An automated pet door. My dog loves to go in and out of the house every five minutes and whines annoyingly if he doesn't.
link?
Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
481–490 of 530 posts
Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#482Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#483Our dog:
forces you to go outside several times a day, the kids have someone to play with and they learn to care for someone.
Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#484Earlier quoted context omitted.
Totally agree on both. If you're going to get a Kindle, I recommend the Oasis--it's so much better than the other ones and worth the money if you read a decent amount. The yellow backlight is much easier on the eyes than the blue one.
Really? I'm surprised that you think the Oasis is worth the higher price considering just how much higher that price is. What other reasons would you recommend it for?
It’s water resistant which is very useful for me. I also like the physical buttons for changing the page— I often disable the touch screen so I don’t accidentally change the page and appreciate having the physical control, which the Paperwhite doesn’t have. Also the screen is higher resolution so everything looks nicer.
Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#485A motorcycle. Traffic is a non-issue now, in addition to the loads of fun I get from it.
and it saves you a lot for the long run by shortening your life expectancy ! Cutting traffic means that you are taking risks, in some parts of Europe motorcycles are expected to drive like a car hence they are not saving you in traffic.
I haven't seen evidence that lane splitting is more dangerous when done with a reasonable speed difference, plus it saves you from getting rear-ended when staying directly in lane.
And yes, motorcycles are dangerous, as with many other fun things in life. I accept that.
Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#486Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#4871. A book holder. I noticed I got back pain from studying in recent years. This was entirely attributable to my neck position and buying a book holder stopped this. This, in turn, decreases the resistance to keeping a regular study routine.
2. A box of a 100 wax ear-plugs. Unwanted noise stresses me, and now I can reduce its intensity by 80%.
3. An electric moped. Allows me to zip between cars and avoid traffic, effectively cutting travel time by 1/3.
4. A collection of decent, second-hand suits. Most people underestimate the signaling value in dressing smartly. I've noticed that strangers are far more likely to strike up conversations with me when I dress like a gentleman - you seem much less threatening, more like a "civilian".
Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#488Earlier quoted context omitted.
Considering much food is thrown out and wasted, perhaps lower yields would make us find better ways to reduce waste.
The problem is that we currently have starvation due to poor distribution of food. Rich people can afford higher prices and will continue to waste (in fact, lots of rich people already eat organic), while the poor will feel the squeeze.
I read years ago that the starvation wasn’t necessarily distribution, but rather corruption that prevented the distribution. Is that incorrect?
Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#489Earlier quoted context omitted.
Considering much food is thrown out and wasted, perhaps lower yields would make us find better ways to reduce waste.
The problem is that we currently have starvation due to poor distribution of food. Rich people can afford higher prices and will continue to waste (in fact, lots of rich people already eat organic), while the poor will feel the squeeze.
Ignoring that it's not always a good idea to distill a complicated system to a single factor like distribution or scarcity, I believe the calorie numbers frequently stated often do not discount for the fact that roughly a third of crop yield is fed to livestock, nor are typically the variety used for human consumption.
Re: Ask HN: What did you purchase that measurably improved your quality of life?
#490Reasonably non-slow Internet they call the NBN.