Iterate Weekly - Issue 211
This week we're looking at the new Halo smart glasses, the CaveTasks Zoom App, GaeaStar plastic alternatives, nice looking electrical panels, and "The Serviceberry"!
Welcome to issue 211 of Iterate Weekly.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories shall we?
Thank you as always for reading!
🖥️ Tech
Brilliant Labs Reveals “Halo”
I’ve written about Brilliant Labs in the past and I think they’re the most exciting company right now in wearable tech.
They recently announced their second pair of smart glasses, and they’re called Halo.
Halo aims to be the alternative to specs made by Meta and soon-to-be Google. The software here is totally open source and I actually really love the design as well.
According to Brilliant, the features include “conversational AI, memory enhancement, and the ability to vibe-code custom apps”. That sounds pretty sweet to me.
They also look “normal” enough to pass as typical glasses when you’re not taking advantage of their smart functionality. I also love the kinda retro blocky 8-bit-esque treatment of the visuals within the frames. The software behind the hardware is called Noa plus and offers “the best AI models wrapped in a realtime conversational speech interface, with deep personalization and long-term memory.”
All that and it can speak more than 20 different languages!
While I’m curious to see the new smart glasses from Google, the Halo has risen (pun intended) to the top of my wearables wish list. I may need to hunt down a pair for testing soon. Pre-orders are available now for $299.99 with the option to add a prescription to the lenses as well.
🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear
CaveTasks Zoom App
Here’s a fun update from the folks over at Caveday.
If you’re not already familiar with the company who aims to help knowledge workers block out distractions and improve focus, you should go see how much work you’re able to get done in one of their virtual “caves”.
Recently, they added a fun Zoom App that can live within the video platform to help you keep track of your daily tasks. Caveday aside, Zoom Apps themselves are pretty exciting. It allows for developers to create some custom experiences that easily fit into the existing Zoom app that most of us use on a daily basis.
You can see a screen grab of my tasks within the CaveTasks app above. It’s a super easy way to hold yourself accountable and stay on track when you’re locked-in during a deep work session.
Learn more about the new app here and take it for a spin yourself the next time you need a little boost to organize your task list.
♻️ Health/Environment/EVs
GaeaStar Plastic Alternative
We need to use less plastic in our daily lives.
There is really no way around that statement. Even when the plastic products we use get recycled, they still end up taking valuable space in landfills eventually. While recycling is a step in the right direction, the better option is to avoid creating plastic waste in the first place.
Enter GaeaStar! They are a San Francisco-based company who are developing ceramic alternatives to the ubiquitous plastic cup that holds a vast majority of your beverage options from cafes and restaurants.
Take a look at those cups in the photo above! Who wouldn’t want to drink out of those? The color, the texture, the reasonable size! So many good things going on here.
GaeaStar is on a mission to partner with retail establishments to offer their ceramic cups instead of the traditional plastic or paper with plastic lining alternatives. Each GaeaStar vessel can be washed and re-used many times. And when it finally meets the end of its usability, it can be thrown into a traditional landfill garbage bin. Since it is made from organic material, it can safely decompose without needing to be in specific recycling or compost bins.
I love ideas like this! Reusable cup campaigns have been gaining popularity recently. I’ve witnessed several of them first-hand in the Bay Area in the last two years alone. While it’s better to hand out reusable cups instead of disposable ones, we should get better about incentivizing more “bring your own” opportunities for consumers.
If you forget your own cup at home, the GaeaStar option looks like a fantastic alternative!
🛍 Grab Bag
Nice looking electrical panels
In my update last week, I mentioned taking on some home improvement projects this summer. One of these involved replacing my outdated electrical panel.
Now, lots of people take their electrical panel for granted. Unless you’ve tripped a breaker, you likely never even look at the thing. Maybe it’s tucked in a dark corner of your garage or basement or on the side of your house. It’s just meant to be something that serves its function but doesn’t win any beauty contests.
But why can’t an electrical panel look good while keeping your home safely powered up?
Behold, the Leviton Load Center!
When my old electrical panel was in need of an upgrade, I opted to install one of these bad boys in my garage. I even took it a step further by installing a second one as a sub panel to accommodate some future upgrades that will need additional circuits.
Take a look at the video below to see why these systems make a whole lot of sense.
Is something like this a little overpriced? Perhaps. Will a traditional (ugly) electrical panel suit you just fine? Sure. But if you’re installing one of these in a garage where you’re going to be walking past it everyday, why not opt for a model that is more eye-catching?
I also installed the clear glass doors on mine to allow you to easily see all of the breakers within the box. While not required for the load center, I opted to install an energy monitor and several key smart circuit breakers for the appliances in my home that have the highest electrical draw. This includes things like my induction range, EV charger, and electric dryer.
With the My Leviton app, I’m able to monitor my electrical usage on these circuits and control them remotely in case of a trip. It sets me up to accommodate way more electrical components in the future with the ability to “load shed” so I don’t overload my service.
Yes, this all sounds nerdy and expensive and probably more effort than most people want to spend on their electrical panels, but it made a lot of sense for my situation.
If I were to upgrade my existing electrical service, it would cost a minimum of $20K and involve months of permitting and red tape before completion. A full “smart panel” like the SPAN system would cost at least $12K or more depending on the labor costs and availability of the limited number of licensed installers.
The Leviton system was the most affordable and easily-installed solution to handle all of my current and hopefully future electrical needs.
💬 Quote of the Week
"A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money."
-W. C. Fields
📕 Content Review
The Serviceberry
“The Serviceberry” was a part of a local book club that I’ve been a part of for a while.
It’s a relatively quick read but it’s jam packed with insights. What can we learn from the reciprocal relationship between berries, birds, and nature?
Quite a bit it seems. My big takeaway was the need for more sharing and reciprocity in community building. Sharing excess bounty from a garden is just one way this idea manifests. But we can take the same approach by sharing experiences, ideas, and any elements of abundance that we notice in our lives.
The book is well worth the meager time investment to complete, I highly recommend you check it out!
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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