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Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#211

Post by dublinben »

criddell wrote: post #95
gordon_freeman wrote: post #35

Libby - I used to buy so many Kindle books and had an expensive Audible subscription a year ago but all that stopped when I discovered Libby. I can read ebooks and audiobooks right in the app using my local public library card for free and the entire UX of the app is just beyond awesome. I can now read/listen to 5-7 books a month using Libby.

Does this work with the eink Kindles?

The e-ink eReaders from Kobo have an integration with Overdrive, which is by the same company as Libby. Kindles are designed to sell you more books from Amazon.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#213

Post by sergiomattei »

nickthemagicman wrote: post #206
sergiomattei wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

God, I've low-key been wanting to adopt a husky...

Huskys are awesome. I see them at the dog park. They're gorgeous dogs and have a ton of personality. I don't know if I would get one if I lived in a tropical climate though. Like the southern U.S. states. West Coast or New England...hell yes!

I've read they adapt okay to tropical climates!

I live in PR and I know quite a couple husky owners, the key according to them is to just try to keep them hydrated, cool and off hot pavement.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#214

Post by cupcake-unicorn »

jimmygrapes wrote: post #184
cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was interested in a Waterpik but I thought it would be too difficult to maintain. I found out about both a toothbrush and an oral irrigator that you hook up to your shower which are really cool. There are also some tricks for oral hygiene that you don't get traditionally or when you go to the store for toothpaste. You can try putting a drop of Dragon's Blood on the toothbrush or brush with a bit of ozonated oil to…

Alright I'll bite, what brand does both? And more importantly, what in the world is Dragon Blood in this context?

Croton lechleri! It's been used traditionally for a lot of stuff and the active constituent is in an orphan drug to help GI issues with cancer. It helps wounds of all sorts and gum issues.

You can find the oral irrigator/toothbrush combos for looking for faucet oral irrigator on amazon. Maybe I'd misremembered the shower ones that are harder to find for the combos of both, but they're easy enough to find for a faucet adapter.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#215

Post by nickthemagicman »

sergiomattei wrote: post #213
nickthemagicman wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huskys are awesome. I see them at the dog park. They're gorgeous dogs and have a ton of personality. I don't know if I would get one if I lived in a tropical climate though. Like the southern U.S. states. West Coast or New England...hell yes!

I've read they adapt okay to tropical climates! I live in PR and I know quite a couple husky owners, the key according to them is to just try to keep them hydrated, cool and off hot pavement.

Yeah I live in Louisiana in southern U.S. and see tons of huskies at the dog park and they're playing as hard as the other dogs and seem very happy so they're probably fine!

I read the double coat protects from the cold AND the heat.

I shave my Aussies top coat every spring just for posterity and he does fine in the summer.

You should get one! Huskys are totally zany wonderful critters!

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#216

Post by mikecarlton »

noahjk wrote: post #88
bxparks wrote: post #71

A Fujitsu S1500 ScanSnap, dual-sided, document scanner (now discontinued, replacement might be the iX1600). Completely changed how I manage my personal documents (e.g. financial, invoices, receipts, product manuals, medical info, business docs, recreation and hobby stuff, etc). Anything remotely important, I scan to PDF, which triggers automatic OCR that is reasonably accurate, then I upload the PDF to Google Drive,…

Does anyone have a suggestion for a dual-sided feed scanner like this which can be used to semi-automate document scanning and which is not discontinued? I've been thinking about this for a while but I don't know enough about the market

I really like https://www.brother-usa.com/products/ads1700w -- scans and OCRs docs lightning fast. Has great Mac support.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#217

Post by Yes2020 »

Bolt-on forks and trailer ball receiver for front loader bucket. I use these just about everyday, to lift, move, and position stuff. Would not be able to live where I live at my age without them.

Wood door shim to scrape food cooked onto pans. Free and gets off stuff scrubbies won't, without scratching the s** out of a pan using a metal one. Saves ruining wooden spoons doing the same thing.

Battery powered, brushless motor chain saw: i'm worn out before using up two lithium batteries, and get a lot more done with not expending energy pulling on a 2 cycle engine. Same for weedwacker, brush cutter and pole saw. Keep it sharp, works fine for this semi retired farmer, even after sitting idle all winter.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#218

Post by ja27 »

jareklupinski wrote: post #113
banana_giraffe wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Varying length of phone charging cables For me it's Varying lengths of USB-C charging cables, and a bunch of USB-C -> Micro and USB-C -> Lightning adapters so no more looking for the right cable.

I remember buying two of these https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12016 thinking I would never need to buy another cable/adapter ever again ha

I have some with Apple 30-pin, micro-USB, and mini-USB.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#219

Post by strix_varius »

criddell wrote: post #95
gordon_freeman wrote: post #35

Libby - I used to buy so many Kindle books and had an expensive Audible subscription a year ago but all that stopped when I discovered Libby. I can read ebooks and audiobooks right in the app using my local public library card for free and the entire UX of the app is just beyond awesome. I can now read/listen to 5-7 books a month using Libby.

Does this work with the eink Kindles?

Yes. You check out a book in Libby and tap “read with kindle.” Then it shows up in your kindle library like any other book.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#220

Post by brutus1213 »

arkg98 wrote: post #15
theogravity wrote: post #3

A dedicated tool created to cut through cardboard boxes, roughly $20-30. When you have gigantic boxes to break down, using a straightedge or knife isn't going to "cut" it. Saves a LOT of time for me as it's significantly faster to use. Using cooking vinegar in place of liquid softener in the clothes washer to remove moldy / gym sock smell from the drum and clothes. Only need to apply once every few washes and is less…

Can you share the name of the tool for cardboard boxes? I would love to buy, I've damaged many surfaces trying to cut down a box using a box cutter.

I got one too and love it. CANARY Corrugated Cardboard Cutter from Amazon.
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