Hamilton Khaki watch. Analog watches may be superfluous and pointless in an era of phones and smart watches, but I actually really enjoyed learning about horology and researching more about movements and brands, and purchasing a well made time piece was just plain ol' fun.
Watches are amazing, they're one of the last connections to my previous life as a mechanical engineer (software now). JLC, NOMOS, and Zenith are wonderful brands to check out.
I rather like my Logitech MX Master mouse. I have 2. The unlatching of the click mechanism of the scroll wheel at high speed is my favorite thing, possibly, of any of my PC peripherals, which is odd because I didn't consider scrolling to be that big a part of my day, but I miss it when using other mice. I'm disappointed that the rubber on the scroll wheel is melting, however, but I still love it.
Back when conventional thinking said it was Wacom or bust, I gambled on a cheap Huion H610. At a fraction of the cost of the equivalent Wacom, I was skeptical, but amateur reviews looked promising. Initially it was dodgy but they persisted with driver updates and it became a perfectly decent drawing tablet with the specs an artist cares about and fine drivers (also works plug and play with Win8/10). The only downside with my unit is that it has a battery in the pen, a limitation fixed in later revisions.
Also, a good trade-level cordless drill (I went DeWalt) is also a huge improvement from cheap sub $100 units, and I'm quite fond of that too, because it feels very precise and I've spent too much time with crap tools to ever forget.
I have the MX Master 3, which was only superseded by the 3S recently with very little change.
1. Response time is imperceptible
2. It can connect directly via bluetooth, or with a small usb dongle. There is a button on the bottom of the mouse that lets you switch between 3 stored devices. It would be nice remap the device switch to a button on the top of the mouse, but this doesn't seem possible yet.
1) Imperceptible. Some angle snapping issues which will annoy elite gamers. It's a task mouse, and will not suit for pro gaming, but, then, no wireless mouse will.
2) Bluetooth or Logitech Unifying Receiver. It has a button on the bottom of the mouse to swap the computer it's paired with and it can be hot paired to three devices, and that works well.
I too am happy with my Logitech MX Mouse but there was an interval where I wasn't.
Here's the shaggy dog version. I got a job working as an AutoCAD draughtsman and the company only had a shitty mouse to work this expensive Windows-only software. I decided to purchase a Logitech MX Mouse ~$80 equivalent to prevent RSI. My boss thought I was crazy - what was wrong with the mouse they provided? Hah!
Soon it became obvious they did not care for tech or techies and I left. But I am on Linux at home and it really bugged me that I could not use my expensive mouse on my Linux laptop. Curses and swears! Fast forward 6 months and I was browsing a Linux magazine and it featured libratbag which is a DBus daemon to configure gaming mice. I couldn't believe my eyes. It promised to get my MX Mouse working on Linux. I got home downloaded the software and hey presto! my MX Mouse works on Linux. I am so happy with it and so lucky that I picked up that Linux magazine on that day.
The RPi that runs basically all my outward-facing Internet services. Well, there's two RPis because I've been slow to move some of the more painful services across, but still all off-grid for ~2W total.
And it's also neat that my new MacBook Air will just about run with the screen off at ~2W also, which is also astonishing considering how it has come down over time for the MBAs, and yet is a full-on multi-core, multi-GByte system with 1TB of storage...
To my surprise I have derived quite some fun from buying a (used) racing bike and touring the city with it. In comparison to running/jogging it is exhilarating how for you can go (at least here in Europe) at 20 mph / 30 kmh.
Tesla Model X. Never spent as much on anything before. But the auto opening doors, the falcon wings, the whisper quiet movement, the rapid acceleration, and the autopilot on highways give me joy every single time.
I had a really nice setup a few years ago that downloaded every new episode of whatever show I was watching. It think it was called sickbeard with a newzbin subscription. I rarely watch shows now though so I don’t think I would appreciate it as much.
My second electric guitar, an Ibanez RG570 I bought in 1992. Really any Ibanez RG at or above the price point of the RG5xx models (now called the RG15xx models. On the higher end, RG3120, RG8670, etc. are brilliant.). On the much lower end, a Harley Benton SC550 gives 98% of the Gibson Les Paul experience at an unreasonably affordable price (I own a Gibson Les Paul and an HB, and I prefer my HB. Maybe my Gibson is a dud.) But electric guitar in general has brought me so many hours of enjoyment over the last 30 something years it's hard to think of any other physical item that can compete with it.
I recently bought a pizza peel, a pizza stone, a kitchen scale, and some dough boxes and have begun making pizzas at home following Vito Iacopelli's videos on youtube, and I'm now making pizzas that are superior to delivered pizza (though less perfectly round so far) and in an altogether different galaxy than frozen pizzas. I am amazed at how good they come out. I'll never buy a frozen pizza again. And the process of making pizzas is neither difficult nor expensive. At some point I might buy an outdoor pizza oven, but so far I'm satisfied with what I'm getting from my conventional oven at max temp.
Along similar lines, I bought a handpan a couple of years ago and it's very lovely indeed. Since then most of my (many) other instruments have been mostly gathering dust.
For pizzas check out the "G3 Ferrari G10006" - compact, indoor, goes up to double normal oven temperature. I was thinking of getting a wood fired outdoor one until I realised this thing does the job.
A 50cc gas scooter! I've never been into motorcycles and learned to ride a bike pretty late in life. My friends got into dirt bikes and that got me thinking, maybe I'd like to try something similar.
Well so far its been a wonderful experience. I love the sense of freedom it gives me. And its actually super economical with 80 miles per gallon. I became a scooter/moped preacher!
Never forget the first rule of skateboarding: you will fall, miss or crash. It's not if it's when. What happen then depend on your speed (hopefully). So I dont drive above 20 miles an hour on my scooter. Above is simply not viable.
non-tech: a small spiral-bound notebook as my journal. paid at least 100x itself as far as reducing anxiety and improving mental health and memory.
tech: System76 laptop. marked my switch from apple/win ecosystems to linux and haven't looked back; the incredible freedom of not feeling like i'm constantly fighting the software itself is amazing.
Absolutely! :D I'm a bit late to this reply, my apologies - but have a post that describes the journaling habits over here on dreamwidth: https://walonvaus.dreamwidth.org/174408.html
A cheap LED head torch. Only ~€10, charges with USB. It’s amazing how many times it can make little things much easier, once you’ve got it to hand. The ability to point it precisely where you’re looking and then benefit from it following our head movements is a minor game changer!
A 3D Printer. I avoided one for years, and have never printed anything frivolous. But the ability to make useful things for the house at (almost) a moment’s notice is great. Also, I’m really enjoying learning CAD, and the ability to easily create physical objects that I have designed is very fulfilling.
A hammock hung in a shady grove of trees. Perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons.
A bunch of tplink smart light switches for the well used lights around the house. Deep satisfaction every night to turn off an entire floor with a voice command. Next up will probably be automatic roller shades, though they are considerably more pricy.
Wow, no one has mentioned a bicycle, I got mine for around 300usd like 10 years ago, a simple but useful MTB, since then I have invested no more than 800usd in addons and repairs ( to fix a bike is so cheap!) With it I've traveled for around 15 cities in my country (Colombia), I've discovered amazing places: lakes, forrests, mountains, rivers, towns and more... I've met lots of new friends and saved tons of money as it became my main mode of transportation, it also allowed me to know my city: new parks, new cafes, new spots you can't really see from a window's car perspective.
And additionally, it allows me to control my weight without having to spend a cent in a gym!
I bought a Specialized Hard Rock for about $400 back in 2006. It's still the bike I ride to this day. Yes it's an antique by contemporary MTB'ing standards (26" wheels, egad!) but the thing is a tank and it just keeps working. Other than routine maintenance and a bent derailleur hanger, it's been almost completely bullet-proof. Probably one of the best purchases I've ever made.
My wife and I are similar. After having many bikes stolen over the years we buy used bikes from a local non profit here in SF that benefits at risk youth. We get a bike for a few hundred dollars that works great and we're not afraid of being stolen, they get something for the kids to work on and benefit them. We love biking around the city, nearly all the value is not in the bike but in the experiences, so it's not really needed to get a fancy one, the big thing is to get out and ride.
My puppy. It was an expensive pandemic buy. But she has done more for me than I can ever imagine. I would pay 4/5 times the amount for her. Worth every penny
My Bosch sliding miter saw. I had a crappy Ryobi miter saw for 20 years that never stayed in alignment. For some reason the Bosch's sliding arm just makes me happy each time I use it - its like my little robot arm saw.
66 comments
[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 118 ms ] threadI rather like my Logitech MX Master mouse. I have 2. The unlatching of the click mechanism of the scroll wheel at high speed is my favorite thing, possibly, of any of my PC peripherals, which is odd because I didn't consider scrolling to be that big a part of my day, but I miss it when using other mice. I'm disappointed that the rubber on the scroll wheel is melting, however, but I still love it.
Back when conventional thinking said it was Wacom or bust, I gambled on a cheap Huion H610. At a fraction of the cost of the equivalent Wacom, I was skeptical, but amateur reviews looked promising. Initially it was dodgy but they persisted with driver updates and it became a perfectly decent drawing tablet with the specs an artist cares about and fine drivers (also works plug and play with Win8/10). The only downside with my unit is that it has a battery in the pen, a limitation fixed in later revisions.
Also, a good trade-level cordless drill (I went DeWalt) is also a huge improvement from cheap sub $100 units, and I'm quite fond of that too, because it feels very precise and I've spent too much time with crap tools to ever forget.
1. How does it compare in terms of response to a wired mouse?
2. How does it connect to different computers (dongle? built in Bluetooth?) and how does it cope with quickly swapping between different computers?
1. Response time is imperceptible
2. It can connect directly via bluetooth, or with a small usb dongle. There is a button on the bottom of the mouse that lets you switch between 3 stored devices. It would be nice remap the device switch to a button on the top of the mouse, but this doesn't seem possible yet.
2) Bluetooth or Logitech Unifying Receiver. It has a button on the bottom of the mouse to swap the computer it's paired with and it can be hot paired to three devices, and that works well.
Here's the shaggy dog version. I got a job working as an AutoCAD draughtsman and the company only had a shitty mouse to work this expensive Windows-only software. I decided to purchase a Logitech MX Mouse ~$80 equivalent to prevent RSI. My boss thought I was crazy - what was wrong with the mouse they provided? Hah! Soon it became obvious they did not care for tech or techies and I left. But I am on Linux at home and it really bugged me that I could not use my expensive mouse on my Linux laptop. Curses and swears! Fast forward 6 months and I was browsing a Linux magazine and it featured libratbag which is a DBus daemon to configure gaming mice. I couldn't believe my eyes. It promised to get my MX Mouse working on Linux. I got home downloaded the software and hey presto! my MX Mouse works on Linux. I am so happy with it and so lucky that I picked up that Linux magazine on that day.
And it's also neat that my new MacBook Air will just about run with the screen off at ~2W also, which is also astonishing considering how it has come down over time for the MBAs, and yet is a full-on multi-core, multi-GByte system with 1TB of storage...
Yikes.
On purpose?
Such a blissful experience.
I recently bought a pizza peel, a pizza stone, a kitchen scale, and some dough boxes and have begun making pizzas at home following Vito Iacopelli's videos on youtube, and I'm now making pizzas that are superior to delivered pizza (though less perfectly round so far) and in an altogether different galaxy than frozen pizzas. I am amazed at how good they come out. I'll never buy a frozen pizza again. And the process of making pizzas is neither difficult nor expensive. At some point I might buy an outdoor pizza oven, but so far I'm satisfied with what I'm getting from my conventional oven at max temp.
For pizzas check out the "G3 Ferrari G10006" - compact, indoor, goes up to double normal oven temperature. I was thinking of getting a wood fired outdoor one until I realised this thing does the job.
Well so far its been a wonderful experience. I love the sense of freedom it gives me. And its actually super economical with 80 miles per gallon. I became a scooter/moped preacher!
tech: System76 laptop. marked my switch from apple/win ecosystems to linux and haven't looked back; the incredible freedom of not feeling like i'm constantly fighting the software itself is amazing.
A 3D Printer. I avoided one for years, and have never printed anything frivolous. But the ability to make useful things for the house at (almost) a moment’s notice is great. Also, I’m really enjoying learning CAD, and the ability to easily create physical objects that I have designed is very fulfilling.
A bunch of tplink smart light switches for the well used lights around the house. Deep satisfaction every night to turn off an entire floor with a voice command. Next up will probably be automatic roller shades, though they are considerably more pricy.
Dogs are awesome. Keeps the living space a lot less depressingly empty and quiet.