Hello again! I wanted to take a moment this week to talk a bit about what DBF is, and also what it is not. I’ve been putting up some app reviews here, and more are coming in the following weeks. I wanted to make clear that I’m not making money off these reviews. There are no referral links or affiliate codes or any of that. In fact, DBF has no monetization anywhere. I make a whopping zero ducats off of this thing. And I like it that way.

The way I see it, the internet has plenty of folks writing reviews for money, some of them actually very good. I pass no judgement. Everyone needs to make a living one way or another. But that’s not what I’m doing here. DBF is simply a tool for me to share things I’ve found useful. Maybe even help someone out who’s looking for something to help them out.

This approach has benefits and pitfalls. On the plus column, I have zero restrictions on what I write. In every review or comparison or rant, you’re getting my unfiltered opinion. The only caveat is that it is just my opinion. On the other hand, since I make no money on these reviews, I rely on you, the reader, to tell me if they’re worth your time to read them. There is no client to tell me if what I’m writing is working. Only you, dear reader, can keep me honest. I do encourage you at any time to drop me a line on the Suggestion Box page. Tell me what you like, what you don’t like, what you had for lunch. All feedback is welcome.

So that’s where we are now, but what lies ahead? Well, some more reviews for the next few weeks. Once I’ve covered all the tools I’m using to get through the year, the review onslaught will come to an end and things will (hopefully!) get really interesting. Projects will begin anew. Things will be happening. Which is to say, hold on tight and prepare for awesome. Or maybe at least awesome adjacent. I don’t want to oversell it here. But I’m remaining cautiously optimistic.

And now I’ve taken enough of your time. The clever reader will know this for what it is, a bit of a cheat post. A sly way of keeping my weekly promise without delivering much in the way of goods. But while that is true, I also wanted to take the time to make it clear what my intentions are here, and embrace transparency. If ever I do include something that somehow benefits me financially, I will be up front about it. Bottom line: I don’t like reading ads, and I like writing them even less. So I don’t.

Next week I’ll be sharing with you my experience of using the workout app Seven. I’ve been using it every day this month, and I’m excited to tell you all about it. But until then, enjoy your weekend. I’m sure you’ve earned it. Until next time.

• Ryan