In a now-deleted Reddit LPT that stuck with me, I read that in France people do not eat to the point of being stuffed or rarely say “I am full,“ instead they say "Je n'ai plus faim” which translates into “I am no longer hungry.” My French neighbor couldn’t verify if this was true, but even so it’s a good mindset to have when eating. Especially when dining out or in a friend’s home where I feel pressured to finish everything on my plate. — CD
I will never go back to analog film, no matter how retro hip it becomes. Digital photography is just better in all respects — except for one special case. When I shoot in exotic localities I carry a Fuji Instax Mini which produces small — quite small — instant prints, similar to Polaroids. Portraits done with these and instantly handed out are wonderful icebreakers. Popular at parties as a mini photo-booth, too. — KK
These look like old fashioned safety razor blades, but they’re made of plastic and you can’t shave with them. You can’t cut paper with them, either. But they excel as scrapers. Put one into the included handle and you can cleanly remove labels and stickers stuck to almost any surface (add a bit of Goo Gone to speed up the process, if you wish). I used one to clean the labels off a cigar box for a project I recently made. — MF
Google’s Talk to Books uses experimental AI to browse book passages that respond to your questions. I asked “How can I time travel?” and got back a rabbit hole of responses. It’s pretty much a dream come true. — CD
I keep this crowdsourced thesaurus bookmarked. It’s easier to navigate than thesaurus.com and the fastest way to find the word I want to use. — CD
This battery-powered headlamp ($15) has a bunch of LEDs spread across the front so it throws a very wide beam. I used it recently to bring trash cans in at night and it was much better than a flashlight or traditional headlamp because I could see everything in front of me without having to turn my head. — MF
I bought this orthopedic Stretch Mate more than five years ago and I still use it weekly to stretch out my back and alleviate soreness. For me, this works better than a foam roller because my clothing and hair don’t get caught up in it. It’s stiff and plastic, and not a one size fits all solution, but I recommend it if you’re not a fan of rollers and want to try something else. There’s an option to add on a padded cover which I have yet to try but ordered this week. Note: The Stretch Mate is $40 today without the pad, I paid $22 for it back in 2013. — CD
I’m late in getting to Ken Burn’s masterpiece The Vietnam War, a 10-part documentary streaming on Netflix. But OMG, it is electrifying. Even though I lived through that war, I apparently knew nothing about it. It would have been easy (and cheap) to stir up a continuous thread of outrage, but instead this monumental work stirs up a continuous thread of clarity and insights: “Oh, so that is why they did that!.” This should be mandatory viewing for all citizens of the US and Vietnam. — KK
Someone I started following on Twitter who I enjoy is Noah Smith as @Noahpinion. Wide range of interests, topical but unexpected opinions, likes to hunt for data and evidence. — KK
This website is a clear guide for staying safe online. There’s no fluff or marketing, just the straight dope on how to use a password manager, create a strong device passcode, use two-factor authentication, set up a mobile carrier PIN, and much more. — MF
Lightning charging cables are expensive and seem to fray quickly. Micro USB cables, on the other hand, are dirt cheap and seem to last forever. I bought a 10-pack of adapters that convert a Micro USB plug into a Lighting plug. The price for all 10 was $7, about half the price of a single Lightning Cable. I tested them, and there were no duds in the pack. — MF
In Jen Sincero’s book, You Are a Badass, she describes the Alien Exercise for rebooting yourself and getting some clarity. Imagine you are an alien and you’ve just landed on Earth — into your body and life. Take notice of all the connections, opportunities, skills, possessions and people who love you and can help you. What would you do and how would you feel? I think this is great for brainstorming projects, ideas and new ways to enjoy your day-to-day life. — CD
I’m spending hours studying this coffee-table book celebrating the typography and design used in science fiction movies. What do we see on screens “in the future”? More broadly, this dense picture book, Typeset in the Future, is a roundabout way to examine where the interface design of technology is headed. — KK
The ifyouhigh Instagram account has 3.4 million followers, but I recently stumbled on it and am hooked. It’s an endless scroll of strange and beautiful short videos of natural phenomena, machinery in motion, slo-mo, time-lapse, art, and other “Whoa dude!” moments that you don’t need to be high to appreciate. — MF
I’ve been using the Stoop app to discover and read new newsletters. It’s great to have them all in one place where I can let them pile up and read when I have the time. I’m really enjoying the Clearer Thinking newsletter, which offers tools for better decision-making. You can also find Recomendo on there! — CD
I began the year with a purging of accounts I no longer use like Facebook, Snapchat and LinkedIn. This Consumer Reports article has direct links to Delete Account pages for the major platforms. It spared me the hassle of navigating through settings in search of a delete button. — CD
Many sunscreens contain ingredients harmful to coral reefs. Hawaii announced a ban on sunscreens containing oxybenzone or octinoxate, which goes into effect in 2021. Our family switched to zinc oxide sunscreen, which doesn’t hurt coral reefs. We like Thinksport SPF 50+ ($10.25 per tube). — MF
My current favorite chrome extension for optimizing a new tab is Papier. It’s just one single note page. This is perfect for taking quick notes without minimizing or closing your browser. Everything you type autosaves and syncs to Chrome. You can create lists with checkboxes, and there are even a few formatting and style options available. But I feel the simpler, the better. Right now I have saved a few lines to a poem I am working on, so that every time I open a new tab I’m reminded to stay inspired. — CD
Gizmodo has a useful article on several ways to improve your Gmail experience. One example: my address is markfrauenfelder@gmail.com. I can sign up for newsletters by using markfrauenfelder+lists@gmail.com and then filter the email to a “newsletter” label. — MF