The juiciest source I know for what’s new in the world of artificial intelligence, biotech, and the near future is the free weekly newsletter from Azeem Azhar called “Exponential Review”. His succinct list of links, annotated with his remarks and degree of confidence of its importance, are a telegraphic way to keep up easily and quickly. I’ve found much more good stuff from him that no one else is pointing to. — KK

The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel Faber’s 922-page novel about a Victorian era prostitute and a soap-and-perfume industrialist, was a full-sensory immersion into 1875 London. I haven’t had this much fun reading a novel about Merrie Olde England since Pillars of the Earth. — MF

A science fiction novel I really liked is The Three-Body Problem. It is the first Chinese-written novel to win a Hugo award. It is making waves in China and, in a new English translation, with the rest of the world. Complicated, deep, and steeped in a different view of China, it’s a masterpiece. — KK 

A fantastic two-part podcast episode from Reply All (Russian Passenger, Part 1 + Beware All, Part 2) delves very deep into the mystery of how producer Alex Blumberg had his Uber account hacked by Russians. Could it be malware, phishing, man-in-the-middle exploits, or what? Arriving at a solution required the participation of the full technical teams of Google, Uber, and independent security experts over several weeks, and still the final aha was surprising. Along the way, it’s an entertaining detective story, dishing out a serious but still understandable education in global cyber security. The bottom line: You need a password manager right now. My family and I use 1Password, which has been great. — KK

My favorite podcast these days is Reply All. It’s sort of Wired in audible format. Smart, surprising stories about the culture around digital technology. They are especially good in chasing down internet “mysteries.” Just for example, listen to episode #76 which is about the Google ad scam around lost phones; it goes way deep. Each episode never fails to enlighten and entertain me. — KK

For sketching and painting I favor alcohol-based markers. They let you blend colors like a watercolor brush, but with the convenience of a felt marker. The preferred premier markers are the extremely expensive Copics. An inexpensive equivalent for blendable markers with dual tips (fat or point) are Bianyo. I can paint quickly easily in a notebook using a travel set like these 72 Bianyo markers. — KK

These erasable highlighter pens really work as advertised, at least on non-glossy books. The eraser is smooth and by rubbing on the paper, it produces heat which causes the highlight mark to vanish completely. — MF

The best way to schedule a meeting for a bunch of busy people is via Doodle, a free easy website. No need to sign up. Just lay out all possible time slots and let everyone else go to the site, and click the times that work for them. The site sorts out the best time/date. No email tag. Quick. Painless. I’ve been using the site for years. — KK

I learned about the the task manager, WorkFlowy from a Cool Tools review. It’s a hierarchical list maker with a couple of bells and whistles, but its power is in its simplicity and ease of use. I’ve tried more task managers than I’d care to admit, but this is the one I’m going to use from now on. I pay $5 a month just to support them, but the free version is all I really need. — MF

Prices on Amazon oscillate week to week far more than you might think. Paste an Amazon url into Camelcamelcamel.com to see the chart of an item’s price history. If you are not in a hurry, you can use the chart to set a plausible low target price and Camel will send you an alert and buy button when (if) it reaches that price. — KK

Before buying something on Amazon enter the URL for the product at fakespot.com. This free service will analyze how many shill reviewers have rated a product, and award a “Fakespot Grade” from A to F. A low grade doesn’t necessarily mean a product is bad, it just means you shouldn’t take the reviews and user ratings into consideration when making your decision to buy something. — MF 

For internet security pay extremely close attention to the url bar in your browser. For just reading it’s not so important, but if it is a site that you want to log into with a password you should make sure it is secure by examining the url in Chrome. Sites that are insecure will say “Not Secure” to left of the url. (Secure sites will not display anything beyond the url.) If not secure, enter info with great caution. — KK

If you are not already using a password manager like 1Password, Dashlane, or LastPass you are inviting trouble. I am not a very security minded person generally, but a password manager on your phone, tablets, laptops and desktops is outright essential today. Let it generate strong passwords for you, keep your credit card and bank info, and supply them wherever and whenever you need them. No regrets. — KK

I’m a very happy Amazon Prime customer. The free shipping and other benefits make the $119 annual fee well worth it. I also have the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card, which I use to make all my purchases on Amazon, because you get 5% on every purchase you make on the site. Amazon is offering a $70 Amazon.com Gift Card instantly upon credit card approval when you apply for a card. — MF

My first choice for getting money when traveling overseas is to use a credit card with no foreign exchange transaction fees. Credit cards give me the best exchange rates, and it reduces how much cash I carry. (If a card is not accepted, my second choice is local cash issued from an ATM, using a debit card without transaction costs. I don’t bother with Travelers Checks; they are unusable these days. And traditional money exchanges have unfavorable rates.) For a credit card without foreign transaction fees, I use a Chase Sapphire Reserve which has lots of other perks, but a high annual fee. Another good option is the Capital One Venture for $60 per year, but less perks. For the current lowdown on the best travel cards and their perks see ThePointsGuy, a free blog full of travel advice. — KK

If you maintain a website or blog, HTML Reference is a site that has examples of different HTML tags. Many of the tags are new to me, but look useful, such as the article tag. — MF

The Application Shortcut Mapper has visual keyboard shortcut guides for several popular applications, including most Adobe applications. Spending a few minutes with it could save you a lot of time down the road. I wish I’d learned about it years ago. — MF

The Just Read Chrome extension blocks pop-ups and makes ad-smothered webpages easy on the eyes. You can select and isolate the text you want to read, delete elements, customize styling, and print. I’ve been using it daily. – CD

Magnet is a window manager for Mac that lets me quickly resize and organize up to 4 windows per screen using keyboard shortcuts. It is a must-have productivity tool and it’s only 99 cents. — CD 

I’ve done a lot of photography but I am still learning. A favorite teacher is Peter McKinnon’s YouTube channel. He is the usual hyperactive YouTuber (thus his millions of followers) but he does convey very useful info by showing how he works. For instance his lesson on product photography was neat and satisfying. — KK