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Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

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Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#21

Post by austin-cheney »

My hobby is self-hosting.

* I have a dedicated server at the house where I run nearly a dozen services via docker compose.

* I wrote my own audio app for playing my self hosted mp3s because everything I found on the App Store was shit. I wanted something like Winamp: a simple media player followed by a playlist of thousands of items that works equally on desktop and iPhone. https://github.com/prettydiff/mp3-master-list

* I wrote my own server management dashboard utility. There are some really good existing ones but I thought I could do better, particularly around creating new web servers and proxies in seconds. Apache and NGINX busted pissed me off when creating simple ultra fast proxies, especially around web sockets, and also did not provide a dashboard. https://github.com/prettydiff/aphorio

Because I am writing more and more of what I need I can integrate features in ways others cannot. I am trying to figure out SMS protocol right now so my custom apps can text me, and others on my private cluster, app needs or calendar appointments

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#22

Post by firefax »

Does poker count?

I'm not sure if I should have gone all in with that full house or if I'd have scared the calling station with my reputation of check raising people into a walk to the ATM.

I only won a hundred and twenty five dollars -- I don't track the tips on drinks and winning hands. (You tip even for a water, coffee, or refreshing tomato juice. You can get alcohol, but I recommend if you sit down with me for a Texas Hold 'Em, you do it with a clear head.)

I was there... about four hours?

Learned a lot, and this week anytime I want, I can have a succulent Chinese meal.

(I don't think it qualifies as an "eccentric hobby", but I like Sichuan food, and it's a shame that in many cities across America, you gotta drive a bit to get a nice cumin lamb or some mapo tofu.)

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#23

Post by bhu1st »

austin-cheney wrote: post #21

My hobby is self-hosting. * I have a dedicated server at the house where I run nearly a dozen services via docker compose. * I wrote my own audio app for playing my self hosted mp3s because everything I found on the App Store was shit. I wanted something like Winamp: a simple media player followed by a playlist of thousands of items that works equally on desktop and iPhone. https://github.com/prettydiff/mp3-master-li…

I'd like to self-host personal projects as well but haven't been able to figure out way to do it behind NAT and also on a budget hardware. Is there a way to get in touch with you and get some ideas?

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#24

Post by bhu1st »

I maintain an online playable version of a antique board game called Baghchal [1] which has origin stories about being native to Nepal since 3000 years. I actually launched this website on HN a decade ago.

1. www.baghchal.net

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#25

Post by mcsniff »

bhu1st wrote: post #23
austin-cheney wrote: post #21

My hobby is self-hosting. * I have a dedicated server at the house where I run nearly a dozen services via docker compose. * I wrote my own audio app for playing my self hosted mp3s because everything I found on the App Store was shit. I wanted something like Winamp: a simple media player followed by a playlist of thousands of items that works equally on desktop and iPhone. https://github.com/prettydiff/mp3-master-li…

I'd like to self-host personal projects as well but haven't been able to figure out way to do it behind NAT and also on a budget hardware. Is there a way to get in touch with you and get some ideas?

If you don't want to run your own VPN, there's Tailscale or CloudFlare Tunnel, both widely known and provided by reputable companies.

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#26

Post by jimnotgym »

dofm wrote: post #6

I hope you are blogging about learning the painting restoration thing; the things beginners learn through practice are every bit as valuable as the things experts know. My weird hobby as I mentioned is that I am designing cheap "art" lenses for my cameras (basically an equivalent of things like Lensbaby or the Lomography lenses) by adapting surplus optics (basic meniscus lenses and achromatic doublets) or DIY telesco…

I love your hobby, because there are so many avenues you could take it down, including as you say cnc. Don't forget that whatever you can design to 3d print you can order from China made of aluminium!

I'm not blogging at the moment. I should though as a personal record at least

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#27

Post by jimnotgym »

romanhn wrote: post #18

Here's a recent similar thread that got a lot of traction: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47654062 . I posted about my hobby of banknote collection on there, so won't repeat here.

Cool, I never saw that one at the time. It is 3 months old, and I can acquire a new hobby in that time so don't feel bad about reposting

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#28

Post by jimnotgym »

Ocerge wrote: post #8

I play Pro Drums mode on Rock Band 4 on my Roland kit. It's like...85% like real drums, which is close enough to when I just want to play along to something and turn my brain off. I'm probably top 100 or so and have been playing for about a decade now. It's a blast.

That is cool. I play guitar, and I always imagined electric drums giving you so many more options to play than acoustic ones

Re: Ask HN: Share Your Eccentric Hobby

#30

Post by jimnotgym »

preordained wrote: post #13

Astrology. I think there is something to it (and I perfectly well understand if others don't). I've been attempting some "cold" natal readings by having an LLM giving me a person who isn't outrageously famous but has a well known enough life, giving me only their birth parameters and then letting me supply a reading to compare against the details it reveals.

I can imagine that when you are born can effect your life. For instance I was born in the summer making me one of the youngest in my class through school. I read once that professional (association) footballers are much more likely to have been born sept-dec for the same reason.
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