đˇCool Tools You Can't Miss
the 2026 Edition
Hello friends! Welcome to this weekâs edition of The Land of Random.
Howâs your Monday morning going?
Hereâs some lofi vibes for your workday. Pop this on and play in the background.
Have you planted any wildflowers yet? Ours are starting to come up. I think weâll have a LOT of blooms within two weeks.
Itâs not too late - get a bunch of seeds and start planting.
We got a TON of garden work done last week. This week weâre doing a lot of spring cleaning.
Despite finding my original PSP box and UMD discs, I cannot find the charger.
âTis lost, I fear.
I DID get a random $5 gift card from Xbox so that was cool. I picked up a copy of Battlefield 5 and Battlefield 1 for under $5. Iâve meant to play both of them but have always saved my money for bigger purchases - like Dying Light: the Beast.
Pragmata is on the list next!
This week I decided to refresh my âcool toolsâ list for 2026. Itâs been a while since Iâve written a new list - so it WAS TIME.
đˇCool Tools You Canât Miss
If youâre new to the newsletter, some of these might be new to you. If youâve been around for a while, youâve probably seen most of these . . . with a few new additions. I try to put this out once a year.
Voicenotes - Record voicenotes and query them with AI. I use it as a personal journal tool / notes tool several times a week. What I really appreciate about this tool is how many new features they keep adding to it. You create a mini podcast, add it to meetings, and apparently, theyâre experimenting with a mind map tool. has a free plan too! [Notes/Journal/Podcast]
Mmm.page - An oldie - but a goodie. Make your own crazy website. There havenât been many interesting website builders in the last few years other than mmm.page. You can explore the sites of others, like a built-in Nekoweb or Geocities. has a free plan too! [creative website builder]
Kinopio.club - Still my favorite moodboard / mindmap tool. The aesthetic is superb. You can upload images, gifs, videos, and audio - so you can REALLY go crazy. The only feature really missing is a MCP for AI agents, or a custom code box. It works multiplayer too! [mindmapping / notes / moodboards]
leaflet.pub - Think mmm.page but for writing a blog. This tool keeps evolving but currently fits into the Federated style world of Bluesky, etc. [Blogging]
Bear Blog - This is an excellent blogging tool. Super minimalist - with a discovery feed. I subscribe to the RSS - and thereâs a decent amount of people using the platform these days. [Blogging]
Too Good to Go - Find affordable food near you. Restaurants post their leftovers/day-olds for cheap cheap. They added the ability to get alerts for restaurants which was a big unlock. [Food]
Retro - This Instagram alternative has grown on me to the point where I donât believe Iâll ever post to Instagram ever again. I really, really, really hope it goes mainstream. It also has a really nice postcard feature - where you can send postcards to friends/family right within the app. I recommend convincing/forcing all your friends and family to use it and get off IG. [social media]
Airbuds.fm - See what your friends are listening to - as a homescreen widget. Itâs that simple - and cool. [music]
Kagi and Horse Browser - Alternative browsers. Kagi is my favorite (currently) because it has AN AMAZING discovery feature for cool websites across the web. [search/discovery]
Raindrop - The only bookmark manager I recommend. Has apps and extensions - and the free plan is great. Integrates with ifttt, X, YouTube, and more.
Cobalt - Need to archive videos or audio? This tool is extremely useful - in this day and age where thereâs so much lost media . . .
Phone to Note - An interesting service for taking notes from your messenger. You can sync it to Kinopio too! I donât use it currently, but find it extremely intriguing. [Notes]
Beeper - Incredibly useful chat tool you can use on iPad, PC, Mac, and your phone of course. Send messages from most apps (Whatsapp, Messenger, sms, etc). If you donât have it - GET IT. [chat]
Amo - Bump/Sugar. Amoâs Bump is the most interesting social app Iâve seen in years. Sure thereâs been tons of social map sharing sites - but this one is UNHINGED. Insane buzzing notifications, flying stickers. DID I MENTION THEY HAVE A CHAT CANVAS APP TOO? Itâs called Sugar. If youâre young (Gen Z) I implore you to try and get your friends into these apps. Blackpilled millennials refuse to download anything cool these days, but I digress. [Social]
Astropad Workbench - Remote desktop app for Mac/iPad/iPhone. It works really well - especially if you have angsty AI agents that like to stop working and you need to connect to them via iPad and get them working. [work]
Noteshelf - The only note-taking app I currently recommend. The number of features you get for a ONE-TIME $10 purchase boggles my mind. Create different notebooks for different journals, write books, use for different classes . . . itâs sick. [Notes/Journals/Recording]
Poke - My one AI recommendation on this list. Itâs the most casual, useful AI agent Iâve used so far - and Iâve been Hermes/Openclaw maxxing. NOTE. Negotiate for your monthly price and fight as long as you can so you can get the cheapest price! Itâs very useful for email and research.
đThe Land of Random
MORE. GLORIOUS. LINKS.
Gameboy Music Player
The RG Rotate will cost a little under $100 AND act as a mp3 player. It has Android 12 baked in so LOL - you could potentially use as a Wifi only phone. We are living in a crazy world.
Nichol Kola
Since my last name is Nichols, this beverage has been TOP OF MIND for me to try.
Nowhere
This is a really, really cool tool for hosting websites nowhere - all encoded in the URL. Itâs a censorship-resistant tool for creating forums, messages, stores, and more. Itâll even work WITHOUT THE INTERNET. WOW.
Sound Blocks
A really interesting tool for making music. It says âno prior music making experience neededâ so I really want to try this out. Watch the video here - it looks really fun.
Apocalypse Early Warning System
Similar to that horrifying AHS Apocalypse intro where the private jet escaped into the sky - this tracker tracks private jets with the idea that if A WHOLE LOT are in the sky it means âsomething is happening.â
Halo Bardcore
Did this person use AI? Yes. Is it getting harder to casually tell? Yes. Is it entertaining?yyyyyâŚeeeesss? (read that in Dungeon Crawler Carlâs voice).
Is the Costco Rotisserie still $4.99????
click and check. do it. do it now.
Thatâs all for this week! See you next time.
