Here is where I go to counter pessimism. Every day, one piece of good news, made graphically beautiful, is served up by Beautiful News Daily. Available on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, RSS feed, and the web. It’s like breathing pure oxygen. — KK

Every year the editors of Cool Tools curate a number of gift suggestions selected from our website, newsletters, videos, and podcasts. This year, I’m recommending the Bug-a-salt fly shooter, a chimney charcoal starter, Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 synthesizer, and several other things that would make good gifts. Check out all my picks here. — MF

I bought this 11 x 18 inch Fiskars Ultralight Kneeling Cushion in 2011 for $8 and have used it hundreds of times since then. It has come in handy when repairing appliances, working on and washing cars, weeding, and any other activity that requires getting on my knees. More recently I bought these $7 Fiskars Ultralight Knee Pads, which let me crawl around the backyard or garage without pain. —MF

This is not like those cheesy, motivational posters you’ve seen. This is a collection of effective action plans to defeat procrastination. Every tip feels new and helpful and mind-opening. You can download your own poster to print out here. — CD

Notes is the default built-in note taking app that syncs between Mac OS and iOS. The new thing for me is using it as a dictation device on my iPhone, since I am a lousy thumb typer. When I want to make a note, I depress the microphone icon near the space bar on the virtual keyboard in Notes and talk. My voice is transcribed into text with remarkable accuracy, even in noisy environments. Notes then syncs these written notes onto my laptop. — KK

Here’s a problem I frequently encounter when I’m trying to use public Wi-Fi at the airport — the login page won’t load on my browser. This troubleshooting cheat sheet lists the different things you can try to get a Wi-Fi login page to open. In short, they are: 1) Turn off alternative DNS servers 2) Try to open the router’s default page 3) Open a non-HTTPS site in incognito 4) Restart your device 5) Create a new network location. One or more of these actions usually does the trick. — MF

So much to see, so little money. Why not maximize your travel by getting the most per dollar? The World’s Cheapest Destinations will guide you to the best least expensive countries in the world, where a small budget will purchase you ten times the joy of a more expensive region. Part of my secret to travel is to visit these countries listed, which are usually the most interesting, too. Now in its 5th updated edition, this succinct guide is one of the best investments in life you can make. — KK

Kevin and Mark host a weekly podcast called Cool Tools. For more than 5 years now they have invited notable and creative people to talk about their favorite tools. This year, I took the transcripts from the best 150 episodes and pulled text, added images, and laid it all out in a 300-page book titled Four Favorite Tools. It is now available on Amazon in both color ($39.99) and B&W ($12.99) versions. Inside the book are hundreds and hundreds of recommendations for apps, gadgets, tools — but my recommendation is the book itself as a handbook for inspiration. — CD

Modern printers are made to allow you to print from your iOS device. But we have an old wireless laser printer and I couldn’t get it to play nice with my iPhone. Then I found a $20 Mac app called Printopia. It was surprisingly easy to set up. Now everyone in my family can print from their mobile devices. — MF

Old yellowed plastic looks unrecoverable but it can be magically brought back to its original whiteness or bright color using hydrogen peroxide gel from a hair salon. The gel prevents the concentrated hydrogen peroxide from slipping off; you also wrap it in cling plastic to keep it moist. Plenty of YouTubers demonstrate how they restore old computers, old toys, old appliances with this stuff. I used Super Star Cream Peroxide to bring back white plastic parts in our bathroom. (Also good for whitening old bones.) — KK

When I visited Paris this year, I made a pit stop at the Papier Tigre store to stock up on cool stationary things and found this pink elastic pen holder strap that I completely geeked out about. It holds two pens and can fit A4-A6 notebooks, and all the colors are great. I was kicking myself for not buying more of them, because the online shop doesn’t ship to the US, and I couldn’t find a cheaper alternative on Amazon. Luckily, I found Papier Tigre on CWPencils.com. They don’t have all the colors, but if you want one, get it while you can because last week they were out of stock. — CD

I only recently learned that Amazon Prime subscribers (here’s a link for a free 30-day trial) are entitled to one free Kindle book a month. The program is called Amazon First Reads, and you can see the current selections here. — MF

Every Fall, I end up googling all the different ways I can tie a scarf. I finally found a Youtube video I can save and go back to when needed. Warning: it’s kind of hypnotic. — CD

The second best thing to use for foot blisters is duct tape. It’s way more sticky than a bandaid or moleskins or adhesive tape, and when I hike I always carry a tiny bit of duct tape rolled around a pencil in my bag anyway for all kinds of emergencies. But the very best thing for blisters is a bit of flexible kinesiology tape (which is not its intended use). This is even more sticky on skin, but with less residue than duct tape, and also conforms wonderfully to curves and shapes and toes and heels. There are tons of brands. My walking pal Craig Mod, who walks for weeks at a time and has tried every type of tape or pad made, recommended this variety: Laneco Kinesiology Tape, which is what I now use. One roll is a lifetime supply. — KK

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