Remember my Select series? You know, the one with a single article in it? No? Well, I thought so. To remind you what it is:

This is the first post in a series I plan to do on a semi-regular basis. In it, I'll write a few words on things I want to share my opinion on. These may be products that I like but are not worth an entire article, or I plan to write a review at a later date.

I decided to relaunch the series and call it overkill. Because most of the things below might be overkill for most people — me included. And because I paid for that logo and want to keep using it.

So here is the overkill select for Spring 2022:

HomePod Mini and Biggie

I own three HomePods. Two big HomePods — the ones Apple discontinued, I got them through ebay— are used as a stereo pair next to my TV (LG C1, in case you care), and one mini in the kitchen, used for timers and music while cooking.

They are… decent. They are nice, they mostly do what I bought them for, but slowly some things bother me.

The mini never hears me. As soon as I cook and have my range hood spinning, I can shout as loud as I want, but the mini won't react. When it does, it's good. When it doesn't, it's frustrating, and it mostly doesn't.

Now for the big ones. I seem to experience the same issues most people are running into: the HomePods are starting to fail. They occasionally crash for the weirdest reason, take ages to restart and sometimes don't react to my voice. I love how these HomePods sound, their appearance, and the general experience when they work.

But something is wrong, and they are dying on most of us. Apple doesn't yet seem to want to replace them, and I guess if they die before Apple releases anything else, I'll have to look at Sonos.

Apple, do something! I want to give you my money.

Kindle Paperwhite

I love my Kindle, and I hate my Kindle. I wrote about it previously here, but for the sake of this post, let me recap why I hate/love it.

The Kindle Paperwhite is a decent device. It's nothing fancy, does what it's supposed to do, which is let me read books, but does so in such a dull, uninspired way that it's difficult for me to create any relationship with this device.

Compared to a paper book, the reading experience is not as good. Sure, I can zoom, look up stuff, and change the layout, and it's backlit and synchronizes my reading position. But everything I love about books, the smell, the feel, the letter printing, what it sounds like going through pages (yes, I am weird), is just lost with this.

But, I have over 100 unread books on it, and it synchronizes my highlights with Obsidian without me having to type them or write them down by hand, which is why I continue using it. And will do so for a long while. Because I still have over 200 handwritten notecards with highlights from books, and I am not doing that ever again!

But damn, I wish someone would do something to the ebook market to make it more interesting.

Valve Steam Deck

Oh, the Steam Deck. I don't think any gadget has me as excited about tech as the Steam Deck. I am still firmly convinced it will shake up the market in one sense or another. At least many other companies want a piece of that pie and are working on their gaming handhelds.

While still stupidly challenging to get, the Steam Deck does precisely what you imagine it to do. There's this meme in the Steam Deck community: whatever your question, the answer is yes.

The Steam Deck is a full-fledged Linux PC in a Nintendo Switch-like format. It runs steamOS, a flavour of Arch Linux, lets you boot into a desktop mode and technically be your only PC as soon as you attach a keyboard, mouse and screen.

I use it to play one of my over 700 games in my Steam library (don't ask) or emulate one of the several few consoles I own ROMs for. Oh, and I use it to learn how to get around Linux, and frankly, sometimes browse the web, lying on the couch and using the trackpads as my only input source.

I love it and expect much more content about it on this blog. I'll make you suffer from FOMO like the MOFO I am!

Lumin Skincare Regimen

I used to have bad skin in a not-so-distant past. But then I went to a dermatologist, and she prescribed a drug called Roaccutane, and I've been acne free ever since. (My experience with Roaccutane was good, with no side effects whatsoever, but people keep sharing horror stories, which go from hardcore depression and bleeding lips to exploding puppies.)

But Roaccutane doesn't keep your skin from ageing, and since society wants you to have skin like a "baby-ass but without the rash", I looked for some skincare regimens and landed on Lumin.

I can't say much about the effects long-term yet. I've only been using it for a little over a month, but at least my skin feels good and smooth and like a baby-ass without the rash.

Also, when you sign up for a subscription, you can get a trial month for "free" by only paying for shipment. The doses are much smaller, however.

Panasonic Automatic Bread Maker

I love carbs. I know I shouldn't, but the Italian genes make me love carbs as much as your uncle loves to drink alcohol.

Bread is my shit. During the lockdown, I learned how to make a nice bread following this tutorial, but I became lazy and still craved homemade bread. This is why I got this bread machine as a gift from my father-in-law.

I learned about bread machines through this YouTube video and have made brioche (a bit more involved) and a simple white bread (completely idiot-proof) so far. There are at least a few dozen more recipes I want to follow, but then again, I earnestly try NOT to eat as many carbs.

Really. I try! No, seriously.

Fellow Carter Everywhere Mug

This was a gift. And if you know me, you know coffee-related gifts always make me happy. And this coffee-related gift makes me especially happy.

I don't know how many virgins they had to sacrifice to create this jar of black magic, but the coffee stays burning hot forever. FOREVER! I don't know how often I burnt myself thinking the coffee would be merely lukewarm by the time I took my first sip.

Bullshit. It's like drinking lava. Not that I know what that feels like, but I imagine it feels like this.

I'm happy this doesn't have some drinking spout because then the risk of melting my intestines would be even higher.

Great product. I love it.