311–320 of 530 posts
Free, but a good ad blocker makes a huge difference. Wireless chargers, and favor devices that support it. Being able to simply set down headphones, earbuds, phones, and have them charge without looking for the right cable is great. Robot vacuum. Electric screwdriver, makes repairs and furniture setup much quicker.
Sceptre 27" 4K monitor for $200 on Amazon. It's the cheapest 4K monitor I've found so far. I wasn't even looking for a 4K monitor when I bought it, and didn't think it would make a big difference, but I was very wrong. It's made a huge difference in my day-to-day computing experience. Reading ebooks and papers on screen is actually bearable now; previously I'd prefer to print documents out or purchase/borrow physical…
Agree with large monitor - game changer. But Amazon shows only 3/5 stars for Sceptre 27" 4K monitor.
I bought a 27" LG 4k monitor for $200 on Craigslist, which would have been ~$500 new, and I love it.
A dishwasher. I spent the last 7 years doing dishes by hand due to lack of space in my Appartments. Then recently I found out there are things called "countertop" dishwashers which are half the size of normal ones and fit neatly onto your washing machine. No longer having to spend 3-4 hours every week on doing the dishes really makes a big difference for me.
Jesus Christ I passionately hate dishwashers. My roommate uses our full height dishwasher all the time. Except he just throws stuff into it and I regularly pull dirty silverware out of it. Sometimes dirty dishes too. The thing is, you're supposed to at least brush dishes, silverware and pans with a bit of water before putting them into a dishwasher. If anything, not to clog the dishwasher drain with small bits of foo…
I run every wash with extra rinse, extra heat, pots and pans mode. Makes a big difference.
I appreciate wanting to save the environment, but some regulations have gotten so tough that machines barely do what they're designed for
I have the gustbuster classic [1]. It's tested in a wind tunnel and can withstand winds up to 55 mph. It's got good coverage and won't turn inside out even when it's windy. It's got a curved handle which makes it easy to use it as a walking stick when it's not raining.
It's pricey but worth it to me. Now if I feel like going on a spontaneous walk, I'm not deterred by the weather forecast or the sky being a little cloudy. I can even do silly things like riding a bike while holding an umbrella.
I also have some waterproof doc martens on the way. The most annoying thing about being out in the rain is your feet getting soaked through canvas shoes. Hopefully this will solve that issue.
[1] https://gustbuster.com/products/gustbuster-classic-48-inch-a...
Had pretty bad RSI that was making it hard to work, and shoulder spacing that gave me shoulder aches.
I got a massage gun and that alleviated it enough to get me functional again.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Re Sleep: a sleep mask that is cupped as to not touch the eyes. Has been big improvement to my sleep.
If you're interested in sleep, we're building a headband that monitors sleep and alters sleep state using sound. Here's a chart showing the effect over 8 consecutive nights (4 without, 4 with). https://imgur.com/z4vqS3w We're preparing for a larger study. If you're keen to find our more, or get on the waitlist at https://soundmind.co
Supplements, especially L-DOPA (amazing mood improvement and libido boost), L-citrulline (libido and energy boost) and niacin. There are other supplements¹ in my stack but these three stand out as the effects are near immediate, measured in mere minutes/hours. ¹zinc methionine, L-taurine, Ashwagandha, Boswellia serrata, fish oil, cod liver oil, vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9, B12, C , D, K, calcium, resveratrol.
How long have you been on L-DOPA? It's well-known to build up a strong tolerance with Parkinson's patients after around 5 years, so I'd be careful with it.
1. LID (Levodopa induced dyskinesia) - ironically the "cure" for Parkinson's disease (abbreviated to PD from here on) induces PD like side effects!
2. tolerance built up over chronic use.
We're not sure why Mucuna is able to do this but regarding LID one hypothesis advanced in a paper I read was that it might have something to do with pure L-DOPA being co-administered with Carbidopa in order to prevent peripheral metabolism of L-DOPA so that a greater amount reaches the brain. In the paper they show Carbidopa worsens LID and patients on pure L-DOPA alone took longer to get LID. Mucuna group didn't see any LID symptoms for the duration of the study.
Regarding tolerance, there are a few papers that compared Mucuna with other common PD drugs and found trial participants remained responsive throughout the study to a greater degree while on Mucuna compared to the other drugs. Here's one such paper: "Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson’s disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study", https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/jnnp/75/12/1672.full.pdf
Tolerance also seems to depend on the dosage and delivery regimen, the key thing to watch out being the prevention of dopamine peaks and to maintain a smooth steady level through continuous administration via IV — "Does Tolerance Develop to Levodopa? Comparison of 2- and 21-H Levodopa Infusions ", https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8474479/
Having done all this work, I'm still highly wary of continuing Mucuna for years. I keep a watchful eye on any behavioral (hallucinations, insomnia) and physiological (tachycardia) abnormalities in myself, just in case. Also because I don't have PD, I can stick to a relatively low dosage (PD patients are given 45g of Mucuna/day equivalent to 1.5g of L-DOPA; I take 2.4g/day, roughly a twentieth of the therapeutic dose) which seems to be highly correlated with LID (what I'm most anxious about).
What gave me the confidence to move forward was knowing that Mucuna has been used in traditional Ayurvedic and Siddha medicinal systems here in India for thousands of years and is still actively in use as treatment for mood disorders¹. Something that lasts long and is also backed by science can't be wrong. Even so, I won't deny that L-DOPA via Mucuna is a minefield I'm gingerly stepping across.
¹https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyxVCPgUVMI (sorry, the video is in Tamil, "poonaikali" is vernacular here for Mucuna pruriens)
- A queen size bed and memory foam mattress along with two (small) memory foam pillows
- Memory foam work chair back/lumbar support
- The large wide wooden desk I bought at the start of lockdown
- Osprey Farpoint 40
- A very small and light daypack bag from Decathlon (~10-15L)
- (More of a lifestyle change) Fitting boxers (not the very loose/flailing ones) instead of boxer-briefs
- UV + Anti glare/reflective + Blue light coating photo-chromatic glasses.
- Asics Nimbus for running
- Buying a smaller phone (older SE)
- A small easily clippable book light
- Buying an analog alarm clock (I do not feel like interacting with my phone when going to sleep or waking up)
- Moving to my own domain and paid email host - I really get less spam, I have better ways to control spam (though I am still looking for one that provides even better control) and I do not live in the fear of getting blocked out of Google a/c (happened once I didn't even bother to find a Googler in my network; I used it only for forums etc)
- A VPS that works as my seedbox and VPN
- Tarsnap, backblaze b2, rsync.net, Dropbox (with Cryptomator). I am relieved about my personal data and I also feel in control of it.
Supplements, especially L-DOPA (amazing mood improvement and libido boost), L-citrulline (libido and energy boost) and niacin. There are other supplements¹ in my stack but these three stand out as the effects are near immediate, measured in mere minutes/hours. ¹zinc methionine, L-taurine, Ashwagandha, Boswellia serrata, fish oil, cod liver oil, vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9, B12, C , D, K, calcium, resveratrol.
How long have you been on the exact same stack?
L-citrulline, zinc: 2+ years.
Ashwagandha, Boswellia: slightly more than a year.
L-DOPA, niacin, L-taurine: a few months.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The baby in the hammock is not in a seated position like in a normal car seat, and with a baby inside there's not much curvature. (We have two car seats, one lie-flat and one normal, since we expected to travel more with the baby, we're well aware of the issues. Of course COVID put a stop to that plan. The hammock worked well on a whistlestop tour of Germany and Ireland visiting our respective relatives, during the s…
What is the lie-flat seat? Never heard of it. We've got 360 seat with is one of the best purchase we've got for bubs (and probably the only item we've got brand new).
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/child-car-seats/maxicosi-jad...
A newborn can lie flat in it while being driven around.
I'm finding your questions a little bit aggressive, so I'm going to bow out now.