GPS was life-changing. (Yes, I am that old.) It used to be necessary to find printed maps of wherever you were going, which wasn’t always easy. Then you had to figure out a route. The hardest part was often the last bit of the trip, since you weren’t likely to have a detailed map of your destination city. An if you got lost, figuring out where you were was sometimes quite difficult.
People tend to think of it as mostly affecting longer trips, but finding new addresses in a city was at least as much of an issue. When I lived in the bay area I had a Thomas guide that was 3/4" of an inch thick, just for finding my way around town.
I worked as a delivery driver before GPS.
If you think looking at your phone while driving is dangerous, we were looking at a folding paper map.
I also had most streets in a major metropolitan area memorized.
But more times than I can count I navigated by the sun or the north star until I was back in an area I recognized.I gather that to get a London cab license you have to pass a test that requires you to know pretty much every street, alley, and major building in the city. I can’t imagine how long it would take to get all of that into your head.
My first “GPS trip” was using Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 on DVD-ROM with USB GPS adapter, with my WinXP laptop in the front seat powered by a 12v inverter from Radio Shack.
A buddy of mine was still doing this in 2015
3-5 minutes to catch a signal. Ahhh, those were the
goodold days.
MapQuest ftw! Did so many car trips that way.
First time I ever saw in-car GPS was arrive 2003 when I was hitchhiking in Japan. Heading the car just give directions was mind-blowing; it was like being in a William Gibson novel.
GPS and navigation was a life changing thing for me as I am, how shall I put it, geographically challenged.
Give me the option of turning left or right and I will constantly choose wrong. I tested this with my family, who thought I was being dramatic and hyperbolic, and they witnessed my failures in all glory. Since then I am no longer allowed to ‘just wing it’ when we are on route…
This. Going from pace notes to GPS navigation for delivery was a big improvement. Then going from laptop in the seat to in-dash nav (chinese head unit contoured to fit the car) was the next level. Now, we have android auto/apple carplay, the final evolution. AI voice command is so much better than trying to type on a touchscreen while driving
Bidet. Not even the fancy ones. Like the cheap ones that are no more than $20-30. Every poop, I’ve got a squeaky clean butthole.
Totally agree; I hate pooping without it. Though I did upgrade a while back from a $20-30 one to this: https://luxebidet.com/pages/neo-185-plus-highlights
I took the old one off to really clean it and that sold me on this new flip up one.
I clicked on this thinking it was going to be a link to one of the $200+ electric models, but this is actually a relatively inexpensive upgrade I can get behind (pun?) It looks like it’s a lot easier to keep clean. Thanks for this.
I got a couple of these about two years ago. They work great and we’ve had no trouble with them. 10/10
I’ve been using simple cold water models for over 10 years now. But I really like this upgrade in design. Same basic simplicity, but it looks a lot easier to keep clean.
Used one for the first time recently. Seriously considering getting one of my own.
Bought a dishwasher.
Life changing improvement. Don’t be afraid to use the pots and pans setting for everything.
You don’t need fancy soap and remember to top up the rinse aid.
(Also every 6 months run a special cleaner through it)
A countertop water boiler, I have one of the Zojirushi 4 liter units. It turns out I drink 3/4 of a gallon of tea or so per day. So not having to boil a kettle for every round is oddly luxurious.
I usually microwave a mug for 1.5 minutes, but this could also be nice
What?
And they are super efficient, and insulated. If you have the counter space it’s a good kitchen tool.
Maybe I’m just tired, but I’m struggling to think of other uses in the kitchen beyond just a warm beverage? Maybe for instant noodles or warming a bottle?
Steam deck finally got me working through my steam backlog again.
Might have played everything before I die now
Is it as good as they say? I really want one
Yes!
The Steam Deck often feels criminal to me.
I used to be into game console hacking, and because you were going outside the walled garden, everything was always unstable and your butthole would clench every time you did something new.
Then there’s the Deck, which is just. Not a walled garden. It’s a full computer that doesn’t antfuck over what you do with it. I’m finally playing a bunch of titles from my Steam Library, yes, and it IS neat that Steam Cloud synchs stuff back to my PC so I can alternate between machines effortlessly.
But I also have mods on my games. And I have a bunch of tiny games like fangames and one-person indie titles from itch on it. And I ALSO have all my emulation stuff on it. AND sometimes when out travelling I don’t take a laptop, just the deck and a keyboard/adapter.
And a part of me looks at it with its comfy console form factor and says “… This shouldn’t be allowed. It’s too good to be true.”
Aw man I’m definitely going to get one, this sounds like a dream
I don’t use mine super often but every time I do I’m glad I have it. It’s a very nifty machine, and you’ll find excuses to use it.
Lighting system as a wake up tool.
Have now been using a light or lighting system as a morning wake up for over 15 years. It’s life changing.
Lights start off dim and red/orange, and brighten very slowly to warm white. Works every time.
I wake up without the jolt of an alarm at home.
In fact - automated lighting in general - just so good.
What one do you use? I tried this but the one I bought even the dimmest setting wakes me up when it comes on.
Phillips Hue, 800 lumen colour bulbs. We have three in our bedroom.
It also depends on how they’re controlled. We do most of our control through HomeBridge/HomeKit but for wake-ups we’ve continued to use the Hue app-configured automations as the soft-on and ramp up are the most gentle.
We were using a dedicated Phillips light alarm clock before the automated lights.
Similar, but lighting system as a sleep tool. Lights start off warm white and slowly dim to amber / red, then off at the push of a button every night.
Same here - it just started as wake up. :)
As a nightshift worker, using lights to wake up is a strange concept…
Wireless ear buds.
I was pretty adamant that I was absolutely never going to get any, preferring wired and really looking for a phone that still had the jack. Then when new phone time came, I ended up having to choose between a micro sd card slot and the headphone jack. I tried for a bit with a USB-C to headphone adapter but ended up seeing some ear buds on sale and giving them a shot.
They last way longer than I expected, and the carrying case as the charger means I hardly need to worry about keeping another device charged. The freedom of not having the cord is really nice, especially when going for a bike ride or jog. I upgraded to a pair with a little over-the-ear hook and use them probably 10hrs a day every day they are great
I still have a 5 year old Jabra Elite Active 65t that is still trucking. I had a few glitches starting a year ago like the right earbud dropping in volume or it being stuck in a hung mode where they had to be completely depleted over a few weeks to reset them, they wouldn’t even charge.
However, they still work fine and are super convenient with hear-through for office work compared to wired IEMs way better for all fitness activities too, just not as good for really listening to music.
Battery life is still 3-4 hours after 5 years not including the case recharge (the case battery has degraded significantly more than the earbuds themselves, probably due to the high quality VARTA cells in the earbuds)
I am going to wear them into the ground, but jabra is doing a stock sellout before their new version of buds come out, so I bought the €140 Jabra Elite 4s for €60 for when these bite the dust, but they seem to be going strong still.
Constant Glucose Monitors compared to the archaic finger stick monitors was like getting a blow job after spending a lifetime hacking it with sandpaper.
Setting up my own NAS and offside backup.
Big project for sure, but being in control of my vital backups was important for me. Additionally the up front costs is lower than the subscriptions I would have needed.
offside
Bone apple tea!
Off-site *
Which build you got? What technology for the backup?
I built my own. Proxmox with OMV on top. I use ZFS1 for the nas and ZFS2 for the back up
A raspberry pi.
Installed Pihole on it and now get almost no ads on all devices at home.
induction cooktop? I’d say dishwasher but that’s probably more plumbing and pumps than “technology”.
With all the other gadgets, I’m not so sure. I’ve had computers, laptops, phones for ages. Of course my first everything back in the 90s or 00s was a big thing. But since then it’s just the newest generation, a bit faster and with more extras, but noting substancially different.
Induction cooktop is a game changer. Water boils even faster than with gas, you have much more precise control over temperature, and you can still handle the metal cookware while it’s on the heat. Absolutely love it.
I have an induction cooktop as well and I do have one complaint about it. It uses capacitive touch to adjust the temperature instead of a knob so I spend far too long tapping it buttons to get the temperature set right whereas with a knob I could have just turned the knob.
Yeah, I agree. I don’t like touch buttons on devices like this either. Fortunately mine has temperature control knobs, but all the other buttons are capacitive. Still worth it imo, but definitely annoying.
Sure. I don’t know why they design most of them like that… I really can’t be bothered to tap nine times to turn it on. I went to quite some stores and decided on one with two capacitive slider fields. That’s perfectly fine. I just tap somewhere at that slider and it’ll be 1-9 (boost) depending on how far left or right I touch it. Or I swipe. Main thing being, it just takes one tap. Except if I use more than 2 pans, then I have to choose which plate the sliders apply to. Yeah and it’s still the same inconvenience as with every capacitive control field and you can’t place a box of pizzas or anything wet or metal on top of the controls or it’ll complain and start beeping. I learned to place things behind the controls, but guests regularly get scolded by the cooktop.
I’m… Skeptical. Mostly because I have a lot of cast iron and love it, and I’m not sure how well they’d work with induction burners. And also because I want to get a wok burner (yeah, the 100k+ BTU monstrosities) for doing stir-fry, and I’m not sure that the realistically affordable induction wok burners are going to manage that.
cast iron is pretty much perfect for induction.
for the wok: try it. Technology Connections did a video about them recently.
Basically: They should be fine. But it really depends on your stir fry style.
The somewhat good ones should be capable to get the heat into the wok. Keep in mind that a giant about of heat is getting lost on those burners. Not everything will heat the wok
Yeah, cast iron should work well. I also like the usual stainless steel or non-stick pans. I mean these get hot and cold almost immediately and I have good control over temperature. A heavy cast iron thing is made to store the heat and not do that. Depends on what someone is trying to achieve.
And something that doesn’t work are things that aren’t flat at the bottom. You just can’t have a wok that is completely round and put that on a flat surface. And also thin metals don’t work. So maybe use another cooktop for that. We own a wok that has a flattened bottom. But I don’t really like cooking with that thing. Not sure if it’s me or the wok.
There exists special wok induction stoves that have an indent for the wok, with the coils around it
Yeah, I’ve looked at those, briefly. I’m not sure if they would fit my wok, which is very thin cast iron (yes, actually cast iron, not a spun carbon steel wok). Hence the reason I want to get a wok burner that I’d end up needing to use outdoors.
That’s crazy. I think I’m fine, though. I own enough spezialized kitchen equipment 😆
Cast iron like everyone else says works very well with induction, it’s pretty much the ideal material. However, unlike with a steel pan, you want to start on the low side and warm the pan up. It likely won’t cause issues immediately but if you frequently go straight to hot with a cast iron pan it can ultimately lead to the pan warping.
That’s good to know, and not something I would have expected.
Getting a second monitor for my work computer gave me a 30% boost in my productivity.
Beetlecrab Audio Tempera is the most inspiring electronic musical instrument I own. I got it in April, and I’m still finding new ways to use it. It does so much.
Oxi One really is the hardware sequencer to rule them all. Though I’m sure you could get by with a Hapax or Deluge if you don’t mind spending twice as much.
Not a purchase, but Csound has always been an invaluable companion to my music making process. It’s also entirely free and open-source.
Google Home did when it first came out. Unfortunately, the quality has been consistently tanking since inception
a 3d printer, I’ve picked up my now favourite hobby when I got it: gun smithing
It’s too bad the pay is kind of shit. I looked into when I was younger and noped right out.
Though if you’re actually making guns/parts for sale instead of repairs it might be better.
yeah, that’s a problem, I really wish I could live from a gun repair business, but it’ll probably stay a hobby
I wish I could use mine for that, but I live in Canada.
