2026-06-05 00:00:00
I have tried at least 20 small Bluetooth speakers over the years. The small size usually means major sacrifices. They’ll normally handle electronic dance music and synth pop just fine, but have trouble providing good fidelity for rap and rock. I finally found one I could crank up to 11 with the Fender X ROCKSTER Go 2 by Teufel. Yes Fender the guitar/amp company. It handled everything well, including one of the best riff rock albums ever: Electric by The Cult. The neighbors could hear it and the wife was shouting, “Turn that down!” It’s waterproof, shock-proof, and has a crazy long 28-hour battery life. It weighs a pound and a half (734 grams) and is 8.4 inches wide, so it’s best packed when checking a bag, but you’ll be party ready on the other side.
You can add something new to the very long list of reasons to avoid Bali. In one of the strangest government decrees we’ve seen yet, Bali is enforcing a policy that any kind of commercial activity done on their island requires a work visa. That means any kind of compensation coming from anywhere in the world, in any form, is prohibited. They’ve been cracking down on “influencers” because those people are the most visible, but they’ve said this will also apply to remote tech workers and people receiving freebies while on site. Does that mean you could be fined if you post a photo of your free cocktail from a hosted event? Or that trade show water bottle you got while attending a convention? Or if you step into a co-working space and open a laptop? The way it reads now, yes.
Thailand’s government is almost as mercurial as Bali’s, changing their visa policies constantly to reflect their love-hate relationship with digital nomads. After a few bad apples opened physical businesses while on a tourist visa and the extra days didn’t move the needle on tourism arrivals, the government is turning back the calendar. At a date not determined yet, the tourist visa on demand will only be good for 30 days instead of 60. This could change or get pushed back, but for now plan accordingly. If it goes through, you’ll have to visit an immigration office to extend your stay to two months instead of one (and approval is not guaranteed).
Often when governments try to solve a problem, the easy solution they reach for is the most ineffective. I wrote before about the utter failure of New York City’s Airbnb ban, which only succeeded in enriching hotel companies, not helping local renters. This great article breaks down why that failed and why similar measures in Spain will too, while Tokyo and Austin have managed to decrease average rent prices by going after a lasting solution instead. The real solution is harder, but has far more impact: making it easier to build new housing.
A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.
2026-06-04 00:00:00
Russian-born, London-based. Three kids, a few companies, an adventure bike, two restless legs and a habit of chasing ideas, opportunities, and adventures across continents and B-roads.
|
Journey of a quiet changemaker Stories about pain, gain and lessons learned from entrepreneurship, tech, social work and living with eyes open.By Pavel Guzhikov |
“Just keep livin’” — mentioned by Matthew McConaughey in his first book is an internal engine that was always in me to keep doing things often even without thinking why, what for or how. For me it is an idea for both “stand up and play again” and that even “empty” days are fine to be out there.
Sign up here to get What’s in my NOW? a week early in your inbox.
2026-06-03 00:00:00
Unflattening
by Nick Sousanis
Harvard University Press
2015, 208 pages, 7.5 x 10.2 x 1 inches
It is remarkable how much we learn in our youth and how fast we learn it. It is a pace that really cannot sustain itself as we age, though we might try to continue to learn as though we were young. In my youth, the newspaper seemed a vast swarm of text and a few images that encircled a hidden prize: the funnies. Comics, in youth, are acceptable, but as we age we regard them more as juvenile diversions. Over time, the picture book gives way to the novel. The non-fiction works in the form of text books and scholarly journals are tools to educate us. Finally, should we pursue learning down the institutional path long enough, we encounter doctoral theses with their many and myriad intertextual references. It is a long-standing joke among academics that it is rare that the thesis they slave over for four or more years ever actually gets read.
Nick Sousanis, with his doctoral thesis Unflattening, is a poignant departure from any trend of dissertations written for the sake of being written. More than that, it is meant to be more than a read work. It is an experiential work that asks the reader to not just read, but rather to participate in learning to appreciate imagery on equal terms with orderly lines of written text. This is a dissertation written in comic book format that argues for the power of that medium. One might think about the adage concerning the worth of pictures and thousands of words, and that does come up in the work itself, but this is something more than a trite saying. It is a masterful reinterpretation of how we read and learn, and how our world can be captured and conveyed to our fellows. It dismantles the rigid presumptions we have regarding the inherent value of the written word – especially scholarly writing. It champions the comic, for “while the image is, the text is always about.” Indeed, it is brilliantly argued throughout that “the visual provides expression where words fail.”
The title, Unflattening, refers to Edwin A. Abbott’s novella Flatland (1884), about a dystopian flatland of two dimensional objects, where a coin would not be seen by others for its circular shape, but rather would be seen edge-on as just a line obscuring the horizon. This is a “linelander,” and all linelanders see each other this way. A square of three dimensions frees the coin-shaped object by peeling it from the flat surface so that it might see its brethren and world from above – from the third dimension, just as we would look down upon a page in a geometry textbook
Sousanis, similarly, wishes to peel us away from the linear predominance of the textual world where word follows word follows word. He comes from a background in comics, graphic novels, or whatever phrase you would use to describe his art. Just as his square peels away the coin from lineland to reveal it to be flatland, so too Sousanis convinces us, by both text and deed, of the power of comics. His text is often sparse and pared down to its most necessary elements, but the accompanying visuals draw the eye along and serve as an obvious example that reinforces the sometimes vague text. The deed is the image, for it is the more obvious representation of our lived world, while the text can only describe it. This may all seem obvious, but Sousanis brings to bear so many examples and graphical displays to reinforce his line of argument, that the journey through this work is quite remarkable. Moreover, his endnotes at the back serve not only to acknowledge his textual sources, but also to draw attention to and explain his visual inspirations. Those images that so often sit confined within frames within museum galleries or as a ghettoized section of glossy pages in the middle of an art book, they are given life and agency by Sousanis’ deploying of them as allies to his words.
Certainly, it is almost with chagrin that one must only write about such a work when it argues so convincingly that mere text is limited in its conveying of full meaning. It is some solace that the accompanying images from Sousanis’ work will allow readers of this review to gain greater insight in the majesty of his pairing of imagery and text. This is a thinking person’s book and it is most definitely academic, but it is also surprisingly accessible. It draws upon – and draws – so many disciplines and so many real-world instances, that anyone and everyone will find it illuminating. So profound are many of these moments of illumination that they go a long way to rejuvenating our desire to see the world anew, from a child’s eyes once more. – Stephen Webb.
Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue
by Bill Watterson and Robb Jenny
Andrews McMeel Publishing
2016, 160 pages, 8.5 x 11 x 0.6 inches
I like many grew up on Calvin and Hobbes. I don’t know if there’s a comic, book, film, or any other piece of art that better captures a childhood. I read every Sunday strip, most of the dailies, and the ones that I missed I would read in dog-eared collection books checked out from the library. As I got older, I wanted to know more about the strip’s creation. When I picked up the Complete Calvin and Hobbes, a 14-pound tomb, I was a little disappointed. Other than an introduction, there was very little information about the mysterious creator Bill Watterson. Thankfully, Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue makes up for that.
This is the Blu-Ray extras that Calvin & Hobbes fans have been waiting for. It’s not for those casually interested in reading the strip. There are plenty of other books for that. But if you’re interested in process, history, and the inspiration behind a boy and his tiger, you’re going to love this book.
The book explores an exhibit of Watterson’s work at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum. It also includes one of the most in-depth interviews he’s ever given. In it you get a rare look at his early work, the tools Watterson used, the struggles he went through, and the wonderful comic that he created. You get a real sense of the artistry that Watterson put into the strip, and how it evolved over the years. It’s great to relive and learn about something that had such an influence on me. This book is definitely a must-have for Calvin and Hobbes fans. – JP LeRoux
Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.
2026-06-02 00:00:00
I’m a big fan of rules of thumb. Like: “Count the number of times a cricket chirps in 15 seconds, and add 37. That’s the temperature in Fahrenheit.” They are great estimating tools. At the Whole Earth Catalog we first published Tom Parker’s collection of these portable estimates, soliciting others from readers. I suggested a few rules of my own, which made their way into one of Parker’s later books. Since I remember — and use — a number of these rough recipes, I have always regretted that the books were out of print. If ever there was knowledge ideal for the web, rules of thumb are it. Tom Parker has recently digitized all the rules he has collected. He posts one old rule per day, and one new one suggested by readers. As the rules are tagged over time to make searching easier, we’ll finally have the world-wide database of guesstimates that short-cut-takers like myself have always wanted.
You can find inexpensive used copies of the books, Rules of Thumb, and Rules of Thumb 2, but the web site really is a much better way to use and discover these. Parker has refined his explanation of what rules of thumb are, and why they are cool tools. He writes:
“A rule of thumb is a homemade recipe for making a guess. It is an easy-to-remember guide that falls somewhere between a mathematical formula and a shot in the dark. Rules of thumb are a kind of tool. They help you appraise a problem or situation. They make it easier to consider the subtleties of the topic at hand; they give you a feel for a subject. A rule of thumb is not a joke or a ditty. It is not a Murphy’s Law. Murphy says that things will take longer than we think; a rule of thumb says how much longer. While a proverb says that a stitch in time saves nine, a rule of thumb says to allow one inch of yarn for every stitch on a knitting needle.”
I’ve spent a lot of time reading through these over the years. I now subscribe to the Rules of Thumb RSS feed from Parker’s site. My new rule of thumb: “One in 25 rules of thumb will be useful to you.” YMMV, but I find that a pretty good hit rate. — KK
Harry Lorayne has been teaching ancient principles of memorization for 50 years. They really work. My dad taught me these when I was a kid and I still rely on them. At first the methods seem gimmicky, but they soon become habit. The techniques are well proven (some are thousands of years old) and will benefit anyone. However in this book Lorayne aims at students, providing them ways they can use easy tricks to tackle common school memory tasks. He has a system for turning numbers into words so you can remember numbers and dates as well. Imagine how much more efficient you’d be if your memory was just five percent better, and howmuch easier your life would be if everyone else’s improved. —KK
In my household I am Mr. Find It. I rarely if ever lose things myself, and have become the go-to guy to find what others have lost. Over the years of finding things, I have evolved a set of principles very similar to those laid out in this very simple book. This method really works.
You can read this book for free online. That way you’ll never lose it.
But some people like the laminated-paper-pulp form to give as a gift. While there is more in the slim book, none of the extra is essential. Still, it’s a handy quick reference. — KK
Principle Ten
The Eureka Zone
The majority of lost objects are right where you figure-once you take a moment to stop and figure.
Others, however, are in the immediate vicinity of that place. They have undergone a displacement-a shift in location that, although minor, has served to render them invisible.
Some examples:
A pencil has rolled beneath a typewriter.
A tool has been shoved to the rear of a drawer.
A book on a shelf has gotten lodged behind other books.
A folder has been misfiled, several folders away from where it belongs.
Objects are apt to wander. I have found, though, that they tend to travel no more than eighteen inches from their original location. To the circle described by this eighteen-inch radius I have given a name. I call it the Eureka Zone. With the aid of a ruler, determine the Eureka Zone of your lost object. Then explore it. Meticulously.
Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.
2026-06-01 00:00:00
Most sources of AI-generated content do not warrant a second visit. The only AI-generated content I have been returning to are two YouTube channels that use AI to reconstruct history. The first one, Majestic Studios, recreates daily life in now legendary ancient cities as seen through time. I learned a lot, for instance, by following the development of Paris from 259 BC till the present. This same creator (a British bloke, Jonathan Laramime) created a synthetic character named Chloe, styled as an influencer in LA, who pretends to be a time-travelling tourist. Chloe is very believable. She wanders the streets in ancient times taking selfies and being wowed by the cultural norms. Chloe’s valley girl reactions to the ancient world is accessible and entertaining, but also historically accurate, which has made the channel Chloe VS History a viral hit. Recreating history is the perfect job for AI, and I expect these channels to be the first of many, as other history buffs create their own improved versions. — KK
I bought the Desperate Oasis card game solely because the retro design is gorgeous — vintage orange-and-cream illustrations of camels, scorpions, jackals, and chameleons that look like they were pulled from a 1920s matchbook art. The fact that it’s actually fun to play is a bonus. Two players battle for control of five desert oases by playing animal cards on either side, using palm trees to boost values, and triggering special powers (the Deathstalker Scorpion destroys the weakest card; three Jackals create a bonus space). A round takes about 15 minutes, and a full game is three rounds. — MF
Every weekend I set out to figure out what’s in theaters that I can also watch from home. But between all the streaming services and web directories, I end up spending more time searching than watching. JustWatch.com used to solve this for me, but lately it feels complicated and sometimes inaccurate. It’s a made-up problem that doesn’t really matter but is genuinely annoying. My current fix is this IMDB list of theatrical releases you can stream or rent, and it seems to actually stay updated. — CD
Chinamaxxing is fashionable right now. One guy moved his family from America to China and gives an account of how much it costs to live in the middle class in China. His video report, “I Left the US for Shenzhen, China – Here’s How Much it Costs” ignores all the political aspects of living in China and merely focuses on the economic. Right now very few westerners will want to make the political tradeoffs to move to China, but this report will reveal a bit about how middle class Chinese are actually living, and gives a more realistic portrait of China today. — KK
Uproot Excavator is a YouTube channel devoted entirely to one thing: tree stumps being yanked out of the ground by heavy equipment. The arm of an excavator, fitted with a pincer-like attachment, clamps onto a stump, rips it out along with a massive clump of roots that must weigh several hundred pounds, shakes the dirt loose, and sets the whole thing aside next to a fresh crater in the earth. That’s it. Hundreds of short videos, all basically the same removal over and over. I find it weirdly hypnotic and deeply satisfying to watch. — MF
This Reddit thread asks what a person can learn in 10 minutes that will be useful for life, and the top-voted answer is using your hand span, thumb to pinky, as a built-in measuring tool. Mine is 7 inches, which I will now never forget. The other favorites in the thread are worth sharing for your relationships and your nervous system: “Never explain yourself to people committed to misunderstanding you.” Before responding in an argument, scan your body and take a slow nasal breath to notice fight or flight before you speak. Then speak calmly. “‘No, I can’t’ is a full sentence. You don’t owe anyone a 10-minute TED Talk about why.” — CD
Sign up here to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.05/24/26
2026-05-30 00:00:00
A Calendar of Wisdom is a daily reader Tolstoy assembled in the last decade of his life. Each entry pairs several short quotes from someone like Epictetus, Buddha, Marcus Aurelius, or Pascal with a paragraph of Tolstoy’s own commentary. He intended it to be read one page a day, and read repeatedly every year for the rest of the reader’s life.
Tolstoy thought one wise idea a day was enough, and he laid the book out to match. You read a quote, you read his short reflection on it, and that’s it for the day.
The useful skill is sorting what’s necessary to know from what isn’t. If you don’t know something, you can learn it. If you wrongly think you already know it, you can’t.
Tolstoy believed creating more love between people and reducing what divides them was the only project worth a whole life. He put money and status well below it.
The contributors include Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao Tzu, the Buddha, Pascal, Emerson, and Tolstoy himself. You’ll realize others have had the same problems you did two thousand years ago and wrote down what they figured out.
1. Read one entry from A Calendar of Wisdom (or any wisdom book) every morning before checking your phone, for a month.
2. Make a list of what you read, watched, and listened to this week. Cross off everything that was not necessary to know. Look at what’s left.
3. Think of one person you’ve lost touch with or fallen out with. Send them a message today.
4. Pick one of the philosophers Tolstoy quotes (Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao Tzu, Pascal, the Buddha) and read one short book by them this month.
January 23
Among all sins, there is one which completely opposes the major blessing of human life, which is your love for your brother: there is no worse sin than to destroy this major joy of life, by feeling rage and hatred for your brother.
Seneca, a wise man from Rome, said that when you want to escape from your rage, when you feel that it grows, the best thing to do is to stop. Do not do anything: do not walk, do not move, do not speak. If your body or your tongue moves at this moment, then your rage will grow. Rage is very harmful for all people, but it is most harmful for the man who experiences it.
“An evil person damages not only others but himself.” — After SOCRATES
“Your enemy will pay you back with rage, will make you suffer, but the biggest damage to you will be caused by the rage and hatred existing in your heart. Neither your father, nor your mother, nor all your family can make you more good than your heart can when it forgives and forgets its abuse.” —DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM
Your rage cannot be justified by anything. The reason for your rage is always inside you.
Book Freak is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run Recomendo, 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, and Book Freak.
