🎩 [ Monthly Mentor ] - July/August
VR on trains, corporates aren't why your rent is high, the memed history of the NL
The Monthly Mentor is an easy to skim bullet point list of things I enjoyed this month, usually a personal update and something to: read, watch, and buy.
This is the Monthly(ish) Mentor of July/August 2025.
[ Personal ] - We intended to pack less travel and commitments into our 2025 summer than last years. We failed. All of it has been fun so far though. Italy with friends, 2ish weeks offline in Luxemburg, Berlin with Sandboxers. The only real bummers: the weather was too bad to do my skydive refresher jump, and I did indeed fail my HAM radio exam (by one question dammit). One thing I learned: my Quest VR headset with a Bobovr M3 holo strap and replaceable batteries is great for working on trains.
[ Read ] Corporations aren't the reason your rent is too high - Written in a US American context, but true of many western countries including my own Netherlands (link)
[ Watch ] The Dutch iceberg level 1 - this in in Dutch (worth it with subtitles), and it is HILARIOUS yet very educational. Requires a certain appreciation of internet/meme culture (link)
[ Buy ] Comply foam tips for your earbuds - I have the Bose QC Ultra buds, which have great noise cancelling, but I wanted more. Comply makes tips for many earbud types, the tips are those foamy squashable ones that really insulate the outside world (link)
[ Favor ] Please hit me up with your favorite podcasts. I’m enjoying my regulars but someone recently recommended Hidden Forces and it made me realise there is a lot of great stuff out there I’m not aware of.
Enjoy your week friends!
~ Mentor
💡 Remember you can get free copies of my books here.
Hi actuallymentor, I know this isn’t the right place to mention this, but I wanted to let you know that the ‘Battery’ you made isn’t working properly on macOS 26 Tahoe. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this issue, but I’m a big fan of your work, and many users—including me—are wondering if there will be an update.
Originally, I just wanted to say about Battery only, but your blog post is interesting. I’m curious whether working on a train with the Quest VR headset and replaceable batteries is a better experience than just working with a laptop. It seems like it could minimize neck strain, but I imagine it also makes your load heavier. Did you make that choice because of the long six-hour journey?