Casio is making more automatic watches.

 

CMK-100

The CMK-100 is the first Non-Edifice automatic watch Casio has release. 

While "Edifice" is dropped from the naming, this new watch (CMK100TC) is not any more affordable but thankfully still appears up to par on paper in terms of specs.

Some interesting design points:
- Non-integrated bracelet for flexible strap options
- Titanium case = light!

- No exhibition caseback. Is this just a limitation of titanium watches?

Casio release many watches. Call it capitalism or simply an army of restless designers. They won't stop thinking of new products that you throw on your wrist to tell time.

You could previously tag their entire lineup in a 4 ways previously: analog, digital, solar, battery. Their newest segment of watches is automatic movement (power completely by the motion of a swining rotor) and it appears Casio is doing more than just dipping their toes in this large market that is occupied by other players like Seiko, Citizen, Timex, and others.

If you will recall, Casio has released multiple automatic watches under the Edifice line. The first watch was the EFK-100. It has a Seiko NH35 movement and is 39mm. The EFK-110, which was released less than a year shrank the design slightly to 38mm and employes a Miyota 8215 movement. These two watches look about the same. The EFK-200 offers a sporty forged carbon body combined with a butterfly clasp.

The EFK-100

The EFK-110

EFK-200

Soup and Salad Bar Buffets (2026 Remix)

I have a lot of great memories of Souplantation. I used to go to the Porter Ranch location a lot. It was a guaranteed way to celebrate holidays like Mother's day or a flexible option when my family got together because it something for everyone: salad lovers have plenty of veggies to load up on and basic carb lovers had pizza and pasta to munch.

The location I frequented was also a staple among a mega church across the street. There was no problem in filling seats on Sunday as hundreds of people came across the street to be physically nourished after being spiritually fed.

Decades earlier, we would go to Fresh Choice. It was basically the same thing.

Like many restaurants, Souplantation was hit hard during the pandemic and closed. A lot of people felt the loss as the beloved salad bar buffet had nearly 100 locations nationwide.

Fans have been mourning and one of the reasons many haven't moved on is simply because their locations have not been replaced by other businesses. In fact, the signage remains for these empty buildings that are now surrounded by thriving businesses that have settled or continued to thrive during and after Covid peaked.

Fast forward to today and there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Not only is Souplantation (aka Sweet Tomatoes) making a comeback, there are also dupes:

Soup 'n Fresh

Souper Green

I think competition is good. There is space for multiple salad bars even if they all offer pretty much the same items.

As Spooky Foodie once noted “I really think it’s the feeling of cheating the system” that people love.

Apple should keep refining features. Example: Message History

Apple just announced some new hardware recently. Phones are mostly boring these days. We can confidently predict that features continue to be refined and the experience gets faster but what if Apple dedicated a little more resources into fixing things that just don't make sense?

The first iPhone came out in 2007. While I was not an original iPhone user, I did join much later and have remained loyal to their ecosystem. My circle of friends with iOS has grown and like many people, texting has become my main form of communication to keep in touch and express myself.

Apple added the feature to delete old messages in iOS 8 (2014). It's over a decade later and this feature has not evolved. The limitation with this feature is that it is global. That's not how communication works when you consider your spectrum of contacts: close friends, acquaintances, businesses, and service messages (2 factor).

The options are limited to keeping messages for 30 days, 1 year, or forever. For all messages.

If you have a significant other, you might consider ever message received a precious artifact of your relationship. I'm guessing you have people you chat with regularly for years and sometimes you want to review past messages for any number of reasons: when you announced news, a pic of something exciting, a moment some hot gossip was sent, etc.

You might also have a group text where nothing super intimate is ever shared but there is plenty of media being sent for the purposes of entertainment. A family chat might include pictures of your niece sent by your sister. We know your sister probably has these pics and can always reshare them later.

I suspect if your family group chat is like one of mine, you also have a person who shares 50 pictures while traveling for no matter how ordinary the trip may seem. These pictures are lovely updates but not necessarily something we need to hold onto on our phones.

Yet another possibility: you have a group of friends who doesn't chat often. Once a month, once a quarter, or maybe just some quick updates around everyone's birthdays. This isn't the kind of chat that takes up much storage. Why rush to delete it?

If you're following my illustration, you'll probably see the connection. I might never want to delete messages from my spouse's chat. I might not care to keep anything from my family's chat more than a month. For my friends I keep in touch with casually, I think a year is just fine.

We need this granularity from Apple. Different settings for different chats!

Marco's Pizza Bowl

I love pizza. They feel like the perfect combination of different food groups and the options are styles are endless. You never go to a pizza parlor (in the US) and find out they only sell one kind of pizza. 

Pizzas are so popular, they are often sold at venues other than restaurants like stadiums and big box stores like Costco. 

I don’t know much about Marco’s Pizza but one way they have decided to differentiate from competition is the Pizza Bowl. 

The pizza bowl employs almost the required ingredients for a pizza minus dough. 

Is it fair to call this item a “pizza” bowl? It’s more like a bowl of sauce, cheese, and in my son’s case pepperoni and sausage.

This pizza bowl was 13 dollars. 

It was piping hot. This should not have come as a surprise because it runs through the same conveyor oven system as a pizza but does not have dough to cook. Every ounce of heat energy used yields a nearly boiling dish to patiently consume once served. 

If you’re trying to dodge carbs, this could be an ideal treat. Personally, I was left craving pizza crust to balance out the saltiness of the all the other ingredients.

From a value perspective, I think the pizza bowl serves more than one person. It’s hard to imagine one person not getting full before consuming even half of it.

You work hard for your money. Is the pizza bowl something you'll be willing to try? Will you love it? Will you hate it? This can only be answered by trying it yourself.

YouTube Premium subscribers will get Peacock

Beginning in early 2027, Peacock Premium will be included in a bundle with YouTube Premium, making it immediately available to millions of existing YouTube Premium subscribers, substantially expanding Peacock’s reach and making it one of the most broadly distributed premium streaming services in the U.S. Subscribers will receive seamless access to Peacock within the YouTube experience, featuring marquee live sports including the NFL, Olympics, NBA, MLB, Big Ten and Notre Dame Football, Big 12, Big East and Big Ten College Basketball, Premier League, WNBA, Kentucky Derby, golf and more, hit series such as Love Island USA, The Real Housewives franchise, Law & Order: SVU, Saturday Night Live, The Traitors, All Her Fault and The Office; and award-winning and blockbuster films. 

On the surface this seems like a win for YouTube Premium subscribers like myself. I guess I'll be able to watch the entire catalog of The Office, Traitors, and Housewives on YouTube?

I manage a YouTube Premium Family Plan. Does this mean everyone in my household will have access?

I can only imagine this will drive up YouTube Premium costs. The service has become somewhat unnegotiable for me though as YouTube is such a valuable resource for information. I also use the music streaming service, though it really is not up to par with Spotify in terms of features.

On a technical level, I think YouTube has lower bitrates than most services. Hopefully the deal includes all their 4K (movies and shows) content is as well.

I'm guessing there will also be some interesting implications for the 2028 Olympics.

Source: https://www.nbcuniversal.com/article/nbcuniversal-and-youtube-announce-global-strategic-partnership-expanding-reach-peacock-and