Amid the many travel planning apps I’ve featured in the past, Roamcalm stands out for its no-frills approach: add your flights, hotels and activities, then share it with a friend/travel companion; split costs; save important documents; track flights. All of it within a web-based app that costs just $3/year. I actually love that ‘not an AI itinerary generator’ is a selling point.

Logseq describes itself as a ‘networked outliner’ where you capture thoughts, to-dos, notes etc. in blocks that can create branches to other pages. It’s not unlike Notion, with a few unique features such as built-in whiteboards and flashcards. Downloads are available for all major platforms.

Polar allows software developers to make money from their apps, specifically their open-source work. Developers can offer digital products and premium content via community memberships. A cool feature is crowdfunded GitHub issues: get issues resolved when a certain amount of money is raised, then split the funding with contributors.

Bring back some childhood memories by playing old DOS games right in your browser – over 600 of them! Browse by category or release year. Two of my favourites: Day of the Tentacle and Indian Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

Why We Remember →

Unlocking the power of memory

Prominent neuroscientist and psychologist Charan Ranganath takes us on a tour of the intricate workings of human memory and its crucial role in shaping our identity and experiences. “Memory, Dr. Ranganath shows, is a highly transformative force that shapes how we experience the world in often invisible and sometimes destructive ways. Knowing this can help us with daily remembering tasks, like finding our keys, and with the challenge of memory loss as we age.”

How the World Made the West →

The global roots of Western civilisation

Award-winning Oxford history professor Josephine explores the global influences that shaped Western civilisation, highlighting the many contributions from diverse cultures and regions over millennia. “Reducing the backstory of the modern West to a narrative that focuses on Greece and Rome impoverishes our view of the past. Quinn locates the roots of the modern West in everything from the law codes of Babylon, Assyrian irrigation, and the Phoenician art of sail to Indian literature, Arabic scholarship, and the metalworking riders of the Steppe, to name just a few examples.”

Writing for Grateful Living, Joe Primo explores the interconnected issues of loneliness, belonging, and ‘othering’ in modern society. He argues that practising gratitude and embracing ‘radical belonging’ can counteract the damaging effects of isolation and binary thinking, ultimately fostering a more connected and compassionate world. “This perspective challenges you to observe someone’s worth or worthiness, even when it is far from sight. Worthy of what, you might ask. Well, what are you worthy of in your life? Love, acceptance, safety, nourishment, shelter, redemption, and connection are a few things your dignity bestows on you. When we individually or collectively other, we strip people of this worthiness. We categorize people into good and bad, worthy and unworthy. We need to ask ourselves how anyone can survive these dichotomies. The response to loneliness and ‘othering’ must be radical belonging – this is the challenge, this is the work of grateful living.”

A great deep dive into the art and the science of headlines – these carefully crafted phrases designed to grab attention and entice readers to click. Headlines use intriguing language and emotional cues to create curiosity, often resembling advertising tactics. “Clickbait exploits what’s known as the curiosity gap, with just enough information to anticipate what the story might be about, which entices readers to click on the link to find out more. According to a 2015 study by researchers Blom and Hansen, one of the ways this is done is very simply through forward referencing to lure in readers. For example when we use a pronoun like he or she, it usually refers to a noun that’s been mentioned before, such as John or Mary. (‘Mary read a book. She liked it.’) But for successful clickbait headlines, it’s reversed to great rhetorical effect. (‘She did it, she read a book.’)”

Devon Zuegel argues that urban sprawl occurs because people always veer towards larger homes, leading to less dense neighbourhoods and fewer urban amenities. This creates a ‘Tragedy of the Commons’, where individual housing choices collectively result in an undersupply of vibrant, accessible urban areas. “Each of us tends to choose a larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. Of course most people can't afford a mansion, but they will always want as much space as they can get. Financial constraints keep this dynamic from spiraling out of control, but at the margin there's constant pressure towards sprawl. The result: an undersupply of urban neighborhoods.”