{"id":46030,"date":"2026-05-10T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=46030"},"modified":"2026-05-07T08:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:09:32","slug":"stillgram-echoes-of-genius-magnified-sand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/stillgram-echoes-of-genius-magnified-sand\/","title":{"rendered":"Stillgram \/ Echoes of Genius \/ Magnified Sand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Erase the crowds from your travel photos<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Stillgram<\/a> is an iPhone camera app that uses on-device AI to automatically remove other people from your shots. Point it at the Trevi Fountain or Shibuya Crossing, snap, and the app cleans out the crowd \u2014 leaving just the landmark. The fun part is Pro mode ($14.99), which lets you tap to choose who stays in the frame, so you can erase everyone except your kid in front of the Eiffel Tower. For an Android equivalent, try ClearCrowds<\/a>. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar yard lights<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Solar-powered outdoor lights were a great idea, but sadly most were kind of crappy. They would stop working after a few years. But in recent times they\u2019ve gotten much better. Some of my new ones at our gate have been performing fabulously for years. No wires means you can put them anywhere. The kind I\u2019ve settled on are ones like these Aootek Motion Sensing LED<\/a> fence-mounted units that stay dim until they detect motion and then brighten up, preserving power. They come in a set of 6 ($22). They are quite bright; even one can make a big difference in the dark. \u2013 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sand under the microscope<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Magnifiedsand.com<\/a>\u00a0is one human\u2019s labor of love: a collection of sand samples from around the world, magnified and photographed. I can\u2019t explain my instinctual need to collect shells, feathers, and rocks, but that same part of me gets lost in these images. There\u2019s something mesmerizing about zooming in enough to see the diverse assortment of crushed quartz, tiny fossils, and shell fragments. Just a small, free, beautifully nerdy corner of the internet. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bright, dimmable floor lamps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To brighten up our dim living room, I bought two of these 69\u201d Sunmory LED floor lamps<\/a>. The large disc-shaped LED head produces a lot of light without the harsh glare of a bulb-style torchiere. Using the remote, I can adjust both brightness and color temperature \u2014 cool and bright during the day, warm and low in the evening. The head tilts and rotates, so I can aim the light wherever I need it. They feel solidly built for the price, with a heavy base that doesn\u2019t tip. Two now light the room beautifully. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with nothing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A short blog post with stupidly simple advice that actually works: \u201cNothing\u201d is the secret to structuring your work<\/a>. Don\u2019t try to organize the chaos. Start the day with nothing\u2014an empty surface, all browser tabs closed, a blank page\u2014then pull out the one thing you need. It\u2019s surprising how easily focus follows. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom quotes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I find power in aphorisms, proverbs, and witty quotes. So does David Wells, who spent years reading widely and collecting his favorite passages into an enormous self-published book, Echoes of Genius: Enduring Wisdom from Great Minds<\/a>. What I like about his collection is the refreshing variety of sources, modern and ancient, from all occupations, pop and scholarly. The other cool thing is that the quotes are arranged in a calendar format, and grouped by subject, so you get two pages of quotes about one virtue for each day of the year. It\u2019s kind of like a meditation. Here are a few of my favorites from the book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your current habits are perfectly designed to deliver your current results. \u2014 James Clear<\/p>

You aren\u2019t wealthy until you have something money can\u2019t buy. \u2014 Garth Brooks<\/p>

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. \u2014 Linus Pauling<\/p>

If you can imagine someone surpassing you, you should do it yourself. \u2014 Paul Graham<\/p>

Where your fear is, there is your task. \u2014 Carl Jung<\/p>

Focus on things that are small enough to change, but big enough to matter. \u2014 Kat Cole<\/p>

History is a vast early warning system. \u2014 Norman Cousins<\/p>

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. \u2014 Albert Schweitzer<\/p>

Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. \u2014 Martin Luther King<\/p>

A problem well stated is a problem half-solved. \u2014 Charles F. Kettering<\/p>

Things that have never happened before happen all the time. \u2014 Morgan Housel<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There are of course thousands more like this in the book. \u2013 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recomendo – issue #513<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47588,"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\/46030"}],"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\/47588"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46030"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46032,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46030\/revisions\/46032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}