I thoroughly enjoyed When The Heavens Went on Sale, a new book by Ashlee Vance that recounts in entertaining detail the creation of the new space frontier: scrappy startups inventing small, fast, cheap rockets and satellites, and against all odds, succeeding where NASA could not. The cast of misfits, bigger-than-life visionaries, genius jerks, and admirable old-school engineers is vast, and way beyond Elon Musk (who only appears in Ashlee Vance’s other book, a Musk biography). Vance spent many years hanging out on this frontier, attending endless test failures, hearing the intimate dreams of the makers, and via this deep immersion, he explains in thrilling detail the innovations and technology that has created this new industry. An excellent documentary was filmed in parallel with the book, Wild, Wild Space (HBO Max) and it gives you a great sense of the key characters in this new wild, wild west. — KK

This simple map tool will tell you the human population from any point in the world, for whatever radius you select. I’ll be visiting the Scottish Highlands soon, and it’s interesting to know that the village near where I’ll be staying has a population of less than 800 within a 20 km radius. — CD

This hand-crank grater keeps your knuckles away from the blades while shredding cheese blocks and vegetables like carrots and zucchini. It sticks to the counter with suction cups and comes with three swappable grating drums. You’ll need to pre-cut larger items to fit the chute. Cleanup is simple since everything pops apart and goes in the dishwasher. Worth the counter space. — MF

In the Simple Living subreddit, someone asked, “What’s a simple, underrated ritual that genuinely changed your life—and you wish you’d started earlier?” The top-voted comments included advice like reading books instead of screens before bed, washing dishes at night to feel “on top of things” in the morning, and taking regular 20-minute afternoon naps to reset internally. But the most surprising advice that seems useful to try was: if you work from home, turn on a desk lamp when you start work and turn it off when you finish—a simple light cue to mark the start and end of your day and help you switch modes. Another interesting tip is to incorporate a minute of silence in the car before heading out on the road to help shed the flurry of prep and loading, and to let your subconscious catch up before you drive off. — CD

The challenging thing about finding a job these days is that most people, especially young ones, are not aware of their own marketable skills and are not aware of all the possible careers those skills can aid. Google has a new, free, AI-based, web-based service, Career Dreamer, that will assist you to clarify your marketable skills, match them with possible kinds of jobs you probably didn’t know about, provide you with current job openings of that type near you, and then help draft a resume aimed at those opportunities. Google calls it “a playful way to explore career possibilities with AI,” and it’s a great use of AI. — KK

By adding “udm=14” to your Google search URL, you can strip away all the AI summaries, knowledge panels, and ads that clutter the results. This doesn’t improve the actual search results, but it provides a cleaner, distraction-free interface reminiscent of Google’s early days. You can set this up as a custom search engine in most browsers, making it your default search experience. Or you can just go here. — MF

I am always on the lookout for sentences that make me think. Here’s a recent collection:

If you want new ideas, read old books. — Shane Parrish

To understand recursion, one must first understand recursion. — Stephen Hawking

Thousands of people don’t like what I do. Fortunately, millions do. — James Patterson

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again. — André Gid

Scarcity is the one thing you can never have enough of. — Marc Randolph

The most selfish act of all is kindness, because it's payback is so much greater than the investment. — Tom Peters

The illiterate of the 21st century will be those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. —Alvin Toffler

Time exists in order that everything doesn't happen all at once… and space exists so that it doesn't all happen to you. — Susan Sontag

There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns. — Octavia Butler

I write these down to be reminded. — KK

Name Wizard is an AI for generating new domain names based on your idea or concept and finding out if they’re available to register in one click. It’s fun to play with, and free to try out 5 searches without a subscription. — CD

Esoteric author Mitch Horowitz recently launched his Substack newsletter, Mystery Achievement, where he shared a list of 101 rules for effective living, distilled from more than 30 years of reading “nearly every major work of inspirational literature produced or translated into English.” You can find the full list here. Below are some of my favorites.

6) Be willing to clean toilets and wash floors.
20) Get away from cruel people—at all costs.
38) Look people in the eye, recognize them, acknowledge them.
65) “To feel brave, act as if we were brave.” (William James)
69) Know your preferences, even if you cannot act on them.
77) Do your absolute best to carry your own load before bothering another.
81) “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Christ)
83) Boredom invites trouble.
94) Accept paradox.

— CD

My mental image of country sizes has been wrong. The True Size Of... is an interactive website that lets you drag countries around a world map to compare their actual sizes without the distortion caused by standard map projections. It's shocking to see how countries change shape as you move them — drag Greenland into Africa and watch it shrink to a small fraction of its map projection! — MF

It's been so long since I've used a portable transistor radio that it feels like advanced technology. The Prunus J-166 is an impressively capable pocket AM/FM radio for $10. It's about the size of an iPhone and has just three simple controls (tuning, volume, band switch) that make it intuitive to use. It also has a tuning indicator light, headphone jack, and battery indicator. Requires 2 AA batteries (not included). — MF

I really enjoy Broadway musicals but I rarely get to New York or London, so I was delighted to watch this filmed Broadway musical on the streams. Come From Away is a fun, sweet, uplifting musical based on a real event: after 9/11, all the planes mid-air bound for the US were diverted to a small airport in Newfoundland, Canada, where the outnumbered locals welcomed the 7,000 stranded passengers into their homes and small town. The musical celebrates the best of human kindness triumphing over the worst. It is also a touring live show and you should catch it if it comes your way. — KK

On a recent wedding party trip, a group of six of us easily split the costs of our stay, food, drinks, Ubers, and party favors using Splitwise. We created a group that allowed each of us to add our expenses individually, and the app handled all the calculations and cost-splitting for us. All that was left to do was for each person to settle up at the end of our trip. The app is free to use on iPhone, Android, and the web, and we managed just fine with the free version. — CD

A blog I am really digging is Brian Potter’s Construction Physics, which is self-described as “Essays about buildings, infrastructure, and industrial technology.” Sounds boring, but is thrilling, as Potter deep dives into our built environment. The territory is similar to the podcast 99%Invisible, but far more quantitative. I’ve found his investigations so interesting I am systematically reading through his back issues. — KK

A study found that smelling isopropyl alcohol pads was more effective than a common anti-nausea drug at reducing nausea in emergency department patients, with peak effect in just four minutes. I bought a box of 100 alcohol prep pads ($6) to keep in my wallet for emergencies. Just hold near your nose and inhale gently if needed. They're so slim I forget they're there, but I'll be glad to have them if nausea strikes. — MF

The best show in the Star Wars universe is the extended story running through Andor and Rogue One. Tight drama, no cartoon comedy, stunning alien worlds. Season 2 of Andor is now streaming (on Disney+) and it is even better than the first: incredibly intense and gripping. It’s a story about how resistance to fascism stumbles, and the sacrifices needed to prevail. The skill in building these worlds is stellar, with next-century levels of detail and immersion, way beyond the classic Star Wars films. Same universe, but for thinking adults. — KK

Found on Reddit, this guide to rewiring your brain emphasizes interrupting negative thought patterns, reframing perspectives, and, of course, mindfulness as techniques for mental transformation. There’s no step-by-step outline—and each of these 12 methods requires additional research for support—but I found the guide helpful as a reminder that our brains are transformable. All it takes is attention and intention when it comes to developing better habits. —CD

Merlin Mann's Wisdom Project is a collection of life lessons hosted as a text file on GitHub, delivered with Mann’s trademark humility and sharp wit.

Five pieces of wisdom:

• Write down the travel items you forgot to pack while you're still traveling.

• Sometimes in life, even though it's not your fault, it's still your problem.

• You are not obligated to have a strong opinion about everything.

• Never organize anything you should discard.

• If an item is especially precious or valuable to you, never set it down anyplace that you wouldn't want it to be overnight.

— MF

I wasted a lot of money on sticky tape lint rollers until discovering the Scotch-Brite Lint Brush. The angled fibers grab pet hair and lint more effectively than disposable rollers, especially on wool and furniture. What I like most is never having to buy refills — swipe your hand across the brush in the opposite direction to clean it off and it’s ready to use again. — MF

This article lists 20 verification tools for combating misinformation. Included are fact-checking sites like Snopes and Google’s Fact Check Explorer, as well as reverse image search engines, identity verification sites, and AI detection tools. While this list is intended for journalists, these resources are useful for anyone who wants to critically evaluate what they read or find online. — CD