101–110 of 165 posts
I'm getting into woodwork. I just bought a vice made in the 1940s, the same one my grandfather used. It's finished. As are my chisels, and my cast iron cookware. It's definitely refreshing.
I realize the purpose of the essay, and I agree with the author's sentiment that our possessions ask more of us than is necessary, and more than ever before. But I disagree that any object is finished . That Casio that the author mentions, yes it goes 7 years without a battery change, but the day the battery dies will be the day that you have to buy a new battery, figure out how to open it, and change it. Or (as many…
It has a thriving hacker community built around it. You can get a new arm motherboard with a breakout for a sensor board. Sensorwatch have released a temperature sensor and an accelerometer.
Plus it is loud! But there is another mod I saw to make it quieter.
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Newer stuff is more efficient. For example washers and dryers have a direct drive technology with gears that help it use less power and maybe even less water.
I don't think efficiency matters at all for washers, as they are a rounding error in terms of water usage. Most water is for agriculture, not domestic consumption.[1] The main issues for appliances are reliability and ease of repair. Newer machines have more electronics and software, making them worse in both respects. 1. https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/11/california-water-you-d...
However ... when you move from the biggest picture view (in this case either state or regional water use patterns) and instead focus on a smaller, local one (e.g. the well(s) that tap into a single aquifer for all the 250 people who live here), a different story emerges.
The story: the low-water appliances may make no difference at the state/regional level, but they may keep our aquifer within its normal range during a 23 year and counting drought. That is, while our residential water usage is swamped by the ranches down the road growing alfalfa for their animals, it is still relevant to the state of our aquifer, and reducing that usage by 30-50% (as has been the case over the last 30 years or so) may play a significant role in not overdrawing the aquifer.
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> Turn off every notification that isn’t actionable or joyful to you. I have notifications on for Uber Eats because I want updates when I order a food delivery. Of course, the app takes this opportunity to randomly (though infrequently) send me ad notifications during the other 98% of the time. Just this past week I've seen notifications for getting my Easter shopping done, and something for "National Burrito Day" wh…
I solve that in a hilarious way: by uninstalling the app when I’m not using it. Works perfectly, other than some slight sign-in friction, for e.g. airlines, Uber/Etsy, and so on. But I’d rather suffer through logging in with a saved password than receive notification spam — I can respect that others prefer the opposite way.
Ha, I do the same thing!
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[Buzzkill] for android lets you completely control if you get specific notifications at all or with sound etc. I bunch up noisy text threads in once-a-day chunks, silence all notifications not about/from nuclear family from sleep to wake, etc. It really made me appreciate that, when I have to have my phone, notifications are like an extra obnoxious form of e-mail with all of its problems. [Buzzkill] gives me the phon…
The filtering looks fairly powerful, but I wonder if I could have it hide notifications from apps that I haven't interacted with in 24 hours. I would do that for ALL of the delivery and transportation apps.
I realize the purpose of the essay, and I agree with the author's sentiment that our possessions ask more of us than is necessary, and more than ever before. But I disagree that any object is finished . That Casio that the author mentions, yes it goes 7 years without a battery change, but the day the battery dies will be the day that you have to buy a new battery, figure out how to open it, and change it. Or (as many…
Infact if you hate it, buy a new casio every 4 weeks... it is cheaper than Apple Care.
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It can also make sense to buy old/used versions of consumer products. For example: My parents have a washer & dryer from the mid 90s. They occasionally get a new belt, but besides that there's not much that can go wrong with them. If you're looking at buying used stuff, it's important to research common failures for that specific product and what can be done to fix them. As long as it's popular enough that parts stil…
Newer stuff is more efficient. For example washers and dryers have a direct drive technology with gears that help it use less power and maybe even less water.
FWIW, the same applies to most building replacements. Yes, the newer buildings use less energy, but the savings doesn't pay for the cost of replacing an old one.
[0] https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/sensor-wa...
[1] https://www.crowdsupply.com/oddly-specific-objects/sensor-wa...
There's a great essay hiding in that page, but oh my goodness that is a frustrating format and layout.
prefers-reduced-motion == 1 quiets that nonsense in a lot of cases, but many sites don't respect it. I wish this gratuitous animation fad would just die already. It adds nothing.
I really don't understand why people want intentional lag added to everything.