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Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

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Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#461

Post by ddorian43 »

microscoper wrote: post #326
embwbam wrote: post #74

Not sure if you were looking only for indoor hobbies, but I picked up Kiteboarding recently, and it is the most outrageously fun thing I've ever done. It's like being a kid and jumping off the house with a bedsheet, except it works. Most mistakes are laughed off by splashing in the water. I'm 3 years in and I can jump 7-10m then fly like a bird for 5-10 seconds without consequences. Even as a beginner, sailing around…

I always thought that looked fun but I would worry about being blown away up too high or into some obstacle like rocks Is that something that happens to people? Also how dependent is it on weather? Do you have to monitor the wind to know if its worth going out?

Jumping takes real skill. I went like 60 times and can barely jump 7m in perfect conditions by trying very hard.

That happens very rarely like recently in Israel where they went out on a storm, and there was a very rare very-big gust. But extremely rare comibation of things that can go wrong.

Yes you need to monitor the wind. I'm kiting today for example.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#462

Post by pkghost »

Get a microscope and help me explore the role of structured water in rouleaux formation.

Rouleaux formations are clumps of red blood cells, and they're bad because 90% of our circulatory system is I did an n=5 study on sauna and rouleaux (positive result; draft report: https://thespacebetween.xyz/p/sangre-y-sauna/), and some n=1 observations of myself with grounding and wifi. Blog post: https://thespacebetweenx.substack.com/p/blood-and-the-specte...

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#463

Post by estetlinus »

Muay thai is my favorite hobby. Two kids later, it’s hard to find time, but I had a time where I went boxing everyday. I can really recommend material arts for those with proper work/life balance.

No activity brings you more endorphines than being brutalized under controlled conditions.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#464

Post by avidiax »

hyperific wrote: post #176

Get your Part 107 federal drone license and volunteer for your local fire department or search and rescue. When the FD responds to structure fires they sometimes have to go up on the roof to cut an air hole. This allows oxygen into the building which helps prevent backdrafts. A FLIR equipped drone can help direct the hole cutter around hotspots on the roof. If your local fire department has a drone, it might not have…

How involved is the license? I've flown racing quads and RC planes, so I think I have the hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness skills.

Is this something that would be saturated in the Bay Area? Does the SAR team provide the drone?

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#465

Post by ares623 »

PaulHoule wrote: post #83

I've been doing photography for a long time but over the last few years had phases where I got bored of it and tried something new. I had a long time when I was bored and carried the camera in my pack but never took any pictures, then one day I looked out at the sports center out my window and decided to start shooting sports. Posting photos to socials I found flower photographs were popular so I take a lot of them a…

A sub-niche of this I'm currently into is film photography. It's a bit more cost over time and much more "work" for objectively inferior results. But for personal and family photos, I feel more connected to the photos I take with film.

As an example, we've just came back from a holiday trip, and if I had taken a digital camera I would've taken a photo of a beautiful scene, looked at the screen and feel dissatisfied with it, and try to take another, and another, eventually heading back to the hotel dissatisfied and thinking I could've done better. But with a film camera, I end up taking one or two photos and then continue enjoying the place. Two weeks later at home I either get surprised or disappointed.

I don't share it on social media. I don't even share it with friends and family anymore. It's just for me, and every now and then I share it with a small online community who are also into film photography.

I'd love to get into darkroom printing next but financials and physical space is limited at the moment.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#468

Post by kruffalon »

sourdoughtronic wrote: post #457

1. Lacto fermented food, you can spend plenty of time making unique food not available anywhere. Good niche to start is lacto fermented hot sauce. You can go very mild or crazy hot depending on your preference. 2. Sourdough is pretty understood, but there is hardly anything about gluten free sourdough. Basic principles are the same, you make a starter from flour and water, but you need to make it across different glu…

Impeccable timing!

About 2: Gluten free sourdoughs.

Do you have any good starting points or resources to share?

I admit I haven't gotten around to search very deeply for them yet as I just started thinking about this again yesterday but previous attempts have not given me any good information just one off recipes rather than creating a new bubbly family member to store in your fridge ;)

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#469

Post by ternus »

linsomniac wrote: post #301

I've been working on trying to help fill out the MeshCore network in our area for off-grid communications. Some of us are setting up solar powered, battery backed MeshCore nodes, they have no connection to power or Internet. You can use a small device (like a credit card or a small walkie-talkie) with a phone, or a blackberry-like device, to send/receive encrypted messages, chat on channels, or communicate on BBS-lik…

Came here to mention this. I've had a lot of fun putting up stealth repeaters in trees to build out the Meshcore network. One or two nodes in critical places can light up dozens of square miles for the mesh.

Find your local Discord and get rolling. In the Bay Area it's baymc.org.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#470

Post by polishdude20 »

pkghost wrote: post #462

Get a microscope and help me explore the role of structured water in rouleaux formation. Rouleaux formations are clumps of red blood cells, and they're bad because 90% of our circulatory system is I did an n=5 study on sauna and rouleaux (positive result; draft report: https://thespacebetween.xyz/p/sangre-y-sauna/ ), and some n=1 observations of myself with grounding and wifi. Blog post: https://thespacebetweenx.subs…

What is structured water?
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