What you fear/Cobweb Duster/Audience choirs

Recomendo - issue #428

, and

Sep 15, 2024

What you fear

This might be an oversimplification of the true sources behind our fears, but I appreciate this visual chart of possible unmet needs and the arrows pointing toward a healthy resolution for each fear. Sometimes fear can be paralyzing, and this serves as a good reminder to stay curious about my negative emotions and what truly lies behind them. — CD

Spider-busting extendable duster

The house we moved into a few months ago is overrun by spiders. New webs appear every day. This cobweb/duster has a 100-inch extendable pole that lets me reach the high corners where spiders tend to spin their webs, both inside and outside the house. It comes with two interchangeable heads — the spider web brush tackles cobwebs, while the microfiber duster gently cleans delicate areas. I paid around $13 for it and it's surprisingly sturdy for the price. — MF

Audience choirs

Something super-magical happens when people sing collectively in harmony. We don’t do it very much any more. Musical genius Jacob Collier is trying to change that with his audience choirs—the audience sings, in harmony, without practice. It can be profoundly beautiful. As example, listen to this concert at the Kennedy Center that begins with an Irish ballad. If that works for you, there’s longer audience harmony at Academy Brixton in London. Other performers, such as Pub Choir, are doing this as well on world tours. If you have a chance, give communal signing a try. — KK

Camp and emergency lamp

I got this idea from the Amish. They have replaced their kerosene lamps with LED lamps powered by a rechargeable battery. That’s not so new; their hack is to power the LED lamps with a cordless tool battery, which acts as a stable base, lasts a super long time (days), and can usually be found charged. Also, a battery is the most expensive part of a light and this is dual use. You can get these units to fit any of the three major tool battery systems. I use ours (for a Dewalt battery) for brilliant emergency lighting and as a perfect camp lamp.— KK

Download all images on a web page

I've been using the Image downloader - Imageye Chrome extension for the past year, and it has yet to fail me. This extension allows me to quickly and easily browse and bulk download all images from a webpage. The features I find most useful are the ability to filter images by width, height, or URL, and then save images to subfolders while renaming them. Overall, it does exactly what I need efficiently. — CD

Ten strong suggestions for surviving misinformation

Author A.J. Jacobs created the best guide for navigating our post-truth world. His "Ten Strong Suggestions" include framing disagreements as puzzles rather than battles, assigning percentages to beliefs, and embracing sources that admit mistakes. Jacobs advocates for curiosity over fury, skepticism of individual experts while respecting consensus, and wariness of human memory. This is the opposite of fake news. — MF

Recomendo is an authentic, hand-crafted, human-written weekly newsletter that is free, but not cheap. 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 Gar’s Tips & Tools, Nomadico, What’s in my NOW?, Tools for Possibilities, Books That Belong On Paper and Book Freak.

Upgrade

Recomendo Unclassified Ads work! Here’s how to reach over 87,700 subscribers for just $150.

UNCLASSIFIEDS

Have you experienced anxiety, burnout or lack of focus? Take the zero-cost Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) self-assessment to find out how regulated you are. Upon completion, you will receive a score as well as personalized protocols. Access the self-assessment here.

10 Amazon Prime Perks You Need to Be Using. Are you taking advantage of your Amazon Prime perks? Whether you’re already a Prime member or considering signing up, here are 10 Prime member benefits you should be using!

The journey you didn't know you needed- until now Rated by National Geographic as "the best spa in the world." last day to save 10%

Unlike in the 80s, Japan is now affordable. Japan or Die brings you the greatest curated travel tips about Japan since the invention of travel tips. Insider info on food, culture, shopping, places to stay, cool things to do, and one-of-a-kind experiences. Sign up for free!

Your Futures Thinking Observatory. A carefully curated free weekly newsletter finding signals of change and imagining better futures in technology, society, and culture. Subscribe today!

Are you spiritually curious? Not sure where to start? Begin your journey with a mini ebook that provides step-by-step instructions to connect with your true self. Buy Uplevel Your Life today for only $5. Grab your copy here.