Thinking skills guide

A sensible little book is The Great Mental Models (Vol.1) by Shane Parrish. It presents nine different “General Thinking Concepts,” or what I might call, best practices for critical thinking. You may already use some of these when approaching unknowns, but others may be unfamiliar. The tone and strength of this book are ideal for young people and students, starting out on their journey of lifelong learning. It is a great little chest of handy tools for grappling with complexity. These are all post-AI skills. — KK

Catalog of Dark Patterns

The Dark Patterns Hall of Shame was created by a team of researchers and designers to raise awareness about manipulative design techniques used by companies and websites. There are lots of visual examples of dark patterns — including hard-to-cancel subscriptions, hidden costs, nagging, and tricky wording. I wasn’t at all surprised to see Amazon Audible as a repeat offender. Although it’s called a “hall of shame,” the aim isn’t just to call out bad companies. The website serves as a cautionary guide, offering suggestions for better approaches, examples of what to avoid, and explanations of what isn’t a dark pattern (and why). — CD

Kindle hand strap

I‘ve been using my left pinkie to support my Kindle for so many years that it feels permanently damaged. Recently, I noticed my sister had an elastic hand strap on her Kindle. It lets you slip your hand between the strap and the Kindle, so you don’t have to grip the Kindle. I bought one made by Kowjaw, but there are many different designs available. Too bad I didn’t learn about this sooner; I wouldn’t have ende up with a sore pinkie. — MF

Explore the World of Wine with André Mack

I’m not a big YouTube watcher, but if I were going to subscribe and consistently follow anyone’s channel, it would be Bon Appétit’s sommelier André Mack. He is incredibly likable and nothing like what I imagine when I think of a traditional wine expert. He’s naturally charming and generous in the way he shares his knowledge about wine and spirits, along with practical advice on how to buy, pair, and taste wine. I have an upcoming trip to Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, and I’ve learned so much from him about what makes bourbon truly “bourbon.” I highly recommend checking out his entire playlist on YouTube. — CD

Perplexity browser

The Comet Browser combines Perplexity’s AI engine with daily browsing tasks. After a month, it keeps surprising me: it can navigate websites, compare deals, summarize articles and videos, automate online purchases, draft and organize emails, manage my calendar, and intelligently group tabs using language requests. I migrated my Chrome bookmarks and extensions with no hassles. Here’s a demo video, plus a free trial of the Pro version for a month. — MF

Ambient music streams

Fifty years ago Brian Eno invented ambient music. The music was intended to stay in the background while being present, like furniture. For best results ambient was meant to be always on, but that was easier said than done. Constantly changing disks or setting up multiple playlists is a chore. What we’ve been doing at home is tuning a music streaming service to play “Eno and Eno-like music” round the clock. The channel is always on, low volume, and it rarely repeats, so what we get is the endless ambient music Eno originally had in mind. Try it. – KK

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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.