Earlier quoted context omitted.
I added a couple recommendations.
That's the one I have LOL.
Why did you think it was useless? Even if I didn’t have air monitors I can see with my eyes the dust on the hepa filter.
Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
551–560 of 592 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#552Earlier quoted context omitted.
You really don't need a 270 usd device for particle count. A PM2.5 particle count sensor is like 25 bucks and temp/humidity/pressure another 10, so you can DIY this quite cheaply with a raspberry if so inclined. https://www.amazon.com/WINGONEER%C2%AE-Precision-Quality-Det... https://www.amazon.com/bobotron-Compatible-Temperature-Atmos...
I have both the Dylos and other sensors. The Dylos is a very sensitive instrument that reports raw counts every second. There is no smoothing, no translation to PM2.5 scale. For the paranoid type it works REALLY WELL for providing direct feedback on the impact of an air filter- or on the impact even of minor contractor work. PM 2.5 sensors- quality ones- have their place. But the difference is kind of like the differ…
I'd imagine the Dylos will have better components and better calibration, so should provide superior accuracy.
Not convinced they're all that different though - both laser based particle counters, and results correlate pretty well in studies [0].
Certainly wouldn't trust a cheap SDS011 sensor for anything that really matters, but wouldn't characterize it as nutritional label vs blood screen either.
[0] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337399372_Dynamical...
> raw counts every second. There is no smoothing, no translation to PM2.5 scale.
Slightly confused as to what you mean by this. Particle measurements via laser are by necessity over time and thus smoothed. I guess you could look at raw counts in a given time, but people use per millions because its more meaningful...else you'd need to consider fan speed to make it comparable and manually adjust air pressure/temp yourself.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#553A reverse osmosis water filter and a cheap glass pitcher. I've found that I'm pretty sensitive to the taste of water (good and bad). I don't mind the water in many places, but it can be very hit or miss. Over the years, the amount of water I would drink tended to change quite a bit from location to location. Instead, I use a reverse osmosis water filter to get completely neutral water every time I know there isn't an…
That sounds intriguing. Any specific recommendations?
I just bought whatever was at Lowes. This is completely commodity technology. Generic is as high quality as an brand name.
I think it's the AO Smith one. https://www.lowes.com/pd/A-O-Smith-Clean-Water-Filter-with-R...
It includes a 4th stage to add a known mineral mix back in, but I didn't like the flavor so I just skipped that final filter. It's all just hooked together with 1/4” tubing so it's super simple to customize.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#554Earlier quoted context omitted.
This seems like a low-profile version of the ultimate hacking keyboard. https://ultimatehackingkeyboard.com/ I'd be interested to see a comparison between the UHK, Moonlander, and Dygma Rise. They all seem to be converging on the same design principles. I agree, though; having a good split keyboard has been a requirement for me since I first got the original MSFT natural keyboard.
I had UHK and build Ergodox EZ since I wanted to try thumb clusters and vertically staggered layout. Honestly after UHK the Ergodox was too big. I am not able to reach most keys without pulling my hand. Even from 6 thumb cluster keys I was using only 2. Though I liked thumb clusters and vertically staggered layout hence switched to custom built Kyria split keyboard instead.
UHK now has thumb clusters For sale as well.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#555There are three, maybe four. The 3, from least to most important, are: 1) My kneeling chair. Between the pandemic and a new job started a few months before, I am at my desk more than ever. I wondered about the ~acute angle between legs and torso in a regular chair, so I borrowed a kneeling chair from a friend. I figured I'd go easy on it/me and use it for just 15 minutes at a time at first. After a quarter hour or so…
Which kneeling chair did you end up buying?
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#556Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you really want function keys, you can just put them on a layer that you switch to with a thumb key.
I tried with the Ergodox-EZ for 6+ months, but I struggled with using the Jetbrains software They (PyCharm, PHPStorm, etc) use a load of multi-key shortcuts which include use of the function keys and it became a real pig to use and ultimately I gave up (expensive - I'd bought 2; one for home, one for work...). How do others manage this? Have another layer with all the usual keys but replace numbers with function keys…
Personally, I replaced caps lock with ctrl when you type and esc when you tap. ctrl, shift and alt are all vertically aligned that way so shortcuts are really easy in general.
I just don't use F keys, but for number I have a left thumb key that transform the right side into a num pad. You could do the same with functions keys. Or do what I did for any number and permanently remap the normal number positions to f keys as you said.
But the nice part is you get to adapt the keyboard to your own needs. If you only use one or two function keys, you could give them decicated buttons on the may layer. You can even have one button do the whole combo. For example I have one that does shift+insert so I can more easily copy into terminals.
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#557I bought a greyscale eink tablet that I use as a monitor. It is fantastic. I find myself much more able to concentrate while using it.
I'm interested in hearing more about this. Does the tablet itself double as monitor, or was it a hack?
https://onyxboox.com/boox_maxlumi This is the device
It claims to not work on macos as a secondary monitor, but it does work for me, however the sides of the "screen" are invisible/cropped, so to use it I have to carefully arrange emacs and firefox inside the visible region.
The refresh rate isn't perfect, but its more than good enough for my usage (emacs, looking at docs)
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#558A set of cheap magsafe style USB connectors for MicroUSB and USB-C I ruined one wireless headset by ripping out the usb socket from the PCB after tripping over the charging wire. After getting a replacement I put the "magsafe" micro USB connector in and not only is it trip safe now, charging is soo much easier since the cable can be oriented either way. After that unexpected success I also outfittet my MX Anywhere an…
I've had absolutely no luck with the cheap ones off of Amazon. What kind did you go with?
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#559The latest iPad Mini. It was meant to be a Moleskine replacement. I draw a lot but I can't carry all sorts of pencils with me. I made it a dedicated drawing and reading device. No notifications, no emails, etc. Holy moly is it good. Procreate and Notability are incredible apps. Having different pens, layers and an undo button is fantastic. It replaced the paper pad next to my computer, as well as my Moleskine. The si…
I recently discovered a device ... weights just one gram, foldable, biodegradable, battery holds for 1yr+, costs 2 cents. Stylus is replaceable and costs $1/dozen.
Cool how many brushes has it got? Does it have an undo function or some sort of cloud backup option?
Re: Ask HN: Any piece of hardware that was more of game changer than you expected?
#560Earlier quoted context omitted.
In macOS, the entire display is rendered at 4K no matter what you pick from the resolution box. Most apps have learned to provide 2x-3x “retina” icons so that their bitmap resources look crisp alongside the system UI resources at user-selected “resolutions”. The Windows UI scaling slider behaves in exactly the same way, though fewer apps include 2x or 3x bitmap resources.
> In macOS, the entire display is rendered at 4K no matter what you pick from the resolution box. This makes it sound as if macOS upscales a 4K render when displaying to (for example) 5K monitors, but on a 5K monitor everything is ultimately rendered at a full physical resolution of 5120x2880. But in the Displays Preference Pane, the logical resolution is set by default to 2560x1440 (2:1). One can choose a logical re…
Correct, in the 5K case the entire display is rendered at 5K, and ditto 2K etc. (I believe the internal canvas caps at 32K, but I don’t have the tools to find out for sure.)
Whatever-sized display viewports are just crop windows into it, and the crop window in internal canvas terms is scaled as necessary, and then it renders the vector canvas onto the raster viewport.