Writing instructor David Perell wrote about the 50 ideas that changed his life. Here’s one: “Competition is for Losers: Avoid competition. Stop copying what everybody else is doing. If you work at a for-profit company, work on problems that would not otherwise be solved. If you’re at a non-profit, fix unpopular problems. Life is easier when you don’t compete. (Hint: don’t start another bottled water company).” — MF

Believe it or not, Flickr is still around, and I hope it stays because it’s a great place to store and share images. One of my favorite Flickr folks is designer James Vaughan, who has amassed a gallery of over 20,000 images from decades past, including advertising illustrations, paperback book covers, movie posters, LP covers, and more. I frequently get lost here. — MF

To have a research station on another planet, we have to figure out how to recreate a tiny biosphere for humans. That’s what the Biosphere 2 project in Arizona was trying to do in 1991. I was so interested in this experiement that I spent time locked inside their test module. But this $150 million structure was built by a theater group instead of scientists, and therein lies the drama worthy of a film. Skip the comedy (Biodome, 1996) and watch Spaceship Earth (2020), a new sympathetic documentary on this remarkable project. What they learned, of life support and human dynamics, should be better known. (Imagine being really locked down for 2 years.) Streams on Hulu, Amazon. — KK

My bookmarks are getting out of hand, so I knew I had to devote some time to finding a manageable solution. This is a great list of “Every bookmark manager ever made” (last updated November 2019). Thanks to that list, I went with the app that I found most visually-appealing, called Raindrop.io ($28 yearly), which lets me do a full-text search of every webpage I’ve ever saved. — CD

I frequently need to convert a photo or scan into vector art. I typically use Adobe Illustrator’s Trace function, but it’s finicky. Illustrator is also very expensive. Recently I discovered this $19 app called Super Vectorizer 2 that does just one thing – converts raster images into vector images. I’m impressed with the results. Here’s a before and after of a sketch I drew, and here’s a before and after of a photo I found in the JumpStory image library (which I recommended a couple of weeks ago). — MF

The lifehacking guru Tim Ferriss compiled 17 questions he frequently asks himself, which I find useful to review myself every now and then. They are meant to help ensure that I spend my time on the right things. You can download them as a “17 Questions That Changed My Life” PDF. — KK

I’ve developed this small habit of editing my internal monologue when I catch myself saying something negative or absolute. If the thought “This sucks — it’s never any fun,” pops into my head, I immediately correct myself with “This sometimes sucks. It might be fun.” If I don’t autocorrect myself I stay stuck in a negative mood, but when I do, I let go of the negative outcome and just roll with whatever. I first came across this trick here: This Small Change in Your Language Can Help Downplay Negativity. — CD

Since the beginning of time the keyboard shortcut to paste something has been Command/Ctrl + V. Not as well known — but should be, for the raging headaches it can cure — is that if you add a third key — the Shift — what you paste will be plain text wiped clean of any formatting it might carry from its source. I call it a clean paste. — KK

My wife ordered a 24-pack of these cheap Bic mechanical pencils. I tried one out and I actually like it a lot. The lead diameter is 0.9 mm and it has a number 2 lead inside. It also contains one extra lead in the barrel. A 24-pack sells for about $.25 a pencil. They are supposed to be disposable, but why not buy a bunch of 9mm lead for cheap and keep using the pencil? You can even get colored leads! — MF

I love my Mini Magic Wireless Thermal Printer. I don’t have a regular printer in my home office, and don’t really need one, but I’ve been using this tiny, handy machine to print out lists, and pictures of my pets, and poems that I want to save. I am growing a collection of whimsical receipts! Because there is no ink required and because it came with six rolls, I constantly feel inspired to print something. I also ordered this sticky thermal paper (3 rolls, $10) on Amazon, so I can draw and print out my own stickers. — CD

For the past year I have really been enjoying Sci-Fi Daily on Instagram which floats out one beautiful piece of science fiction artwork each day. Some of the images contain an entire movie within them. — KK

This simplistically designed website lets you quickly swipe through cards with kind suggestions meant to uplift your spirits when needed. It works well on both your phone and desktop (on your desktop you press spacebar instead of swiping). — CD

This Ultimate Cheatsheet for Critical Thinking is a set of questions to ask yourself when you encounter new (or revisit old) ideas and information. It’s useful for that, but I’m using it to help develop characters and scenes for creative writing. — MF

High uncertainty ahead, for sure. There is no consensus on what will happen in the next 9 months. Every scientist, economist, sociologist, and futurist disagree on what might happen, but we still need to make plans as individuals and organizations. A very helpful tool in a reign of high uncertainty is to use scenario planning. The best set of near-term scenarios I’ve seen is this one, Scenarios for the Covid-19 Future, available as 45 slides, which include instructions on how to use scenarios. You can’t predict what will happen, but you can rehearse for four different possibilities. — KK

Before I watched Middleditch and Schwartz, the very little improv I was exposed to was not enjoyable. I get anxious when jokes don’t land and then I sympathy laugh and the whole thing is awkward. But now I’m stuck at home, and in desperate need of laughs and this have been the best comedy special I’ve seen. It’s like they’ve harnessed the superpowers of a childlike imagination and then threw it into adult situations, and it’s hilarious and magical to watch. — CD

Jumpstory is a royalty-free stock image and video service with millions of photos, videos, and illustrations that you can use for websites, books, presentations, and more. The images have been curated from public domain sources, and they’ve done a great job of tagging and organizing everything. I use Jumpstory images on my website, Boing Boing. A lifetime subscription is $99. — MF

With shameless self-promotion I recommend you follow my new Vanishing Asia Instagram. Every day I post one amazing photo I have taken of an exotic part of Asia that is disappearing because of modernity. The images are a few of the many thousand that will appear in my Vanishing Asia book later this year. In the meantime enjoy this ride in a time machine. Also available on Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. — KK

I tend to use meditation to help me slow down and ease into discomfort or when I feel my anxiety flaring up, but I came across this 30-minute Life Visioning meditation on my Aura app and felt completely transformed after it. At first the breathing exercises and noises felt hokey, but it helped to put me into an almost hypnotic relaxed state, and then the narrator took me down a dark tunnel to meet my “future self” and I was able to see her so clearly! I was so moved by this whole practice. I’ve done it three times since, and each time I discover some new desire or goal that is buried within me. — CD

My daughter told me about Astronaut.io. It’s a website that plays a few seconds of random YouTube videos with almost no views — like this video of a cafe in Vietnam with 1 view, and this one of goats eating weeds near a freeway in rural Japan with 0 views. After a few seconds, it starts playing another video. It’s addictive. Many of the videos aren’t in English, which is a plus for me. — MF

Story, by Robert McKee, is the best book written on how to construct a great story. McKee’s masterclass on story writing is well known in Hollywood. It is condensed into a 4-hour audiobook (better than the written book), performed by McKee himself. It is not just a manual for screenwriters; these short 4-hours turned me into a super fan, able to appreciate stories on whole new levels. Indeed, I found this book profound and realized that it is a useful guide to constructing an interesting life, which in the end is also a story. — KK