MyLens AI/Perfect book light/Stop a dog attack

Recomendo - issue #472

Transform content into effective visuals

An AI tool I’m most excited about right now is MyLens AI, which takes your pasted text, webpages, PDFs, spreadsheets, and even YouTube videos and instantly turns them into interactive visuals — like mind maps, flowcharts, and timelines. With just one click, you can expand, edit, explore connections, or add more — deepening your diagrams and charts. It’s really useful for visualizing dense information and untangling complicated concepts. I signed up for the paid version right away, so I can’t really speak to what the free tier offers, but I do know there is one. — CD

Perfect paper book light

I do most of my reading on a Kindle at night, which has prevented me from reading paper books, which I have become nostalgic for. I bought this inexpensive Glocusent bookmark-style light, which has three color temperatures (I use amber), a tilt-swivel light, and five brightness levels. It's small and unobtrusive, and the USB-C rechargeable battery lasts weeks of nightly reading. — MF

Stop a dog attack

I have not used this technique myself to stop a dog attacking another person or, more likely, another dog. It is basically a way to chokehold the attacking dog with its collar or leash. So I can’t vouch for the technique on this American Standard Dog Training channel, but it seems reasonable to me and is what I would try if I encountered this situation. Skip to minute 6:20 to see the methods. — KK

Favorite way to discover new music

Recently, I stayed with a friend and expat in London, and he introduced me to his favorite music station—LA-based KCRW’s Eclectic24. I was surprised to travel so far only to discover something local to bring back home, but it truly deserves to be a worldwide treasure. Every song is hand-curated by real radio DJs—not algorithms—effortlessly blending indie, rock, electronic, hip-hop, soul, classics, and global beats into a pure, uninterrupted, 24-hour listening experience. You can stream for free on their website, but the best way to listen is through the app (iOS, Android), where you can see the playlist in real time and save your favorite tracks to your personal Spotify or Apple Music playlist. — CD

Shipping a bike

Bike touring, or bikepacking, is a great way to travel. But getting your bike to and from the destination is not trivial. Most airlines consider a tightly packed boxed bicycle as checked luggage, going at checked luggage rates. The key is a good bike box. You can get a good box for bicycles at a bike store for free because all their new bikes are shipped in these boxes. There are bike shops everywhere in the world, which is good for finding a box on your way back. You can also ship bikes within the US via UPS; the box will fit under their max dimensions. — KK

One app for all messages

I constantly switch between iMessage, Google Chat, Instagram DMs, Slack, Signal, and WhatsApp to send messages to friends and colleagues. Sometimes I miss important messages because I forget which platform a specific person or group prefers to use, leading me to check the wrong apps or overlook notifications from the right ones. I recently started using Beeper, a desktop and phone app that combines all of these platforms and more into a single messaging environment. It’s free to use for up to 6 platforms; if you need more, it’s $10 a month. — MF

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Recomendo is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run the Cool Tools website, a YouTube channel and podcast, and other newsletters, including Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper and Book Freak.