National park passes

The US National Park Service offers various passes to all its parks, including a $80 lifetime pass for seniors over 62, and a $10 lifetime military/veteran pass. They also will issue a FREE pass for any current 4th grader and/or anyone with permanent disabilities. Subtle reminder that national parks are one of America’s best ideas. — KK

Smartphone gloves

I bought these gloves for a relative who lives in New England. The forefinger and thumb have touchscreen-sensitive pads on them, so you can use your phone or tablet without removing the gloves. They look nice and are inexpensive. — MF

Tech hygiene for kids

Camille Hartsell, my colleague and research librarian,  put together this helpful guide titled "Tech stuff for Ten-yr-olds". Her detailed write-up includes the specific devices her kid uses, how they are used, apps allowed and settings put in place. It’s both thoughtful and thorough, and a useful resource for any parent seeking strategies for regulating their child's screen time. — CD

Simple strategy for cleaning 

The next time you have a big mess to clean up try “the pile method”. The pile method is when you collect all the stuff that needs to be put away in one giant pile, and then sort those things — like with like — into smaller piles, and put those piles away one by one. At first it felt counterintuitive to make one giant mess, but it really does speed up the process and it’s so satisfying to be efficient and tidy. — CD

Lifesaving water trick

This simple trick by Coach Mike Nitro shows you how to use your pants as a life preserver. It could save your life if you fall overboard into deep water with your clothes on. — KK

100 little ideas

Morgan Housel compiled a list of ideas “that help explain how the world works.” Here are some examples:

• Compassion Fade — People have more compassion for small groups of victims than larger groups because the smaller the group, the easier it is to identify individual victims.

• Ringelmann Effect — Members of a group become lazier as the size of their group increases. Based on the assumption that “someone else is probably taking care of that.”

• Cobra Effect — Attempting to solve a problem makes that problem worse. Comes from an Indian story about a city infested with snakes offering a bounty for every dead cobra, which caused entrepreneurs to start breeding cobras for slaughter.

—MF

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