my new go-to browser is vivaldi 8

At a glance:

• Vivaldi 8.0 becomes the author’s default browser across all devices, replacing Arc after five years.
• Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds are praised as the best phone‑call earbuds at a price comparable to AirPods.
• MacStories launches a Shortcuts Playground that leverages Claude Code or Codex to generate Apple Shortcuts from natural‑language prompts.

Why vivaldi 8 stands out

The author, long‑time Vivaldi fan, finally switched the browser to Vivaldi 8.0 as the default on every device. After five years of using Arc, the new clean‑look UI convinced him that Vivaldi is “a winner.” He notes that Vivaldi’s speed, deep customisation and organisational tools remain strong, but the previous design was “irredeemably ugly.” The refreshed aesthetic is “much cleaner out of the box,” making it pleasant to keep open all day.

Switching browsers still requires a time investment. The author advises budgeting a “long time to spend in settings getting Vivaldi tweaked to your liking,” but he feels the effort pays off. He highlights that Vivaldi’s built‑in tab‑stacking, note‑taking and split‑screen features help power‑users manage many workflows without resorting to third‑party extensions.

New tech books on the radar

Two books get a mention. Geoff Cain’s Steve Jobs in Exile dives into the NeXT and Pixar chapters of Jobs’s career, offering fresh anecdotes about the man who “almost destroyed Apple” before returning to save it. The second, How to Rule the World, is written by a Stanford student who connects his personal story to the broader tech ecosystem, exposing the “bizarre and problematic” ties between Silicon Valley and academia.

Both titles are positioned as “great reads” for anyone interested in the cultural forces shaping the industry, and the author recommends them for weekend reading alongside his other media picks.

Earbuds that surprised the author

The Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds are highlighted as a standout surprise. Priced roughly on par with Apple’s AirPods, they earned the author’s colleague John Higgins’s claim of being “the best phone‑call earbuds he’s ever used.” The author admits he “cannot say I expected to be super excited” but now feels compelled to purchase them.

Beyond call quality, the Liberty 5 Pro’s active‑noise cancellation and balanced sound profile are noted as comparable to higher‑priced competitors, making them a compelling value proposition for commuters and remote workers alike.

Macstories shortcut playground pushes AI into iOS automation

Federico Viticci’s MacStories team released a Shortcuts Playground that integrates Claude Code or OpenAI’s Codex. Users can describe the shortcut they want in plain English, and the AI generates the Shortcut automatically. The author calls it “how Shortcuts is SUPPOSED to work,” emphasizing the potential to democratise complex automation without manual scripting.

The release also includes a large library of pre‑made Shortcuts, many of which are described as “extremely cool.” This move signals a broader trend of AI‑assisted productivity tools entering the Apple ecosystem, potentially reshaping how power users build workflows on iOS and macOS.

Community picks and other highlights

The newsletter rounds out with a collage of community recommendations: a thrift‑store Oculus Go, a Stickerbox AI‑enabled toy, a new copy of A Man on the Moon audiobook, and a set of alternative Google‑Docs platforms. The author also notes the final episode of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show and a reunion of the Strike Force Five podcast, underscoring the cultural cross‑pollination between tech and entertainment.

Overall, the issue blends personal tech discoveries with broader cultural commentary, offering readers a curated snapshot of what’s exciting in hardware, software and media this week.