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Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

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Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#331

Post by Nextgrid »

crossroadsguy wrote: post #311
aeternum wrote: post #140

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.

Know any effective and simple ad blocker for Safari? Mainly for Mac but wouldn't mind for iOS as well.

AdGuard is what I’d recommend; it supports the default uBlock Origin lists such as EasyList, Fanboy’s lists, etc.

I’ve tried other blockers before (including paid ones) and I found that most come with their own lists (typically derived from the aforementioned ones) and those are not always kept up to date.

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#332

Post by paledot »

samuelmandell wrote: post #303
paledot wrote: post #220

My wife and I both work, but our lifestyle does not require two incomes. So we've tried to find trustworthy charities to entrust my salary to. It's harder than it sounds, and we're only about 60% of the way there, but it has measurably improved the quality of life of many people - not just us. I also "purchased" a 4-day work week, which has had a substantial impact on my own quality of life.

"I also "purchased" a 4-day work week, which has had a substantial impact on my own quality of life." Can you tell me more about this? What was your strategy for bringing this up with your workplace, did you take 20% salary cut, any other adjustments?

I took a 20% salary cut. All other benefits remained the same. It's not a formal policy at my company, but I was able to negotiate a reduced schedule during my annual salary review.

I don't know that I did anything clever in the negotiation, I just raised it with my manager and we brought it to HR. Everyone was positive about the idea but unsure of how it would work in the broader scheme, including if other people would see my schedule and want to get on the 32-hour week train too. (I hope so, but I avoided saying that.)

When I say all benefits remained the same, I mean all of them. It's probably an oversight, but I continue to accrue vacation days at a rate of 20/yr - except for me, that's 5 work weeks, not 4. I've avoided pointing that out.

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#333

Post by nabaraz »

drobert wrote: post #218

Instant pot. It's a preasure cooker you can program Robo vaccum. Many hours saved Bose noise canceling. Especially useful on the plane or in a busy office Dishwasher. Many hours saved Adidas Bluetooth headset. Really got addicted to it. Has a joystick with 4 directions and great battery life and sound Products that should have improved my life by barely did: Nest thermostat. For the price, disappointing. Didn't seem…

What is the difference between Adidas and Bose headphones?

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#334

Post by chubot »

therealdrag0 wrote: post #264
chubot wrote: post #58

High quality floor standing speakers, although I would say the average person can get almost the same QOL improvement from $500 bookshelf speakers. I use them for music, movies/TV, watching videos on YouTube including technical ones, and even occasionally video conferencing. Wearing headphones for more than 30 minutes is fatiguing and uncomfortable for me. Listening to people's voices on tiny laptop or iPad speakers…

Re headphones: is it possible you haven’t found a pair that fits well? I’ve tried many many (highly rated) cans over the years and most hurt my years after some time. But now I have Bose QC and the way they fit around my ears without touching them is awesome. I wear them constantly even without audio playing. It’s almost a comfort object now lol.

Well the physical comfort isn't really the main issue, but yeah I guess I don't like having something resting on my ears for more than say 30-60 minutes at a time.

I would flip it on its head: Why headphones? To me the only advantages of headphones are (1) not disturbing people near you and (2) traveling. For everything else I would use speakers!

The other things I don't like are:

- the cable following me around, especially if I'm mobile (and that applies to ear buds too).

- the feeling of being cut off from sounds around me.

- Admittedly a niche complaint, but for music: I don't like the stereo imaging of headphones. Compared to good speakers, it's an unnatural stereo field -- although I realize not everyone is sensitive to that. Depends what you listen to as well.

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#336

Post by ksaj »

Djon wrote: post #335

Herman Miller Embody chair, not just fixed my broken posture after sitting on crappy 40$ chair from Craigslist for 4 years, but improved my back, posture and develoepd good habit sitting with straight back.

I'm looking for a new office chair since Covid lockdown has done a number on my posture and lower back strength.

This sounds just like what the doctor would order. Thanks for mentioning it.

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#337

Post by chubot »

voisin wrote: post #91
chubot wrote: post #58

High quality floor standing speakers, although I would say the average person can get almost the same QOL improvement from $500 bookshelf speakers. I use them for music, movies/TV, watching videos on YouTube including technical ones, and even occasionally video conferencing. Wearing headphones for more than 30 minutes is fatiguing and uncomfortable for me. Listening to people's voices on tiny laptop or iPad speakers…

Which speakers did you buy and which would you recommend for someone that feels overwhelmed by the entire industry?

Yeah that's a good question, because it is incredibly hard to wade through all the BS in the industry. The average consumer definitely pays more for "style" and "prestige", and the companies respond in kind with a lot of BS.

I've owned a pair of Ohm Walsh 1000 speakers since 2014, and used them basically every day, and couldn't be happier. Along with a Marantz receiver with an integrated amp.

https://ohmspeaker.com/

This company basically makes one kind of speaker (omnipolar) and has been refining the design for ~50 years:

https://lobste.rs/s/nt9kfo/writing_software_last_50_years#c_... (comment by me, 9 months ago)

If you have the space for floor standing speakers, I wholeheartedly recommend them. The sellers are very honest and will recommend the right size for your room. I did buy them without hearing them, so I get why people are reluctant to buy speakers. (They have a generous money back guarantee.) I've visited many audio stores in person, and it's not a great alternative. There are too many variables and I don't like to engage too much with salesmen.

I bought them mainly for music, but they reproduce voices better than anything I've heard, which is good not only for music, but for lectures and even video conferencing! A lot of speakers and headphones lack midrange, and that is where a lot of the information in human voices is. It's just more comfortable to listen to.

Also, you can turn them up really loud, and it doesn't hurt you ears. The speakers which have a lot of flashy treble and bass sound good in the store, but you get fatigued over 30 or 60 minutes, and you have to turn them down. These speakers can be turned up comfortably.

----

If you want something smaller, there are also lots of good deals for bookshelf speakers -- you shouldn't need to spend more than $300 to $600. The amp is sometimes a problem but I've used some tiny $100 amps to good effect too.

But yes unfortunately there is a ton of BS to wade through. I got this recommendation from Don Lindich, a newspaper columnist for consumer audio. He also recommended me Mirage speakers way back in the day, which I loved as well. These are all omnipolar speakers -- they have an open sound that brings to life the information in stereo recordings. I listen to rock / metal / pop / hip-hop on them, and they're very good for jazz / classical (perhaps a more typical use, but they're not limited to that).

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#338

Post by CraftThatBlock »

wollef wrote: post #267
rozab wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those who don't want to fund youtube, Youtube Vanced is a hacked version of the official client that provides all the features for free (no root required), and there are also various open source clients available.

Isn't youtube without ads exactly the business model we should be encouraging?

I'd pay for YouTube Premium if it was just ad-free, and didn't bundle Red and Music. I'd easily pay 5$CAD/month for it, but at 15$CAD, it's a fairly steep price, and still doesn't remove all pop-ups and such.

Vanced provides the YouTube I want, I'd pay it that was available.

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#339

Post by vanous »

shiny wrote: post #225
vanous wrote: post #213

A pair of walking shoes. Been walking between an hour and three hours every day. Feel and sleep much better.

Bedrock Sandals for me. I can walk forever in them. Feet can breathe and toes can spread.

Awesome. I do wear barefoot shoes daily, but I feel I am feeling better with some support for my arches, for the long walks.

Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?

#340

Post by MatthiasVance »

amelius wrote: post #185
k__ wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more hygienic Also, buying and carrying toilet paper is not really practical.

Embarrassed to say but I use a normal toilet and sometimes I try to flush skid marks away using the shower head (from my bath-tub) in strong jet mode. However, this is often quite difficult, which makes me believe that the bidet isn't all that hygienic ...

Before you use the toilet, put in some toilet paper and everything just flushes out.
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