Work is Monday-Thursday for the summer; I get up a little earlier, but I’ve been swimming and rowing for my am workout (and maybe some meditation… I might write about that later). We got some good pool time in this weekend and I swapped out today’s prosecco (usually Cupcake or Josh) for Coppola’s take on a favorite. I smoked ribs today and took zero pictures. Anyway, here are some things for you to check out. Nerd warning; software ahead.

BundleHunt

Bundlehunt is a discount-app site; they regularly feature software for discounted prices, albeit with limited licenses sometimes. I picked up Typinator, PopChar, and a duplicate finder utiliy. It’s a great way to try out an app you’ve been eyeing up.

Typinator, for me, has been interesting. I’ve been using TextExpander since it was freeware by a med student named Peter Maurer. It was a utility that ran in System Preferences, not a standalone app. I have the original pricing for the subscription, which was painful at the time but it’s only twenty bucks a year.

I have no complaints about TextExpander, save whatever it is that causes it to not work when 1Password’s Lock Screen is active. Aaaand that it doesn’t look like a Mac app anymore. But that’s a small detail; Iwas happy to be able to use it on Windows, as was the case with 1Password. And it’s not really an app you interact with save for adding a new expansion or changing one.

But still–I’m a sucker for a Mac-assed Mac app. I got a couple of Typinator seats and am adding my most used snippets to it so that I can try it out. I will say that it seems to use about half of the memory of TextExpander.

One more thing about Typinator: the PopChar integration is sick. I’ve made great use of PopChar in the past, but haven’t found much use for it recently (in fact, I bought PopChar X from BundleHunt back in 2022). In digging around the app, I found an integration that reminds me of using Launchbar to find emoji: you can invoke Typinator’s search menu, and then type “pop:” and the character you’re searching for. It’s fast and includes all of the unicode characters on the Mac. I’ve been using Launchbar’s emoji search liberally, but this extends things considerably.

SummerFest 2025

Just like Bundlehunt, SummerFest is a chance to get your paws on some higher-end Mac software at a discount. The always-interesting Tinderbox is there again, as is my old favorite, Nisus Writer Pro, which I used in place of Word for many years. I grabbed a HoudahSpot license this time; I’ve been interested in it since rejiggering my documents following the Johnny.Decimal system. I’m curious about Panorama X.

Laura Croft: Guardian of Light

I barely game at all, but occasionally want something casual for the iPad. I saw a review of this Tomb Raider game and decided to try it out. It’s a lot of fun, boasting great mechanics and a balance of styles: combat, platform, and puzzle-solving.