My friend Brad recommended a 2011 episode of This American Life, titled “The Invention of Money.” It’s a crash history about money as a useful fiction, beginning with the giant limestone discs used as money on the island of Yap. — Mark

It’s criminal that Apple doesn’t use USB-C or Micro-USB for charging. Its Lightning cables are shoddy and suddenly stop working with no visible signs of wear. I’m almost ready to switch to an Android phone, but until I do, I’m going to buy bags of cheap third-party Lightning cables, like this 5-pack. I’ve used them for a month so far with no issues. — MF

I volunteered to join a covid vaccine trial near me by using this site, Covid Dash. Points me where to go so I can sign up. There are currently 70 other vaccines still in development around the world. By volunteering, I help science and all people, and I may get a vaccine earlier. — KK

I’m thinking about what stuff — if any — I want to save after I die. My blog? Instagram? My 200,000 photos on a hard disk and in the cloud? My bank account? And for the living, where are my passwords? Today is the best day to figure this out. This WSJ article on digital legacies, “What to Do Before You Die: A Tech Checklist”, is a wonderfully comprehensive outline of what I should be asking myself, and you too, no matter your age. — KK

One thing I have to be grateful for is that this was the year I got better at making myself happy. For me, that meant creating an ideal work-life balance, carving out creative time, hiking with my dog, mastering the art of relaxation, and finding new ways of showing my family and friends I love them. Here are the “things” that helped me accomplish that. — CD

Practicing self-care doesn’t just involve meditation or pampering yourself or journaling. This is a great visual that breaks down the different types of self-care for each aspect of your life (physical, emotional, social, financial, etc.). — CD

A tiny smart plug allows me to control any plugged in device from a voice command given to Alexa. I say, “Alexa, christmas tree lights on” and bingo, they’re on. I use Gosund Smart Plugs, the size of a small adaptor that plugs into the wall. They come in a pack of 4 for $29, which is about the same price as one official Amazon brand smart plug. All are pretty easy to pair to your home’s wifi and Alexa or Google. Or you can also control devices from your phone from far away. You can control anything that you can leave in the “on” state. This is the simplest, cheapest version of a smart home. — KK

My ear-hair trimmer was at least 10 years old, maybe even 20, and the blades were getting dull. I found a cheap and highly rated ear-hair trimmer on Amazon. The sharp blades make a big difference. It’s much quieter and quicker than my old one. The best reason for owning it is that my Apple AirPods Pro stay snug in my shaved ears now. — MF

I recently went down a late-night internet rabbit hole and was surprised to discover that tree-dwelling apes began using wooden pillows to improve their sleep sometime between 5 and 23 million years ago. Thankfully we’ve come a long way from wooden pillows and I think the best I can do for my sleep is to stick with my memory foam cervical pillow. My husband started using one a couple years back and it took a while for me to get on board, because I’m a side sleeper, but I definitely notice a difference in my quality of sleep when I use it versus nights when I don’t. I wake up less and feel more rested. — CD

Our 17-year-old daughter introduced my wife and me to The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and we’ve been watching one or two episodes a night. There are two seasons so far, with a third on the way. Set in an Earth-like alternate universe where computers and mobile phones don’t exist, the story is centered around seven adopted siblings, born 30 years ago on the same day in different places around the world. Each person has a special ability, and while they dislike one another for the most part, they’re forced to band together in an attempt to stop an apocalypse that’s set to happen in a week. I’m not a fan of superhero shows, but the twisty plot, compelling characters, and astounding sets have me glued to this one. — MF

I was not in the mood for assembling our annual Gift Guide for Cool Tools this year. Instead I felt moved to simply make a list of any purchases that made me happy in this past year. I call it my Happy List. None of these things may be of any interest to anyone else, but I get persistent joy from them. (Mark shared his list last week and Claudia will share her list next week.) — KK

I had a very happy aha moment when I came across this illustrated insight of happiness in the More to That newsletter. “Happiness is the difference between what you have, and your definition of enough.” — CD

I’ve been listening to Japanese stories on Beelinguapp, a smartphone app that reads stories in 14 different languages. I set the speed at 50% so I can read along as a native speaker tells a simple story. Beelinguapp is free for iPhone and Android, and you can get the premium version (which has more stories and other useful features) for $40. — MF

For the past week I’ve been visiting frij.io to play with word magnets. Every day the word bank is swapped out with new nouns and verbs and emojis you can use to create poetry or funny phrases. Linking words and images in a fun and weird way works as a mental palette cleanser during my workday. — CD

I find a deep beauty in stylized diagrams required for patents. The clarity of the designs is a magical misdirection because the patent’s function is usually mysterious. Each week, the illustrations accompanying the patents filed the previous week at the US Patent office are featured in the blog Impeccable IP. It’s pure design eye candy. Enjoy! — KK

Every year for the last seven years, Cool Tools has published an annual holiday gift guide (you can check them out here). This year, we decided to make lists of things that made us happy in the year 2020. You can read my list here. Kevin and Claudia’s lists will run in the following weeks — MF

Good news. We’ve rounded up the best recomendos from the past four years of this newsletter and have organized 1,000 of them by subject, and illustrated most of them, in a 217-page book. This book, Recomendo: The Expanded Edition, is a better way to search for past recommendations, browse for cool stuff you missed, or catch up if you are a new subscriber. This hefty paperback is available in two flavors: a $13 B&W version, and $30 for a color version. It makes a great gift, too, with neat, uncommon, and useful things for almost anyone. — KK

If you’re looking for gift ideas, check out our Recomendo storefront. Here you’ll find the books, tools or products that we’ve recommended in our newsletter (if they are available on Amazon). Other Cool Tools Lab storefronts that you can check out are the items shared in the weekly What’s in My Bag? newsletter or the four favorite tools shared by guests on the Cool Tools Show podcast. — CD

Lately I’ve been posting photos of my sketchbook drawings of monsters, robots, space creatures, and contraptions on my Instagram feed, and people have asked if I could put them on various products. So I started a store on Society6, which has clocks, water bottles, bath mats, tables, notepads, stickers, and so on. Check it out here. — MF

A really fun parlor game you can play with friends and family at a distance is Among Us. It’s a bluff and deceit game like Werewolf or Mafia. The fun of the game is the cascading social ramifications of bluffing, being fooled, not being fooled, detective work, psy-ops, acting, being found out, persuading, leading, and getting surprised. The game runs on mobile phones ($0, or $2 for ad free) or Windows PC (everyone does NOT need to be on the same kind of device), and usually the group gathers in parallel on Zoom or Discord to chat during the game. There is some degree of coordination needed to perform mindless busy work tasks in the game, but otherwise no fast twitching is needed to really enjoy this social game. I think of it as playing Werewolf remotely. — KK