Best of 2015

Things discovered in 2015 that I found useful, informative, and/or inspiring. Covers books, productivity tools, podcasts, documentaries, and best parenting resource discovery of the year (how to do allowances). PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS Limefuel Blast Pro external battery pack coupled with a four-in-one multi-USB charging cable connector: Purchased for this summer’s trip to Ireland. Easily kept four teenagers’ worth of tech fully charged throughout the day without a hitch. I continue to use it daily for work-related purposes. But definitely too much (and too heavy) if all you need to do is keep a smartphone charged throughout the day. Wirecutter.com: A free […]

How Matt Ridley changed my mind on climate science

There is no shortage of compelling literature about climate change. Elizabeth Kolbert and Bill McKibben are two of the best practitioners. Kolbert’s game-changing Field Notes from a Catastrophe opens with the story of how residents of the tiny Alaskan village of Shishmaref are abandoning their homes because progressively warmer temperatures delay the seasonal freezing of the Chukchi Sea. As a result, those living near the Chukchi are vulnerable to storm surges featuring 12-foot waves capable of carrying their houses into the sea. In Eaarth, McKibben warns that our home planet is already irreversibly altered by climate change: “In 2003, France […]

The best blog post ever

I first came across Leo Babauta’s writing in 2006 or 2007. This was shortly after he started his blog Zen Habits, and it focused mostly on task-based self-improvement: productivity hacks (such as keeping his email inbox empty); getting fit (quit smoking and start exercising) and how to get out of debt (tips for spending less money and how to start saving). Over the years, Babauta has largely stuck with writing about self-improvement, and while he still tackles the same topics (healthy eating, fitness, and personal finances) his approach to personal change is more zen than habits. For a while, Babauta […]