{"id":44670,"date":"2025-08-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=44670"},"modified":"2025-08-14T09:51:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:51:28","slug":"wikitok-phone-endoscope-historical-tech-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wikitok-phone-endoscope-historical-tech-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiTok\/Phone endoscope\/Historical Tech Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wikipedia, TikTok style<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I’m not here to shame anyone for scrolling through TikTok. I suggest you give WikiTok<\/a> a try one night instead. It presents random Wikipedia articles in that familiar endless-scroll format we’re addicted to, but replaces dance trends with images of extinct megafauna, weird inventions, and artists I\u2019d never heard of. A recent favorite: Indonesia once issued a postage stamp featuring a fragment of a fossilized <\/a>Homo erectus<\/a><\/em> skull<\/a> \u2014 the kind of random delight that makes this site worth visiting. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phone endoscope<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes a single use tool is the only tool that will work. An endoscope is a long coil of stiff, but not too stiff, wire with a tineeweenie camera and LED light at the end. You snake the wire\/camera into crevices, down pipes, behind cabinets, inside engines to find out stuff. There\u2019s usually no other way to see deep inside. Not too long ago endoscopes were extremely expensive, but I bought mine for $21. The business end is about 8mm or a 1\/4\u201d thick and the other end of the 5 meter (16ft) wire connects to my phone, which serves as the screen, camera and power source. It comes with a clip-on hook or magnet for retrieving tiny objects. I downloaded its app and this Ennovor Endoscope<\/a> worked instantly. (Lots of generic versions available.) I used mine to troubleshoot a blocked dishwasher-garbage disposal line. For $21 it was worth stashing it in a drawer for another just-in-case use. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historical tech tree<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This historical tech tree<\/a> is now my favorite way to explore history\u2014a searchable timeline of discoveries, inventions, and tools spanning the ages. You can search by field, year, person, or by the name of the \u201ctech\u201d\u2014which, by this website\u2019s definition, is \u201ca piece of knowledge (an idea) that is created intentionally by humans for a practical purpose (not for its own sake) and is implemented in some kind of physical substrate.\u201d Each tech links to a Wiki page, or branches to other techs that it either built upon or led to. You never know where you’ll end up\u2014I just learned all about water clocks<\/a>. I love this navigable visualization of human innovation, and it’s inspiring to imagine what lies ahead of us. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffee counter mat<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I make espressos at least three times a day. The machine, grinder, and knock box are on a wood kitchen counter, and it’s getting stained from drips and spills. This Amoami 12″x19″ rubber mat<\/a> keeps my coffee corner clean and tidy. The absorbent material quickly soaks up any spills without letting moisture seep through to the counter. It’s low-maintenance \u2014 a quick wipe cleans it up. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooking oil sprayer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We switched from a pouring spout for our cooking oil to this dark glass bottle dispenser<\/a>, which provides more accurate portions and helps preserve the oil\u2019s freshness. The dispenser delivers a precise 1\/4 teaspoon, or you can switch to spray mode to lightly coat your pans. I like to use the sprayer when cooking tortillas, because the fine mist of oil makes them crispy. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trader Joe\u2019s desserts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you are lucky enough to live near a Trader Joe\u2019s grocery store, my three favorite desserts from there are their Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups<\/a>, their Almond Ring Danish<\/a>, and their French Apple Tart<\/a> (seasonal). All three are addictively delicious, and I would rank them better than their equivalents anywhere in the world at any price. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recomendo – issue #475<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2323],"tags":[2324],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44671,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44670\/revisions\/44671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}