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Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

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Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#351

Post by rcoder »

101008 wrote: post #212
Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

I never heard of bone-conduction headphones. They seem very interesting and I'd love to try them. Are they OK for calls, or only music? And also - is there any health issue I should be aware?

Just in case the word "conduction" triggered the question about health risk: in this case it just means the sound is transferred by direct contact of the resonator on the speaker with your cheekbone (well, as direct as going through the skin can be). There's no electrical signal going into your body, just vibration moving through your skull directly to the inner ear, rather than via air into the air canal.

Music is actually pretty unsatisfying at any volume above background levels in an otherwise-quiet room, since any significant bass through the conduction 'phones actually makes them jump out of contact with your head, resulting in a buzz you can feel + hear. Calls, podcasts, YT videos, etc. all work great.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#352

Post by tastyfreeze »

silicon2401 wrote: post #216
Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

> cast iron skillet Personally I think these are a waste of money unless you live in a house. Trying to season one of these smoked up our apartment for hours. Apparently we didn't do it right because it's still sticky even with oil, but there's no way we're going through the headache again until we have a house.

Animal fats are better than vegetable oils. Vegetable oils polymerize into a sticky substance. You don't really need to season a cast iron pan. Just keep it oiled, use a metal spatula, and wash after use(deglaze if needed). The metal spatula helps keep the cook surface smooth.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#353

Post by neilpanchal »

nunez wrote: post #282

The AirPods Max have been incredible for music and Zoom calls. The Tesla Model 3 is an amazing car that completely ruins all other cars for me. I can't imagine driving anything else right now. The MacBook Air M1 really does live up to the hype. You can do all-day Zooms on this thing and still have battery to spare. This was impossible on my Intel MacBook Pro. The Air is also insanely fast. It's literally the perfect…

I’m in need of an electric car that has no touchscreens or any displays whatsoever. Just knobs, buttons, toggles, dials, gauges and levers. Why do electric cars have to look like something out of fricking Tron?

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#354

Post by ww520 »

kaybe wrote: post #17

- Noise-cancelling headphones (Sony 1000X-M3) are totally saving the rest of my productivity in home office. (The bluetooth does not work with my current Linux version, but I will not update that until my work is done just in case something else stops working. It does however work with my 10-year-old Nokia phone. But hey, there is an audio cable which also works fine. The next time I will probably buy Bose, but only…

Second on the Sony 1000X-M3. Bought one on Black Friday couple years ago. It’s well worth the money.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#355

Post by dimitrios1 »

Hand woodworking tools. There are so many wonderful facebook groups and I get to go antique mall hunting. It's great. If there's something. Very satisfying and therapeutic to work. I have power tools, but there's something about the serenity of being able to hear the birds chirp while I am working on a piece of furniture.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#356

Post by ultra-jeremyx »

wccrawford wrote: post #345
ultra-jeremyx wrote: post #299

Cold climate mini-split heat pumps * I live in northern New England and used to heat exclusively with wood in the winter time. Very cozy, but hard to maintain a consistent temp throughout the house. The new cold-climate models can operate at 100% capacity down to an ambient temp of -13F outdoors. One in each bedroom, the living area, and home office makes it easy to dial in the optimal temp for the space. No more loa…

A word of warning, though: Get someone to install them that is used to installing minisplits. We didn't know the AC company we chose didn't normally do them. They told us about it, sold us on it, and then royally screwed up the installation. We had them fix it a few times, then they had to basically replace all the inside heads. And even after that, they still aren't right. Some of it is simple incompetence, but some…

We went the Mitsubishi units (I see these and Fuji everywhere) and a certified installer. They add two years to the warranty if you have one of their certified installers do the work. I have high confidence in Mitsubishi being around to honor the warranty.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#357

Post by k__ »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #48

Oculus Quest 2 - despite the whole Facebook thing, coupling it with awesome games and experiences, it saved me from going mental during the autumn-winter-spring lockdown in Europe combined with the depressing weather of that time. Worth its weight in gold for that. Roborock Robovac - also worth its weight in gold since the whole lockdown WFH turned my apartment into a permanent office, kitchen, cinema and gym, the fl…

Any Quest game recommendations?

I have one, but I barely use it right now.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#359

Post by koolba »

Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

> I hate getting new kitchenware and then worrying about breaking it or getting it all stained.

Cast iron is awesome but I now have the reverse problem, constant fear I’m going to crack my counter top.

Re: Ask HN: Favorite purchases of last two years?

#360

Post by MediumD »

alanbernstein wrote: post #339
Jakobeha wrote: post #128

Material goods: Ear plugs (silicone). Don't waste your money on noise-cancelling headphones, I have $200 ones and they don't compare to simple ear plugs. If you live in a moderately noisy area and you want peace and quiet, get them. They basically just make everything quiet. 24 from CVS = $10. OpenMove by Aftershokz - Bone-conduction headphones. Perfect for running and just good for listening to music. They work, the…

I used to think noise-cancelling headphones were a gimmick. I'm also pretty indifferent to audio quality, so I never expected to buy expensive headphones. But I had an opportunity to try out one of the best options available right now, and the noise cancelling performance blew me away. With the closed-back cups sealing over my ears, and the noise cancelling active, I can only just hear normal-volume conversation next…

Which headphone did you try? That sounds amazing
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