So called “resort fees” are a sneaky way for hotels to advertise a low price then tack on an additional charge. Even if you don’t use the hotel pool of fitness center, they’ll add it to your bill. Before booking a hotel, visit Resort Fee Checker to see if it charges a resort fee. The site also has information on the price of breakfast, internet, parking, pets, and other fees. — MF
Everything you could ever want to know about clouds is available at the International Cloud Atlas hosted by the World Meteorological Organization. You can learn the basics of observing and identifying clouds. See photo descriptions of clouds. Search their image gallery. Compare two images. And if you go deep enough you might find unlisted YouTube links to time lapse videos like this one. — CD
This instagram post by artist/writer Morgan Harper Nichols outlines how she uses her Notes App on iPhone to cut her daily screen time in half. She says:
1 - Using the Notes App on my iPhone, I made some graphics that would encourage me to click on them.
2 - I made 9 lists that I knew would encourage me or remind me to do or focus on something. I put the graphics at the top. I spent days working on these lists and I’m still adding and making changes to them.
3 - When I pinned these graphics to the top of my notes app, the image shows up in the previews of the note
When I was done making this list, I told myself this: “whenever I go to my phone now and I’m getting ready to mindlessly scroll, I’m going to go to my Personal Feed instead.”
Some of her list titles are: “List of goals,” “Remember when….” “Affirmations” and “Books to return to.” I’ve already started working on my own, so far I have “Genius Ideas,” of which there is only one at the moment, and “Subtle Images” which is just a growing list of images from daydreams. — CD
Editing video is the new self-publishing. I’m trying to learn it. The two classic standard programs for video editing are very expensive. However, there are a bunch of really good programs for free. CreativeBloq ran a comparative review of the best free video editing software, which is likely to cover 99% of most uses. I have no excuses now. — KK
Would you like to keep your regular email separated from your mailing list email? Here’s the easiest way: set a filter to route any email that contains the word “unsubscribe” to a separate email folder. — MF
I use OneTab to close and save all the open tabs that I have an emotional attachment to, but that eat up memory. OneTab is a free chrome extension that converts all my open tabs into a list of links that I can later restore individually or as a group. I love that I can drag and group links and then name them, as well as share them as a webpage like this. The only inconvenience is that my OneTab doesn’t sync across devices, but after a day of working on one device, I just email myself the webpage of closed tabs and that works well enough for me. — CD
The best source I’ve found for small samples of very pure elements – such as scandium, dysprosium, holmium, terbium, yttrium, uranium – including, yes, cubes of pure tungsten ($14), is Luciteria. Very reliable, thorough, and extensive catalog of all available common and exotic elements. I’ve been amassing a full collection of these universal atoms. — KK
Our cats spend a lot of time nestled in their Love’s Cabin Donut Cushions. We have one for each of them, but they often snuggle together in one. It makes me happy to see them sleeping in them. — MF
I’m a big fan of Retrosupply, which sells digital brushes, fonts, and textures for Photoshop, Illustrator, and Procreate. They also have an excellent tutorial section with free videos and instructions for creating retro-style art. It’s a good way to learn how to use digital drawing tools, especially Procreate. (Here’s a sketch I drew using Retrosupply textures and brushes.) — MF
After many years of not running, I started again. I live in a hilly part of Los Angeles without sidewalks, so to maximize my visibility I bought this inexpensive Freemove reflective vest. It weighs almost nothing and has a pocket to hold my phone. It also comes with a pouch so I can pack it for traveling. — MF
I love slow correspondence and any excuse to connect with a friend through a letter or card. These tips from Hallmark Card writer Courtney Faye Taylor on letter writing reminded me of all the things to keep in mind when penning a message, like leading with vulnerability and curiosity. She suggests not just sharing facts about your life, but the feelings behind them, because when you give someone a window into your personal experience you’re also creating a space for them to do the same. — CD
Old Book Illustrations is a collection of French Romanticism and Victorian era illustrations searchable by subject, artist or title. All of the illustrations are in the public domain and free to use. Most of the images have captions or descriptions and internet archive links to the entire book. I discovered this site through Jane Friedman’s newsletter Electric Speed which always has interesting links and resources for writers. —CD
This is the most important book I have read in a long while. Humankind: A Hopeful History overturns a belief I held most of my life: that society was a thin veneer that kept bad behavior at bay and had to work hard to elevate good behavior. Humankind brings abundant evidence to show the opposite is true. When left to themselves, in their most elemental state such as in catastrophes and emergencies, humans inherently will do good, and only with effort can be led to the bad. It’s very contrarian, but persuasive, and should be the basis for how we run things. — KK
My 18-year-old daughter bought an Oculus Quest 2 VR system but didn’t like it. It sat in the box for a few months before I gave it a try. I got a trial subscription to a boxing fitness program called Supernatural. I’m hooked. It’s so much fun that I don’t notice that my heart is beating fast and I’m panting as I’m dodging, ducking, and jabbing. With over 500 workouts, I look forward to the beautiful settings and enthusiastic coaches every time I work out. — MF
Here is a long scroll through milestones in human evolution, sourced from Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and BBC, and put together by a Professor in Ecology. At the end of the page there is a note of Ages: that rescales the timeline to a calendar year which is really interesting. The Big Bang begins on January 1, the Sun forming on September 1, earliest signs of life appear on September 13, and just 2 hours before the year’s end appears us — humans. — CD
Half of our climate goals can be achieved by electrifying everything. This free book, Electrifying Everything in Your Home (PDF download), gives very explicit and useful instructions on how you can electrify your own home and life, even if you are a renter. Covers heat pumps, solar panels, electric vehicles, electric appliances, and more. It’s thorough. I found the section on electric heat pumps (which replace furnaces and air conditioners) particularly helpful because I could not find this kind of reliable actionable info anywhere else. — KK
Wandermap is a website with thousands of user-submitted hikes (and bike routes) all over the world. My favorite feature lets me draw a route on the map to see how far it is and the change in elevation along the route. The desktop website generates a QR code of my route so I can easily transfer it to my phone. — MF
The latest version of the Chrome browser enables you to link to a specific word/phrase/sentence within a web page, rather than just linking the entire page. You can focus attention on just the right text. Right click on the desired text section while in Chrome and select “Copy Link to Highlight. More details here. You need Chrome to create a deep link or to view one. — KK
If ever there is a time that you need to identify or find a symbol, shape or character, this Shapecatcher tool will help you do that. Just sketch it into the drawbox using your mouse and click “Recognize” to get a list of possibilities that you can copy and paste, along with their names and unicode codes. — CD