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Best blister remedy
The second best thing to use for foot blisters is duct tape. It’s way more sticky than a bandaid or moleskins or adheasive tape, and when I hike I always carry a tiny bit of duct tape rolled around a pencil in my bag anyway for all kinds of emergencies. But the very best thing for blisters is a bit of flexible kinesiology tape (which is not its intended use). This is even more sticky on skin, but with less residue than duct tape, and also conforms wonderfully to curves and shapes and toes and heels. There are tons of brands. My walking pal Craig Mod, who walks for weeks at a time and has tried every type of tape or pad made, recommended this variety: Laneco Kinesiology Tape, which is what I now use. One roll is a lifetime supply. — KK

Different ways to tie a scarf
Every Fall, I end up googling all the different ways I can tie a scarf. I finally found a Youtube video I can save and go back to when needed. Warning: it’s kind of hypnotic. — CD

Free Kindle books for Prime subscribers
I only recently learned that Amazon Prime subscribers (here’s a link for a free 30-day trial) are entitled to one free Kindle book a month. The program is called Amazon First Reads, and you can see the current selections here. — MF

French elastic pen holder strap
When I visited Paris this year, I made a pit stop at the Papier Tigre store to stock up on cool stationary things and found this pink elastic pen holder strap that I completely geeked out about. It holds two pens and can fit A4-A6 notebooks, and all the colors are great. I was kicking myself for not buying more of them, because the online shop doesn’t ship to the US, and I couldn’t find a cheaper alternative on Amazon. Luckily, I found Papier Tigre on CWPencils.com. They don’t have all the colors, but if you want one, get it while you can because last week they were out of stock. — CD

Plastic restoring gel
Old yellowed plastic looks unrecoverable but it can be magically brought back to its original whiteness or bright color using hydrogen peroxide gel from a hair salon. The gel prevents the concentrated hydrogen peroxide from slipping off; you also wrap it in cling plastic to keep it moist. Plenty of YouTubers demonstrate how they restore old computers, old toys, old appliances with this stuff. I used Super Star Cream Peroxide to bring back white plastic parts in our bathroom. (Also good for whitening old bones.) — KK

Print from your iPhone or iPad
Modern printers are made to allow you to print from your iOS device. But we have an old wireless laser printer and I couldn’t get it to play nice with my iPhone. Then I found a $20 Mac app called Printopia. It was surprisingly easy to set up. Now everyone in my family can print from their mobile devices. — MF

-- Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, Claudia Dawson 11/24/19