Issue #180 | Subscribe

Last year, I reevaluated my digital storage setup, made changes, and wrote about it in a blog post.

Now:

Although my current hybrid setup, cloud and local disks, has worked well for me, I would still like to have an offshore backup of everything on my local HDDs.

This would ensure I don't lose any of my files even if all of my redundant local drives are toast due to any accident.

Both regular cloud storage, like iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox, and business ones, like AWS, can quickly get expensive when you have more than a few TB of files to store and use.

Lately, through some random browsing, I stumbled upon a possible solution for this conundrum.

Turns out, Hetzner, the German cloud service provider, offers a service called Storage Box.

It's raw cloud storage, without a pretty interface.

Their pricing is quite affordable for the kind of storage and read-write quota they provide. For example, for ~€11/month, you can have a 5 TB storage space with unlimited upload and download.

This is where it beats AWS and other commercial providers, because they charge extra for uploads and downloads.

These storage boxes support file transfer via SFTP, so apps like Transmit fit as a user-friendly interface to the box.

They also have an option for a managed Nextcloud storage, which is like your self-hosted Google Drive.

I'm yet to try this service for my storage setup. If you're looking to have an offshore backup of your large files, such as photos and videos, this could be worth trying.

Let me know if you know of better alternatives by replying to this email.

Now, let's move on to the rest of this newsletter issue:

Your Next Read

Short Stories

The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories

This book is a diverse collection of unusual but quite intriguing short stories by various Japanese writers over the years.

Apps & Services

Eventually

Visualise your important life events in a timeline

I track my friends and family's birthdays on my calendar, but I don’t usually notice them until a few days before, or on the exact date. This app reads your calendar and shows you an upcoming timeline of birthdays, weddings, etc., in the next 7 days, 28 days, and so on, to give you a chance to buy gifts or just be more prepared for the events. Available on iOS and is free for basic use.
Loop

Quickly resize and place app windows like a pro

I love this style of managing windows. Press a hotkey to bring up a floating loop. Then, hover over sections of that loop to resize and position an active app window accordingly. This is pretty handy once you get used to the gestures. Available on macOS for free.
FocusFlight

Simulate aeroplane mode to focus on your tasks

I’ve seen many fun takes on setting a focus timer, but this one was a new experience. Choose your origin and destination airport based on travel distance (your focus time), pick a seat and get a boarding pass to start simulating the disconnection of flight mode and focus on your task. Available on macOS and iOS, and is free to start.

Handy Shortcut

⌘

Shift

⏷

Cycle between your active tab groups in Safari on macOS.

Interesting Reads

50 Ways to Unplug and Feel Human Again

25 min read

I’ve been exploring more ways to spend less time in the digital world and more in the real one. This list will be a good starting point if you’re in the same boat. Not every advice here was a yes for me, but some were. Try them yourself.
How I Designed a Dieter Rams inspired iPhone Dock

5 min read

I don’t have a 3D printer, but this hobby project is something I would’ve definitely tried if I owned one. Fatih’s design is functional and beautiful, and he has the 3D design file available if you’re looking to get one printed.
How I Built Myself a Digital Garden

4 min read

I liked this version of a second brain setup, and how Tim has created a locally available website to store fragments of knowledge and navigate between them easily.
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci

6 min read

Leonardo da Vinci and his range of talents need no introduction. This short blog post picks 7 of his best everyday practices that we can adapt in our lives to expand our thinking and live a fuller life.

Watch Next

These are a few use cases where agentic browsing could actually be useful and not a gimmick.

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