Just 1 Question/Sprint/Carry-on spinner

Recomendo - issue #424

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The Recomendo team is trying something new that might interest you. Once a week we will ask readers a simple question and then we’ll curate the best answers to share in a newsletter the following week. These questions won’t be about current events, nor will they solve any mysteries. Instead, they are about finding what’s good and true and beautiful in everyday life. There are no right answers and there is only one question.  We’ll run this as a free one-page newsletter (similar to Recomendo), and we’ll keep going as long as people enjoy it. If you want to read the best answers and see the next question, sign up for Just 1 Question here: https://just1question.substack.com/

Rewarding sports series

Sprint is a Netflix reality series following the colorful characters trying to become the world’s fastest human. The Olympics is only one meet in a parade of races all year as they face each other again and again. The really simple test of being the fastest highlights the drama and their sacrifices over years. Season 1 ends just before this summer’s Olympics. The upcoming Season 2 will focus on the tribulations through this Olympics, and its unexpected surprises. Sprint is one of the better, well-crafted sports documentary series out there, and my preferred way of “watching” sports. — KK

Carry-on spinner

Whenever an old piece of luggage breaks, I replace it with a SwissGear model. I finally abandoned my 20-year-old Briggs & Riley because the zippers were all broken and I didn’t like having to use both hands to extend the telescoping handle. I bought the latest version of the SwissGear carry-on for under $100. It’s a lightweight, 360-degree four-wheeled spinner with two front pockets, a snap-on TSA liquids bag, and a mesh zipper compartment in the interior lid. It also has handles on the side and bottom, making it easy to pull out of stowage areas. We now have 7 pieces of SwissGear – three 21-inch models and four 25-inch check-in models. — MF

Use AI as a language teacher

I’m learning European Portuguese, and I’ve asked AI to be my tutor. I use a prompt like this:

Have a simple conversation with me in European Portuguese in the Simple Present tense and correct me in English when I get anything wrong. Start by asking me about my day. If I respond with “t” repeat what you said in English.

I use Claude Sonnet 3.5, but it doesn’t seem to matter what AI you use. — MF

Robust wifi mesh

Our once wired home is now totally wireless. I recently upgraded to a mesh wifi network, with multiple wifi units around the house creating one extended network with one shared password. We went with the Eero 6 system (owned by Amazon) which Wirecutter gives the highest marks for its ease of setting up and speeds. In our kitchen we get 700 mbps. You can easily daisy chain the units ($90 each) with small overlaps to reach anywhere in a sprawling household. It’s great to never have to think about reliable and robust wifi. — KK

Stay calm without any hacks

Here is a great short list on how to stay calm without any hacks from Greg Isenberg. All of these tips are effective and simple ways to help you move out of “stuck” energy or feelings of helplessness, guiding you toward something more beneficial and useful. The advice, “if you’re scared, take a risk,” reminds me of an anonymous quote I recently came across: “The cold water doesn’t get warmer if you jump late.” — CD 

Gar’s Tips & Tools – Issue #182

Access to tools, techniques, and shop tales from the diverse worlds of DIY

Gar’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.

Buying/Selling Vintage Toolboxes

Continuing the vintage tools theme from our previous issue, I ran into this video on YouTube about buying old toolboxes full of tools at yard and estate sales and reselling the contents for a profit. In the video, Chris from the Ultimate Recycler buys two boxes, one for AUS$20 and one for $40. The $20 box looks like it’s mainly cheap and exhausted tools, but he still manages, after some cleaning, to get over $100. He estimates that the $40 toolbox will get at least $150. He concludes that, even with a not-so-great collection, you’re still likely to return 4-5 times what you paid. This would be a fun side hustle/hobby for those of us who like trading in “old iron.”

Understanding Over-Center Mechanisms

Over-center mechanisms are a type of bistable mechanism, meaning they have two stable states—think of your bicycle kickstand or a cupboard latch. Toggle clamps, anyone? In This Old Tony video, the always good for a laugh and a great education, Tony looks at the physics, construction, and application of these useful and ubiquitous mechanisms. I certainly knew of a number of these devices and how they worked, but didn’t know the name for this category of mechanism and the physical science behind their function. Great stuff!

Sharpening Wheels on Tube Cutters

In this See Jane Drill video, Leah Bolden shows how easy it is to replace the cutting wheel on a tube cutter and how to keep the cutting wheel you have by sharpening it on a leather strop.

Removing Sticky “Soft Touch” Coating

It’s called “soft touch,” “premium textured feel,” and “rubberized finish.” It’s that coating found on some consumer products like flashlights, binoculars, kitchen items, and personal electronics. No-slip grip. It feels good. For a while. Over time, it starts to break down and the object gets sticky and unpleasant to the touch. As someone explains in the comments of this video, “the gummy material is created when the polymer [in the coating] reacts with ozone and UV and re-links. It happens faster when oils are present.” The solution? In the video, they found that gasoline is one of the few things that removes it. Someone in the comments says Naptha works well and is safer. Naptha-based Coleman fuel also works.

Must-See Maker TV

I’ve written about The Practical Engineer here before, but these videos are so good, you deserve a reminder. Each episode is a crash course in… well… practical engineering. Here is everything you never knew about the leaning tower of Pisa. Like, did you know that it had already started to lean during its multi-century construction and subsequent builders had to correct for the lean as they added stories? The tower is curved, not straight. Channel host Grady Hillhouse is an amazing and effective educator. He uses great graphics, in-shop experiments, and history to drive each episode home. You’re always smarter coming out than going in. As someone comments on this video: “There’s just something extremely joyful about a guy being able to say ‘recreational geology’ with a straight face and a genuine smile.”

Shop Talk

Readers offer their feedback, tips, tales, and tool recommendations.

My old friend and colleague, Mike Colombo, wrote in response to the Stanley Workmaster screwdriver piece in the last issue:

I inherited a few Stanley Workmaster screwdrivers from my father. When I watched Adam’s video, I grabbed the tools out of the box and had a newfound appreciation for their ergonomic qualities. And these were probably manufactured before the word “ergonomic” was even in the zeitgeist!  Anyway, just another “thank you” for continuing to send out these newsletters. Cheers!

Long-time reader Paul Cryan:

Fantastic stuff as usual! It seems that fishing tools from the trash/thrift stores/estate-sale-miscellaneous-jumble boxes and giving them new life is my raison d’etre. And you’re one of my most influential influencers in that regard. Thank you. Just this weekend, I spent a good bit of my leisure time cleaning up a $2 pair of Truecraft pliers I found at Goodwill. The purchase was really just an excuse to try the Tub-o-Towels you put on my radar. OMG…they’ve got lanolin.

The lovely and talented Steven Roberts writes:

I hardly know where to begin! I have a few favorites I need to photograph for you. This one just caught my eye this morning on the way out of the boat… Fabulously dense little hammer with a very useful pair of additional utilities. I don’t even know its proper name, but it’s always been in my tool cabinet. I’ll try to get some more for you. Inherited a lot from my father, a mechanical engineer from Swarthmore… Even a favorite old ice pick with a wood handle that’s right up there with newer scribes. Something about that old steel. 

Consider a Paid Subscription

Gar’s Tips & Tools is always free. But if you if you find ir truly useful to you, consider a paid subscription ($8/month). This keeps me in coffee and potato chips while I’m working on this labor of love. If you really want to show your patronage, consider becoming a Hero of the Realm. I will send custom packages of goodies (books, tools, zines, and more) to all my Heroes.

Thanks to all those who have already subscribed. You are the Kapton tape on my 3D print bed.

Aishwarya Khanduja, social and health-tech innovator

Show and Tell #405: Aishwarya Khanduja

Aishwarya Khanduja is the founder of a stealth entity working to solve wicked problems through lenses of complexity, markets, and power. She’s spent the majority of her career thus far being a founder or supporting founders. Her companies span biotech, ed-tech, and the future of work. She writes a weekly letter, essays, technical primers, and other musings on aishwaryadoingthings.com.

TOOLS:
0:00 – Intro
1:08 – Hero 329 pen
8:48 – bamboo book stand
11:06 – tetr app
16:30 – vestoj: the journal of sartorial matters
24:20 – The Analogue

To sign up to be a guest on the show, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/qc496XB6bGbrAEKK7

Volaris Pass/Free Airline Wi-Fi/Best Loyalty Programs

Nomadico Issue #118

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.

The Volaris Annual Pass: My Review

Last August, my wife and I both took advantage of an introductory offer and bought an annual pass from Mexican budget airline Volaris. (Now it’s around $500.) The promise is that you can fly as much as you want for one price, but the list of restrictions and drawbacks is a long one. To evaluate whether this makes sense for you if you’re near an airport they serve or you will travel a lot within Mexico, here’s my update on how it went for us and how the math added up in the end. (Bare-bones airline Frontier offers a similar program, sometimes as low as $299.)

Best Travel Rewards Programs

How fast does it pay off to be loyal to a specific hotel chain or airline? US News & World Report ranked the big programs on a variety of factors, including the time it takes to get something free in return and what kinds of perks you earn. Wyndham’s program came out on top for lodging (they have the simplest redemption tiers by far) and Alaska Airlines came out on top for carriers.

Adidas Makes Sunglasses?

I’ve worn a lot of travel clothing items from Adidas over the years and the behemoth brand makes everything from Tae Kwon Do uniforms to tennis shirts. In addition to thousands of shoes. They also make sunglasses though and I recently spent 2.5 months traveling with their SP0070 polarized model, which lists for $120 but goes for far less at the Adidas store or on Amazon. That’s a sporty pair that worked in multiple situations for me, including beaches and boats, but they also make more fashionable options that are high quality but are usually in the range of $50 to $90. See the whole range here.

Free Wi-Fi on Delta Airlines

Delta announced this week that it was the first carrier to be rolling out free cabin Wi-Fi to all its customers. You can use it now on most domestic flights but in the next few months it will be coming to 15 European countries and 5 in South America. Big bodies of water are the tricky part, but they’re working on implementing satellite solutions for that in the longer term. Check this page on their website if you’ve got a Delta flight coming up.

What’s in my NOW? — Greg Maass

issue #183

Sign up here to get What’s in my NOW? a week early in your inbox.

Greg Maass is a computer programmer, musician, and photographer living in Seattle. Soon he will stop being a computer programer and is looking forward to using that part of his brain for other things that are yet to be determined.

PHYSICAL

• Aroma Season Heated Eye Mask. I read a lot and my eyes get very dry. 10 minutes with this on my eyes makes me feel like I’ve had a 45 minute nap. Easy to travel with, too.
• Stainless steel thermos. I tend to linger over my morning coffee, and it stays the perfect temperature all morning. No more reheating in the microwave. Also great for cold stuff, but you probably want a separate one that doesn’t taste like coffee.
• Darn Tough socks from Vermont. Very expensive for a pair of socks, but I’ve had several pairs for many years and they still are in great shape and super comfortable. Heartbreaking when I lose one of a pair, though.

DIGITAL

• Patriot, season 1 on Prime Video. Simply the best show that nobody has heard of. Brilliant, unique, amazing cinematography, dark, and hilarious, with a great cast. Season 2 is really good too.
• Castro podcast app for iPhone. Everyone has a specific way of triaging and listening to podcasts if they have a lot of subscriptions. If Castro works for you, it will really work for you.

INVISIBLE

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Your brain is a machine for making suggestions, and being able to intercept and modify dysfunctional thinking is a skill that can enhance everyone’s lives.

The World of Edena / When David Invented Bowie

Books That Belong On Paper Issue No. 28

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.

MŒBIUS LIBRARY: THE WORLD OF EDENA

Mœbius Library: The World of Edena
by Mœbius
Dark Horse Books
2016, 176 pages, 8.7 x 1.1 x 11.1 inches, Hardcover

Buy on Amazon

I have been wanting to read Mœbius’ comics for years, but until recently they’ve been fairly expensive to acquire. Thankfully, Dark Horse is reprinting his work as part of the Mœbius Library. While I’d never read any of his comics, I was very aware of the impact he’s had on Sci-fi and pop culture. Jean Giraud or his pseudonym Mœbius is a French artist who has helped design movies like Dune, Alien, Tron, The Fifth Element, and The Abyss, just to name a few. The World of Edena was a great introduction to his work, and definitely left me wanting more.

The story mixes sci-fi adventure, with deeper philosophical exploration. After crash landing and finding their way to an alien ship, highly evolved A-sexual beings Stel and Atan find themselves in a Garden of Eden like world. They quickly start to experience new feelings like hunger, pain, and sexual urges. What’s incredible is that this story started as an ad for the Citroën car company, you’d be hard pressed to find a car company still making anything remotely close to this.

The artwork’s fantastic, you can definitely see how modern filmmakers were influenced by this style. This collection also includes the final chapter in the story, printed in English for the first time. If you’re already a fan of Mœbius and haven’t read this yet, or are as curious about his work as I was, this is definitely a great book to pick up.

– JP LeRoux

HADDON HALL: WHEN DAVID INVENTED BOWIE — A GRAPHIC NOVEL ABOUT THE CREATIVITY STRUGGLE IN THE LATE 60S

Haddon Hall: When David Invented Bowie
by Néjib
SelfMadeHero
2017, 144 pages, 7.5 x 0.8 x 10 inches, Hardcover

Buy on Amazon

It’s hard not to use a word like “groovy” when it comes to describing Haddon Hall: When David Invented Bowie. There’s the setting: a crumbling estate in swinging London, where David Bowie, his wife Angie, and assorted others are living and creating in the late ‘60s. There’s the loose, freewheeling quality to both the lettering and drawings, which use simple outlines and pops of color. And there’s the sly humor, which comes through in both the dialogue and breaks from the main story (which show us how to be a music snob, how to be a fashionista, etc.)

One of the joys of this book is seeing the time period come to life. People like producer Tony Visconti, T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan, original Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett, and dissatisfied Beatle John Lennon pass through these pages. They worry about their music, experiment with sexual identities, and try to fend off feelings of creative envy. And, if they’re Bowie, they develop their most iconic persona (Ziggy Stardust) while dealing with poignant family issues (the hospitalization of his schizophrenic brother Terry).

This book is a delight. I learned plenty about Bowie despite having already read a biography, but Haddon Hall doesn’t feel educational. It shows in its not-too-serious way that creativity can be a grind, and that none of us — not even David Bowie — was born a fully formed artist.

– Christine Ro

What’s in my NOW? — Greg Maass