3 Intelligent Websites That Make Me Smarter Everyday
Be on the path of life-long learning
Newsletters are all the rage now, especially with the rise of the ubiquitous Substack platform and competitors such as Beehiiv (from the Morning Brew crew.)
Using a sleek app and powerful learning algorithms, these platforms provide the audience with a fantastic browsing experience and access to curated or deep industry information.
The following 3 websites/apps constantly enrich and inspire me. Each of them is a powerful knowledge bank with almost unlimited treasures; and the best thing, they cost nothing at the primary level.
Ready to explore with me?
Refind
This is created by the Swiss founder and serial entrepreneur, Dominik Grolimund, who studied computer science at ETH Zurich and previously founded Caleido, Wuala, and Silp.
Tagline on its website:
Get smarter everyday. Get 5 new links every day that make you smarter, tailored to your interests, curated from 10k+ sources.
The good reviews on the App store say it all.
Features that please me:
Dark and sleek visualization.
Customizable goals, delivery time, and topics based on your daily reads and preferences helped by 300,000 keyword searches matched to your interest.
Save daily links to your library or “read it later” archive (only Premium subscribers get access or else you can get to your daily reads on the day.)
Choose “Deep Dives” publication by topics such as “History of Food”, “Decision Making”, “Psychology of Negotiation”, etc. put together by curators on the platform whom you can follow.
Daily links can include those in your preferred language.
Your activity stats show your streak, topics you interact the most with, etc. to motivate you.
The daily email automatically slows to every 3-day or weekly delivery if you have not logged in for a while until you start reading.
Helpful FAQ and a contact button including chatting with the Founder.
Generous referral program — if you refer 5 people to sign up, you get Premium for free (an $89/year value) for a year (in earlier days) and if you can get 20 referrals, you get Premium for life. For every referral that signs up you get 20 coins and so does your friend. When Refind becomes profitable, they will buy back your coins. Feel free to join Refind via my affiliate link here.
The Information
The influential technology newsletter from San Francisco was founded by Jessica Lessin in 2013 who has 20 years of experience as a journalist including 8 years as a reporter and editor at the Wall Street Journal covering tech and media. Her father was the COO of the large private equity firm TPG.
The journal is best known for its in-depth and breaking news targeted to tech executives, founders, and many others although the information is not so much curated. Their projects also include The Information 50 (most promising startups that are not currently unicorns) and the often-cited VC Diversity Index (2019 and 2022).
Company’s tagline:
“Our best today; Better tomorrow.”
What I like about The Information:
While you will be frequently (probably too frequently) prompted to become their paid subscribers ($399 per year normally), I will first do these to get a taste of The Information:
Download their app from the App stores: The Information: Tech News. Get the free version so you can screen through the daily headlines and read a brief summary and see their top and most recent news.
Go to their website and subscribe to some of these excellent and free newsletters including “The Briefing” and “The Weekend”, with exclusive information provided by their editors and reporters. Their articles are frequently quoted by Bloomberg, WSJ, etc.
Visit their Video Library where they capture their signature events/summits and learn from key players in tech.
The Blinkist
The company was founded in 2012 by 4 university friends based in Berlin, Germany who wanted to solve a problem we have: not having enough time to read a book especially when you have a full-time job.
These friends created notes for themselves when reading textbooks and shared them on an app they put together. Now, 24+ million people have downloaded the app, riding a trend called micro-learning. A summary of the best non-fiction books is brought to the masses.
Apple thinks it is one of the best apps for life-long learning.
The company’s tagline:
Blinkist: Big ideas in small packages
The Blinkist app transforms the key ideas from bestselling nonfiction books into 15-minute text and audio packs.
What I like about The Blinkist:
I love their free daily blink (random book selected) which can be read or listened to on their website or app (no need to log in). The daily blink contains a 15 to 20-minute audio with an excellent summary and highlight of the book (each is called a blink) done professionally. Each daily read contains a conversational and complete essay that is broken down into 4 to 6 key ideas plus a final summary.
Besides, the summary contains actionable ideas at the end, and users comment they have improved their daily habits based on the Blinks they read.
If you are a Premium subscriber, books (including audiobooks), short casts, and collections will be curated for you depending on the topics you prefer, and you can read the explainers from their 5000+ titles from 27 categories.
The company likes to offer discounts for its Premium service from time to time taking the cost to about $5.99 to $7.99 per month. Recently they allow you to add a friend or family member to your account. You can also add friends to your spaces to discuss blinks you have read or get new recommendations.
Final Thoughts
Life-long learning has never become easier with online newsletters, courses, and book summaries.
I hope you will join the ride by using some of these time-saving websites/apps:
Refind
The Information
The Blinkist
Bonus!
I also want to mention Word of the Day by Dictionary.com you can subscribe to learn the deeper meaning and origin of words. In addition, you can see the synonym of the day.
This is as good as an apple a day!
Adding more pizazz to your writing never hurts, isn’t it?
Are there others that you like? Thank you for reading!