Pet hair roller/One Useful Thing/Official Stick Reviews

Recomendo - issue #425

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Reusable pet hair roller

I was burning through lint rollers like crazy to remove cat hair from my office chair. I ended up buying an Odora Pet Hair Roller. It’s a reusable device that removes pet hair from upholstered furniture, bedding, and some clothing. It uses a back-and-forth motion to pick up hair and deposit it in a chamber. Because you have to move it back-and-forth, it doesn’t work well on loose blankets, which is something to keep in mind. — MF

AI news

Keeping up with the advances in AI is almost a full-time job. The most reliable single source for understandable and useful news about consumer-facing AI that I use is Ethan Mollick’s substack called One Useful Thing. You can read it as a web blog or as an emailed newsletter. He is quick to thoroughly try out the newest thing and report on what it is useful for. — KK

Joyful social media 

I’ve intentionally cut down on my social media time, but there’s one account I never scroll past because it always makes me smile: Official Stick Reviews on Instagram. It’s the internet’s go-to spot for stick reviews submitted from around the world. Initially, I thought it was satire, but I soon realized the enthusiasm for finding cool sticks is both genuine and contagious. Here’s a good example. — CD

Best extension cord

I’ve struggled every which way to store and deploy very long extension cords in our garage. A year ago, I splurged on the ideal solution which I had seen in hi-tech company workshops: a retractable cord stationed on the ceiling or wall. Like the retractable cord in a vacuum cleaner, you pull it out to the length you need and then when done, a quick yank will instantly wind itself back up. I got an 80-foot one to reach into the yard, as well as the garage or workshop, and it’s so easy now that I don’t hesitate to roll out the cord. Innumerable generic brands make various lengths and gauge of wire. A 45-foot 12-gauge Suraielect Retractable is $90, and totally worth it to me. — KK

Velcro fasteners 

I have an old ugly couch in the basement that I’ve covered with a throw blanket. To prevent it from shifting or being pulled off, I used Velcro Brand Heavy-Duty Fasteners. It’s not a permanent fix, but it spares me from unnecessary fussing with it. — CD 

Stackable soup savers

I learned about silicone freezer trays during a visit to my parents’ house. They use them to store leftover soups and stews. The flexible silicone makes it easy to pop out individual frozen 1-cup cubes, and the rigid lids make them stackable in the freezer. — MF

Book Freak 168: The Idiot Brain

A Neuroscientist Explains What Your Head is Really Up To

Get The Idiot Brain

You probably feel normal most of the time, but below the surface, your brain is doing some extremely weird things. In his fascinating and funny book, The Idiot Brain, neuroscientist Dean Burnett guides us through the bizarre workings of our “idiot brains,” which often seems to work against us — from motion sickness to memory quirks to irrational fears. He reveals the latest research on how our gray matter functions (and malfunctions) and provides guidance on how the brain can help itself be a little smarter.

Four key pieces of advice from the book:

Memory is Egotistical

“Your memory often tweaks and adjusts the information it stores to make you look better, like a doting mother pointing out how wonderful her little Timmy was in the school play, even though little Timmy just stood there, picking his nose and dribbling.”

Our memories can be unreliable and biased towards making us look or feel better about ourselves. Be aware that your recollections may not always be as accurate as you think.

Embrace Randomness

“The brain really doesn’t handle randomness well. The brain seems to struggle with the idea that something can happen for no discernible reason other than chance. It might be yet another consequence of our brains seeking danger everywhere – if there’s no real cause for an occurrence then there’s nothing that can be done about it if it ends up being dangerous, and that’s not tolerable.

Recognize that our brains often try to find patterns or meaning where there may be none. Be aware that this tendency can lead to misinterpretations or false beliefs.

Depression Defies Logic

“Depression is not logical. Those describing suicide and depression as selfish apparently struggle with this concept, as if those with depression make a table or chart with the pros and cons of suicide and, despite there being more cons, selfishly opt for suicide anyway.”

Have compassion for those struggling with depression. Their experiences and decisions may not seem logical to others, but their suffering is real and shouldn’t be dismissed as selfishness.

Love is a Neurochemical High

“Being in love seems to elevate dopamine activity in the reward pathway, meaning we experience pleasure in our partner’s presence, almost like a drug. And oxytocin is often referred to as ‘the love hormone’ or similar, which is a ridiculous oversimplification of a complex substance, but it does seem to be elevated in people in relationships, and it has been linked to feelings of trust and connection in humans.”

Appreciate the powerful neurochemical effects of love and relationships. They can bring great joy, but also potentially cloud our judgment at times.

Danny Kim, Inventor

Show and Tell #406: Danny Kim

ABOUT DANNY KIM:
20+ years of vehicle architecture & prototype development. Inventor w/ 65 issued int’l patents, 22 USPTOs. Focus of HBS case study: Industrial design & sustainable transportation. Former Land Rover mechanic, machinist, woodworker, welder, and vehicle integrator. Reed College, UCB, RISD, & Media Lab.

LINKS:
LIT Motors
Wefunder
Flickr
Instagram
YouTube

TOOLS:
0:00 – Intro
1:19 – 48″ Margining steel lead screw shaft Rockwell 52 (AKA Handy File)
7:48 – Spectrum 375 Plasma Cutter (1/2″ lightsaber “Scissors’)
14:35 – Edwards 65 Ton Ironworker
16:07 – Miller MIG Welder
23:58 – Maybe cardboard would be a prototyping tool
23:49 – LIT Motors prototype

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

5-year Thai Visa/Budget Airline Luggage Bundles/States With the Most Travelers

Nomadico issue #119

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 Thailand Remote Work Visa Actually Works

I’ve been hesitant to post anything about the 5-year Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) because I couldn’t find a way to apply on any official site and hadn’t seen anyone talk about actually getting one. I’m happy to say both have changed, with simple application info in English here and a report from an employee of SafetyWing who actually got through the process and is all set. This is a big deal if it holds because it’s a 5-year multi-entry visa that only requires showing income proof of around $15K per year. No fat local bank deposit like the retiree visa requires.

Flying to the USA With a Dog

New rules from the CDC went into effect August 1 for anyone flying to the USA with a dog. It’s all about rabies, meaning you need to fill out a form if coming from a low-risk country, but more than that for the others: “All pets must be at least 6 months old, appear healthy upon arrival to the United States and have a microchip inserted before they are given a rabies vaccine.” See the details here.

Buying the Bundle With Budget Airlines

I got some notes back from readers last week about luggage charges when I wrote about the pros and cons of the Volaris Annual Pass. One trick that I thought was more known and is apparently not is that to get the lowest fees on luggage, you need to commit when you book your ticket. The best deal is going to be when the airline presents a bundle upgrade option, which Volaris, Viva Aerobus, Ryanair, and the budget Thai airlines do routinely. In the case of Volaris, an international ticket only will be one price, adding a carry-on will be $20 more, and a bundle with priority boarding, a checked bag and a carry-on will be $60 more (great if there are two of you and just one can pay for luggage). Last year I took the bundle offer on RyanAir and got a checked bag and a set assignment for around 30 euros each on two different flights.

States With the Most Travelers

The feeling that your friends and neighbors are all traveling overseas this year will be impacted a lot by where you live, according to this study of travel frequency for Americans. “Residents of New York and New Jersey travel overseas at roughly twice the national frequency. In 2023, New Yorkers made a total of 5.9 million trips to overseas destinations (301 per 1,000 residents), while New Jerseyans completed 2.7 million trips (291 per 1,000 residents). Other top states include Florida, Connecticut, and Virginia. The three states with the lowest rates of overseas travel are Mississippi, Arkansas, and Idaho, at about one-third the national average or lower. Which city is tops for traveling residents? Multi-cultural Miami takes the prize.

What’s in my NOW? — Sheryl O’Bryan

issue #184

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Sheryl grew up in NY, moved to Cote d’Ivoire soon after college, and has worked with Third Culture Kids (TCKs) since 1988. She currently lives in Sebastian, FL where she loves driving with Mr. Bingley, her lizard loving pup.

PHYSICAL

• Fi Collar – my dog loves to explore the neighborhood and hunt for lizards with or without me. The Fi collar lets me locate him when he’s on an extended hunt. It also allows me to notify other Fi users that he’s lost. The app let’s me see where we walked or where he walked with the dog walker. I thought it was silly and indulgent at first, but now I love it.
• The Fudenosuke brush pen – especially the hard tip – helps me get my hand lettering game back on track when I’ve been lax in practicing. The harder tip ensures more consistency in the amount of pressure I need to apply for various line thickness. It also gives me more accuracy when trying new styles.
• Dashing Diva Manicure Stickers – They’re not for everyone, but if you love manicured nails and either hate paying for a manicure, hate what a gel manicure does to your nails, or can’t use nail polish with your non-dominant hand, these are the perfect solution to great looking nails.

DIGITAL

• Night Cafe Studio AI Art Generator – It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot of fun. It can be useful, too. I’ve used it to create images for character boards for the novel I’m plotting. When I can’t find the right picture for a social media post for work? Night Cafe Studio to the rescue!
• Libby app – I love books of all sorts, but making time to read is more arduous than I ever thought possible. Libby to the rescue! It links to your library card and gives you access to thousands if not millions of books. Currently, I’m listening to my 30th book of the year.

INVISIBLE

“Who are you from?”

I work with a lot of Global Nomads, and the “Where?” question is sometimes difficult. The “Who?” question is difficult at first, but eventually it opens up a literal world of influence when we think about all the places that impacted the people who impact us.

Triangle / The Natives Are Restless

Books That Belong On Paper Issue No. 29

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.

TRIANGLE — A NEW BOOK ABOUT SOME VERY SNEAKY SHAPES

Triangle
by Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (Illustrator)
Candlewick
2017, 48 pages, 9.0 x 0.5 x 9.0 inches, Hardcover

Buy on Amazon

Triangle is a rascally shape with a trick up his sleeve. Well, it would be, if he had any arms. Mac Barnett’s wily story and Jon Klassen’s eyes-tell-all illustrations make Triangle a really fun read-aloud for preschoolers, early elementary kids, and their adults.

Both the grown-ups and the kid in my house were eagerly awaiting this book — the latest collaboration between Barnett and Klassen. Both are crazy talented picture book makers who have consistently put out silly, thoughtful, beautiful books over the past few years, together and apart. This is the third book they’ve done as a duo (the previous two are Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, 2014, and Extra Yarn, 2012) and it feels a little different.

Aesthetically, in the tone of the text and the images, Triangle is much more reminiscent of Klassen’s Hat books than of Extra Yarn and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole. The main characters are shapes (keeping with Klassen’s typical non-human subjects) and the setting ranges from sparse snapshots to a simple yet stunning landscape of “shapes with no names.” (The brief traipse and chase through this land that lies between the neat, pointed places made of triangles and squares adds something magical to the book. That feeling is made even nicer when realizing that the magical place is the one most like our own.)

Amidst Klassen’s illustrations, Barnett’s voice is still quite present, especially in the dialogue. The reader can’t help but deliver Triangle’s lines with a mischievous sneer and Square’s with a tight-throated hand wringing, and that despite the characters’ lack of mouths or hands. This book clearly could have only been made by this particular author/illustrator team, and it makes me wonder if the story itself reflects some of the playfulness of their own relationship.

– Marykate Smith Despres

THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS: A SAN FRANCISCO DANCE MASTER TAKES HULA INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

The Natives Are Restless: A San Francisco dance master takes hula into the twenty-first century
by Constance Hale
SparkPress
2016, 244 pages, 9.3 x 0.8 x 11.5 inches, Hardcover

Buy on Amazon

If the word “hula” makes you think of dark-haired maidens wearing little more than matching pairs of coconuts, strings of fragrant flowers, and loose grass skirts rustling beneath their rhythmically undulating hips, then you need to read The Natives Are Restless by Constance Hale. Lavishly illustrated, the book is not so much a rebuke to the stereotypes of the form as it is a window on new traditions that have sprung up around the old.

Born in Hawai’i and a student of hula since she was seven, Hale took classes as an adult with San Francisco hula teacher and choreographer Patrick Makuakāne, who founded the Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu dance company in 1985.The Natives Are Restless spends most of its 244 pages on Kumu Patrick, as Hale calls her teacher throughout the book, as well as his troupe, so Hale’s book is not a strictly objective work, as the author readily admits. But Hale’s personal passion for her subject works, as we learn how and why Kumu Patrick modernized the traditional form of hula to help his audiences better understand Hawaiian history and culture.

Take the chapter on the series of dances for which the book is named. In “The Natives Are Restless,” which premiered at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre in 1996, Kumu Patrick took a pejorative and flipped it to expose the turmoil introduced into Hawaiian society by 19th-century missionary Hiram Bingham, who dismissed the native Hawaiians he encountered as “savages” and believed hula promoted promiscuity.

“We let another culture from thousands of miles away teach us to be ashamed,” Kumu Patrick tells Hale in an interview conducted for the book. In The Natives Are Restless, the resulting clash of cultures played out against a contemporary soundtrack that included electronic dance music and a song called “Salva Mea” by the British band Faithless. In one sequence, Kumu Patrick himself strode across the stage in the role of a black-robed priest, his wooden crucifix whipping the “natives” into a “restless” frenzy, as the tenets of the new faith foisted upon them tore at their identity as a people. Such ostensibly unlikely hula stories fill Hale’s book. For teacher and student alike, when hula goes beyond the coconuts, it has the power to heal.

– Ben Marks

What’s in my NOW? — Sheryl O’Bryan