I have Photoshop and I’ve taught myself multiple times how to make a transparent png, but then in a pinch I always forget. So now I just go to this website (Online PNG tools) to quickly convert images into transparent pngs. It’s so simple and fast and I don’t have to use any brain power. — CD

Sometimes you can purchase a prescription drug yourself for less money than paying your insurance co-pay. And when you buy, drug prices vary wildly between retailers. Go to GoodRx website to find the cheapest source for a drug, including online pharmacies. They also supply coupons at steeply discounted prices, up to 80% off (their biz model). It’s free, no account or personal info required. — KK

I’ve tried a great many different coffee makers, from a stovetop espresso machine to the Aeropress. But when I visited my parents last weekend and used their 12 oz Bodum Brazil French Press Coffee and Tea Maker ($15), I decided it was my favorite because it was so easy to use and clean, and it makes delicious coffee. I bought one for myself, and now everyone else in the family is using it to make coffee (and tea). — MF

If you’re in the United States and need someone to talk to you can text 741741 any hour of the day and be connected with a crisis counselor (For Canada text 686868, and for UK text 85258). My sister-in-law volunteers for the Crisis Text Line, and she said counselors go through continuous training and are always supervised by mental health professionals. I tested it out to make sure it works and the first text was automated, but I was connected with a live person in less than 2 minutes. I hope I don’t need it, but I’m relieved to know that it’s there. For more info check out their website: crisistextline.org. — CD

Here’s the latest version of my travel packing list. It’s a PDF that can be edited in Adobe Illustrator (because I don’t expect anyone to pack the same things I do). As you can see, my list is broken down into sublists of different bags: charger bag, meds bag, tool bag, etc. I keep the stuff in these excellent Japanese mesh zipper bags . Now I don’t forget important things any more like I used to. I recommend that you make a similar packing list for yourself. — MF

There is utility and pleasure in being able to identify wild creatures and plants. But it’s a steep learning curve. The fastest way I found to learn is via the iOS app Seek, which will identify flowers, plants, fungi, animals, bugs instantly. It’s kind of magical. You point your phone at the specimen and it tells you the species about 95% of the time (in North America). The other 5% it can often identify the family. Someone called it Shazam for nature. The app is patient; you can keep asking it to ID the same thing you asked about before and it will will answer again with no judgement. Seek is free; it was developed by folks who did iNaturalist, an app that uses crowdsourcing to identify species, but Seek uses machine learning to render the ID instantly. I’ve been impressed by how well this magic works. Kids and teachers love it. It gives them a superpower to name everything around them. — KK

These Scott Shop blue towels may look like ordinary paper towels but are much thicker, absorbent, and durable. When one of our cats decides to barf on the floor (which is often) I reach for these towels, knowing my hand will stay dry when I clean up the mess. — MF

When I can’t find the right word or phrasing using Power Thesaurus or Ludwig, I’m on the English StackExchange searching for answers or posting questions. You can ask anything relating to grammar or usage or word choice and English experts will start responding right away. You can also check the “reputation” of any user who responds to confirm they know what they’re talking about. — CD

One of the disadvantages of never having TV is that I miss ads for things everyone else may already know about. For instance I recently discovered spreadable butter. This is real butter that has been blended with a small amount of oil (olive or canola, your choice) to keep it super easy to spread straight out of the fridge. Comes in many styles at any supermarket; Land O’Lakes Spreadable Butter is a national brand. It’s the best thing since sliced bread. — KK

For walks and short hikes, I’ve been forgoing my daypack for this ChicoBag’s water bottle sling. It’s convenient and comfortable to wear and it even has a large pocket for my phone and keys. Like most ChicoBags it folds up and takes up no space, so I just carry it on me at all times. — CD

The Browser is by far the best guide to great writing on the internet. It’s a newsletter that recommends 4 or 5 great pieces a day — both new ones, or those years old — that are worth your time (and it indicates the piece’s length). Although there is a paid daily version, the free weekly version is a good place to start. I find this newsletter dangerous because the wide variety of subjects is intoxicating and every single article is superb. It’s the most potent distraction in my life, but I don’t regret a minute of it. — KK

This tip comes from my friend Cory Doctorow, my co-editor at Boing Boing. Last year he posted a tip on how to keep your name and address off the internet. I’ve been using his tip and it works. He wrote, “There are dozens of free “peoplefinder” sites that buy up commercial databases and combine them with other sources to make your home address searchable. You can find instances where this has happened to you by googling your name and home address, and then you can google the removal forms for each of the services and get yourself delisted. But your name will keep getting re-added: if you set a Google Alert for a search on your name and address, you’ll get a message every time you get caught in these databases and you can remove your name again. This won’t work on the for-pay background check sites that Google doesn’t index, but it will keep your name and address clear of low-level scumbags who stick with free sites for their doxing activities.” — MF

If you have never seen a Bollywood movie, the action epic Bahubali is a great one to start. The plot revolves around a mythical demigod, Bahubali, who must reclaim his throne. This 2-movie 5-hour extravaganza is part Lord of the Rings saga, part kung-fu spectacle, part crazy soap opera, part Saturday morning cartoon, part LSD trip, and unlike anything you’ve seen. It is ridiculously corny, absurdly fictional, un-ironically campy, and immensely cinematic. It’s a lot of fun, all 5 hours of it. It streams on Netflix in 4 different languages. (The films are technically Tollywood, filmed in Telugu language, not Hindi.) The first movie, Bahubali: The Beginning has an English dub audio version, while the second movie, Bahubali: The Conclusion, has an English subtitle version. These films are the highest grossing films in India. Once seen, they cannot be unseen. — KK

Standard Ebooks is a labor of love. They take public domain texts (from Robert E. Howard to Bertrand Russell), scour them for typographical errors, add great cover art, and format them for Kindle and other ereaders. The online catalog is a pleasure to browse, with a synopsis for each book. Join the mailing list or subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on new books added to the catalog. — MF

I bought multiple sets of these STORi Clear Plastic Drawer Organizers to organize my makeup drawer. They come in different sizes and and can be arranged in multiple configurations to fit any drawer. They are completely transparent so even though they are stacked on top of each other, I know where everything is. There is no wasted space. — CD

I bought the 32-ounce Takeya stainless steel water bottle last month to bring on hot summer day hiking, and it’s now my favorite. The vacuum insulation keeps the water cool for hours. It has a comfortable carrying handle, a drinking spout, and a wide-mouth lid for cleaning/drying. — MF

My favorite podcast is “Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel.” I always find myself choked up with emotion while listening to these anonymous couples therapy sessions. Esther Perel is so professional and progressive and such a master at guiding couples toward the light. It’s both voyeuristic and enlightening. Season 1 and 2 are free to listen to in your podcast app, but Season 3 “The Arc of Love” was just released as an Audible exclusive. — CD

The plant-based vegetarian Impossible Whopper at Burger King is pretty good for fast-food. It tastes comparable to a beef Whopper, according to my memory. (I last ate mammals 15 years ago.) Now available in most BK outlets in the US, Impossible burgers can also be found at other burger joints like White Castle. — KK

I am a convert to a needle-nosed marker. It’s a sharpie pen with its inky tip at the end of a long thin stalk, thin as a bamboo skewer. I am amazed how often I need to mark something through a hole, in a slot, or in a tight corner, or trace a pattern — situations the usual fat pen or pencil tip won’t fit in. Its body is as thin as its tip, except at the end where its fat enough to hold. This makes it easier to mark anything. A number of different but similar brands make these; I use the FastCap Long Nosed Pattern Marker ($7), which also has a chisel tip marker on its opposite end. — KK

My outdoor lights were controlled by an indoor switch with a programmable timer. The tiny buttons made it very difficult to program and the tiny LCD display was nearly illegible. I gave up and bought this Meross Smart WiFi Switch. Installation was easy (make sure you have a neutral wire, not just a ground wire, or it won’t work). My phone’s GPS told the switch where it is and it now turns the lights on at sunset and off at sunrise, adjusting automatically throughout the year. Brilliant. And I enjoyed forcefully throwing the old switch into the trash can. — MF