{"id":46512,"date":"2026-07-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=46512"},"modified":"2026-07-17T08:35:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:35:30","slug":"hoppers-cognitive-shuffling-airplane-phone-holder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/hoppers-cognitive-shuffling-airplane-phone-holder\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoppers \/ Cognitive shuffling \/ Airplane phone holder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pixar\u2019s animal spirits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pixar has been in a slump, but their newest release is fun and has some of the old magic back. Hoppers<\/a> (Disney+ or BluRay) carries a convoluted plot involving animals and animal robots, downloading avatars, and key species in wildlife ecology. And for the memes, lots of beavers. It\u2019s a fully realized world, lighthearted and whimsical, with some interesting ideas, and not too predictable. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive shuffling sleep trick<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This article introduced me to cognitive shuffling<\/a>, a very simple word\u2011based visual exercise that helps the author fall asleep faster. You pick a random, emotionally neutral word like \u201cduck,\u201d picture it, then move to another unrelated word, and keep gently shuffling through these images until you drift off. I\u2019ve been trying this for about a week now, and one of two things keeps happening: I either slip into a liminal hypnagogic state where the imagery shifts and takes over until I fall asleep, or my mind gets quickly bored by not getting to make associations with the non\u2011linear images and just shuts down into sleep. It might not be my favorite entry into sleep, but it did work and could be helpful to those struggling with insomnia. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airplane seatback phone holder<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I watch a show on my phone while flying. I\u2019ve propped it against a wadded-up napkin on the tray table, watching it slide off every time the seat in front reclines. This small metal clamp<\/a> from Ugreen grips the tray table (or a seatback lip, luggage handle, or kitchen cabinet \u2014 the jaw opens 8\u201325mm), and your phone snaps onto the magnetic head, holding it through turbulence. It folds flat, rotates for portrait or landscape, and works with any MagSafe case. It also works on a treadmill, nightstand, or car headrest. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kid phone<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can buy your kid a dumbphone, or purchase an app (with paid subscription!) to make a spare smartphone dumber, but Jeremy White at Wired figured out that you can also use the buried options in an iPhone to craft a perfect device for a kid. These options are somewhat hidden under the Accessibility menu, and seem to be designed for those with cognitive disabilities, but also work to constrain the access your child has. Full instructions in this Wired article, This Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone Into the Perfect Kids\u2019 Dumb Phone<\/a>. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six additional recommendations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s What\u2019s in my NOW? is my own issue. As editor, I usually feature other people\u2019s lists\u2014and we\u2019re always accepting submissions, so if you\u2019d like to share yours, check out this Call for Submissions<\/a>. But this time I shared six things shaping my life right now: three physical, two digital, and one invisible. They\u2019re more intimate than what I\u2019d normally recommend here\u2014closer to my inner life and energy healing practice\u2014like a full-body red light therapy mat<\/a> that puts me into a euphoric state in about 10 minutes, AudioPen<\/a> for transcribing my dreams, and the invisible one: Ubuntu, \u201cI am because we are,\u201d a reminder that my growth isn\u2019t a solo path but happens in the uncomfortable, relational space between me and others. Read the full issue here<\/a>. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reading club for forgotten books<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I run a newsletter called Book Freak<\/a>, and I\u2019ve started a paid feature I\u2019m calling the Deep Cuts reading club. Each month I dig up a great book that time forgot \u2014 usually something out of print and not on Project Gutenberg \u2014 and produce a clean ebook edition of it in EPUB and PDF, with a cover and a short foreword explaining why it\u2019s worth your time. Subscribers get a growing library plus a discussion thread for the monthly pick. The first one is H.G. Wells\u2019s strange 1928 satire, Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island<\/em>. \u2014 MF<\/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 #523<\/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\/46512"}],"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=46512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46513,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46512\/revisions\/46513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}