Here is a great short list on how to stay calm without any hacks from Greg Isenberg. All of these tips are effective and simple ways to help you move out of “stuck” energy or feelings of helplessness, guiding you toward something more beneficial and useful. The advice, “if you’re scared, take a risk,” reminds me of an anonymous quote I recently came across: “The cold water doesn't get warmer if you jump late.” — CD 

Our once wired home is now totally wireless. I recently upgraded to a mesh wifi network, with multiple wifi units around the house creating one extended network with one shared password. We went with the Eero 6 system (owned by Amazon) which Wirecutter gives the highest marks for its ease of setting up and speeds. In our kitchen we get 700 mbps. You can easily daisy chain the units ($90 each) with small overlaps to reach anywhere in a sprawling household. It’s great to never have to think about reliable and robust wifi. — KK

I’m learning European Portuguese, and I’ve asked AI to be my tutor. I use a prompt like this:

Have a simple conversation with me in European Portuguese in the Simple Present tense and correct me in English when I get anything wrong. Start by asking me about my day. If I respond with "t" repeat what you said in English.

I use Claude Sonnet 3.5, but it doesn’t seem to matter what AI you use. — MF

Whenever an old piece of luggage breaks, I replace it with a SwissGear model. I finally abandoned my 20-year-old Briggs & Riley because the zippers were all broken and I didn't like having to use both hands to extend the telescoping handle. I bought the latest version of the SwissGear carry-on for under $100. It's a lightweight, 360-degree four-wheeled spinner with two front pockets, a snap-on TSA liquids bag, and a mesh zipper compartment in the interior lid. It also has handles on the side and bottom, making it easy to pull out of stowage areas. We now have 7 pieces of SwissGear - three 21-inch models and four 25-inch check-in models. — MF

Sprint is a Netflix reality series following the colorful characters trying to become the world’s fastest human. The Olympics is only one meet in a parade of races all year as they face each other again and again. The really simple test of being the fastest highlights the drama and their sacrifices over years. Season 1 ends just before this summer’s Olympics. The upcoming Season 2 will focus on the tribulations through this Olympics, and its unexpected surprises. Sprint is one of the better, well-crafted sports documentary series out there, and my preferred way of “watching” sports. — KK

The Recomendo team is trying something new that might interest you. Once a week we will ask readers a simple question and then we’ll curate the best answers to share in a newsletter the following week. These questions won't be about current events, nor will they solve any mysteries. Instead, they are about finding what's good and true and beautiful in everyday life. There are no right answers and there is only one question. We’ll run this as a free one-page newsletter (similar to Recomendo), and we’ll keep going as long as people enjoy it. If you want to read the best answers and see the next question, sign up for Just 1 Question here: https://just1question.substack.com/

Here are four quotes from science fiction books, stories, and movies:

• “There are few better ways to get to know how a species thinks than to learn their art.” — Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit, 2016 novel

• “Hope clouds observation.” — Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965 novel

• “We’re only different from the bacteria because we are able to ask what the hell this is all about. Not answer, just ask.”  — Carolyn Ives, “Umbernight,” 2018 short story

• The mind is a strange and wonderful thing. I'm not sure it'll ever be able to figure itself out. Everything else maybe, from the atom to the universe, everything except itself. — Daniel Mainwaring, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956 film

If you find these worthwhile, you can read 997 more in Guy P. Harrison's new book, Damn You, Entropy!: 1,001 of the Greatest Science Fiction Quotes. — MF 

Meredith Arthur, who has spent the past nine years investigating the source of her anxiety and physical pain, has recently put out a three-part newsletter series called Ultimate Stress Relief Cheat Sheets. She hopes that by sharing what is tried and true for her, she can help readers skip some of the steps she had to labor through. Reading about her personal journey was very helpful to me. It gives me hope that I can make my nervous system my best friend rather than my enemy. I love her practice of in-the-moment mantras and her current examples for escaping the freeze response.

• “I know that future me has [insert issue] covered, so I am going to let this go until it’s time to take action.”

• “I am allowed to have a short vacation from [insert issue].”

• “If I keep thinking this way, I will only get sicker. Instead, I am going to imagine a future in which I’ve solved [insert issue] in detail. I’ll allow that feeling of peace to wash over me.”

— CD

We all believe things that aren’t true. To help me weed out falsehoods in my own life, I like to go through this amazing List of Common Misconceptions posted on Wikipedia. A lot of these are inconsequential, but still good to not repeat. — KK

A web-based photo enhancer called Mejorar Imagen is the best I've come across for quickly improving the quality of blurry, pixelated photos. Just select an enlargement multiple, drag your photo into the window, and wait for a minute or two. The results aren't always perfect, but they are often excellent. I used it on a purposely downscaled photo from the Library of Congress to show you the results. — MF

Stumbling upon iheartbookstores.com reminded me of the value of purchasing books in person rather than simply clicking “buy now” online. The map on the site currently lists more than 6,000 independent bookstores across the U.S. Recently, I was about to buy a used book on eBay when I noticed that the seller was Recycle Bookstore in San Jose, CA, just a couple of miles from me. I decided to drive there and buy it in person instead. Of course, I ended up finding more books to buy and remembered how much I love the serendipity and magic of physical bookstores. — CD

I surprised myself by watching the full 4 hours of a “review” of a Disney Star Wars Hotel by an obsessive fan on YouTube. I didn’t think I cared about a theme hotel, but Jenny Nicholson’s four-hour video critique was compelling, astoundingly astute, endless insightful, and highly entertaining, as she does in-depth business analysis in cosplay costumes. After the first hour of her deep review, I understood why the review has 10 million views (!!!!); it’s a great overview of an interactive experience. After staying for the second hour, I subscribed to her channel because it was also a fantastic introduction to any kind of immersive experience. After continuing to watch the third hour, I thought Disney ought to pay her thousands of dollars as a consultant instead of trying to get YouTube to takedown her video; this was the best course in interactive media I’d ever seen. After finishing all four hours, I thought she should be running Disney herself as their new CEO because she understood virtual reality and immersive experiences better than anyone. This is why I love YouTube: with no one’s permission, a passionate person can make a dent in the universe. Be prepared for the ultimate nerdy obsession in The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel. — KK

I am absolutely enamored by Dawn Chorus, a sound project that collects and maps bird song recordings from all over the world. I relived the first morning I woke up in Berlin to the most charming bird chirps I’ve ever heard. Although I can’t remember the sounds I heard on our road trip through the Czech Republic, this recording perfectly captured the magical landscape I experienced. It’s so refreshing to discover projects like this that induce awe and reverence for the natural world. — CD

The easiest way to share contact information between two people with iPhones, is to squarely align the top edge of each person’s phone so they touch. When they “kiss” each phone makes a weird glow to indicate the contacts succeed in exchange. You can do a two-way share, or just a one-way share from one person. I find it a relief from the awkward task of typing other people’s info precisely. — KK

One of my favorite zines of the early 1990s was Beer Frame: The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption. In each issue, the author, Paul Lukas, reviewed mundane products by examining their packaging and design details in a way that made me look at everything in the human-made world with fresh eyes. He stopped publishing it a few years later and focused on reviewing sports uniforms for the next 25 years, which held zero interest for me, unfortunately. But a couple of months ago, Lukas rebooted Inconspicuous Consumption as a Substack newsletter. After reading the issue about the superiority of "Beware of Dog" signs over "Beware of the Dog" signs, I immediately bought a subscription. — MF

I still buy travel guide books. But in addition to them, I find the most useful, the most up-to-date, and most interesting travel advice is found in the Rick Steves’ Travel Forums. I find these forums to be more reliable than either Trip Advisor or Reddit, with a very high signal to noise ratio. Usually there is a narrow topic already in process for what I am looking for (say, seeking a personal driver in Crete, or whether a particular border post is opened, or the best place to rent a car in Poland), and if not, then I can make that question to ask. The big downside: they only cover Europe. (There is one thread for the rest of the world, which is good, but not organized.) — KK

Here is a thought-provoking graphic I came across on Reddit that categorizes your perception of time based on your thoughts and feelings. For example, if you are experiencing emotions like guilt or shame, you are considered to be living in the past; if you are overthinking or worrying, you are seen as living in the future; and if you are feeling or embodying acceptance, you are living in the present moment. While I don’t think these categorizations are absolute—I have definitely experienced fear and negative emotions while being in the “Now”—I still found this useful as a general framework. — CD

Amazon Basics 16-Inch 12-Speed Pedestal Floor Fan uses a DC motor to move lots of air with less power consumption than a comparable AC fan. It's impressively quiet, even at high speeds. The included remote means no more getting up to adjust settings (though I could do without the loud beep it makes when I press a button). While it's not a brand name, at under $70 it's a steal for the features. — MF 

Silicone suction dishes won’t move unless you want them to. They stick to a table with surprising instant force but are super easily released. This makes them perfect for minimizing spills by toddlers. Their flexible sides also won’t hurt. Lots of brands make silicone suction bowls, but the Mushies are the simplest and most elegant, and will stack with other bowls. — KK

I bought this Beyond Yoga dress based on the reviews to be my go-to travel dress because it’s packable and doesn’t wrinkle easily. I’ve worn it many times, both while traveling and at home, and I love it so much that I had to buy another one in a different color. It’s the perfect length and so soft that I’ve even slept in it. It’s a bit pricey, but I wear it so often that it feels justified. I’ve washed it many times now, and it’s still buttery soft and wrinkle-free. — CD