Steam & Beats

AI typing assistants, RCMD and keyboard-first app switching, Flair’s Wizard steamer, Captain Pikant’s beatmaking lessons

Hey guys, here’s a few things that stood out from my previous week.

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On Typing

Last year I tried Cotypist back in early alpha. It was buggy, so I uninstalled after a day or two. But the idea of AI suggestions while you type, based on context, was interesting. Over the following months I kept reading about how the app was improving, and eventually word got out it would move to a subscription model. I resisted the FOMO and stayed away. Well, this past week it finally happened. The new pricing came out and to me it seems pretty high for what it offers. Forums started blowing up with people looking for alternatives.

I’m keeping an eye on this category of apps because after improving, Cotypist received a lot of praise (before the current negative wave). Not all bad though. I’ve already heard of multiple alternative projects in development. The most popular might be Cotabby, a free and open source project. I gave it a shot, but the suggestions were all over the place so I uninstalled right away. Then there’s KeyType, which seems a lot better. Still doesn’t play well in Bear, which is where I do most of my typing, so again, went to the bin.

Both projects are just days or weeks old and have a long way to go, but I’m happy to see alternatives popping up. They’ll get better over time, and I have no doubt we’ll eventually see a solid competitor to Cotypist.

By the way, I have mixed feelings about tools like these. Typing is part of thinking for me, but I’m not completely closed to the idea because in my experience with AI dictation apps, sometimes they help me finish a thought I’m struggling to complete. Other times though, the struggle itself is what makes the idea worth expressing. So, like with AI in general, it’s about knowing when to do the work yourself instead of relying too much on it. I’m thinking that a typing assistant that’s very easy to toggle on and off may be worth it productivity-wise for quick tasks.

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On App Switching

A few years ago, discovering app switching tools hooked me. After trying different options I ended up using Contexts for a long while, because of its quick search and fast switching. Speed gets addictive 😄, so I eventually started using RCMD alongside Contexts. I actually paid for RCMD before plans for the new V3 came out and the AppStore version became free (it still is). It lets you assign a letter to your most-used apps, then switch with right command plus that letter. Smart, and I liked the dynamic options, but eventually found it too limiting for my setup, so I built my own with Keyboard Maestro, Yabai, and Karabiner. My app switching system is probably the most complex thing I’ve setup on my computer.

This past week RCMD dropped the new version that looks amazing! It works around several of the sandboxing limitations that held back the free App Store version. For keyboard-first people who want something user-friendly, it might be the fastest option out there. I’m too invested in my own setup to try to make it all fit to another app. Still, I think it may be definitely worth checking out.

P.S. If you know about Karabiner and you are interested in my setup, I don’t know if I’ll ever have the time to go through a full guide, but you can check everything by searching for “rcmd” in my config file. Yabai scripts are here. And all related KM Macros are here (how to import macros is in the README).

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On Coffee

I’ve been a Flair fan for years. Their Classic machine handles my morning latte. On the milk side (for steaming/frothing), I’ve cycled through quite a few setups. French press, then a wand, then the Bellman which finally got me serious about latte art. It worked great until rust made me a bit worried to continue using it. These days I use a DIY Chinese steamer, a moka pot with a steam valve. It does the job, but I’m starting to hit the same rust problem again.

So last week, looking around, I found that Flair released the Wizard a few months ago. How did I miss it! Looks way better than anything I’ve had. Adding it to the wishlist.

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On Beats

I’ve been exploring music and beatmaking these days and I discovered this channel which quickly became a favorite. Such a creative way of teaching! The time and production investment here has won my respect. Last week I was sharing with you guys about video tutorials and how they should not only engage, but actually inspire and push viewers to practice, apply, and expand on their own. This channel is a perfect example. And since it fits exactly what I’m looking for in beats and drum patterns right now, it feels like finding a little treasure. This was the first video I watched and thought it was a brilliant introduction.

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On Cinema

• The Distinguished Citizen (2016). A film about art, ego, recognition, and power. Funny, personal, and relatable enough to be a little depressing. It reveals something uncomfortable about its characters, about status, and about how art can often be about everything else but art itself. Being from a town similar to the one portrayed, a lot of what I saw felt familiar: that space where culture, influence, and personal relationships get so mixed together that it becomes hard to know what the point of any of it actually is. Synopsis: After refusing big and prestigious awards all over the world, Mr. Mantovani, Literature Nobel Prize winner, accepts an invitation to visit his hometown in Argentina, which has been the inspiration for all of his books. It turns out that accepting this invitation is the worst idea of his life. Expect the unexpected when you have used real people as characters in your novels!

• Stardust (2007). I was a bit hesitant to watch this one. I recently read the book and really liked it, but searching online and seeing the cover of the film, well… it didn’t inspire much confidence. After reading a couple of reviews, I decided to give it a shot, and I’m glad I did! Even compared to the book, I think it still stands in a very good place. Watching it almost twenty years after its release I can see how simple it is, but I still appreciated it. There is something innocent about it. A little cheesy? Maybe. Still a fun watch. Synopsis: In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he’ll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. His journey takes him into a world beyond his wildest dreams and reveals his true identity.

• Magical Girl (2014). A film that jumps from one situation to another just when you are starting to want more. It pulls you in through the journey of this father, a man trapped by the love he has for his daughter, and then slowly opens the door to something much darker. What I thought was amazing is how much the film does not tell you. It does not explain everything, it shows only the most essential, and with this it lets the viewer build part of that horror by itself. And somehow, the fact that the film knows when to hold back makes it stronger. It gives you enough to feel shaken, but not enough to feel completely safe with what you just watched. Amazing and disturbing. Synopsis: The father of a terminally ill girl is determined to grant his daughter’s last wish, a ridiculously expensive collectors’ costume from a Japanese TV series. The request will drive him into a journey within his city’s dark underbelly.

• Odyssey (2025). The first half worked for me much more than the second. Right away there was this nervous energy in the way the main character moves through her job, the pressure, the speed, the situations she keeps getting herself into. It reminded me a bit of Uncut Gems in that constant sense that everything could collapse at any moment. Then, the neon, the lighting, that mix between retro and modern that kept making me think of Nicolas Winding Refn. The problem is that at some point I felt the film started moving away from its strengths. I was interested in the character, in the pressure or whatever was happening inside her. But then it becomes more about kidnappings, criminals, action, and more stuff á la John Wick. From that point on, it started to feel a little empty. Not terrible. Still stylish, and I still think still worth the watch. But it set up something more interesting than what it finally became. Synopsis: Natasha Flynn, a coke-fueled London estate agent, hides her crumbling life behind luxury. When loan sharks offer cash to hide a kidnapped agent, she’s dragged into London’s seedy underworld, leading to a bloody, chaotic showdown.

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