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ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

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Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#161

Post by DamnInteresting »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #153
DamnInteresting wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seconded on the trackball. I was a trackball user for years until Microsoft discontinued their trackball ca. 2005, and I was unable to find a suitable replacement. A couple of years ago I was feeling some wrist pain from my conventional mouse, and reexamined the trackball offerings. After a couple of missteps with mediocre Kensington models, I found the Elecom HUGE Trackball. It is excellent, I am tempted to buy some…

Funny I'm currently using a Kensington one, I didnt like that it felt smaller, but I just realized this today, I got used to it already.

I tried two different models of Kensingtons. The first one felt fine to use, but it had a scroll ring around the ball, and this piece broke off after a few weeks. I got it replaced under warranty, and the next one broke the same way in a similar time frame. So I tried one of their other models, and it just didn't fit my hand well. It's now my emergency backup.

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#162

Post by KevinMS »

Here's a mundane one that probably everybody does already. If your cellphone has wireless charging but you still don't use it, get yourself a cheap charger pad and put where your phone normally sits. I thought I was done with upgrading phone years ago, but when I ended up with a wireless charging one, its so much more convenient I couldn't live without it now.

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#163

Post by davesmylie »

TheAngryCanuck wrote: post #139
ludsan wrote: post #14

The Thermapen One meat thermometer. First I had to get over the arrogance that I could 'feel' when meat was the right temperature, then I had to invest in a product that, while being wildly more expensive, actually encourages me to use it all the time. Pork, chicken, steak. I now have a sub-second answer to when the food is cooked.

Everyone who cooks meat should own at least one meat thermometer. I took a couple of introductory courses to professional cooking and first 2 classes of the semester were all spent on food safety. Proper handling of food, prep space cleaning, general kitchen cleaning. Now I have 3 meat thermometers so no matter who I'm cooking for their meat comes out at the proper temperature and there is no cross contamination.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the parent posts answer (thermopen) - whilst I do own one and it's fantastic, I'd not that particularly brand loyal.

However.... would totally recommend getting an actual instant read one at a similar price point instead of a crappy $10 version (not that you were suggesting a cheap one here! just raising it for anyone who was thinking that might be an option)

I had a few iterations of cheap ones, and moving to an actual instant read thermometer was a game changer for cooking. You can quickly eg check 20 different chicken wings for doneness instead of spending 20 seconds or so checking one and wondering if the thermometer has actually come up to temp before moving on to the next

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#164

Post by JackMorgan »

spondylosaurus wrote: post #159
WirelessGigabit wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay you made my credit card itch. Couple of questions: Earplugs: did you get custom-fitted ones? I'm using foam ones at the range with 32db suppression. Wife suggested the custom-fitted ones. Thoughts? Ankle hiking socks: how do they wear? I get Darn Though because of their lifetime warranty which I've used 5 times per pair already. Cast Iron skillet: Please test this thing for lead. PLEASE. Shorts: I don't wear bra…

Custom-fitted earplugs are AMAZING, especially for sleeping. I had a pair of SleepSound earplugs made for me 4-ish years back and have worn them every night since. They still fit perfectly! Also, I give them a gentle wash with soap and water every morning (almost like I'm washing my hands normally, but with the earplugs cupped between them—takes 30 seconds) and leave them out to dry, so they haven't gotten nasty from…

Do they ever fall out / do you toss and turn much?

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#165

Post by Tommstein »

vidanay wrote: post #66
gms7777 wrote: post #59

I know HN skews largely male so this might not be interesting to many, but an Ethnotek crossbody purse. It's the most well-thought-through bag I've ever used, especially for travel. Everything has a place and is secure (so I don't worry about pickpockets), but is still easily accessible when needed. And it's expandable for a water bottle or jacket but rolls up small when empty.

Manbags/murses/satchels need to be normalized for men too. I hate carrying a wallet in my back pocket. Men have been carrying purses for a couple thousand years, IDK why we don't in modern society.

> I hate carrying a wallet in my back pocket.

You're allowed to carry a wallet in your front pocket. Source: me and my front pocket.

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#166

Post by gms7777 »

q1w2 wrote: post #124
gms7777 wrote: post #59

I know HN skews largely male so this might not be interesting to many, but an Ethnotek crossbody purse. It's the most well-thought-through bag I've ever used, especially for travel. Everything has a place and is secure (so I don't worry about pickpockets), but is still easily accessible when needed. And it's expandable for a water bottle or jacket but rolls up small when empty.

Do you mean the cross body sling or the cross body shoulder bag? There's no "purse" sold by Ethnotek.

Yeah, sorry about that. I meant the cross body sling, with the roll top. I do know someone as well that has the shoulder bag and likes it, but I can't personally speak to it.

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#168

Post by jacknews »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #152
jacknews wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does it compare to an 'external' trackpad, eg an apple magic trackpad?

Never used one, but with a Trackball mouse you rest your hand on top of the mouse body, and its really mainly your thumb vs your wrist being moved.

I don't know if it's just me, but my thumb does not do fine control that well, and feels quite stiff doing it. It's great for gripping (obviously) and for 'thumping' a spacebar or whatever, but it seems unnatural if I try to drive my trackpad with my thumb, for example.

I see the point about wrist movement though, even on a trackpad there's a lot of lateral wrist movement.

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#169

Post by technol0gic »

dimva wrote: post #25
technol0gic wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

driving with headphones, especially noise-cancelling, is pretty concerning. you might be blocking an ambulance making lots of "annoying noise," (and yes, they do take the highway) so maybe invest in better seals for your doors and windows?

No, you won't be blocking the noise of an ambulance with noise-canceling headphones, that's not how noise-cancelling technology works. They only block persistent sounds, which an ambulance siren isn't as it changes pitch rapidly.

I fully understand that noise canceling DSP algos lend themselves fully to inverting and muxing repetitive background noise like airplane noise, not sirens, but the callous, selfish effort to muffle the outside world when you're operating a multiple ton machine, often in close vicinity of other said machines, just because you don't like the sound, is problematic.

Re: ASK HN: What’s a small thing you’ve purchased which has made your life better?

#170

Post by iammjm »

znpy wrote: post #143
iammjm wrote: post #7

Merino Wool long-sleeve base layer - I can hike and sweat for days and somehow not stink!

i'm got very interested in this after reading "Insulation: First the Body, Then the Home" by low tech magazine ( https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/02/insulation-first-t... ). i'll be getting at least one when october comes and want to see if that really helps when dealing with low temperatures and thermal body regulation. is there a particular brand you'd recommend?

No, sorry, I just bought some generic brand on Amazon that was a good deal. I just like Merino Wool due to it's properties and it just feels very nice on the skin (no rashes, irritations, anything like that; just a nice, soft feeling)
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