Center Cam/Quickread tape measure/Eye Candy
Recomendo - issue #364
Eye-contact webcam
Direct eye contact is the critical missing ingredient on zoom. It’s hard to achieve because each person is looking at the other person’s face and not at their camera off the screen. Years ago I built a contraption that suspends a small webcam in the middle of my monitor so I am looking at the camera as I look at the face. It gave me great eye-contact but was bulky and blocked parts of my screen. I have since replaced it with Center Cam ($120), which is an itty-bitty camera mounted on a very slender adjustable gooseneck that suspends in the center of my screen. It is tiny enough that I don’t even notice it, and it gives a clear, high-res image of me looking directly at you. It would be great if everyone else had one of these so your eyes would look directly at me. — KK
Easy-to-read tape measure
I used to blame my measurement errors on the difficult-to-read graduations on tape measures. However, now that I have this Quickread tape measure, I can no longer use that excuse. The graduations are printed in both fractions and decimal equivalents. Also, the markings are oriented vertically rather than horizontally, making them easier to read. — MF
5,000 GIFS of visual camera tricks
Eye Candy is a really cool visual library of camerawork tricks. When you click on a technique a collage of examples pop up. It’s stunning and a source of inspiration, even if you’re not a filmmaker and just an art appreciator like me. — CD
Cheapest travel destinations
Our sister newsletter, Nomadico (free), delivers four tips weekly to folks who work while they travel or travel while they work. Nomadico is written by Tim Leffel, who runs the Cheapest Destination Blog, and is author of the constantly updated book, The World’s Cheapest Destinations, now in its fifth edition. The premise behind the blog and book is that you can travel at a higher level, or for twice as long, or for half the price by heading to cheaper destinations. Because of complex factors including monetary exchange rates, these cheaper destinations can often offer extremely high quality experiences, so they are a real bargain. Tim keeps up with the latest news, addresses lingering concerns, and knows the latest bargain places. — KK
Recommended novel: The Death Ship, by B. Traven
One of my favorite novels is The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven, written in 1927. Recently, I read his 1926 novel, The Death Ship, and found it equally captivating and impressive. The plot revolves around a young American merchant sailor who, while on leave in Antwerp, misses his ship and subsequently struggles to survive. The novel’s theme reminds me of Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, because both explore survival in destitution, balancing of humor and harrowing intensity. (Very little is known about B. Traven, who was so publicity shy that he makes Thomas Pynchon seem like Jacqueline Susann.) — MF
Top 50 Substack newsletters
Here’s a list of the top 50 Substack newsletters with the most number of subscribers. I am not subscribed to any of these, but I did check out all their archives and the only one I was interested in was Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant’s newsletter Granted. Most of the newsletters I noticed were political. This list made me realize that the number of subscribers does not at all reflect a newsletter’s usefulness or personal value. Here’s a list of my top 5 favorite newsletters on Substack right now — CD
Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter — I’ve been reading his horoscopes since I was a teenager. He’s a spiritual outlaw and a poet and his newsletters are not just horoscopes — they’re always inspirational and artful and joy-filled.
Rusty’s Electric Dreams — described as, “one of the most inspiring, weird and off-kilter collections of curated kitschy ephemera for the big-brained” and as “the New Yorker for the weirdos.”
Burning Shore — Author Erik Davis’ newsletter exploring the “cultures of consciousness.” He describes his work as dancing around “the intersection of alternative religion, media, the popular imagination, and the cultural history of California.”
deepculture — a weekly digest of 10 interesting things every Tuesday. (Sometimes I discover Recomendos here!)
The Most Creative — This newsletter is about balancing and prioritizing the creative life. Elliott Fienberg’s musings are insightful and encouraging and a beacon of light in my inbox.
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Peas and carrots, money and power. Some things just go together – and that latter pair especially. With Power Corridor, you can get an inside view on just how closely connected Washington and Wall Street really are – and how their relationship shapes all of our lives, not to mention the global economy. Get an inside view on the forces shaping the world around you — subscribe to Power Corridor here.
79 Tasks for My Virtual Assistants: Hi, I’m Nick Gray. I’ve used VAs to help me make sales calls, organize my schedule, complete marketing tasks, and manage my inbox. This is a detailed list of tasks they helped me with last week. Read it on my personal blog.
Life-Changing Concepts newsletter gives you an unfair advantage in business with mental models. Get a summary of 20 useful mental models when you join. It’s free, join 10,000+ founders.
Get tech advice every Tuesday with Advisorator. Each week, you'll learn about neat apps, hidden tricks, and ways to save money, all from a veteran technology journalist. Sign up for free.
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Recomendo is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We run the Cool Tools website, a YouTube channel, and other newsletters, including Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW? and Book Freak.
Here's that missing link from my recomendo: https://reletter.com/charts/substack/top-50
Please add the 50 top newsletters link, appears to have been omitted.