I took The Five Senses Quiz created by Gretchen Rubin, author of “Life in Five in Senses”  and it identified my most neglected sense as Hearing. I was also given interesting suggestions on how to enhance my “neglected” sense. For starters, I’ve been ditching my AirPods when I walk my dog. I’m not accustomed to quizzes that tell me my shortcomings rather than strengths, but I appreciate becoming aware of my areas of neglect, because it motivates me towards improvement. — CD 

A new genre of experiences has emerged on YouTube. A bunch of channels offer quiet walks in high resolution. The creators hold a stabilized high def camera with binaural audio and walk around Tokyo at night, or Times Square in snow, or London in the rain, or the back alleys of New Delhi, all without narration. I can hear the ambient sounds and see all the ordinary things usually edited out of sizzle reels.  It really feels like I am there. These virtual walks allow me to travel without traveling. Some folks just watch for the soothing calm it gives them. I enjoy the tiny distinctive details of places I am “returning” to and a way to check out places I’d like to go. There are dozens if not hundreds of channels, often specializing in regions. A few I watch: Nomadic Ambience (NYC, Japan, Iceland), Virtual Japan (Japan),  Watched Walker (London, Paris, Spain), Keezi Walks (India, China, Vietnam, South America). Google “quiet virtual walk” for your destination. — KK

This online collection of motivational videos made by artist Michelle Ellsworth are incredibly intimate and funny and comforting to watch. They offer advice on personal problems and creative struggles and interpersonal relationships. They are unedited and around 2-5 minutes long. It doesn’t seem to be updated and not all the videos load, but it’s worth spending some time on if you need something uplifting. I clicked on a few titles that grabbed me and each one made me smile and made me feel more forgiving toward myself. — CD

U.S. passport holders are allowed to visit countries in the Schengen area (which comprises most of Europe) for up to 90 days in a 180 day period. That can become tricky to calculate for digital nomads and other frequent travelers, but a free iPhone app called the Schengen Calculator makes it easy to see how many days you have remaining. Schengen Calculator Free is a similar app for Android. — MF

One of my favorite living artists is Tauba Auerbach. I first encountered her work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she had a solo show at the age of 40. There is a nerd appeal to her work. She enjoys knots, new materials, geometry, calligraphy, camouflage, glass blowing, weaving patterns, all in service of beautiful surprises. She is a good follow on Instagram, and is worth a trip out of your way to see her exhibits. — KK

Running on Netflix, this 4-part nature documentary is extraordinary. Chimp Empire closely follows the largest known band of wild chimpanzees as individual chimps struggle to prosper, while their tribe wages war with other tribes for food resources. The intimacy you get is stunning. (It is directed by the same guy who did My Octopus Teacher.) Love triangles, betrayal, misfits, mafia bosses, murder. The personalities and drama are shockingly familiar. It is the chimpanzee equivalent of The Game of Thrones. I sure hope they keep it going with future seasons. — KK

Mind Window is an app developed by researchers at the University of Arizona that gives you insight and data on your thought patterns. Every day I get six prompts at random times to reflect on what I just thinking about. The app generates a word cloud of my thoughts and tracks my mood and what I most commonly focus my attention on. By using the app you consent to participate in their research study. Personal information is stored anonymously and securely, and participants may edit or remove their personal information at any time. I’ve only been using it for 5 days but some things I learned about myself is that my thoughts are split 50/50 between Future focus and Present focus (not Past), and right now my word cloud is made up of: Thinking, Love, Future, Weather, Feeling, Waking, Moment and Energy. — CD

Stable Diffusion just launched Stable Doodle, a free website that converts simple sketches into detailed art using generative AI. It’s addictively fun. Here’s a sketch I made and the result when I asked it to turn it into a “Hosukai print of a monstrous mule-tiger ascending Mt Fuji.” — MF

The Real-time Air Quality Index displays a map showing the live readings of air quality sensors around the world. You can look up any city you are interested in, or view rankings of different countries. The last time I checked, Bahçelievler, Türkiye is experiencing the worst air quality (537: hazardous) and Ciudad Guayanam, Venezuela has the best (5, good). — MF

When I want to understand dense subjects, I just visit Simple Wikipedia. All the entries are written in shorter sentences with easier words. The site is designed for children, adults with learning difficulties or for those trying to learn English, but for me it’s a great way to grasp complex topics, like how nuclear weapons are built and work. It doesn’t work with all pages, but sometimes replacing the “en” with “simple” in the URL will redirect to you the Simple English Wikipedia. — CD 

When I’m installing picture hangers, toilet roll holders, curtain rails and the like onto walls, I often end up with loose wall anchors in the drywall. To address this, I use Wetnfix — plaster-coated gauze discs. Simply dip one in water, wrap it around the loose anchor, and insert it back into the hole. Within three minutes, the anchor is secured and ready for a screw. There's a helpful video available that demonstrates this process. — MF

We’ve recommended Anker superchargers before; they will charge phones and computer devices really fast. Now, even better is a four-slotted Anker 747 supercharger, which can handle three USB-C cords (the emerging universal standard plug) and one classic USB. This is ideal for traveling, particularly for more than one user, with multiple devices (phone, Kindle, watch, laptop).  I used to carry a homemade squid with multiple chargers from one outlet, but this fist-size cube is much more compact, simple, and faster. It can charge up to four devices in a jiffy. — KK

Ridwell is a Seattle-based startup that collects hard-to-dispose-of items for reuse, like clothing, batteries, and multi-layer plastics. If you sign up for a subscription service ($18 a month), every two weeks Ridwell will pick up your filled bags and replace them with empty ones. Right now, they service a handful of major cities (listed here). They haven’t yet it made it to San Jose, California but I signed up for their waitlist and was alerted to a free craft supply pickup. I happily donated yarn, papers and ribbons to support our local teachers. I recommend signing up if you’re interested in bringing this service to your neighborhood. — CD

The Public Domain Review is a free website that features fascinating material discovered in the public domain. A lot of it is curious illustrations, vintage images, oddball visuals, but also forgotten literature, weird poems, and excellent essays. It’s a fountainhead of exoticness and hard-to-find otherness. And of course, it is free to reuse.— KK

In their most recent newsletter, Clearer Thinking put together a list of eleven of the most popular approaches to "happiness" and their techniques. The approaches are: Positive Psychology, Stoicism, Common Sense, Christianity, Insight Meditation, Traditionalism, Introspection, Self-Help Books, Hedonism, Altruism, and Community. I realized I checked off every technique under Introspection (Find a way to look at the world that resonates with you) and Common Sense (Sleep enough) and quite a few under Hedonism (Remember that you get just one life, so you might as well enjoy it). Three approaches that I made up for my own life and that keep me happy are: 1. Investigate my own intentions and make sure they are aligned with the highest good possible. 2. Take naps on the grass with my pets. 3. Find something to celebrate everyday. (Even if it’s just pouring myself a glass of champagne after the work day.) — CD

I often recall watching a movie but can’t remember its ending. There is a website called Movie Spoilers that allows you to search for nearly any movie, providing a concise summary of the main plot, the key characters and their roles, as well as the ending. In an attempt to stump the website's database, I searched for The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), and to my surprise, it was there. — MF

The second most-used tool in our kitchen (after the knives) are our kitchen shears. We’ve had several lightweight kitchen scissors which we use for everything, from opening packages, to cracking nuts, to opening bottles, to cutting craft projects, to cooking chores. But over the years all of the shears cracked their plastic handles, so we replaced them with solid stainless steel kitchen shears. These are heavy duty, but not too heavy, and indestructible. We have a couple of pairs of Newness Multi-Purpose Kitchen Shears ($18), and they will last a lifetime. — KK

I had neglected my one-speed bicycle for years, resulting in a badly cracked saddle. Instead of immediately buying a replacement, I opted to give an 8-inch by 11-inch Leather Repair Patch a try since it was only four bucks. Although I suspect it isn't genuine leather, it doesn't matter much because my bike saddle isn't either. After cleaning the cracked saddle with rubbing alcohol, I removed the adhesive backing from the patch and securely applied it to the seat, neatly trimming off any excess with scissors. The outcome is significantly improved—it looks much better now. — MF

Many of us have a favorite movie that we keep rewatching. Next time you begin a rewatch of a favorite, watch it in black and white. This “estranges” it, making it feel like you are seeing it for the first time. This hack comes via artist Austin Kleon, who wrote a short bit on how to invoke black and white on your screen (often options in the “Accessibility” menu), and has a list of classic movies that successfully estrange in black and white such as Mad Max: Fury Road, Princess Bride, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I recently tried this on my favorite, The Fifth Element, and it worked great. — KK

Right now my most used AI tool is AudioPen.ai, a voice note recorder that I use in my browser and phone to turn my ramblings into clear text. It’s free to use, but I pay for an Prime account ($60, annual pass) so I can upload audio files, write in my own style, and record voice notes up to 15 minutes. The most useful and surprising ways I’ve been using AudioPen is to record my dreams while I’m half awake, and to upload audio files of my therapy sessions (only my audio). AudioPen does such a great job of cleaning up my confusing, long winded introspections and summarizing the most important points. — CD