A smattering of useful things I’ve come across this month

May 2026

  • DxO PureRAW 6 - Version 6 is out. I started using DxO PureRAW 5 and was very impressed with the denoise performance. You can see my quick review here. Until Adobe improves denoise performance in Lightroom, I’ll be using DxO for my noisy shots. Especially with the Micro Four Thirds sensor in the OM-1.

  • BetterDisplay Pro - I use two monitors at home, and there is no way to brighten and dim both monitors together. It’s a minor inconvenience, but it’s frustrating having to adjust each one separately. In steps BetterDisplay, lots of control for your monitors. 99% of the features I don’t use. I just want to brighten/dim both monitors with one switch. It just works.

  • TinyStart - Nileane is out with a great little tiny launcher for MacOS. Launch apps, insert emoji, save and open links, save and open folders, and more. I’m very happy with Raycast, but if they ever switch to a subscription for basic usage, I’ll be happy with TinyStart. I do use TinyStart for my emoji picker, though. It’s only a €5 one-time purchase.

  • HazeOver - This has been a wonderful addition to my very busy, have way too many apps open at once, computer work. It simply dims inactive windows. You have full control of the dim amount. It works great.

  • BookShelves eBook Reader - Testing this…

  • Sourcefeed - pretty great idea. Going to experiment with this.

  • Ted Lasso New Season - I love this show. Looking forward to the new season on August 5th.

  • One Line A Day: A Five-Year Memory Book (5 Year Journal, Daily Journal, Yearly Journal, Memory Journal): 9780811870191: Chronicle Books: Books - Another way to journal that I haven’t tried but may work for you, especially if just starting out in the daily journaling world.

I started journaling late in life and really wish I could go back to when I was 16, 17, or 18 years old and see what I was thinking and how my day went. This could be a great gift for the young people in your life. They will thank you later.

  • The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger - Added to the book queue.

  • Slim & Smart Laptop Carry Sleeve | MOFT – MOFT - I’ve been using this for some time now as a travel sleeve, and it’s just outstanding. I need to have my laptop propped up at an angle for easier typing, and this case gives good protection and two different angle heights. Highly recommend.

  • Nick Carver - a great YouTuber who shoots large format film. Also, some very good courses on light meters, printing, and large-format shooting. I’ve finished Nick’s light metering course and am just a few videos away from finishing his printing course. I’m in awe of the things I have learned. I thought I had a good grasp on the ins and outs of inkjet photo printing. I did not. Outstanding course. Nick is witty, full of information, and delivers it all very well. Highly recommended.

  • Hollow-Face Illusion - this is just crazy. I looked and looked, and your brain won’t let you see it. Which I guess is good. If you can see the concave part, it means you’re possibly schizophrenic, or you’re on psychedelics.

  • Mechanical Pencil - This is a very cool breakdown of various items, pilot pen, Zippo lighter, PEZ dispenser, and more to come. The amount of work involved in each one is just crazy. All done by hand in a CAD program, then animated.

  • Wide-gamut Test - Wide Gamut is the tool that lets you test your device color compatibility. Great little website that lets you know if your monitor supports ICC color profiles, HDR, or a wide color gamut, and more.

  • CS-PRO - This looks fun. Maybe a good starter camera for the young person in your life.