Easy dashcam/Word Pathfinder/Free Office software

Recomendo - issue #469

Easy dashcam

I wanted a dashcam that was easy to use and install. The Redtiger F7NP is both. The included plastic pry tool let me neatly tuck the power cable under my car’s trim. The cigarette lighter adapter has a built-in USB port so you don’t lose your phone charging spot, and the 32GB memory card comes included (no separate purchase needed). The 4K front camera delivers crystal-clear video that makes license plates easily readable, even at night. You can view videos via phone or desktop app. (It comes with a rear camera, but I haven’t installed it yet.) — MF

Find the path between two words

Word Pathfinder is a concept explorer that maps the connections between any two words. I’ve been using it to discover associations between seemingly opposite symbols in dreams, though I’m sure there are many other ways to use it. — CD

Free Office software

There is really no reason to pay Microsoft for access to Office (renamed Microsoft 365). You can open, or generate, an Excel spreadsheet, Powerpoint presentation, or Word doc in free Google Drive with okay accuracy (PPT slides can be problematic). If you did need to maintain strict formatting beyond what Google can do, Microsoft now offers a free version of Office/Microsoft 365 on the web. You need a (free) Microsoft account. The web app seems to pretty identical to the standard paid versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. — KK

Free book cover mockups

From my own experience, it’s surprisingly hard to find a good mockup creator that’s truly free. Most sites claim to be free but add watermarks or require you to sign up. I’ve been using this 3D Book Cover Creator for a few years now, and it has always stayed free. If you think you might need one in the future, I’d suggest saving this now to save time later. — CD

AI meeting assistant

I used to frantically scribble notes during video calls until I discovered Granola ($18/month after 25 free meetings). This AI notetaker records meetings across Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet without requiring the user to join as a participant, unlike other meeting bots. It automatically generates transcripts and meeting notes, and creates shareable links that let attendees ask follow-up questions that Granola can answer based on the recorded content. — MF

Prompt theory AI

Prompt Theory is a viral internet meme that has the potential to stay awhile. The theory is that the characters in an AI generated video realize that they are only disposable AI generated characters and have no free will inside their video lives. Multiple videos depict them courageously talking about their suspicion, their “prompt theory,” that they are not real, not even actors. But only crazies believe in this prompt conspiracy. Do I need to say that 100% of this was AI generated with prompts? The truth is all very meta. A few examples on Twitter, or X, where it began, and on YouTube and more YouTube. — KK

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07/6/25

Thin Sun Protection/No-flight Zones/Uber Price Differences

Nomadico issue #161

Versatile Sun Protection Up Top

If you’re like me and don’t have a full head of hair on top, going into bright sunlight without a hat can be dangerous. A hat doesn’t work well though when snorkeling, riding a bike with ventilation holes, or on a windy boat. In those cases I switch to a Buff-style cloth tube that’s versatile and easy to pack. You can see plenty of options on Amazon from Buff here and they work well for covering your neck too. If you get another brand, make sure it has a UPF factor listed though as the thinly-woven ones you can see light through won’t keep out the UV rays.

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Flight Holes on the Globe

There are some conflict zones in the world that are off-limits to aircraft, no matter how high up they are, and the escalating battles in the Middle East have shut out more areas. The square mileage of conflict zones has increased by 65% since 2021, according to this risk consulting company report. While Air Emirates and Qatar Airways are two of the best airlines out there, in the near term you may want to avoid their connecting flights through Dubai or Doha until a cease-fire holds.

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Uber Ride Price Differences

I have both Uber and Lyft on my phone and am surprised by how different the rates can be sometimes for the same distance. Different markets have different price levels too though and this study of Uber prices lays out the most expensive and the cheapest in the USA. They used a 30-minute ride for the comparison and found that Seattle was the worst, averaging more than $60, while Cheyenne (WY), Reno, and NYC were next. Pay far less though in Indianapolis, Fort Worth, Miami, or Houston, where you’re more likely to pay around $30. (Meanwhile, an international study found that a 48-kilometer airport to center Uber ride in Seoul was $57 but a 34km ride in Hong Kong was $240.)

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Small Ships That Fit in Harbors

I’ve mentioned the attractions of small ship cruises before on Nomadico because I’ve done ones with Scenic, Viking, Uncruise, Sun Fun You, and others over the years when working on travel articles. Last December I was on my biggest one yet, but big is a relative term. With a capacity of 312 guests when packed out, the Windstar ship we were on still felt intimate and we were able to pull into small harbors in places like Livorno, Genoa, and Nice. When we passed one of the giant floating hotel ships as we arrived in Barcelona, we looked like a butterfly buzzing past an ox. See my story on this Mediterranean small ship tour in Perceptive Travel.

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A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

07/3/25

What’s in my NOW? — Steven Ovadia

issue #217

Steven Ovadia is a father, writer, and librarian.

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PHYSICAL

• Self-syllabus – Every few months, I make a physical list of books I want to read. It’s not everything I want to read. It’s just the ten or so books I want to get through next. Sometimes it’s thematic. Sometimes it’s not. But it makes it easier for me to get through my reading list, while keeping some variety. And it’s fun checking things off as I read them. It takes the mystery out of wondering what I should read next.
• Library card – Related to the self-syllabus, my library card is incredible in terms of access to books and reducing book clutter at home. People think librarians love owning books, but I prefer reading them, only owning the ones I love and want to revisit (or write in!).
• Mechanical pencils – I was a fountain pen person for a few years, but they were a lot of work. I have two young daughters, and no spare time, so mechanical pencils are a more realistic and time efficient writing implement. Mechanical pencils feel great, are neater, and can be erased, which is kind of a game-changer I hadn’t considered. I love these Pentels. Cheap and durable. I have them stashed everywhere for when I want to jot something down.

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DIGITAL

• Org-mode/Orgzly – I use org-mode, part of the Emacs editor, to organize myself. It’s the best, and easiest to-do list I’ve ever used. It’s flexible and while there’s a learning curve, it was well-worth a quick (and fun!) Udemy class. Orgzly is the Android interface I use to manage my to-do list on the go. It’s also amazing.
• WebDAV – WebDAV is the protocol I use to sync my to-do list on my phone. As I use it, it’s basically file space I can access on my desktop and phone, and which I get as part of my Fastmail subscription. It’s easy-to-use and very convenient for syncing tools, like org-mode, but also Joplin, my note-taking app. It’s a solid option if your file-sharing tools don’t work with your digital tools.

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INVISIBLE

• Subscription creep – Pay for what you like for as long as you like it, like software, magazine, newsletters, streaming services, etc. But when you don’t like it anymore, stop paying for it. I try to think about what I’m paying for and if it’s worth it. For instance, I got into WebDAV when I was looking at how much I was spending on hosting certain applications. Support and pay for everything you enjoy! But when the joy passes, empower yourself to shift the money to other projects.

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07/2/25

Industrial Strength Design / The Pet Dragon

Issue No. 73

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH DESIGN PROFILES THE MOST FAMOUS DESIGNER YOU’VE NEVER HEARS OF: BROOKS STEVENS

Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World
by Glenn Adamson
The MIT Press
2003, 300 pages, 9.5 x 11 x 0.8 inches

Buy on Amazon

This excellent book profiles the most famous industrial designer you’ve never heard of: Brooks Stevens. Sure, you know of designer Jonathan Ive and his Apple products, and maybe Raymond Loewy, who slimmed the Coke bottle and decked out Kennedy’s Air Force One, but flipping through this book you’ll instantly recognize Brooks Stevens’ equally famous mid-century creations: that 3M “Mondrian” packaging, The Excalibur custom car, the Miller beer “soft cross” logo, the “boomerang” patterned Formica, and yes, the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile!

Stevens grew up in Milwaukee, and his unpretentious Midwestern work ethic and pro-business attitude was clear in all his work and writing. Unlike other designers who indulged in fantastic and lofty, theoretical designs, Stevens applied his styling skills and practical design sensibilities to suit local manufacturers of lawn mowers, outboard motors, cookware, and vehicles, resulting in increased sales and efficient manufacturing (if not design awards).

One of his most famous creations is the phrase “planned obsolescence,” which was widely attacked at the time by Vance Packard in his book The Waste Makers as an example of the manipulation of consumers and crass commercialism. Stevens proudly defended his approach of constant improvements and questioned so-called “good design” as actually elitist, unpractical and most damning of all in his mind, ultimately unprofitable. The debate goes on and you’ll have to come to your own conclusion: are manufacturers’ frequent new product variations kaizen-like progress, or just needless churning of the consumer. (Do you really need that new iPhone9x?)

As an industrial designer trained in the old-school skills of drawing and rendering, I loved seeing the many samples of marker sketches, gouache renderings and airbrushed presentations drawings. Check out the crazy concept cars and boats – it’s like a trip back in time to a mid-sixties auto show. – Bob Knetzger

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THE PET DRAGON – A WHIMSICAL GIRL-MEETS-DRAGON STORY THAT ALSO INTRODUCES CHINESE CHARACTERS

The Pet Dragon
by Christopher Niemann
Greenwillow Books
2008, 40 pages, 9 x 11.8 x 0.4 inches (hardcover)

Buy on Amazon

Chinese characters are wonderfully expressive, straddling the fine line between the written word and illustration. Esteemed graphic designer and picture book creator Christoph Niemann realized as much with The Pet Dragon, a whimsical story about a Chinese girl who raises a baby dragon to adulthood. In his introduction to the book, Niemann states that he had fun imagining connections between the calligraphic characters and their meanings. Reading the book, it’s clear that the author has a love of his subject and was very much enjoying himself.

The story is straightforward. A young Chinese girl named Lin receives a baby dragon who grows too quickly to stay in her home. After breaking a vase, Lin’s father condemns the baby dragon to its cage. The wily dragon escapes, leading Lin on a quest to find her beloved pet. Niemann enriches his tale by transposing Chinese characters on top of his illustrations to demonstrate the relationship between each symbol and what it represents. A forest is shown as a series of trees with the symbol for tree superimposed on them, the curving lines below indicating the roots and the extended lines at the top stretching outward for the branches. The upraised slashes and crossed lines in the symbol for father become the raised eyebrows and nose on his face, while the character denoting mountain has its three upward prongs displayed over a towering mountain range. The story concludes with the twin calligraphic symbols denoting the word friend displayed atop the reunited Lin and the titular dragon.

Niemann’s artwork is clean and modernist in style, and his novel approach to integrating expressive, ebullient images with the sparse, minimalist strokes of traditional calligraphy proves both endearing and effective. Although this is a book that can be read quickly, the reader should also take time to examine and enjoy the interplay between pictures and meaning that the author meticulously constructs. – Lee Hollman

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Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

07/1/25

Domes & Yurts

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 144

Modified geodesic dome

Hexayurt

The hexayurt is an update on Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome and is a sturdy, affordable, easy-to-build temporary shelter. The geometry has been adjusted slightly to make it easier to build domes from materials like plywood, insulation, plastic, cardboard and more. The hexayurts are made from only one kind of triangle: an 8′ x 8′ isosceles triangle, rather than the strangely-shaped triangles which are standard for Fuller-style geodesic domes. They are not strictly geodesic, either, but it doesn’t seem to matter much in practice. The slightly stiff, angular lines look a lot like any other dome.

The most common place to see hexayurts is at Burning Man. The first one was built there in 2003, and was only a little bigger than a tent. There now range in size from 50 to nearly 500 square feet. A typical year at Burning Man will see a hundred or so of the silver huts lined up on the playa.

The design is public domain and build-it-yourself. People using the shelter for Burning Man usually buy the materials (about $300) ahead of time, including mail ordering the hard-to-find extra wide tape which is used to hold the shelter together. It takes about a day’s worth of effort to cut out the roof pieces, playa-proof the edges and do a test assembly. Putting the hexayurt together on the playa typically takes a small group of people about two hours and can be a struggle if there is wind or a dust storm which coats all the pieces in a fine layer of tape-defeating dust.

The joy of the thing is a building which stays relatively cool in the desert. The shiny surface of the hexayurt reflects away a lot of the sun’s heat, and a mix of pump sprays, swamp coolers and even the occasional air conditioner make the inside quite habitable even in the middle of the day when tents are far too hot for comfort. There are lots of plans and instructional videos on the Hexayurt web site, and handy people seem to have little difficulty putting them up.

A few simpler units, made from plywood, have been tested by local charities in Sri Lanka and Haiti. The jury is still out on whether this shelter will be useful beyond recreational use in the desert, but field trials are underway. — Howard Rheingold and Vinay Gupta

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How to build a seasonal tent-cabin

Mongolian Cloudhouses

Although I have never made a yurt, but I’d like to. This book tells you how. It assumes you have more time than money.

A yurt is a temporary tent house. It’s not really portable. The Mongolian version weighs 200 pounds — strong wooden frame covered in thick felt. If you really want portable, get a modern dome tent. But if you want a compact summer house, a cabin, a seasonal shelter encased in the mythical round, then a yurt could be perfect since you can make one of these yourself, with the added bonus that you can move it if you have to.

This book is an update of a 1980s classic. It takes the hippie approach. The drawings are all you need. Their instructions are rough, approximate, but satisfyingly visual. The book is motivational simply by being clear and rustic. Precision is not required, craft-smarts are. It assumes you are a do-it-yourself person. —KK

• When nomads gather, the topic of tipi vs. ger/yurt may surface. It’s a circular argument. Both are functional and beautiful; the pros and cons balance out. Choose the lodge that best fits your situation and personality.
  The straightforwardness of the tipi, its pyramidal shape, the feeling of infinity inside looking up at the apex of the cone, make this Native American design a masterpiece. Because of the slope of the roof, the tipi can shed rain and handle a snow load better than a yurt.
  On the other hand, the basket-like frame of the ger culminates at the smokehole, the crown, the tono. A low ceiling makes it easy to heat and the short poles fit on or in most vehicles. The straight wall of the yurt give you as much head space as floor space, unlike the tipi.
  
  As some kind of comparison, this drawing shows outlines of an 18-foot tipi and a 13-foot yurt, both using the same amount of cover material (33 yards, 6 feet wide).

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Best dome resource

Domerama

Domes are the most efficient way to build a shelter, covering the most space with the least material. But all domes leak in the rain (ask anyone who has lived in one). Yet, because they can be erected quickly, cheaply, and make wonderful, uninterrupted, open, almost magical, spaces inside, domes are perfect where it does not rain. Or on a temporary basis. Or both. Like Burning Man.

Once popular in the 1970s as alternative housing, then abandoned as impractical a decade later, domes are now in a resurgence because they are nearly ideal structures for arid and temporary shelters at Burning Man. This instant city now sports more domes than anywhere else in the world, and many of these are quite large. Considering how vast they are, it is amazing they can be thrown up in a few days by a small dedicated crew. And then be re-erected the next year.

You can use any set of long uniform pieces for the structs of a dome, from 2x4s, to electrical conduit pipe. The key critical pieces are the hubs which connect the structs, and the strut lengths. These must have a mathematical precision, and their dimensions vary by the size and variation of the dome species.

Therefore if you want to build a geodesic dome structure, you need to be able to construct strong hubs accurately. Domerama is the guide you need. This website shows you how to calculate struct lengths and how to make (or where to buy) dependable hub connectors. Using this site many amateurs have successfully built domes that worked the first time; you’ll need help: remember this is a very math-intensive endeavor.

The site has tons of materials on the varieties of domes, erecting domes (not as easy as you think), designing them, what to use as coverings, and introduces global dome culture. It is the best place to keep up on dome innovations: one cool new idea is to shrink wrap domes. Find out how here. Domerama is better than any current book on domes by far. — KK

• Advantages of shrink wrap covering:• Will hold up under extreme weather conditions
  • Translucent to let a large amount of light inside the geodesic dome structure
  • Easy to repair, simple to create ventilation in the form of windows
  • Strong enough to handle freeway and railway speeds
  • Seams bond through heat, creating a seamless containment
  • Will last up to 2 years in fully exposed outdoor conditions
• Tyvek for covering geodesic domes:Noise factor: when the wind hits the Tyvek® covered dome there may be flapping and so a lot of noise at high winds. Hard structure Tyvek® (the one you normally find at the hardware store) is stiff and noisy when new, but if you put the Tyvek® in a washing machine on the delicate cycle with no detergent for 2-3 cycles, it comes out soft and much more fabric-like. Washing this type of Tyvek® does not seem to affect the water resistance but can cause some shrinkage. 5% should be added to measurements to allow for shrinkage if you are going to wash your Tyvek® .

• This is the classic way to connect geodesic struts together. A hole is drilled in the flattened ends then bolted together.To accommodate a drilled hole into your struts, the length of the strut needs to be longer.For example a 36 inch pipe/conduit strut will need to be extended at both ends to drill holes. A rule of thumb is to add 2 X 3/4 inch = 1.5 inches (or about 8cm) more to all struts. That means the center of the holes would need to be drilled 3/4″ from each strut end.
• Domekit.cc is a project looking to make dome building simple and fun. They developed a hub connector featuring a robust ball-and-socket joint and an integrated thumbscrew that securely locks the strut to the node.These 3D-printed connectors are made in small batches in workshops and garages across the USA by fabricators with open-source 3D printers like the Makerbot. The principal fabricator for the 3D-printed connectors is Mark Cohen, who operates five 3D printers out of his garage in Brooklyn:This is the Starplate system offered by Stromberg’s. Starplates are steel plates, with channels to hold 2×2′s, 2×3′s or 2×4′s. You simply drill holes in each end of 25 struts of equal length and bolt them into the 11 star plates to build a solid, mini-dome framework in a couple of hours.

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Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

06/30/25

How to find purpose/Kagi/Track your natural energy

Recomendo - issue #468

How to find purpose

The purpose of your life is to discover the purpose of your life. If that sounds recursive, it is. No one has pushed harder on untangling that strange loop than Dan Pink, whose professional career has been trying to illuminate the way for ordinary folks to find their drive and purpose. He recently crafted a 10-minute video – How to Find Your Purpose – with clear, actionable steps you can take if stuck. I agree 100% with his approach and recommendations. They really help. — KK

Kagi Search Engine

I switched from Google to Kagi a couple of months ago and can’t imagine going back. The results remind me of Google’s golden age, before ads took over. The uncluttered ad-free interface delivers high-quality results without the SEO spam that plagues Google. It has tons of customization features I’m still learning about. It’s $10 a month, but having a search engine aligned with user experience rather than advertising revenue is worth it. — MF

Track your natural energy patterns

I took the advice from this LifeProTip and tracked my natural energy and focus patterns for a week to figure out when I’m most productive. For me, it’s after 1 PM. In the mornings, even though I do everything “right”—sitting out in the sun, sipping coffee, and exercising—I still usually feel energetically dispersed and have brain fog for the first half of the day. Instead of getting frustrated or trying to force myself to focus, I decided to shift my approach. Now, I work on tasks that don’t require much brainpower in the morning and save the more demanding ones for the afternoon. This one change has made me feel less shameful or frustrated with my natural patterns and more accomplished each day. — CD

Quiet, powerful hair dryer

My wife started using this CNMSGM hair dryer. Compared to her old dryer, it’s much quieter, more powerful, and lighter (under 1 pound). It features a smart LED ring that changes color to indicate temperature mode (red for hot, orange for warm, green for soft, and blue for cool). The two magnetic attachments snap on easily. Some users on Amazon mention that the power cord is a bit short, but I measured it, and it’s 70 inches long, which is more than enough for our bathroom. — MF

Invisible ring resizer

I love wearing rings, but my fingers are smaller than average and it’s really hard to find rings below a size 5, so I’m often disappointed when shopping for fashion jewelry. I finally found a solution with this Invisible Ring Spacer by Yiruhe. I coat the inside of the ring with a resin liquid that hardens in two minutes under UV light, repeating the process until the ring fits perfectly. It’s straightforward, and if you mess up or want to remove it, you can just run the ring under warm water and peel off the resin easily. My only complaint is the smell of the resin, so I’ve been resizing my rings outside. — CD

Death clock

Part of the thrill of being alive is that we don’t know when we will die. However, I’ve found that knowing my statistical death age to be very clarifying, and it helps me focus on maximizing today. There’s a new AI-enhanced Death Clock that takes into account your lifestyle choices to give you a death date based on statistics. It’s quick and free on the web. Treat it as a hint rather than destiny. — KK

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06/29/25

What’s in my NOW? — Steven Ovadia