The other kind of favorites file
The File
A dossier on one category at a time. Five or six things worth owning, the reasoning behind each, and — the part everyone else leaves out — what we looked at and rejected.
The rules
- One category per issue. Not "37 gifts for him". One question, answered properly.
- A pick, not a ranking. No scores out of ten. Either we'd buy it or we wouldn't, and we say which.
- The rejections are published. Anything that lost a slot is listed with the reason. That section is usually more useful than the winners.
- Nobody pays to appear. Some links earn a commission, which never decides what goes in — the full disclosure is here.
- Issues get revisited, not rewritten. When a pick changes, the old one stays visible with the date and reason. You can see when we were wrong.
Issues
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№ 001 — The Desk File
Everything on and under a desk you use for eight hours a day. Template
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№ 002 — The Coffee File
Grinder, brewer, kettle, and the two upgrades that actually change the cup. Planned
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№ 003 — The Backup File
What to actually do about your files, photos and — appropriately enough — bookmarks. Planned
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№ 004 — The Travel File
The bag, the adapter, the things that survive a hundred flights. Planned
Why this sits next to a bookmark tool
"Favorites file" reads two ways. One is the file your browser keeps. The other is the file you keep — the short, private list of things you've settled on and stopped researching, so you never have to open forty tabs about the same purchase twice.
This is the second one, made public.