We were gifted a digital picture frame, and it has been a revelation. It’s a whole new medium different than a fixed picture, different than a picture on your phone. A constant stream of images from our collective lives are flashed in a modest-size frame quietly sitting in our kitchen. The genius is that everyone in our family – including those not living nearby – can easily add new pictures to the stream. It is “calm technology” – without having to engage the monkey-mind to flick-flick, we absorb in a relaxed way, and are gently reminded of in the background, what is happening in our lives. We are now gifting the same to relatives in distant lands, so we can calmly share with them. There are a lot of brands of digital frames; since it was a gift I have not researched them, but am happy with the one we have which is an Aura. Unlike many other frames, there are no subscription fees. — KK
A 20-minute video that looks at 21 kinds of thinking errors. Here’s an example of the Gambler’s Fallacy: “A University of Chicago review found asylum judges were 19% less likely to approve an asylum seeker if they had just approved the previous two. The same person applying for a loan was more likely to get approved for a loan if the previous two applicants were rejected and was more likely to be rejected if the previous two applications were approved.” — MF
We’ve recommended a site that summarizes YouTube videos before, but Eightify is markedly superior and very cool. This Chrome browser extension gives you a little button on the YouTube video play page. You click “Summarize” and in a few seconds the Eightify AI gives you a very usable text summary of the video content broken into ten parts with time stamps. You can click on the time stamps to play that part. You get three free summaries per week, or you can pay for more (which I have done) at about 30 cents a piece. I use it as a way to quickly get to the most important parts of any video. — KK
This article has some unexpected tips on how to work on improving your memory, like assigning vivid images to things you want to remember and spending 5 minutes before bed reflecting on what happened throughout the day. The one I swear to do more of is to take more pictures on my phone and actually go back and look at them. — CD
Wikenigma is the wikipedia of unanswered questions and gaps in human knowledge for the curious-minded. For example, words of unknown origin, the dilemma of free will, or the purpose of the human chin. It's a jumping-off point for the imagination. — CD
“Principle Of Humanity: Every single person is exactly what you would be if you were them. This includes your political opponents. So instead of dismissing them as evil or stupid, maybe seek to understand the circumstances that led them to their conclusions.” Read 39 other useful concepts in this issue of The Prism. — MF
For the past half century the most powerful resource in the world has been computers. The book Chip War is the story of the political, commercial, and military struggle to control this global resource in the form of tiny silicon chips used in everything. Chip War is a brisk, insightful, punchy, fast read. The ups, downs, upsets, rebounds, and flameouts of the major players make it clear that this story is not done and there will be more surprises around this power in the future. Highly recommended. — KK
Cory Muscara meditated 15 hours a day for 6 months and wrote a list of 36 things he learned. Here’s a few of the insights that stood out to me or made me smile. — CD
There are 3 layers to a moment: Your experience, your awareness of the experience, and your story about the experience. Be mindful of the story.
The moment before letting go is often when we grip the hardest.
There is no set of conditions that leads to lasting happiness. Lasting happiness doesn’t come from conditions; it comes from learning to flow with conditions.
The more comfortable you become in your own skin, the less you need to manufacture the world around you for comfort.
Your mind doesn’t wander. It moves toward what it finds most interesting. If you want to focus better, become more curious about what's in front of you.
You cannot practice non-attachment. You can only show your mind the suffering that attachment creates. When it sees this clearly, it will let go.
Monks love to fart while they meditate. The wisdom of letting go expresses itself in many forms.
Last week, Southern California experienced a heavy rainstorm that caused a power outage in our area for 18 hours. We would have been in the dark without the Goal Zero Lighthouse 600 Camping Lantern. It features a bright and adjustable LED light, as well as a built-in lithium battery that can charge smartphones and other USB devices. In case of a power failure, the lantern can also be powered manually by turning a crank for one minute, which provides 10 minutes of illumination. — MF
Good book recommendations are hard to come by. I'm rarely excited by what Goodreads or Amazon recommends. Right now I'm creating a reading list based on Readow.ai recommendations, which uses reviews from readers to give unbiased suggestions on what to read next. The more titles you add, the more personalized your matches will be. — CD
Every new tech generates new art forms. So I’ve been waiting for new art forms based on AI to arrive. One suggestion of a new AI art is a Instagram account that posts AI generated scenes from a unified fictional world. Somehow the artist(s) have figure out the prompts to explore this elaborate fiction consistently. (They are not the only one doing this; others have similar worlds, but theirs is the best so far.) This alternative world, manifested in detail, is zany, stunning, and oddly beautiful. Check out TheVisualDome for a hint of what is to come. — KK
ChatGPT is a versatile chatbot that can perform various tasks, including answering questions, simplifying complex sentences, and summarizing articles. The "Awesome ChatGPT Prompts" repository offers a variety of text prompts that allow users to instruct ChatGPT to take on different personas, such as a travel guide, debate coach, chef, or dentist. The results are impressive, but it's important to note that ChatGPT does not have full knowledge or understanding of the information it provides. It's important to seek outside confirmation before acting on any advice it gives. — MF
Laundry detergent sheets are a thing. Instead of pouring either powder or liquid into the tub, you drop in a napkin-like sheet of detergent. At home this makes no difference, but these tiny tidy sheets are exactly what you want when you travel. Their concentrated form takes up no room, they weigh less than an ounce, and there’s no possible mess – nothing to spill. I keep some small sheets in a baggie in my luggage. They work in a basin or in a machine. Many similar brands make laundry sheets. I use True Earth Eco-Strips ($13). — KK
Here are a few of my favorite end-of-year lists, with two samples from each:
“Keep your identity small. ‘I’m not the kind of person who does things like that’ is not an explanation, it’s a trap. It prevents nerds from working out and men from dancing.“
“Cultivate compassion for those less intelligent than you. Many people, through no fault of their own, can’t handle forms, scammers, or complex situations. Be kind to them because the world is not.”
40 Ways to Let Go and Feel Less Pain
“Channel your discontent into an immediate positive action—make some calls about new job opportunities, or walk to the community center to volunteer.”
“Remind yourself these are your only three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it. These acts create happiness; holding onto bitterness never does.”
37 per cent of the world’s population, 2.9 billion people, have never used the Internet. [International Telecommunication Union]
A deep learning model trained on 85,000 eyes can tell male from female eyeballs with 87% accuracy but no one knows why. [Edward Korot & co]
— MF
The Museum of Failure is a collection of failed products and services from all over the world. It’s kind of weird, kind of sad, kind of funny. You can check out the collection here. — CD
Rather than making new year’s resolutions, I answered these seven pairs of questions, structured as a “Personal Annual Report” in this downloadable PDF created by Shane Parrish at Farnam Street. For instance, “What can I do this year that will leave me in a better position for next year?” The quick exercise is worth doing once a year. — KK
I usually like my espresso black, but lately I’ve been adding Peak evaporated full cream milk. Unlike most canned evaporated milk, which has added sugar and thickeners, Peak contains nothing but milk, minus a lot of the water. It tastes delicious, more so than half and half, and a little amount is all I need to lighten my coffee. — MF
Here is an uplifting, charming film that should not work, but does. It is a live-action film with a talking sea shell as the hero. Marcel-the-shell overcomes disabilities (he is just a sea shell!) to reunite his lost family. It’s adorable, strange, inventive, weird, and heartwarming. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On began real life as a YouTube short that went viral, and was turned into a feature film with expert stop-motion effects. It’s so odd, but joyful, you won’t forget it. Available for rental ($6) on all the commercial video streams. — KK
This new tool by the Clearer Thinking team helped me discover and build a list of my own guiding principles. Your principles are what guides you when making decisions and if you know what they are, you can have less anxiety surrounding decisions and make them faster. Here are a few questions and principles that influence my decisions:
Choose life-expanding choices over comfort.
Ask yourself how this serves your growth.
Can I accept the consequences of this choice? If I can, that is true freedom.
What would my fully-actualized self do?
When in doubt, opt for the natural path over the forced path.
— CD
If you’re not the type to make resolutions for the new year, you might like this list of 27 Life-Changing Micro Habits That Require Only A Few Minutes. Here are some of them: Vow to walk around for two minutes every hour you sit at your desk. Start each workday with five long and deep breaths to calm your mind and get ready for the day ahead. Practice gratitude while you’re in the shower. Write for two minutes in the morning as you drink your coffee. — CD