121–130 of 1001 posts
Kobo Forma. I'm an avid eBook reader so the little things add up. Going from the Kindle to the Forma was a huge upgrade. Font rendering, warm light, larger form factor, and Pocket integration amongst a host of other little niceties make it pretty much a perfect experience for me. https://us.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-forma
A pullup bar (door frame) and resistance bands. Exercising at home has kicked me off into being healthier.
Could you do pull-ups before you bought the bar? I’m always so tempted to get one because I so badly want to be able to do a pull-up. I’d be so pumped if I could just do one. But I have no upper body strength to speak of and getting to a pull-up seems nearly impossible so I never pull the trigger on buying the bar.
You can start by just hanging there or trying to do a pullup. Over time you'll get it!
Pushups also help to strengthen your back muscles, which helps with pullups.
A pullup bar (door frame) and resistance bands. Exercising at home has kicked me off into being healthier.
Could you do pull-ups before you bought the bar? I’m always so tempted to get one because I so badly want to be able to do a pull-up. I’d be so pumped if I could just do one. But I have no upper body strength to speak of and getting to a pull-up seems nearly impossible so I never pull the trigger on buying the bar.
I started just hanging from the bar, then moved to using a stool to get above the bar and lowering myself as slowly as possible.
Eventually, with practice, I could start holding myself in place with arms bent, then finally start moving upward.
It was a journey, but I'm glad I did it!
- LIFX Color for putting my lights on a schedule and being able to set the mood.(https://www.lifx.com/collections/lamps-and-pendants/products...)
Roost Laptop stand + bluetooth keyboard and trackpad Enormous impact on my posture when I'm using my laptop away from my desk. The stand collapses into a stick so it's easy to toss in my backpack. https://www.therooststand.com/collections/roost-laptop-stand...
Got it as a birthday gift about a year ago and I have since finally moved on from struggling to get past 5Ks to running multiple 10Ks and now training for a half marathon. It has also helped me be more health conscious generally and I've lost 25lbs to get from high overweight to the top of end of normal (BMI-wise).
The Garmin ecosystem for workout planning/recording/stats/etc. is surprisingly nice and even though this watch is marketed to runners the weight training features are solid and useful as well.
[0] https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/628939/pn/010-02120-00
LG 38UC99-W 38-Inch 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD+ IPS Monitor with Bluetooth Speakers http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01LW54S4U/donhosek It's amazing how much the extra screen real estate helps. Other than that, I've bought surprisingly little in the last two years other than food, clothing and gifts.
$1K - Hard pass. I'll take two crappy IPS 24 inch monitors before I drop that kinda cash on a monitor. Thing is I've seen co-workers with these, and buy call accounts they love them, but I've never really been blown away by them. The 144hz refresh rate is nice, but wasted on someone who just writes code all day.
Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10.
OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, they're way easier to wear and more comfortable than earpods, I haven't had any issues since I got them about 8-months ago. Plus, you can wear them with earplugs for music + noise cancellation. $99
Cast iron skillet. This is more of a personal preference. I hate getting new kitchenware and then worrying about breaking it or getting it all stained. But these are super easy to clean and AFAIK practically never wear out. Also very cheap (iirc $15).
Software:
JetBrains tools. Basically the only software I can imagine spending $250 a year on, and it actually being worth it.
Patreon and Github sponsors. Not much (I think $15 a month total). It's sad how few sponsors a lot of these projects have. I'm not rich, but I can afford donating $5/month here and there. I really think the world would be a better place if more people donate to open source and content creators they like.
I finally got a home espresso machine, after an HN recommendation. We got a Breville Barista Express. We'd been wanting one for years, but everything reliable seemed to be $1k+, and still seemed like more work than I wanted to put into coffee. This one is simple, almost as easy as pour-over, and is simple to clean. We're making better coffee at home than we've ever had in a coffee shop. And I thought it would take a…
I have a much cheaper machine ($70) and I always give it pre-ground Illy, largely because it doesn't make a decent espresso with anything lower quality like Lavazza.
Illy pre-ground is easy to get in bulk via Amazon, but not exactly sure how I'd get the unground beans
Kobo Forma. I'm an avid eBook reader so the little things add up. Going from the Kindle to the Forma was a huge upgrade. Font rendering, warm light, larger form factor, and Pocket integration amongst a host of other little niceties make it pretty much a perfect experience for me. https://us.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-forma
if you have a kindle library is it possible to import to use with Kobo readers? Calibre maybe helps?