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Cool tools really work.
A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
Erik is founder of the Referee Project to add nuance and quality to the scholarly record. In his spare time he writes screenplays about giant pugs intent on world domination, among other things.
PHYSICAL
Mac mini travel case: Once upon a time, EE nerds walked the Earth with geek boxes containing wires, transistors and stuff. Now you can LARP that lifestyle with a Mac Mini travel case. Need to add a custom shoulder strap for the full effect but the ability to take my powerful mini anywhere two legs can walk is worth every strange look.
Comma 4/sunnypilot: Upgrade your car with an advanced, open source driver assistance system. Comma 4 is hardware that easily plugs into over 300+ cars while sunnypilot is a community project upgrade that offers more features than the base software. You may need to grab a tech friend but the ability to put in a destination and have the car drive there (with vigilance) is more widely available than most people think.
Sony WH-1000XM4 headset. I loved these when I first got them. After 2 years of nearly constant use, I upgraded to the XM5. After another two years of heavy use, the XM6 came out. After testing those I ‘downgraded’ back to the XM4, and have no regrets. You won’t either. The noise cancelling is strong and it switches to ambient on a guess, a problem with the XM5.
DIGITAL
Caveman (Claude Code skill). Yes, it writes output like a caveman. Yes, that’s funny. But guess what? Caveman save tokens (~65% avg). Three levels: lite, full grunt, ultra (almost alien-speak). Not just for code, either. After having Caveman rewrite Mark Antony’s speech in Julius Caesar, I was convinced of its potential in other domains, and I’m trying to port it to Claude Desktop with the intent of writing all emails in full grunt mode. The world would be a better place if you joined me on that mission.
Repoprompt. This is a context management tool for AI. Ignore the advertised token windows, the rot starts hard after 128-256K, if that. Repoprompt has AI scan the codebase, codeslice files to fit set token budgets and improves prompts. Oh, it also enables AI pair programming between models, with review gates, plan checks, the works. Only for MacOS at the moment but Windows is on the roadmap (for a year now…). Also on the roadmap: PDF text splicing. The result? Stronger output responses, less energy burn, earlier bedtimes.
INVISIBLE
“In the cellars of the night, when the mind starts moving around old trunks of bad times, the pain of this and the shame of that, the memory of a small boldness is a hand to hold.” — John Leonard.
I don’t need this quote at the moment, but maybe someone does. It’s been helpful in the past. Record your bold, authentic acts. Collect more. Revisit them.
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