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Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

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Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#431

Post by nicolaslem »

I am currently discovering how to roast coffee. On the surface it is not that complicated as it only requires green beans and a way to apply heat to them.

Green beans can easily be found on the Internet and applying heat can be done with an inexpensive air popcorn machine. Put the beans in the machine, turn it on, wait for the beans to crack and voila you have roasted coffee.

Obviously with a kitchen appliance not made for that, there is not much control over the heat profile applied to the beans. This is where the interesting part happens: people have been hacking their pop corn machines for decades to better roast coffee, for example:

- Drilling a hole in the machine to put a temperature sensor in contact with the beans.

- Putting a relay on the heating element to control it electronically.

- Using an Arduino/Raspberry Pi to make the machine follow a predefined temperature profile.

Lots of fun ways to turn a machine into something completely different.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#432

Post by BiggsHoson »

At this moment? Well, I'm in Daytona, Florida attending the HSR Classic 24 Hours weekend of vintage racing. If you have any interest in motor racing and have not been to a vintage event, you need to. The variety of cars is huge. These events are usually pretty low-key compared to the current professional series. Often there are very few restrictions on where one can wander, with paddock access included in your reasonably priced ticket.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#433

Post by JonChesterfield »

rikschennink wrote: post #262

Hi! What a fantastic post, a good day to you too. I recently found out my bone density isn’t great. Never broke a bone in my life but the doctor advises to start an activity that impacts bones. I’m not a sports person but last Thursday I went to a boulder gym. I was already coming up with excuses not to go, but decided to hop in the car and just do it, which felt like quite the power move. I’ve never been “in shape”…

Bouldering is the right choice. Assuming you're an engineer (as this is HN...) the puzzle solving side of it will appeal. There's a minor social side available talking to people during rest phases which is totally optional. It's definitely also a path to being much stronger and has a satisfying progression curve.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#434

Post by dbetteridge »

MrVandemar wrote: post #390

Hello from Redmond, Western Australia. It's rural, close to the South Coast of WA. We live in a straw-bale house on a farm where we run a small number of cattle, horses and donkeys, and we grow a lot (but not yet all) of our own fruit and vegetables. We steward of 50ha area of pretty pristine Australian bush in a biodiversity hotspot, and we've replanted the roadside and house area and put in some windbreaks with nat…

Howdy fellow west aussie!

50ha is an amazing sized property and the south coast is an incredible part of the world.

My wife and I have recently bought some land near Margaret River/Augusta region and are planning out how we can plant local species and invite as many native critters as possible to come by.

Best of luck with your replanting and conservation projects.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#435

Post by plonk »

pdimitar wrote: post #422

I am passionate about not working and finally doing some hobbies and being a lazy slob at least once a year. At 42 years old I am nowhere near close any of that though and I am slowly losing hope and despairing. But it's the world we're living in, nobody is giving you money for existing so what can you do. I am severely burned out and me switching jobs in the last several years didn't help because I don't want to wor…

Why not move to a tech hub and start a challenging job? If you're technically good, I don't think your current lack of money would block you.

You sound like you'd have a lot of motivation if you got out of your current local minimum. Making a big life change tends to do that.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#436

Post by yoshyosh »

Mexican food! I've spent the past 3 years learning to recreate good tortillas. I live abroad in Amsterdam and miss it so much after living in California for decades. I even worked in the best Mexican restaurant in Amsterdam for a month just to learn some of the subtle techniques.

I'm finally at a place where I can make tacos much better than what I would get here and even back in California. I'm currently working on burritos as the next project.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#437

Post by dbetteridge »

schappim wrote: post #83

Hello! Just drove home from the beach shack in Hawks Nest (beachside town in NSW Australia) to Sydney getting ready for the week ahead. Whilst up in Hawks Nest I had a prehistoric visitor[0] visit our family and hiked a mountain[1]. [0] https://twitter.com/schappi/status/1588984902048894976?s=46&... [1] https://twitter.com/schappi/status/1588985786481139713?s=46&...

Love the Eastern blue-tongue!

You can't mention the beach shack and then not include pictures...

- West coast beach appreciator

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#438

Post by Chubbi1968 »

I'm passionate about teaching programming to 17-19 year olds, how to improve and tools that can be used.

I try to stay up to date with best (or at least good) practices to pass on to my students. I'm currently teaching Python, JavaScript and C++, while learning Rust and Quarto (which I hope can replace C++ and LaTeX).

I've recently started reading "The Pragmatic Programmer" after the many recommendations here on HN. It's indeed a very good book.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#439

Post by sirsinsalot »

blinding-streak wrote: post #45

Thanks so much for posting this, I love the spirit of it. I'm passionate about my sobriety journey. I just got home from a dinner party of ex coworkers and friends. Being the only one not drinking is hard for me and a huge change. I used to lead the charge with booze, it was the thing that took my crushing anxiety away. It made everything more fun. Well, that can only last so long when you abuse it so much and it fuc…

Same here. It ain't easy. I became very dependent in lockdown.

The anxiety cycle led to some existential problems.

I'm trying to reconfigure my relationship with booze. If I can't, I'll drop it altogether.

Good luck to you.

Re: Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment

#440

Post by dm319 »

vbezhenar wrote: post #353
malikNF wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>ECG device An ecg device saved my dad's life, it caught a weird heart murmur he was having and alerted the doctors to an issue with his heart. He's now better becuase we detected it early, its so wonderful there are people like you working on these devices that makes modern medicine do its thing. Thank you! Also, how do you prepare your coffee?

Thanks for your kind words and I wish the best to your dad. Our agenda is to help people in remote cities and villages which often do not have skilled doctors, but thanks to Internet, it’s possible to connect those people to a more modern medicine. We’re not there yet, but we’re moving. In the past I extensively used Bialetti moka pot. Recently I discovered Aeropress and using it almost exclusively now. I’m not very…

The Aeropress is a great device. I have a few brewing methods (V60, kalita wave, french press), but the aeropress is the most consistent, and as a bonus, is so easy to clean up too.

PS Good to hear about your project, sounds like a great aspiration and could help so many.

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