Recomendo

Story of China/Sun Basket/Magnet

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Recomendo: issue no. 88

The Story of China
We are entering the century of China. Our collective future is dependent on its future, and China’s future is highly constrained by its past. By far the best history of China so far is a 6-part BBC experience now running on Amazon Prime by the peripatetic historian Michael Woods. The Story of China boasts incredibly high production values, filmed in China. A thousand year history is grounded in visits to the actual places where it happened, making it visible and intimate. More importantly this program presents an understandable history that sadly even most Chinese today are ignorant of. Woods is a likeable host who will make you smart. I consider the Story of China essential viewing. (His Story of India is likewise great.) — KK

Meal kit delivery
I heard Kevin mention a meal delivery service called Sun Basket about a month ago, so I checked it out and signed up. Once a week our family gets a box filled with fresh, organic, fruits, vegetables, and meats that have been washed and portioned (the ingredients are kept cool with recyclable ice packs). The box also includes a very nice, full-color recipe booklet for the ingredients. (We are on the Paleo plan — there are multiple styles to choose from). Next week we make Thai turkey salad with cabbage, basil, and mint; Italian sausage with spring vegetables; and Burmese salmon salad with lemongrass and bell pepper. Our at-home meals are now exciting and fun to make. We get three meals a week for our family of four for about $150. Use this link and we will both get $40 off of our order. — MF

Organize multiple window screens
Magnet is a window manager for Mac that lets me quickly resize and organize up to 4 windows per screen using keyboard shortcuts. It is a must-have productivity tool and it’s only .99 cents. — CD

Onward ticket hack
There are occasions while traveling that you want to enter a country with a one-way ticket, but that country requires an onward ticket to enter. This is a job for Best Onward Ticket which will sell you a legit onward ticket that you use only to get in and then they cancel after 48 hours. It costs $12. Much easier than booking a ticket yourself and cancelling because it avoids byzantine fees and hidden charges. I have not personally used this service yet, and other similar services in the past have gone belly up, so buyer beware, but this outfit gets good reviews and I find the hack useful so I’m mentioning it. Let me know if you’ve tried it. — KK

Surprisingly good bad movie
Bad Match is the best bad movie I’ve seen in a while. It’s a psychological thriller about a tech-bro serial dater who meets a clingy, “crazy” girl and they basically torture each other. At times I thought it was dumb and hilarious, other times I hated both the characters, but by the end I was so happy I watched it that I spoiled the story to anyone who would listen. Right now it currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. — CD

Tiny bluetooth speaker
This itty-bitty wireless speaker ($13) is a lot louder than I expected, and the sound is very clear. It’s perfect for listening to music and podcasts in a hotel room, because it weighs less than 2 ounces and takes up almost no room in my luggage. — MF

-- Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, Claudia Dawson 04/1/18

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