Vol. I · No. 190Thursday, July 9, 2026Alice 81° · Mostly Clear· Forecast →

The North Point Daily

“All the work that’s fit to ship.” A plain-English daily from a one-person shop in Alice, Texas.

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

Thursday, July 9, 2026 · Alice 81° Mostly Clear

« 2026-07-08Back issuetoday all back issues

22 ships · 5 projects this stretch

Landscape engraving with trees, windmill, clouds, and distant hills.

New ServicesNPCLocalTodayNew

Find local pros who answer phones with AI, automate your work, or build custom software.

Search the Coastal Bend for what you need. No guessing. No calling around.

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

By The Shop · Dispatch from Alice

You need someone to answer your phone calls with AI, or handle your payroll automatically, or write custom software for your business. Before today, you'd search for general contractors and hope they could do it. Now you search for exactly what you need.

We added four new categories: AI phone answering, workflow automation, AI consulting, and custom software. Each one is run by real people in the Coastal Bend who actually use these tools in their own shops. No hype. The listings come with honest fact sheets and answers to common questions so you know what you're getting.

Read the full story See it on NPCLocal

“Your stuff stays running smooth.”

On For Businesses

Latest Dispatches

New ServicesClipMon, Jul 6

Clip is our app for recording your screen or camera, then trimming and sharing the clip.

Your videos upload faster and use less storage space.

You hit upload on a video from your phone. It used to sit there taking up space while it copied across the country. Now it gets smaller as it uploads and lands on the other end ready to go.

Read the full story

New ServicesClipMon, Jul 6

Clip is our app for recording your screen or camera, then trimming and sharing the clip.

Watch your videos right where you found them.

You're scrolling through your videos and spot one you want to check. You tap it. The video plays right there in your list. You're done. You move on.

Read the full story

New ServicesClipSun, Jul 5

Clip is our app for recording your screen or camera, then trimming and sharing the clip.

Change your mind about cuts for the next 24 hours.

You trim a video. Cut out the first ten seconds. But two hours later you realize you needed that part. You undo the trim. The video is back to how it was.

Read the full story

New ServicesClipSun, Jul 5

Clip is our app for recording your screen or camera, then trimming and sharing the clip.

Pick the best frame as your video cover image.

You upload a video and the first frame is blurry or awkward. Now you can pick from four different frames instead. Scroll through them. Pick the one that looks right.

Read the full story

New ServicesClipSun, Jul 5

Clip is our app for recording your screen or camera, then trimming and sharing the clip.

Get your deleted videos back for 30 seconds.

You're cleaning out your video list and accidentally delete the wrong one. You panic. Then you tap undo. It comes back.

Read the full story

New ServicesClipMon, Jul 6

Clip is our app for recording your screen or camera, then trimming and sharing the clip.

The app looks cleaner with a new color.

The buttons and highlights in the app are now teal instead of orange. It's a small visual refresh that makes the whole thing feel a bit more polished.

Read the full story

For BusinessesHahaYesterday

Your stuff stays running smooth.

We keep an eye on our servers. We watch for problems. We track whether everything is running fast and whether the service is up and working.

Read the full story

Off The Wire

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

Uploads now go to your nearest server for faster speed
Videos compress automatically to save storage space
Find local pros who offer AI phone answering and automation

From The Workshop

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

11MM SOCKET

NPC Laser

11MM SOCKET

NPCLOCAL.COM BUSINESS CARD

NPC Laser

NPCLOCAL.COM BUSINESS CARD

USB DRIVE

NPC Laser

USB DRIVE

LOCKOUT TAG

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 For Businesses Just For Fun Finding A Pro Straight Talk For The Pros Jobs Board 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.

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