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Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#591
post #354

This post caught my attention because recently I met a woman I really admire. She dropped out of her computer engineering class, took a vow of celibacy and poverty and became a missionary with a Catholic sect. The reason I admire her isn't that. What caught my attention about her is that she has a sense of purpose. She has a purpose in life and has devoted her life to it. I used to have one. My goal was to make the l…

Time and new life experiences will mend some of your wounds. I had to give up my life's work and its mission. People often talk about regret of not trying, and there's a less-discussed painful experience of not accomplishing a mission.

If you'd like to connect, please reach out.

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#592
I'm building a computer around a DEC J-11 CPU, from first principles, that is, only parts datasheets, not "just" recreating a PDP-11 compatible machine. I'm hyper-focused on it, so much I'm starting to think in octal and gate logic. It's great fun, even if nothing comes out of it in the end (except much wasted time and money).

Actually, my machine WILL NOT run unmodified unix, nor do I plan on porting it, I want to write my own, single-user system for it.

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#593

Games. I've been forcing myself into productivity for too long because that is the thing to do. I recently built a gaming pc, picked some jrpgs, and I'm having a blast. There are entire franchises and worlds for the exploring. There are amazing rich stories and history and beautiful soundtracks that I'm living through right now. My wishlist grows by the day as I discover new tales.

As I've gotten older its rare for me to enjoy games, I can't seem to play for more than 15 minutes before wanting to turn it off/feel like I'm bored.

Yup. Realized this when I tried to catch up after a nine-year gap. It has started feeling like a chore now, I find myself playing for the sake of finishing it instead of being in the moment.

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#595
post #371

Violin for me! Been going at it for a bit more than 3 years and have just started learning one of the Bach Sonatas. It feels great to have a direct output from effort put in. The combination of physical and concentrated mental effort leaves me feeling refreshed after a good practice.

As a child violinist, the act of approaching the violin, rosining up, and putting it under my chin fills me with dread. Too many forced practice sessions. My siblings were raised the same way, but somehow my older sibling devised her own passion from it, independent of parental pressure and she played it much longer than I or my younger sibling did. It's a great skill to have, and sometimes I find myself whistling ol…

That’s definitely tough.

Learning an instrument as an adult has had its advantages that I’m learning for myself and no one else. I’ve accepted that I won’t be the next great violinist, but want to be good enough for me.

I sincerely hope you do pick it up again! Or maybe trying a new instrument for yourself.

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#596
post #578

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About nano plastic: Are they any serious (respected), peer-reviewed scientific studies on the negative health effects of nano plastics? It is frequently mentioned by the "natural crowd" on HN, but I never see any scientific evidence shared.

Even if there weren’t any studies on the harmful effects of plastic consumption (which I’m fairly certain there are at least theoretical mechanistic studies if you make the effort to look for them), it makes common sense to try to avoid that, no? I don’t think there are any studies on the effects of regularly drinking gasoline or eating toilet paper either, but plastic, gasoline, and toilet paper consumption aren't e…

What a silly reply. Yes, there are many studies about the consumption of hazardous chemicals, including gasoline. There are even many about just the fumes -- no need to regularly drink it.

My point: The "hair on fire" comments about nano plastic still hasn't been borne out by peer-reviewed scientific research. I recall on HN someone mentioned that a recent discover was that tyre dust is a large potion of micro plastics in our world.

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#597

Learning about my own mind and how to tame it. I've started realizing that I don't have much control over the external world, people or events, and only my perception of it can keep me sane or fix my mental issues. This has effectively forced me to see my relationship with my devices with more scrutiny. I've repeatedly found that digital consumption, whether it is infotainment, knowledge, or mindless Reels or Shorts,…

That's a topic close to my heart as well. I found two books helpful:

- No Self, No Problem (Chris Niebauer) - Solve For Happy (Mow Gawdat)

> Events around a romantic interest recently also made me to rethink on how to effectively control emotions and feelings. The other person can do nothing wrong, but my mind can still feel tormented by their simple actions and events that unfold.

I struggle with this as well and in addition to the two books above I suggest you look into the works of Albert Ellis.

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#598

I'm passionate about being thankful, and making sure that those I appreciate know the degree to which they matter to me.

if you wanna appreciate someone, say it to their boss or to their relatives. Much more useful than saying it to them

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#599
post #281

Small city council politics :( there's a lot of resistance against a new temporary housing project for Ukrainian refugees with many legit concerns, and some NIMBY, but also xenophobia and racism. It's tough but we've been able to start a YIMBY group and encouraging people and organisations to make public comments or send letters of support. A good few didn't dare because they feared reactions, and rightfully so, beca…

YIMBY politics is where it's at for me too. My city has a housing crisis. My best friend here got forced out by the prices. It's different from software... so slow to get things done. But also really rewarding to see housing get built and policies allowing different, more affordable kinds of housing to be built. We just re-legalized SRO's here!

That's great! There's a housing crisis here too and unfortunately the opposition to the project uses this as their main argument. Those supporting refugee housing are framed as enemies of the 'real' locals, even though the current plans are the result of trying to fit the refugee housing in such a way that it doesn't impact planned permanent housing projects.

Re: Ask HN: What are you passionate about at the moment?

#600

Running. I got the bug about 12 weeks ago. I had never ran longer than 1.5 miles continuously 12 weeks ago. Now I’m planning my next Sundays long run. 12.5ish miles. Im a heavy guy. My heaviest was 270, but I’m down to 220 now. I hated running my entire life. But I finally figured out how to run pain free and now it’s the thing I look forward to everyday. It’s also tremendously rewarding to see such rapid improvement…

Any tips for running pain free? I used to run pretty often (3-5 times per week) for 5+ miles. Longest was 11. However, my feet started hurting while running -- never while walking even long distances.

Have a look at recover athletics [1], recently bought by Strava, which allows you to specify where the pain is and they give you strength exercises to help strength surrounding areas which will put a stop to the pain.

You get pain through muscle overuse and the best way to fix it is to strengthen up. Running is pretty tough on your muscles and tendons, especially if you are not used to it, you ramp up volume too quickly, or your form isn't great.

Being stronger will help you go faster and keep going faster for longer as well.

Other quick tips:

1. If you get recurring pain then try increasing your cadence and shortening your stride length. To try target 170 steps per minute or more.

2. Run slowly. Easier said than done. Aim for a heart rate no more than 75% of your VO2max HR. You'll recover quicker in all respects and this will help to build up your aerobic capacity. You shouldnt be out of breath for most of your running.

3. If you have an anterior hip tilt then you'll get pain after a while. If you have weak glutes and core then this will happen, esp when you are tired. It will cause back pain and leg pain. Try to keep hips level - you will feel much more stable.

4. Weak glute medius will cause leg pain because you legs bow inwards during the stance phase. You see this when people knock their knees together when running. You shouldn't do this. Follow on effects are over pronation of the foot during strike as the ankle/foot needs to compensate for leg instability.

5. Weak calves might cause foot pain, especially if you keep your foot dorsiflexed during the swing phase. Try to keep feet/ankle reflaxed during swing phase. do some calf and ankle strengthening. The recover app has some good ones e.g. single legged calf raises.

Good luck!

[1] https://recoverathletics.com

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