Reading Maps / Days Since / NearbyWiki
Recomendo - issue #526
Chart the journeys of classic novels
Reading Maps plots the routes characters travel in novels and films — you can trace the Pequod’s ocean path as it chases Moby Dick, or Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit of his monster from Geneva to the Arctic. Hundreds of journeys are mapped so far, sortable by setting (Sea, Overland, River, Rail, Survival, and more), and each one breaks the story into stops you can follow one at a time: where a ship or train left from, and what happened there. Since the stops follow the plot, the site will happily spoil the ending if you haven’t finished the book. — MF
Track days since things
I use the Countdown Days Since & Until app to track how long it’s been since health and beauty appointments so I know when it’s time to reschedule — I’m really bad at remembering to get my hair cut. I also use it to count down to vacations and anniversaries, occasionally opening the app to see how many weeks or days or even hours are left, and it’s nice to get a little surge of anticipation as the time between things shortens. After using the free version for years I finally paid $4.99 to unlock extras like adding photo backgrounds to certain events. Unfortunately, this particular app seems to be iOS‑only, but any simple “important dates” tracker would be useful. — CD
Wikipedia entry nearby
I find it entertaining to see what is listed in Wikipedia nearby to wherever I am. On any device that knows where it is (like a phone), load this NearbyWiki page, and it will show on a map all the nearby items that have a Wikipedia entry. Most are places, but occasionally it gives you something unexpected. — KK
My fountain pen paper and ink
Some of you have asked what paper and ink I’ve been using with the fountain pen I wrote about last week. Both were recommended by the woman working at my local art supply store: a Leuchtturm 1917 120gsm notebook and Noodler’s Nightshade ink. The heavy paper handles wet ink — no bleed-through, no ghosting, and the nib glides. The ink is a purple-blue that shades nicely on the page. One warning she gave me: Noodler’s bottles come filled almost to the brim, so open it over the sink. I took her advice and I’m glad I did — it was full to the top. — MF
Coders using AI
All my friends who years ago stopped writing code themselves are now using Anthropic’s Claude to write code for them. This 20 minute tutorial put out by Anthropic is basically the course they use to train their own coders on how to use Claude (to make future versions of Claude). It’s the best tricks they know on how to tell an AI to code for you (aimed at those who already know how to code). — KK
Better than my Instagram feed
We’ve recommended the Seek app before, but lately I’ve been spending more time on the Observations page of the iNaturalist website, which shows a live stream of sightings from the full iNaturalist community rather than just my own Seek scans. You can filter the stream by species, location, and date, and it feels like a photo feed curated by the living world instead of an algorithm. It’s more interesting to scroll than my Instagram, but this view doesn’t exist in any of the apps, so for now I just keep the page bookmarked. — CD
10TH ANNIVERSARY!
It is hard to believe that Recomendo has been running for 10 years this week! Every Sunday morning we send 6 brief recommendations. Help us celebrate our 10th Anniversary by sharing our free newsletter with your friends. We have a few distinctive gifts as rewards for those who refer four or more new subscribers. See here: https://www.recomendo.com/leaderboard
Recomendo Unclassified Ads work! Reach over 130,000+ subscribers for just $350.
UNCLASSIFIED ADS
Evite vs Paperless Post: Which RSVP platform is best for parties and meetups and other events? I reviewed both of them in detail and talked about a free option (Mixily) that you can also try. Read the full article here.
If you like Recomendo, you might like Recomendo Deals, our free daily newsletter. We monitor prices on every product we've ever featured in Recomendo. Each morning, you'll get an email with the day's best Amazon deals. Subscribe here.
Recomendo is an authentic, hand-crafted, human-written weekly newsletter that is free, but not cheap. Please consider supporting our work with a paid option, now at the low price of $45 per year. Paid subs enable us to keep making it free for others.
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 Recomendo Deals, Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper, Cool Tools Weekly Newsletter, and Book Freak.
Years ago I learned too make my next haircut appointment as I left my current haircut. A game changer. And since I’ve retired, my haircutter sets up all my appointments for the year in December, using my preferred days of the week and times. Works well.