Vol. I · No. 177Friday, June 26, 2026Alice 75° · Partly Cloudy· Forecast →

The North Point Daily

“All the work that’s fit to ship.” The week in review from a one-person shop in Alice, Texas.

Written by an AI newsroom from the shop’s real code, every day.

Week of June 26, 2026

Friday, June 26, 2026 · Alice 75° Partly Cloudy

« 2026-06-25Back issue2026-07-02 »today all back issues

94 ships · 5 projects this week

This week we launched free weather for the whole Coastal Bend and a wind forecast for the water. We also made job listings look better, added links from our stories to the things we mention, and fixed how we find useful how-to guides so you get practical stuff instead of junk. Small fixes, big payoff.

Landscape with two trees, a water tower, and clouds.

New ServicesNPC WeatherFri, Jun 26

Free weather for the Coastal Bend, no ads or app.

Check your town's forecast on npcweather.com. Plain, fast, yours to bookmark.

NPC Weather is our free, no-ads weather site for towns across the Coastal Bend.

By The Shop · Dispatch from Alice

You open your phone to check if rain's coming and get hit with ads, app popups, and a forecast that covers six states. That's not helpful when you live in Alice or Beeville and just need to know what's happening in your town.

We built a free weather site that focuses on the Coastal Bend towns that matter to you. Alice, Beeville, Kingsville, Corpus Christi, the counties in between. No ads. No app to download. No account to create. Just the weather.

Read the full story Check your forecast

“Job posts look sharper.”

On Jobs Board

This Week

Jobs BoardNPCLocalFri, Jun 26

NPCLocal is our local-services site that connects Coastal Bend folks with local pros, plus a jobs board.

Job posts look sharper.

You scroll through job listings and half of them look generic or too good to be true. We redesigned how job ads appear so they look like real work from real people. Bright headlines, welding sparks, actual trades photos. The kind of ad that makes you think 'okay, this is a real job'.

Read the full story

For The ProsNPCLocalFri, Jun 26

NPCLocal is our local-services site that connects Coastal Bend folks with local pros, plus a jobs board.

Web search finds practical how-tos, not politics.

We point local business owners to good articles and videos about running a shop. Until this week, the tool we used to find them wasn't picky enough. It would surface political content, competitor ads, and stuff that had nothing to do with running a business.

Read the full story

New ServicesCoastal Bend Wind ZoneFri, Jun 26

Coastal Bend Wind Zone is our wind and gust forecast site for boaters, anglers, and anyone who works on the water.

Wind forecast for boaters and anglers, all day every day.

You're loading the boat or heading out to fish and you need to know if the wind's going to make it a bad day on the water. Most weather sites bury the wind forecast under ten other things you don't need.

Read the full story

For BusinessesNPCLocalFri, Jun 26

NPCLocal is our local-services site that connects Coastal Bend folks with local pros, plus a jobs board.

Every story links to what it names.

We write about services we offer. Laser engraving, photo magnets, custom gifts, a tool that estimates repair costs, and a jobs board. Until now, you'd read about something and have no way to actually use it unless you hunted around.

Read the full story

New ServicesAdhereFri, Jun 26

Adhere is our shared direct-mail postcard program for Coastal Bend businesses, one local pro per trade.

Adhere's logo got a bolder look.

We run a postcard program that helps local business owners get noticed by neighbors in their trade. The logo needed to be tougher and clearer, especially when it's small on a printed card.

Read the full story

For BusinessesNPCLocalFri, Jun 26

NPCLocal is our local-services site that connects Coastal Bend folks with local pros, plus a jobs board.

You see the latest laser shop videos.

We ship a lot of laser engraving videos. Custom gifts, tumblers, wood signs, photo magnets. They're good work and they deserve to be seen. Until now, you had to know to go to the laser site to find them.

Read the full story

For BusinessesLowbiesFri, Jun 26

Lowbies is our media and advertising site for LED signs, digital displays, and posters.

Magicworks softened its perfect rating claim.

Magicworks is a local digital display and LED sign company. Their ads claimed a perfect 5.0 star rating. That's real, but ratings change, and we didn't want to have to update the ad copy every time a new review landed.

Read the full story

Off The Wire

More that shipped this week, in brief. Some of the build runs under the hood and stays there, so this is just the part we can show.

Job posts look sharper with real worker photos.
First job post is free for new employers.
Practical how-to search, no politics or spam.
Latest laser shop videos show up daily.
Job board is neutral, we don't rank pros.

From The Workshop

Short videos of real pieces coming off the laser. Watch one get made, then order your own.

NPC Laser

11MM SOCKET

NPC Laser

NPCLOCAL.COM BUSINESS CARD

NPC Laser

USB DRIVE

NPC Laser

LOCKOUT TAG

See all the videos Order one of your own

From The Web

Worth your time, from around the web. We follow this stuff so you don’t have to, then point you to what’s good and how it touches the Coastal Bend.

Some gear links below are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through them, we earn a small cut at no extra cost to you.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) · Guide
Cybersecurity for Small Business
We like this one because it comes straight from the FTC and covers all three threats in plain language, from spotting phishing emails to backing up files and what to do right after an attack hits. No login, no paywall, no fluff, just a solid checklist any Coastal Bend shop owner can read in one sitting and actually use.
Lock down your shop’s tech Gear we’d grab: a hardware security key
Fit Small Business · Guide
59 Free QuickBooks Tutorials: Learn QuickBooks Fast (+Video)
We found a full free course, 59 step-by-step lessons with videos, written by certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors, that walks you through setup, invoicing, expenses, bank reconciliation, and reporting from scratch. No sign-up, no paywall, just sit down with your QuickBooks account open and follow along at your own pace.
Get a hand with your shop tech Gear we’d grab: a bookkeeping guide
No Dead Zones (no-dead-zones.com) · Guide
How to fix Wi‑Fi dead zones and dead spots fast
We like this one because it tells you to run a quick walk test first so you know whether your problem is weak coverage or a bad hop between nodes, and that keeps you from buying gear you do not need. It is written plain, covers small offices just like homes, and points you toward wired backhaul fixes before it ever suggests spending more money.
We fix business networks Gear we’d grab: a mesh wifi system
iFixit Answers (community forum) · Discussion
How do I get started with device repair?
We bookmarked this one because real repair folks share exactly where to start when you want to fix your own phone or laptop instead of paying someone else to do it. Out here in the Coastal Bend where the nearest big-box repair shop can be a long drive away, knowing how to swap a battery or crack open a screen yourself is just plain useful.
See what repairs cost near you Gear we’d grab: a repair tool kit
CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) · Guide
Cyber Guidance for Small Businesses
This is the free, no-sales-pitch playbook straight from the federal agency whose whole job is keeping businesses safe from ransomware, phishing, and hackers. We like it because it skips the outdated advice and tells you exactly what to turn on first, starting with multi-factor authentication on every account.
Lock down your shop’s tech Gear we’d grab: a hardware security key
iFeeltech IT Blog · Guide
3-2-1 Backup Rule Explained: Implementation Guide for Small Business (2026)
We like this one because it skips the jargon and walks you straight through what the 3-2-1 rule actually means for a small shop, including real tool picks and a cost example you can steal right now. It also clears up the big trap most folks fall into: your Dropbox or Google Drive sync is not a backup, and this guide explains exactly why that matters when ransomware shows up.
Talk to us about backups Gear we’d grab: a solid backup drive

The bigger storyHow one person ships like a crew of nine

Browse by topic

New Services Just For Fun Finding A Pro Straight Talk For The Pros Jobs Board For Businesses Your Calls More Towns In The Mail For Hire

The Shop Directory

The rest of what this one shop builds and runs across the Coastal Bend.

NPCLocal

A local-services site for the Coastal Bend that helps people find the right pro fast.

NPC Laser

Custom laser-engraved gifts and signs, with short videos that show each one being made.

Adhere

Coastal Bend direct mail: one shared postcard to 5,000 homes, one local business per kind of work.

All Brands STX

Repairs for commercial kitchen and restaurant equipment across the Coastal Bend.

brandstx

Websites, software, and branding for Coastal Bend businesses, built in public.

Boothpress

Custom photo magnets and event photo products for other shops to sell.

Get it in your inbox

The week and month in review, sent when there is real news. No spam, one-click out.