endlessly rewatchable comedies, and this qualifies connected immoderate fronts.
“AI Software.” My favourite tech-related SNL skit successful a infinitesimal — nan thought of schoolhouse things via an AI-generated bro-y podcast is hardly moreover a joke anymore, and nan cadence of nan podcast is perfect. I presume nan NotebookLM squad is very happy astir this.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. I americium petrified of nan anticipation that Marvel is going to oversaturate and wholly ruin Spider-Man, nan measurement it has, uh, tons of different things. But this? This feels for illustration an updated type of nan Saturday greeting cartoons I grew up with. It’s axenic Millennial-nostalgia bait, and I’m coming for it.
The Sirens’ Call, by Chris Hayes. There’s a delightful irony successful a agelong book astir our progressively unspeakable attraction spans, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve publication truthful acold and really spot pinch Hayes trying to understand attraction astatine a macro level and just, like, effort to return his ain encephalon back. I personification a batch of notes and highlights successful this book truthful far. (If you want a shorter deed connected immoderate of nan ample ideas, Hayes was awesome on The Ezra Klein Show.)
“We made MKBHD’s Dream Phone.” This is truthful interesting! Nothing sewage Marques Brownlee to spec retired his cleanable phone, and it does a really bully business of moving down what that telephone would cost, really companies premier parts, and why it’s each overmuch analyzable than it sounds.
Spider-Man 2 for PC. Speaking of awesome Spider-Man things — this is simply a very bully larboard of a very bully PlayStation game. You’ll petition a beefy-ish GPU to really make nan crippled sing, but it’s worthy it conscionable to locomotion dozens of hours web-slinging crossed nan city.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080. And speaking of GPUs! (I’m honestly not doing this connected purpose.) The $999 5080 is retired now, and my workfellow Tom Warren recovered it to be… fine. It’s fine! But nan bully news is you tin safely bargain hunt for a 4080 aliases 4090 instead.
No Man’s Sky: Worlds Part II. A gorgeous, impossibly huge, endlessly explorable crippled conscionable sewage impossibly huge-er. Billions (billions!) of caller prima systems, trillions (trillions!) of planets, I deliberation you could play this crippled for nan remainder of your life and ne'er spot nan extremity of it. Challenge accepted.

Right earlier Dominic Preston started moving astatine The Verge, I learned an important information of accusation astir him: he’s an Arsenal fan. I already knew I liked his activity from Android Police and elsewhere, but it’s bully to cognize group personification bully sensation successful sports teams, you know?

Dom’s based successful nan UK and has been connected our squad for a less weeks now. And erstwhile he’s not penning astir tech, he too has a genuinely delightful nutrient newsletter called Braise. I’m staring astatine his madeleines recipe correct now, and it’s… I petition to move on. Too good.

Here’s Dom’s homescreen, affirmative immoderate info connected nan apps he uses and why:

The phone: Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

The wallpaper: My lockscreen is apparently 1 of nan generic preinstalled ones from Xiaomi. The wallpaper is simply a photograph of a mates Arsenal players I started utilizing erstwhile I needed to proceedings iOS 16’s customizable lockscreens and haven’t touched since then. Can you show I don’t deliberation astir my wallpapers very often?

The apps: Calculator, Strong, MyFitnessPal, Clock, Nike Run Club, Google Keep, Spotify, Google Translate, Todoist, Zero, Instagram, Duolingo, Bluesky, Marvel Snap, NYT Games, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Gmail, Google Photos, Play Store, Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, Chrome, Camera.

I alteration phones beautiful often for reviews, truthful I personification to rebuild this homescreen connected nan regular. The apps enactment mostly consistent, but nan bid ne'er does. About a 4th of nan database is dedicated to fitness, 1 measurement aliases another, moreover nan almanac and timepiece — it feels silly keeping immoderate pinned to nan homescreen, but they’re by acold nan quickest ways to fig retired what weight I petition to assistance adjacent and really agelong I petition to clasp a plank for.

Google Translate is location because I’m trying to study Italian and make myself publication a mates pages of an Italian caller each day. I’m astir to decorativeness Italo Calvino’s If connected a Winter’s Night a Traveler, and Translate is my backup for nan galore times I deed a relationship I don’t know.

There are only a less different apps coming I’m guaranteed to unfastened each azygous day: Instagram and Bluesky arsenic my existent societal networks of choice; Todoist because different I personification nary thought what I’m expected to beryllium doing astatine immoderate fixed time; and NYT Games because I for illustration playing Wordle, Connections, and The Mini Crossword first constituent each morning, 1 of those worrying signs that I’m getting overmuch for illustration my mum pinch each passing day.

I too asked Dom to banal a less things he’s into correct now. Here’s what he sent back:

Severance. I know, maine and everyone else. But play 2 has been awesome truthful far. I’m supremely into nan afloat aesthetic, and it feels for illustration a dainty conscionable to get a TV show that’s duty viewing again.
New Philosopher. Before I was ever a journalist, I thought I was going to do a PhD successful philosophy. That didn’t activity out, but this mag keeps that spot of my encephalon ticking. Every rumor centers astir a taxable — for illustration technology, play, aliases courageousness — and features world philosophers tackling it from each angle, but (crucially) successful a non-academic style.
Vittles. This Substack is nan main logic I emotion reasoning astir nutrient (almost) arsenic overmuch arsenic eating it. The edifice sum is UK-focused, but that’s really not nan constituent — I emotion nan essays that return nutrient arsenic a lens done which to look astatine politics, immigration, sustainability, and more.
Arcs. Root is 1 of my favourite committee games, and until a less weeks agone I’d wholly missed that its designer Cole Wehrle released Arcs past year. It’s fundamentally nan Mario Kart of sci-fi strategy games: it seems for illustration it rewards galaxy-brain thinking, but really you should conscionable clasp nan chaos and thrust your luck.

Here’s what nan Installer statement is into this week. I want to cognize what you’re into correct now arsenic well! Email [email protected] aliases relationship maine connected Signal — @davidpierce.11 — pinch your recommendations for point and everything, and we’ll characteristic immoderate of our favorites coming each week. For moreover overmuch awesome recommendations, cheque retired nan replies to this position connected Threads and this position connected Bluesky.

“Great new euphony video from OK Go. 64 videos connected 64 iPhones! There’s too an absorbing behind-the-scenes video to spell pinch it.” – Owen

“Pataal Lok connected Prime Video is phenomenal. Season 2 conscionable dropped and is group successful a information of India that moreover astir Indians are unaware about. Check it out.” – Krishnan

“About 2 weeks agone my Telly yet arrived aft ~1.5 years of being connected nan waitlist and it perfectly lives up to nan hype! My 1 ample asterisk is that nan integrated soundbar and secondary ‘Smart Screen’ astatine nan bottommost make nan TV overmuch taller than you expect. It didn’t caller successful our intermezo halfway and we had to get a caller 1 that didn’t personification immoderate shelving supra nan TV to make judge it’d fit.” – Drake

“Cine2Nerdle Battle has been taking up a batch of clip for maine this week. You nexus films based connected shared formed aliases crew. Super nosy for movie nerds.” – Mark

“I americium utilizing ChatGPT Tasks. I’ve since revised my first effort to spot 3 chopped gratitude penning prompts and 3 chopped AI news items. I’m too a Dallas Cowboys instrumentality (don’t judge) and personification ChatGPT monitoring their hunt for a caller caput coach. It really updated maine this greeting that nan Cowboys had successful truth hired a caller caput coach. My female and I baked a mean Linzer cooky pinch fig jam based connected a look that ChatGPT provided me.” – Tony

“This week I’ll beryllium taking isolated my PC and transferring everything into a caller Phanteks Evolv X2 case.” – Sean

“KTool. It lets maine get my RSS feeds and my newsletters to my Kindle truthful I tin publication them for illustration a mag and limit my scroll time. It’s amazing.” – Murphy

“Kvaesitso is an Android launcher that isn’t disposable connected nan Play Store, but arsenic personification who loves to dabble successful launchers, it’s 1 of nan smartest I’ve ever used. It’s truthful clean, ace intuitive, but acknowledgment to an bonzer hunt function, it’s too SO powerful.” – Luke

“Switched complete to Zen Browser. Basically Arc, but open-source and built connected Firefox. Hoping for folders to beryllium implemented soon.” – Phase

“Have made reference a ample extremity for this year. To that end, my partner and I started immoderate extremity hunt done an app called The StoryGraph, wherever you participate what you’re reference each clip and it provides a bully summary, which you tin banal pinch others. I’ve already publication aliases vanished 3 books this month, which is simply a ample improvement.” – Colin

On Monday this week, I hopped connected a statement to West Palm Beach, FL, to spell to a play match. But not a normal play match: I went to spot TGL, a caller indoor and simulator-based play normal that has a genuinely astonishing magnitude of caller exertion baked in. (ESPN has a bully story astir really TGL useful and wherever it came from.) I too sewage to deed into nan five-story-tall screen, and I didn’t wholly embarrass myself!

I’m going to personification a bunch of worldly connected The Verge astir that recreation successful nan adjacent mates of weeks. But successful nan meantime, if you attraction astatine each astir golf, you should cheque it out. Honestly, moreover if you don’t, nan tech itself is worthy checking retired each connected its ain — here’s a awesome YouTube tour of nan afloat setup. I petition a aboveground this ample successful my life overmuch often.

See you adjacent week!