Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#11

Post by georgespencer » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:01 PM UTC

A few years ago I wrote something which went out and grabbed the top articles from the BBC, Guardian, Economist, Telegraph, and front page of HN and sent them to my Instapaper so I'd have stuff for my commute.

I'd love an app with a bunch of my feeds / socials plugged in which would then load up with content for my commute (which is offline/underground for large portions).

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#12

Post by jerkstate » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:01 PM UTC

I automated complaining once a month to the local water utility about a persistent puddle in the street in front of my home, caused by a leak.

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#13

Post by egamirorrim » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:02 PM UTC

I use www.freshfitnessfood.com to supply food for me, preparing your own meals is for losers! A guy creeps up to my house every morning and drops off delicious and healthy breakfast/lunch/dinner (not a paid advertiser i promise, ha!)

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#14

Post by phowat » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:03 PM UTC

I go to a crossfit gym where you have to "check in" for a spot in your desired class using their app. Sometimes these spots fill up fairly quickly so I automated that. I'm also in the process of making a web interface for my script so all my friends can use it and we are able to attend the same classes.

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#15

Post by NoNotTheDuo » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:03 PM UTC

Odenwaelder wrote: post #10

hellothere007 wrote: post #5

I had a cron job that sends automatically a text to my wife each morning along with a joke, she's in another country so is something I did to keep the communication open

You automated a part of your relationship. This is awesome!

Reminds me of this reddit user that automated 'liking' his girlfriend's Instagram posts: https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/70udwq/what_routine...

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#16

Post by burkemw3 » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:03 PM UTC

georgespencer wrote: post #11

A few years ago I wrote something which went out and grabbed the top articles from the BBC, Guardian, Economist, Telegraph, and front page of HN and sent them to my Instapaper so I'd have stuff for my commute. I'd love an app with a bunch of my feeds / socials plugged in which would then load up with content for my commute (which is offline/underground for large portions).

I've used ifttt monitoring rss feeds and pushing articles to Pocket for offline reading

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#17

Post by richardknop » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:03 PM UTC

Laundry. Just put your dirty clothes into a plastic bag and take them to dry cleaners. Pick up washed and ironed the next day. A huge time savings well worth the cost of service. Also no need to own washing machine, dryer, ironing board etc.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, this was a bad example of automation. Please don’t downvote me!

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#18

Post by lazerpants » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:05 PM UTC

richardknop wrote: post #17

Laundry. Just put your dirty clothes into a plastic bag and take them to dry cleaners. Pick up washed and ironed the next day. A huge time savings well worth the cost of service. Also no need to own washing machine, dryer, ironing board etc. EDIT: Now that I think about it, this was a bad example of automation. Please don’t downvote me!

This is the norm in NYC if you have a job and no washing machine. However, our wash and fold did screw up my clothes more often than I find acceptable.

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#19

Post by notfromhere » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:06 PM UTC

richardknop wrote: post #17

Laundry. Just put your dirty clothes into a plastic bag and take them to dry cleaners. Pick up washed and ironed the next day. A huge time savings well worth the cost of service. Also no need to own washing machine, dryer, ironing board etc. EDIT: Now that I think about it, this was a bad example of automation. Please don’t downvote me!

thats outsourcing, not automating

Re: Ask HN: What non-work task have you automated?

#20

Post by ccpizz » Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 6:06 PM UTC

I have a cron job which scrapes a bunch of pages and sends me the results to a telegram chat. That includes checking fb messages (because I'm never gonna install the fb app or messenger on my phone), checking for upcoming public holidays, checking when bitcoin goes above/below preset thresholds.