Create custom software for non profits is pretty rewarding. They cant afford anything and have process flow needs that are completely unmet. The software wont be sexy, but will help the non profits and the people they serve
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Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
331–340 of 769 posts
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#332I got into HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) fencing last year through a club in my little town. Olympic/sport fencing is fun, but imagine (safely) swinging a 4lbs. steel longsword with two hands at your opponent instead. It's a ton of fun, a great workout (I burn ~1500 calories per class), and competitive so it keeps my interest. Then there's the whole nerd layer of reading all the original sources from the 15…
HEMA looks much more interesting than olympic style fencing.
Olympic style fencing is pretty interesting too, to be fair. Physical Chess
Also it's less... scary? At least you'll get less scary-looking bruises (though probably more total number of bruises)
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#333Flying sailplanes/gliders. Once you get good at it, you can fly hundreds of miles (or more) by understanding the weather and figuring out where the air is going up. Lots of opportunities to nerd out. Aerodynamics, weather forecasting, remote sensing, in-flight user interfaces, strategy, communications, and also just satisfying to figure out how to coax the atmosphere to get you somewhere for free.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#334I build weird experimental instruments and then play them at the local electronic music open mic nights. My main instrument is the electroduochord, a stereo two-stringed instrument played with a drone motor rotary magnetic bow. https://youtu.be/G1ftvw-Y6pk I've also hooked up audio jacks to small solar panels to convert vibrations in light into sound. https://youtu.be/ZF2Rn5YfBC8 Now I'm working on cybernetic drummin…
Really dig the sound of the first one, though all of these are really cool.
Thanks! I have some albums that were made using the electroduochord.
This one was created autonomously using a feedback algorithm controlling the speed of the rotary magnetic bow. https://stefanpowell.bandcamp.com/album/autonomous-drone-lul...
It's an album meant for falling asleep.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#335Fishing. But not just regular fishing, life listing. I catalogue and detail ever fish I catch; the conditions, the type of lure or bait, the rod etc. From there you can get into microfishing with tanago rods, surf fishing etc. It's can get quite deep and a good additional hobby for people who love to travel.
I fish for salmon. In my part of the UK it has become very niche due to the scarcity. I joined clubs and never went, but now I'm in a syndicate where I fish one Saturday per month for the season, and never miss it. I'm years in and still never got one into the net! Fishing for migratory fish that don't feed once they are in the river is mad. On my fishing days I don't think of anything else
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#336I got into fig (and since then, more broadly, fruit) cultivation. Figs have a rich history, lots of variety, and there are very active online (and in-person) communities where you can buy or exchange plants and cuttings, advice, and fruit. This grew out of an initial interest in gardening, and the long-term goal is to create a food/fruit forest around our house where me, family, friends, and neighbors can walk around…
You've probably already discovered this, but in case you haven't: watch out for the black raspberries if they're in the ground. They spread at an astronomical rate and are practically unkillable after they're established.
OTOH, they are delicious.
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#337[dead]
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#338Artisan pizzas!
Local food bank
Clothing give—a-way for homeless (organized)
Toastmaster public speaking
Organized a youth chess club (great)
Lock picking
Teaching calculus, physics
Exercise at the gym
Helping a homeless guy get organized
Nature hikes in groups
Dancing
Spanish lessons
Chess puzzles
Chess lessons
Cooking
Making past
Home improvement
Detail your messy car
Take an auto class
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#339My hobby is organizing in-person meetups for random people to get together, chat and make friends. Barely structured, if at all. I've found this rewarding and ended up making friends this way. You have to accept that 5-15% of the people who would show up to something like this are genuine weirdos you probably don't want to be around. And another 10% at any given meetup are autistic or neuro-divergent but well-meaning…
I use Blood on the Clocktower to do this, it's a social deduction game (that's just not randomly accusing each other) so it gets everyone talking easily
the one and only meetup i ever went to (that wasn't something vaguely work-related) was a Werewolf meetup (the game). It actually wasn't very social, but it was a bunch of people who were really into Werewolf. Which, really, was what it was meant to be (and it was fun, because i love to play Werewolf)
Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?
#340There's a surprisingly high number of people in my extended social circle who picked up archery as a sport. It's actually a complex discipline with a huge range of bows and projectiles to choose from, each having unique characteristics you have to train for. Training using VR equipment is picking up steam, as typically you need a sizeable amount of real estate to practice when the weather is bad.
> Training using VR equipment is picking up steam, as typically you need a sizeable amount of real estate to practice when the weather is bad.
I always wondered, how does that work?
Over in bullseye rifle we live and breathe dryfire (no ammo), but I understand the equivalent (no arrow) with a bow is a recipe for breaking the bow.
Like my brain just cannot comprehend how to get enough reps to get good enough at a thing without being able to do dryfire at the volume we do for rifle.