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Painless charitable giving
It’s super easy to get Amazon to donate money to your favorite non-profit.  Go to Amazon Smile (smile.amazon.com) and designate your choice of charity. From now on as you shop on Amazon, they will automatically donate a small percent of your purchase amount, at no extra cost to you. In just the last quarter alone, we (Amazon and I) gave $295 to the Long Now Foundation, my chosen charity. The money came from Amazon’s side of the account not mine. — KK

Amazing stain remover
I’ve been using Puracy laundry stain remover for a year and am now on my third bottle of the stuff. For bad stains, I’ll spray a lot of the liquid into the fabric and let it set for a couple of days. I haven’t come across a stain it won’t remove. — MF

Guided journal inspired by the Moon
I’m an advocate for journalling because it’s the best tool for self-discovery. I have a dream journal, meditation/poetry journal and a daily (brain dump) journal — most of them are blank books. But by-far the easiest diary to maintain is a guided journal called Moon Lists: Questions and Rituals for Self Reflection. I write in it only once a week coinciding with each new phase of the moon. It enhances my self-awareness, sparks gratitude and encourages me to be more intentional about my goals and dreams. It’s an 18-month journal, and I’m only 4 months in. I’m really looking forward to this finished relic of introspection. — CD

The power of African-American food
Food is a revealing lens. I really enjoyed discovering what influences African-American food had on the US in the excellent 4-part Netflix series High on the Hog. Subtitled “How African American Cuisine Transformed America,” it tracks foods from West Africa on their way to the early White House, and into the middle of America. It’s a big, sophisticated story I was ignorant of and another nuanced way to see the power and extent of African-American culture in a form everyone can connect with: food. Perfect watching for Juneteenth! — KK

Easily compare shipping rates
I use this Online Shipping Calculator when I want to find the cheapest and/or fastest way to ship a package. If you type in your package dimensions, weight and the FROM and TO city, you can compare online shipping rates from USPS, UPS, and FedEx. The prices are not exact, but close enough to help you choose the best shipper. [If you have a better online rate comparison tool to recommend, please let me know] — CD

Use your voice as an instrument
Imitone is a $25 application (still in Beta) that uses your voice to control a synthesized instrument, like a saxophone, guitar, or keyboards. I’ve been having a lot of fun whistling, humming and singing to make music with in Garageband. It’s available for Mac and Windows. — MF

-- Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, Claudia Dawson 06/27/21