I use a standing desk at home, and I miss it when I travel because my body aches from sitting so long. This portable sit-stand laptop desk made by Moft weighs just a hair over two pounds and folds to a 0.5-inch thick rectangle that easily fits into my computer bag. Unfolded, it lifts my laptop 9.75 inches above the table, and is surprisingly stable. The fiberglass and PU leather construction feels premium and durable. Recommended for anyone who spends long hours on their laptop away from home. — MF

Check out the website Wplace. It’s a zany collaborative futuristic art project happening around the world, mostly created by young people. Like its predecessor r/place, Wplace lets people paint a single pixel at a time. But everyone layers the art over Google maps and most folks start with painting over their neighborhood. And like r/place, you can repaint over other art. So in order to make any kind of a picture large requires an incredible amount of coordination and collaboration with others – and any art produced must be fiercely maintained in order to remain. The ambience is true folk art – the lowest common denominator of anime characters, memes, sports brands, political flags, logos, graffiti, and creative patterns. Surprisingly the parts of the globe most densely painted in its first month are not silicon valley but Brazil and Germany. And you may have trouble getting a chance to paint pixels because its servers are overwhelmed. This weird global emergent collab happening feels like a hint of art from the future. — KK

The Daily Grail front page is my news source for all things weird and fringe science—from papers on consciousness studies and paranormal research to new discoveries in neuroscience, quantum physics, and strange archaeological finds. Most briefs come from mainstream, credible outlets, but the curation makes me feel like a kid reading Weekly World News in the checkout line or living inside an episode of The X-Files. Its editorial approach is described as maintaining an appropriate level of skepticism while remaining open to paradigm-shifting ideas. I check it religiously via my Feedly, but daily news items are also posted to Bluesky if you prefer to follow there. — CD

Midjourney TV is a continuous stream of AI-generated short video art, created by the user community with Midjourney’s recently launched video model. The stream is a hypnotic, mind-expanding glimpse into how humans are using creative AI—and into the collective imagination. I’ve been a Midjourney user since day one and still prefer it for creating imagery from dreams and psychedelic therapy visions. — CD

Because I’ve published a lot of books, both by mainstream publishers and in self-published bestsellers, I frequently get asked for advice by wannabe authors. So I have written up Everything I Know About Publishing and Self-Publishing into a blog post and also packaged in a tidy free 16-page PDF. I end with a flow-chart to navigate through the expanding variety of publishing options available today. — KK

StoryTerra is a interactive map that links to over 120,000 books, movies, TV shows, and games with their real-world locations and time periods. You can slide through centuries on the timeline, zoom into cities on the map, and discover what stories took place when and where. — MF

I'm not here to shame anyone for scrolling through TikTok. I suggest you give WikiTok 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’d never heard of. A recent favorite: Indonesia once issued a postage stamp featuring a fragment of a fossilized Homo erectus skull — the kind of random delight that makes this site worth visiting. — MF

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’s 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” 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 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. — KK

This historical tech tree is now my favorite way to explore history—a searchable timeline of discoveries, inventions, and tools spanning the ages. You can search by field, year, person, or by the name of the “tech”—which, by this website’s definition, is “a 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.” 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—I just learned all about water clocks. I love this navigable visualization of human innovation, and it's inspiring to imagine what lies ahead of us. — CD

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 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 — a quick wipe cleans it up. — MF

We switched from a pouring spout for our cooking oil to this dark glass bottle dispenser, which provides more accurate portions and helps preserve the oil’s 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. — CD

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

The Analog Life: 50 Ways to Unplug and Feel Human Again offers a great list of practical ways to go old-school and become less screen-centric. I love the advice to use devices that do one thing well, such as an e-reader, record player, or kitchen timer. My crystal radio—tuned to one station and one station only—is one of my favorite and most nostalgia-inducing possessions. All these tips help to reclaim a more intentional, analog way of living—like allowing days to go unaccounted for and enjoying experiences without feeling the need to document them. — CD

My old bathroom scale was giving inconsistent measurements, so it was time to get a new one. I wanted something inexpensive, highly rated, with an easy-to-read LED display, and that could sync with my Apple Health app. The Fitindex Smart Scale checked all the boxes. The scale measures up to 400 lbs in 0.2 lb increments and runs on included AAA batteries. — MF

My favorite current New Yorker cartoonist is Roz Chast. I love her whimsy, childlike drawing, inventiveness, and silly sweet humor. But she creates more than cartoons. On her Instagram page, she posts weird painted eggs she makes, her marvelous embroidered dreams, her arrangements of Japanese matchboxes, her block prints, her photographs of New York shops at night, and more. It’s the most refreshing definition of being creative. I get inspired every visit. — KK

This chart, “A Guide from Pain to Presence”, explores how human expression changes when it is a reaction to past loss, future fear, or present discomfort. It also offers alternative expressions that stem from wholeness and embodiment. For example, personal boundaries may become forms of control or avoidance when motivated by past loss or fear of uncertainty, but when rooted in wholeness, boundaries express a healthy authority based on inner clarity. The language can be a bit jargon-heavy, but I find the framework helpful for shifting from old, anxious patterns to more intentional and grounded action. — CD

I got this Workpro Home Tool Kit as a gift for a relative moving into his first apartment. We used it to assemble flat-pack furniture, mount a TV, and install blackout curtains. The 12V cordless drill/driver, bits, wrench, pliers, level, utility knife, hammer, and tape measure handled everything we encountered. I’d add a socket set to round it out, but the kit contains all the essential tools a first-time apartment dweller needs. Everything stores in the included tool bag. — MF

For lightweight family-rated summer entertainment, try K-Pop Demon Hunters. It is an animated musical fairytale in the manner of Shrek or Frozen, but with Korean-American characteristics. In this fantasy, the battle is over fans, who are the scarce resource. Catchy K-pop songs score the fast action, which also delivers an emotional payoff. The film streams on Netflix, and is getting a lot of attention. It’s the meme source for this summer. — KK

The Big Book of Secret Hiding Places, published in 1987, is an illustrated guide to concealing things in clever hiding places. It covers methods for concealing items in buildings, vehicles, and on the body. Even if you don’t need to hide anything (or smuggle it across a border), it makes for fascinating reading. — MF

A new podcast I am finding value in is Core Memory by Ashlee Vance. Vance sniffs around Silicon Valley talking to the crazy ones on the bleeding edge of tech, the mavericks with outlandish ideas, and the fast-talking renegades trying to do the impossible, plus the usual mix of over-confident nerds with grandiose visions. I like it because it keeps me on my toes. — KK