Foot hammock for my desk. $20 well spent. If you don't have one you're missing out.
You can find them on Amazon. Doesn't matter which vendor, they're all the same. Fits most desks.
Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
641–650 of 1001 posts
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#642A boxing heavybag.
The best stress reliever imaginable.
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#643reMarkable 2 e-ink tablet: I was on the fence for a long time on this, but I've been using it almost daily for 4 months now, and I absolutely love it. The logical part of my brain thinks it's quite pricey compared to an ipad or rocket book (what I used before), but I love having something that is so close to actual pen and paper that never runs out of space and is easy to sync to a computer.
Mine's already in my dead tech drawer. It's just not the same as a fountain pen on good heavyweight paper for writing, and its lack of any backlight makes it suboptimal for reading. I so badly wanted to love it, too, after waiting nearly a year for my preorder to arrive. I'm glad you like yours, though!
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#644Cold climate mini-split heat pumps * I live in northern New England and used to heat exclusively with wood in the winter time. Very cozy, but hard to maintain a consistent temp throughout the house. The new cold-climate models can operate at 100% capacity down to an ambient temp of -13F outdoors. One in each bedroom, the living area, and home office makes it easy to dial in the optimal temp for the space. No more loa…
Whole-house centralized variable speed heat-pump with zones is actually the most efficient way to heat/cool your home. Also better at circulating air, filtering, dehumidifying, etc.
HVAC companies push multiple mini-splits these days because they're faster to install, and have better margins, even though they're technically not the best solution versus centralized air.
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#645Oculus Quest 2 - despite the whole Facebook thing, coupling it with awesome games and experiences, it saved me from going mental during the autumn-winter-spring lockdown in Europe combined with the depressing weather of that time. Worth its weight in gold for that. Roborock Robovac - also worth its weight in gold since the whole lockdown WFH turned my apartment into a permanent office, kitchen, cinema and gym, the fl…
Any Quest game recommendations? I have one, but I barely use it right now.
Pistol Whip and Crisis Vrigade are fun shooters that get you moving. Crisis VRigade in particular will have you do LOTS of squats, it's also hard as hell (I've played for hours and still haven't beaten the first 6 minute level on easy difficulty).
For a less physical game, I'm really enjoying Control Tower VR. If you remember when early touch screen games started coming out, there was a whole genre where you used the touch screen to fly planes around and safely land them at an airport without crashing into each other. Control Tower VR is like that, but in 3D. It isn't super polished, but the gameplay loop is fun enough that I don't mind.
If you're tethering to a computer or using something like Virtual Desktop, Half Life: Alyx and American Truck Simulator are both fun a lot of fun. ATS is great if you just want to put on a podcast and zone out, without having to worry about crashing your real car when you zone out too much.
Also seconding the recommendations here for Superhot. That's the game that convinced me that VR was the real deal.
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#646OP-Z as well as a few other teenage engineering devices. Never ending musical fun. Learning curves such that you'll never get bored. Also an OB-4, lots of people say it's an over priced toy, it's not.. it. sounds. Incredible. Incredible! I love Teenage Engineering. Also my Wabi bike, if you're into bikes, get a Wabi (trust me). It's an extremely well thought about bike, the geometry is perfectly between track and roa…
TE hit the nail on the head with their designs, don't quite know what's about them that makes them so fun. On the contrary, my serious musician friends have little appreciation for their products, gave some PO as gifts and they've been gathering dust since.
Amusing about your musician friends, I've had similar experiences. I think it's one of those things where you give it to James Murphy and he loves it and played with it every day, you give it to Stephen Hough he'll roll his eyes and never touches it.
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#647A very basic but effective home gym: A barbell and 140kg of bumper plates, Squat/bench stands, bench, slam ball, dumbbells and a small range of kettlebells. The whole thing cost about the equivalent of a year's gym membership but have lasted two years so far and show no sign of wear.
Being able to lift something heavy on a regular basis over the last year has been a massive boost for my mental and physical health. You don't need expensive gear, some of my best workouts are from a metal bar wedged over a loft hatch, you just need to have something and use it.
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#648Instant pot. This thing is magical, everything taste so fucking good in it. I bought a crockpot and never used it, but the instant pot was a game changer for me: ramen, couscous, stews, etc. The meat tastes so good when cooked there, vegetables are the same.
Yes! It’s also brilliant for stocks. You can make a deep rich chicken stock or beef bone broth in 2 - 3 hours instead of all day, and using lots less energy.
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#649reMarkable 2. I was looking for a sketching and note taking tool and got a decent eBook reader as a bonus. The UX is very nice and distraction-free. It works surprisingly well for drawing as well. My only complaint is the lack of Linux support for the app that allows mirroring the screen to a computer. Would be really cool for sketching stuff during online meetings.
You can mirror to Linux using rmview! I've used this for Zoom whiteboarding a few times already, and it works really well. It has a configurable "laser pointer" that appears when you hover the pen slightly off the screen, and you can rotate the mirrored window in any orientation if you prefer to go landscape.
Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?
#650My best purchase was the Onewheel XR. Easy, fun, convenient transportation. Electric powered to reduce my carbon footprint, as I now get around town without my car unless I'm transporting more than I can carry in one hand. One year later and I still love it and use it every day for both commuting and recreational trail riding.