Sounds of Space

Sounds of Space is a really cool collection of astronomical objects sonified, like two black holes merging or Venus’s radio waves. I love this way of experiencing the universe. My favorite is the sound of Solar Wind at Mercury. Also here’s a recent sonification not yet added to the collection. It was created by converting rippling waves of gas from inside a star core into sound waves, so that we can now hear a Star Twinkling. — CD 

SoundClaudia Dawson
No more missing chargers and cables

If you have a phone charger and cable set up in a common area of your house and it hasn't vanished, then you probably live alone. The Lock Socket is a simple plastic device that attaches to a power outlet cover, making it impossible for the charger and cable to mysteriously disappear. Your family may be upset, but that's the consequence. — MF

GadgetsClaudia Dawson
Knee pillow

My wife has been using a Memory Foam Knee Pillow for years. It’s much smaller than a regular pillow and can be used between your knees or to prop up one leg. As a side-sleeper, it keeps her spine and hips aligned, and it helps her sleep more comfortably. I bought one a couple of weeks ago, and I’m getting the same benefits. — MF

SleepClaudia Dawson
Product docu-dramas

An emerging genre of lightly fictionalized dramas tell the true, improbable stories of how famous products came to be. Each legendary thing seems like a miraculous accident. Here are three product dramas that are extraordinarily entertaining, and mostly true to life. Tetris (Apple+) is the unlikely cloak–n-dagger tale of the Soviet KGB’s pursuit of this wayward video game’s escape to world domination. The Social Network (on Amazon or any streaming service, $4) is an oldie about Facebook that is still relevant and fascinating given its current return to grace. And the most recent is Air (Amazon Prime), the astounding story of how Air Jordan sneakers became the unlikely multi-billion dollar megahit they are. All have great casts and great scripting, but are “true stories” at the core. — KK

One minute daily question

I try to limit my subscriptions to daily newsletters, but the 1-min Daily Question newsletter cannot be snoozed or ignored. Each question is a prompt to reflect on my life and goals (like what patterns am I stuck in? or what does success look like for me?). Every email redirects me to a 60-second timer that acts as a timeout from the busyness in my head. It's a short respite, but its peaceful and I appreciate the gift of clarity. — CD 

Advanced search tips

Until AI takes over search, finding exactly what you are looking for online will greatly benefit from advanced search techniques. This long document, Gwern’s Internet Search Tips, catalogs a hundred ways to increase the success rate of your googling. It is especially aimed at finding scholarly and expert sources.  I learned dozens of tricks. — KK

ResearchClaudia Dawson
Global community for nature-based integration

For the past year, I’ve been a participant of ACER Integration — an online community and framework created by clinical psychologist Dr Rosalind Watts. The program follows a year-long, nature-based integration cycle. Every new month gives me access to guided visualizations, live sharing circles via Zoom, breathwork sessions and Q&As with some of the most prominent minds and voices in the psychedelic space. The community is not a substitute for therapy and it does not encourage psychedelic use — only a deeper connection to nature, ourselves and each other. ACER stands for Accept, Connect, Embody and Relate. For me it’s been an invaluable space to integrate life experiences alongside deeply compassionate, grounded and like-minded people from all over the world. And as I wrap up my 13-month cycle, I highly recommend anyone feeling called to connect with a community like this to check out the info pack and apply. ACER opens up to new members in October and applications are now being accepted. If you do apply, be sure to mention Recomendo in your application. ACER will offer a discount to Recomendo readers who are accepted into the program. — CD

LifeClaudia Dawson
Listen to Wikipedia

Experience the dedication of Wikipedia’s contributors through a captivating symphony of sound and graphics at Listen to Wikipedia. This live website showcases real-time changes with bells for additions, string plucks for subtractions, and pitch variations indicating edit size. Unregistered contributors' edits are marked with green circles, and automated bot activity with purple circles. Click on a circle to explore the latest changes. — MF

ResearchClaudia Dawson
Design inspiration

Wowee Zowee! The Internet Archive Design is an amazing library of inspiring graphic design documents. It bills itself as “a digital archive of graphic design related items” which includes old font catalogs, logo handbooks, cool brochures, design yearbooks, visual display, handbooks for design machines, and graphic style guides. I’ve found amazing treasures here, which I use to hatch my daily art. All are free to peruse, but you need to register a free account in order to “check out” some in-print publications from this online library. — KK

DesignClaudia Dawson
Crowdsourced map to explore cities

Hoodmaps is a crowdsourced map that divides cities up into areas and labels. It’s not really moderated and some might find the neighborhood generalizations offensive, but I found it accurate for the cities I’ve lived in and visited — and it made me laugh. It’s created by the person who also created Nomadlist, which is probably a more helpful resource for learning about a city. — CD 

WebClaudia Dawson
Instant relief for itchy eyes

My eyes have been itching like crazy for the last few months. I was rubbing them so hard and so often that they started to feel sore. I finally decided to try over-the-counter allergy eye drops. I bought Alaway from Bausch + Lomb, based on the many positive reviews. It contains an antihistamine, and one drop provides almost instant relief for hours. — MF

HealthClaudia Dawson
Awaken your neglected sense

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 

LifeClaudia Dawson
Virtual walks

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

YouTubeClaudia Dawson
Motivational Video Archive

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

LifeClaudia Dawson
Schengen Calculator

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

Art follow

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

Chimp drama

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

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

MindClaudia Dawson