Dawn Chorus/iOS contact kiss/Inconspicuous Consumption

Recomendo - issue #422

Beautiful birdsongs from all over the world 

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 iOS contact kiss

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

Inconspicuous Consumption

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

The best travel advice forums

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

Where are you living? 

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

DC-powered air mover

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 

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