Everyday Tools
Notes, lists, and handy everyday helpers.
Meanings, origins and popularity eras for 100 curated names, with style siblings and an initials check — and the practical tests worth applying.
Display Spec ComparatorCompare two screens honestly — pixel density, real physical dimensions, and the distance beyond which extra resolution stops being visible.
Print & Paper Size ReferenceEvery paper size in millimetres and inches — A and B series, US Letter and Legal, envelopes and photo prints — with the geometry behind the A series.
US State Rules LookupMinimum wage, income tax, sales tax and front-plate rules for all 50 states and DC — with a plain note that regulations change.
Small Pet & Reptile Care GuideEnclosure, diet, temperature, lifespan and social needs for 20 small pets — hamsters to ball pythons — including the ones commonly kept badly.
Pet Breed Care GuideCare facts for 30 dog and 12 cat breeds — size, lifespan, exercise, grooming, shedding and feeding — with the health issues buyers should know about.
Product Lifespan & Replacement PlannerTypical lifespans for 35 home systems, appliances and pieces of gear — enter the install year and get a realistic remaining estimate.
Records Retention GuideHow long to keep every document — tax returns, pay stubs, deeds, warranties — with the IRS windows and the cases where the clock never starts.
Common Conversions Cheat SheetEvery 'how many X in a Y' answer in one searchable place — cooking, length, weight, time, area and data — with the exact and approximate ones marked.
Home Project Quantity CalculatorHow much paint, flooring, tile, drywall or trim to buy for a room, with the waste factors contractors actually use rather than the bare area.
Shelf Life and Expiry LookupHow long food really lasts on the counter, in the fridge and in the freezer, plus batteries and household goods — and what the packet date means.
Party Food and Drink CalculatorWork out how much food, drink, ice and supplies to buy for any number of guests, using the per-person figures caterers actually work from.
Pomodoro TimerA focus timer alternating work sessions and breaks, with the history of the technique and an honest note on where it does and does not suit.
Online NotepadA simple online notepad that auto-saves in your browser with no account — and a clear statement of where the notes actually live.
To-Do ListA clean to-do list that saves in your browser with no account — add, check off and reorder tasks, with an honest note on where the data lives.
Habit TrackerTrack daily habits and build streaks, saved privately in your browser — with the evidence on what actually makes a habit stick.
Bubble LevelTurn your phone into a spirit level to check whether a surface is flat, using the accelerometer — with the calibration step most people skip.
CompassA live compass using your phone's sensors to show which way is north, with the difference between magnetic and true north made explicit.
About these everyday tools
The commonest arithmetic error in ordinary life is confusing a percentage with a percentage point. If a rate moves from four per cent to five, that is a rise of one percentage point and also a rise of twenty-five per cent. Both are true, they differ by a factor of twenty-five, and which one gets used usually depends on who is doing the telling. Interest rates, tax changes, poll numbers and unemployment figures all live in this ambiguity. A related trap is that percentage changes do not cancel: something that falls by half must double to recover, so a fifty per cent loss followed by a fifty per cent gain leaves you a quarter down. Discounts stack the same way — thirty per cent off followed by a further twenty is not fifty per cent off, it is forty-four. The second thing worth knowing is that averages hide their shape. Mean and median diverge whenever a distribution is skewed, which for anything involving money is nearly always, because a handful of very large values drags the mean well above what a typical case looks like. An average quoted without saying which average, and without any sense of the spread, is close to uninformative. The third is a habit rather than a fact: estimate roughly in your head before accepting any calculated result. Almost every serious error in practical arithmetic is off by a factor of ten, a factor of twelve, or a unit — not by a few per cent — and a rough estimate catches all three instantly, where re-checking the arithmetic catches none of them. These tools answer the questions that come up once and then again a year later, which is exactly when the mental estimate has gone stale.