I was happy to find in last week’s Anne Friedman Weekly a crowdsourced syllabus of media depicting mother/child relationships. Which is a favorite subject of mine to explore, because the more I understand my personal relationship with my mother, the better I understand myself. Some of the books were already on my wishlist so I just went ahead and bought them, but now I have a whole new list of things to watch and read. You can check out all the other recommendations that didn’t make the syllabus here in a public google sheet. — CD

I recently came across a subreddit called r/proceduralgeneration. Here, you’ll see examples of amazing artwork, animated lifeforms, game environments, fantasy maps, and more, all created from algorithms (as opposed to being created directly by a human). If you doubt that software can produce beautiful and original art that surprises even the people who write the programs, this subreddit might change your mind. — MF

After ruining a keyboard years ago, I took a long break from cleaning my laptop. Turns out I just needed someone to instruct me, like this article, on “How to Properly Clean Your Gross Laptop.” I had all the supplies at home: microfiber wipes, compressed air, cotton swabs and 90%-100% isopropyl alcohol. — CD

Open Borders is a comic book written by an economist. It’s also a comic book about one of the most seriously radical ideas you may ever hear: that all countries, including the US, should have open borders, allowing anyone on the planet to live anywhere they want if they obey local laws. The book carefully runs through the reasons why this is good economically for countries like the US, counters all the obvious and non-obvious objections one by one, and then goes through compromises and partial solutions for those objections. All while keeping it light, fast, easy, fun, and crystal clear. While there are moral arguments, these are mostly economic arguments why open borders are a winner for all involved, especially the US. I am already giving copies of this book away. — KK

I get a bunch of email newsletters but the only one I pay for is News Items. Every week day the one-person wizard behind News Items, John Ellis, delivers a dozen brief paragraphs of global news summarized from 75 uncommon sources, including many behind pay walls. New Items is much more global, more high level, and much more succinct (two pages at most) than any newspaper in the world. It’s $90 per year, and there is a free abbreviated version. — KK

The myCharge RazorXtreme ($100) is a portable charger with two USB A ports and a USB C port that charge small devices as well as laptops (20V, 45W). It’s bigger and heavier than typical portable chargers (almost 9-inches long and 1.3 lbs) but it keeps my family’s numerous electronics juiced all weekend when we are away from an AC power source. — MF

Our 50-year-old grease-encrusted drain pipes kept getting clogged, and lye-based drain openers weren’t helping. Even frequent plumber visits weren’t fixing the problem. In desperation, I bought this 25-pound pail of powder called Green Gobbler. I poured a few cups down a clean-out drain with a bit of hot water. It started bubbling and our house soon smelled like rotten eggs (this is apparently normal when using this stuff). It worked — no more slow draining sinks. Much cheaper and more effective than a plumber! — MF

This YouTube video about Oprah breaks down her magical ability to make people comfortable with their raw emotions. She does this by not trying to defuse tension, and instead validating people when they are the most vulnerable. There’s a bunch of other tips for having meaningful interactions, but the narrator suggests that the most important thing to focus on is to discover is what moves people emotionally. — CD

My beverage of choice is sparkling water. To eliminate single-use bottles in our household, we have a Sodastream machine to make our own fizzy water. But Sodastream has stopped making the large 32 oz CO2 canister and has upped the refill price on the smaller ones, making it expensive. The solution is a hack: We now refill our own large 24 ounce canister for $5 at a sporting goods store using a paintball canister. (The squeamish can use a SodaMod food-grade canister.) All you need is a $19 brass adapter (mine is Protek) to fit the canister into the proprietary threads a Sodastream needs. — KK

I loved the first season of Abstract on Netflix. Each episode playfully explores a field of design by closely following the work of a key designer in that field. Toys, cars, costumes. To investigate typography, they follow the efforts of a type designer as he tries to design a new specialty font, explaining how all fonts work. That goodness was exceeded by the new Season 2, which has even more brilliant expositions. Since each episode is crafted by a different director, the format of the show is innovative and creative itself. Every minute is a joy. — KK

Ikigai is a Japanese word that can be roughly translated into English as “a reason for being.” I appreciated this graphic, which shows how ikigai is at the intersection of what you love, what the world needs, what you can be paid for, and what you’re good at. — MF

I saw one of these cute cloud-shaped magnetic key holders ($7) at my friend’s place and wanted one immediately. It solves my one reoccurring problem: not knowing where I put my keys. It came with adhesive backing so I was able to “set it up” right away. Easy peasy. — CD

Recomendo reader Wendy shared a follow-up tip to last week’s Recomendo, she says “Another tip I read once about eyeballing measurements is to take pinches of salt and place them in your other hand till you think you have a teaspoon, then measure it against a real teaspoon. Do the pinches over and over till you get a consistent amount per teaspoon. I figured mine out so that I get ¼ teaspoon per pinch. Super handy for salting stuff, but also works with herbs. But in the case of herbs, remember how much a teaspoon looked like in your palm.” — CD

The Lumenology Portable LED Motion Sensor Light ($30) is powered by three AA batteries. It has a light detector and motion detector, so it shines only when it detects motion at night (saving the battery charge). It comes with two different mounts: one is magnetic and the other is a flexible tripod that can work as a regular tripod or be wrapped around a pole or a branch. I used the magnetic mount on my front gate and it shines a bright, wide spot of light for 30 seconds when anyone comes to the gate. — MF

When we meet for family reunions, or gather with friends, our favorite group game is Werewolf. Classrooms and corporate retreats also play Werewolf. It’s a deduction/deception game, extremely social, that is as much fun to watch as to play, so it can involve everyone. The games are exhilarating, surprising, and addictive. The only gear you need are some cards. While you can get by with an ordinary deck of cards, a set of dedicated Werewolf cards makes it much easier. After you’ve played a number of basic games, it’s easy and fun to play with variations, which are supported by this deck of Apostrophe Werewolf cards ($11). — KK

“The only thing that truly matters in public speaking is not confidence, stage presence, or smooth talking. It’s having something worth saying.” This is from Chris Anderson’s book, TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking. — MF

Decibel X is an app for the iPhone ($3.99 per month, also available on Android) that is a noise meter. It pretty accurately measures noise on a decibel scale. I use it to monitor the noise levels in restaurants and workplaces in an effort to increase quiet. When I am recording podcasts I use it to ensure there’s little background noise. It’s also entertaining and instructive to measure sound levels outside in nature and urban areas. — KK

I’m a notebook hoarder/collecter and regularly use 2-3 different notebooks a day for work, journaling, lists, brain dumps, etc. Sometimes I need to flag pages to revisit and instead of post-it notes, I’ve been using these Redi-Tag Divider Sticky Notes ($5). These are so useful for indexing your notebooks and annotating pages. I’m still spread out all over the place, but this helps me keep track of what’s important. — CD

All the time spent in the kitchen with my mother or grandmother I never once saw them measuring anything, and maybe it’s a Hispanic culture thing, but I learned even less about appropriate food portions. So now I’m working on getting better at eyeballing portion sizes so that I don’t over serve myself. This chart helps. — CD

The Instant Pot multicooker has become an internet sensation, with recipe books and YouTube videos devoted to it. I also was a fan of my Instant Pot until it died last month and I switched to a Zavor Lux 6-Quart Multicooker ($160). It’s superior to the Instant Pot on at least three counts. First, the top lid doesn’t get so hot that it will burn you if you touch it. Second, it heats much faster, which makes a huge time difference when pressure cooking a meal. Third, the silicone gasket on the lid is braced so it doesn’t sag like it does on the Instant Pot, which is a common issue and prevents the Instant Pot from achieving a high enough pressure. The Zavor costs a bit more than the Instant Pot, but it’s worth it. – MF