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Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

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Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#171

Post by gritspants »

swalberg wrote: post #157
gritspants wrote: post #66

I'm big into anti tech/work related activities. It reminds me that no matter how much I know, or think I know, that I have so much more to learn. I got into scuba diving while living in NC, and it just happens that there's a lot of it off the coast! The other problem is that it's deep. Diving down to 130 feet sounds cool until you experience hours on a boat only to get a few minutes at the bottom. Eventually I got bo…

GUE Fundies is on my bucket list. I don't think I'd be interested in cave diving or deep stuff where I need helium, but the level of skill that tech divers show is something I want to be able to do.

Do fundies! We all failed, initially. We had a blast bunking up and spending days in the water though.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#172

Post by genewitch »

vectordust wrote: post #46

Despite AI starting to crowd this space, I've been spending all of my free time learning music production (doing it the old fashion way without AI). It's a great mix of technical and creative problem solving. Mostly focusing on dark ambient/cinematic composition, playing around hardware synths (Prophet 6, Subsequent 37, modular / eurorack, Digitone II). If anyone is curious, I put out a single recently (remaster from…

you know the OP has "ion" and "dust" in the middle so this was hard to find.

I normally can't stand ambient, but you went a different direction in the middle there. You should put out an album, that probably no one will buy, but maybe eventually you get asked to do soundtracks for things.

anyhow, i used to write music. a lot. sometimes you just have to get it out of your skull... https://soundcloud.com/djoutcold/valley-boulevard-0237

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#174

Post by ryandrake »

If you like to work with your hands and have space, build something physical: big and complex, and actually finish it. I built a single engine two seat kit airplane in my garage, did all the flight testing, and now have an interesting way to travel/commute as a result. The "finish it" part is the most important bit. Computer people spend too much time working on projects that don't have a "done" state. Change that up.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#175

Post by dansmith1919 »

achenatx wrote: post #135

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

Oh damn, I love this one. I’ve been vibe coding a ‘public benefit’ app on the side that has a few hundred users but never thought of doing something for an actual non-profit.

Care to elaborate on your process? Curious how you approach them and come up with the best path forward with limited time (assuming you have a full time job as well on the side). Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#176

Post by hyperific »

Get your Part 107 federal drone license and volunteer for your local fire department or search and rescue. When the FD responds to structure fires they sometimes have to go up on the roof to cut an air hole. This allows oxygen into the building which helps prevent backdrafts. A FLIR equipped drone can help direct the hole cutter around hotspots on the roof. If your local fire department has a drone, it might not have the staff to be able to use it on calls.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#177

Post by csallen »

shivekkhurana wrote: post #54
ribs wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to hear more

Fast fashion forces you to dress for the masses. Loose shirts, baggy pants and shallow pockets is not fashion, its cost optimisation for brands. I didn't want to dress up like a boy. Me and my friend were in Paris when we got inspired by the floor(fashion_sense). I was already working on my clothing, but that day we promised each other that we will not be underdressed anymore. He opted for off-the-shelf formal clothi…

Have you shared any photos online? Id love to see

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#178

Post by DeltaCoast »

Skidaddle wrote: post #155

I’ve started making what I “joy machines” that I am putting up in or near my neighborhood. They’re some combination of public interactive art (e.g. push a button and it prints out a compliment) and little art on display that I design and 3D print for people to take.

Very cool! Any links to posts about some of them?

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#179

Post by afc »

I got into designing my own knitting patterns. I enjoy that I can customize everything — the yarn material, color (including marling, helix knitting, double knitting), yarn weight, needle size (e.g., resulting in "airy" vs "packed" textures), knit textures (e.g., stockinette, linen, miss, etc.), construction process (e.g., can I figure out a way to knit in the round vs flat?), cables, gradual increases/decreases, selvedge/cord, desired ease, etc..

I wrote software to generate patterns given configurations and keep track of which row I'm on. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40307089

I am sharing some of my patterns here: https://alejo.ch/2s0

I'm currently working on my second ruana.

Re: Ask HN: Any interesting niche hobbies?

#180

Post by __fst__ »

edu wrote: post #129

I’ve recently started making bread, at the moment still with fresh or bakers yeast and planning to grow my own sourdough. It’s not very niche, but as a hobby it’s pretty fulfilling. It allows for a lot of play, and you end with something tasty. Also, makes for a great small gift for friends and family.

My wife got a square cast iron dutch oven that she bakes bread in. The breads have this nice crust and soft texture inside. To die for.
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