These are some of the discoveries (and re-discoveries) of things I’ve been raving about this year to the few people I see on a regular basis. (I apologize to my co-workers for blathering on sometimes.) I hope there are at least a couple of things of value here for you.

Website
archive.org — I found myself mentioning the non-profit archive.org often this year. A key feature I turn to is archiving webpages. They take a snapshot of what is published, outbound links and all. I found it helpful when a company changed its published warranty and then denied it to shrug off claims. I also turn to it to preserve pages from news outlets and government sites before things are taken down or modified.

They have millions of books, movies, and classic tv shows too. It’s definitely a fun media distraction.

Music
KCRW Eclectic24 — A human-curated streaming radio station. It’s available on Spotify, Apple Music, and their own app. The randomness and connections a great human DJ creates beats an algorithm every time.

Organization
LibraryThing — After going to John K King Books this summer, it became evident I needed a better way to track what I want and own. A four-story used bookstore can feel overwhelming when “just browsing.” Here’s the thing about LibraryThing, I’ve had an account for 15 years but didn’t really get into it until this year.

My wishlist is long, and at times, I can’t remember if I own it or want to own it. I have a collection of pulp and ebooks that’s approaching 1,000 titles. LibraryThing solves my challenge by creating different collections that are all easily searchable. And yes, you can use it to replace products like Goodreads, TheStoryGraph, and Beanstalk too.

Outline
Dynalist — I’m always searching for the best and simplest way to track related things and projects. This outlining app has been incredibly useful for that this year. At the moment, I have one outline to help with future events and to-dos. I use it as a basic overview, not for the actual planning and project management. The other big outline I have is as a to-do list. Many of the things I want to do are reliant on other things being done first or in coordination of similar tasks. It’s sort of my one giant outline to rule them all in the realm of things I want to get done. (And it’s way less complex than OmniOutliner)

Book
Careless People — If you read one book in the next year, it should be Careless People. It’s a memoir by Sarah Wynn-Williams about her time at Facebook. Facebook before they pivoted to Meta because of bad press and declaring everything was going to happen in the Metaverse which they are now seemingly abandoning.

Movie
Her — In our current world where more and more people are turning to AIs as counselors, friends, and co-authors, the movie Her is a cautionary tale. When it debuted in 2013, it was science fiction. Watching it now it seems closer to science fact.

(Scarlett Johansson voices one of the main characters. OpenAI tried stealing her voice after she wouldn’t license it to them.)

Casual game
Tic Tac Toe Time Attack — Magnate Interactive, the creator of the incredible Pictionary-style game SketchParty TV, has a new, quick, fun game out. Tic Tac Toe Time Attack is a play against AI game that’s free with ads. For a mere one time charge of $2 it can be ad-free. Check it out and support an indie developer!

That’s my 2025 round up. What were some of your favorite discoveries this year?

All word crafting was done by Adam Hansen. No LLMs were used or consulted in writing this. Em dashes strategically chosen by me.