Weird or unique hobbies.
I've always loved flashlights. Yes FLASHLIGHTS with an A!!! Anyway, apparently not many people share my rather niche interest.
So I ask you, fellow Lemmites, what are your hobbies and weird obsessions that you can ramble on about for hours?
Please feel free to ramble on about your passions here. Maybe you'll find some likeminded individuals!
Falconry. It's really more of a lifestyle than a hobby now though. I've been doing it for a little over 10 years now and am currently flying a cast (group of birds flown together) of 3 Harris's Hawks.
Quick faqs:
Birbs:
Look at dose birbs!!
Thanks for paying the bird tax!
Who owns the birds? Are you tired of eating rabbit? It's a really cool hobby!
Technically the US government owns the birds, but two of these are mine and one is my wife's who is also a licensed falconer. We purchased them from licensed breeders. They are from, left to right, Nevada, Washington, Louisiana. They were shipped to us on an airplane and we picked them up at the airport.
Most of the rabbit goes back into feeding them over the summer when they are molting their feathers. I do make 2-3 rabbit dishes a year though. Last year I made sausage which was pretty good.
Does the government own ALL raptors, or are yours part of something like an airport bird removal project?
Idk if own is the correct term but the US regulates most native birds through the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Falconry has a special exclusion from that act. But it's along the same lines as just because a deer is in your yard it doesn't mean you own that deer. You need permission from the government to take it.
Do you like owls? How smart are the birds? Are they as smart as a talking raven?
I like owls but they are not used for Falconry because they have poor lateral thinking (Owl knows how to jump to the glove inside, take them outside owl knows nothing) and because we have to follow all hunting laws (can't hunt after dark). But for people who can hunt after dark, using an owl sucks because it's dark and you can't see anything that happens. Most falconers just love to watch their birds fly and it's hard to see them fly in the dark!
Harris's hawks are one of the smartest hawk species but I'm sure ravens are smarter. I think they've gotten HHs to use a simple tool but they are not as proficient as ravens. But in my observations it only takes one single bad experience for most raptors to never want that experience to happen again. And on the flip side, if they get rewarded doing something once they will remember that for a long time
Owls sound a bit dumb. Though they're still cute. I plan on training a local starling population to fetch me money and attack my enemies. I'm training them with Gregg's. They're already taking food from my hands.
You may like c/superbowl
Looked into this for a hobby. Was amazed at how well regulated it is and such a big commitment.
Amazing!!!
Oh man do I feel that roleplaying one. That was me for like 8 years until I got a new play group again. We don't meet as often as any of us would like but when we do meet up that's when the shenanigans start. Now I could gush for hours about various DnD stories I've gotten with this group
Also the automation one is great too, I spent 2 hours setting up a spreadsheet that tracks my finances (mostly) automatically. It will even tally up totals for the whole year. It's great.
Hah yes. Packing.
We were allowed one trunk to take to school. Regardless of weight, you could take whatever you could fit in the trunk.
Needless to say, that when a family member complains they can’t fit any more into their bag, generally I’ll be able to repack it with loads of space left.
I too, have too many bags. And I managed to get my camping base weight down to about 8kg. Am not rich enough (or mad enough) to go full ultralight. This is with creature comforts.
Im the same, I love a good universe. Im not so enthralled with the game or the system, but the worlds they are in get me every time.
Yep. Frigging White Wolf sourcebooks are the worst for me. I'll just read the whole thing as if it were a standard fiction book. The entire setting just gnaws at my mind. I wish there were long forms of the little blurbs you get in them.
So are you like just reading about the lore around it?
vacuums, why would I spend 100€ on a shopvac when I could do it myself for 200€ or even more?
A true DIYer!
Though, sometimes you get lucky and despite it costing more… you end up with a better product, say worth £150 but also gained at least 50¥ in knowledge and entertainment/joy. A worthwhile investment. Sometimes.
Interesting. Do you design and 3d print them?
My latest obsession is sashiko, a Japanese form of embroidery with beautiful repeating geometric patterns. It’s a folk art that evolved to strengthen cloth, extend its lifespan, and repair torn clothes. Rather uniquely it’s also intended to be stitched with the fabric in your hands rather than in a hoop.
One thing I really love about it from a technical sewing standpoint is that traditionally you don’t use knots at all, but it’s still a strong stitch. Quilters do something similar with what’s called a waste knot that gets snipped away, but this skips the knot step entirely.
There are specific paths you follow while stitching these patterns so that you don’t waste thread. They vary in complexity from simple lines, triangles, and curves, all the way up to tiny repeating patterns that practically replace the cloth with thread.
I don’t have nearly enough patience to do the complex ones like that, but the more simple stitches are so relaxing.
I'm so looking this up. I love crafty stuff but it's ages since I've done anything.
Info dump incoming:
It does require a bit of speciality equipment compared to regular embroidery, I thought I could get away without the sashiko thimble but it kills your fingers after a while. It’s a ring that you wear at the base of your middle finger with sort of a shield that the needle is braced on. Sashiko needles are longer and thicker than a typical sewing needle as well, because sashiko thread is fairly thick. You can get away with substituting sashiko thread with size 8 perle thread or something similar in size if you can’t find sashiko thread locally. But I like using the sashiko thread because it’s wound so that you can make a single cut in the skein through all the threads, and then they’re all a good size for stitching! It’s super convenient, just yank and go.
I definitely recommend watching some people on YouTube do it, it’s very different from what I think of as a typical embroidery technique. You sort of pleat the fabric onto the needle and then pull the needle through when you can’t really fit more fabric on the needle. I found this video pretty useful when I was figuring everything out.
There are also a lot of cloth kits with preprinted designs that wash out after you’re done. There are a few good companies but Olympus seems to be the most popular. Coaster kits or hana-fukin/handkerchief kits are great to dip your toes in.
If you try it out I hope you enjoy it!
But the specialized equipment can be obtained for less than $20 and then you're set for a while! I love sashiko, for all the reasons you listed. I have a pair of project jeans, but now I've mended all the holes in my clothes and need to make more I guess.
This is the first hobby in here I’ve come across that I haven’t tried. Looks really neat! Along the same lines of Japanese repair arts, have you tried kintsugi? It’s really really rewarding as well.
I’ve seen kintsugi videos before, it’s very beautiful! I haven’t tried my hand at it, but if I had any broken ceramics I’d love to try it.
My hobbies mostly sit at the intersection of plants and electronics/programming esp. microcontrollers and managing fleets of them.
Im obsessed with making things grow and relatively simple types of automation can make a huge difference to a plant. A trickle of water applied at the right frequency can turn an unforgiving sun-scorched balcony into a garden.
Im currently working on prototypes of a device destined for mass production. It’s a power unit for a temporary immersion bioreactor used in plant tissue culture. The benefit of my approach is that the power unit can work with almost any growing container and the unit doesn’t need any power hookups.
The unit is powered by the plant grow lights and my Mark I prototype proved it can harvest enough energy to perform any published temporary immersion protocol I have seen.
I think this qualifies as ‘weird’ because it usually requires explanation to justify the ‘why’ of this project. Plant tissue culture is not a common interest.
But if you want to plant a trillion trees and ‘save the planet’, we will need to develop some new propagation methods. This is my little attempt to address some of that need.
What's your favourite plant?
Right now it’s Boquila trifoliolata, a plant involved in a recent scientific publication that gets some attention for making a very bold claim. Can plants ‘see’?
This study below describes an experiment that seems to suggest they can. Who knows what the real answer will be, but this is science at it’s purest. You can scoff at the author’s conclusions but you cannot ignore their baffling observations.
open access link to article
I expected something like "yukka" or "rubber plant" not "alien plant with eyes".
Thank you for the article though!
After going through the paper, it's not just "alien plant with eyes", but rather "alien mimic plant with eyes"! This plant "sees" other plants around (above?) itself and changes the shape of its own leaves to match those of the other plant.
I wonder if the effect can be chained, and if so, how long the chain could be? I'm imagining an alien mimic plant with eyes mimicking an alien mimic plant with eyes mimicking an alien mimic plant with eyes mimicking the first alien mimic plant with eyes.
That's an amazing idea. Using excess energy from plant lights? Ingenious! Have you found any issues with the system that you are in the process of fixing?
Well the energy recovered from plant lights is actually really pathetic when using standard panels. Had to switch to amorphous panels which capture just enough energy to keep the battery sustainably charged day after day under typical loads.
Overall, the system reclaims just enough energy to run the air pumps for up to about 15 minutes total daily use. That’s plenty to achieve the goal of giving the plants a short soak in the nutrient medium which just drains away when the pump stops. It also facilitates filtered fresh air exchange and aeration of the liquid medium which is vital.
The next stage will be to make the system more thrifty with power (MOSFETs instead of relays and other tweaks to reduce current leakage when the microcontroller is asleep).
I want to add the ability to inject CO2 and monitor levels before I consider the product full-featured. Recent studies are showing that can result in huge gains in growth rates. Based on my estimates, a 16g CO2 cartridge (think paintball or whipped cream) can keep a typical 3-liter culture vessel at 4000ppm (10x over atmosphere) for a year, even if you completely flush with fresh air twice daily.
Thank you for your question and interest in my latest obsession.
Grafting. I like grafting different varieties of fruit trees together to make trees that bear multiple varieties of fruit. So far I've grafted a golden delicious apple onto my crabapple, and a golden orb plum onto my purple plum. It's pretty hit or miss, but cool when the grafts take. I'm going to try grafting some different varieties of stone fruit onto a wild peach tree that I have to see what will happen.
I also like growing fruit trees from seed. I have an avocado tree, an egg fruit tree, a mango, a few red plums, and a firepit peach tree. I also grew some pineapple plants from pineapples that I got from the store, and I got a pineapple from one last year!
I read that as "Grifting" at first and I was like, yeah that's a weird hobby...
😂
Do you do it for the art or the food? I'd assume it is a bit of both, but I've never heard of a hobby like it. Any favorite combos?
I'm not sure why I enjoy it to be honest, other than I just think it's neat to do. I just think the idea of a tree with plums, peaches, nectarines, and cherries all growing from it to be really cool.
I think my favorite is stone fruit so far, since they're fairly different from each other. But it's the one I've had the least luck with so far, too. Hoping it goes well this year!
I'd like to see some photos if you have them. At the moment I can only visualize what you mean, but it is really interest nonetheless.
Sure, here you go. This is where I grafted a yellow orb plum scion (branch) onto my purple plum tree. This is called a bark graft, usually used to graft another variety onto a tree that's getting a little old (like old apple trees). You cut off a large section of the trunk or a branch, then you use a knife to lift up the bark, and you take the end of the scion (with the bark removed from it) and stick it in there. Then you secure with grafting tape. The cambium layers of the scion and tree heal together, and the tree passes nutrients into the scion which grows into a new branch.
I heard you can graft a pear on a chokeberry.
I just looked that up and yep, looks like it works! I know pear can graft onto apple and vice versa, but the grafts don't last.
How does that work exactly, like for someone looking to get started?
Here is an excellent article on grafting:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/grafting-and-budding-nursery-crop-plants
There's also YouTube videos showing the various procedures.
I would start with bud grafting, since it's one of the easiest to do. You could get yourself some root stock and bud graft a few varieties onto it and see what happens.
Audio engineering. How to take a bunch of tracks that sound like hot shit and make them into beautiful music. How to record an awesome performance, probably in a shit space with shit acoustics and shit gear. How to work my "magic" on a track to somehow do the impossible. More recently, how to analyze and design analog outboard gear and digital plugins that emulate them in real time. I would do it for free if I had the time. I used to mix people's tracks on Reddit (different username) before I went back to school.
Music, particularly writing and playing
shitty bedroom black metalguitar. So I guess not that weird other than the music choice...Automation, particularly AI and Control Theory. I approach AI from a dynamic viewpoint, i.e. using machine learning to analyze and control systems that "move". I'm still working on unpacking the mathematical fundamentals of AI, especially because the dynamic applications I'm interested in require much more careful understanding of the assumptions that typical machine learning paradigms make about the input and output signals.
Math. Calculus, linear algebra, dynamical systems, and high- or infinite-dimensional problems. Both theory and applications. I read textbooks and watch open course lectures. I use this math to back up my intuition in all the above subjects. Even people who say they like math find my interest in the subject obsessive.
What the hell would constitute an “infinite dimensional problem”?
Any time you need to analyze or synthesize a function or signal, rather than just a set finite set of values, the problem will in general be infinite-dimensional unless you choose to approximate it. Practically, most physics problems begin as a partial differential equation, i.e. the solution is a signal depending on both time and space. Hopefully, you can use problem symmetry and extra information to reduce the dimensionality of the problem, but sometimes you can't, or you can use the inherent structure of infinite-dimensional spaces to get exact results or better approximations.
Even if you can get the problem down to one dependent variable, a function technically needs an infinite number of parameters to be fully specified. You're in luck if your function has a simple rule like f(t) = sin(t), but you might not have access to the full rule that generated the function, or it might be too complicated to work with.
Let's say that you have a 3-dimensional vector in space; for example, v = (1,0,-1) (relative to some coordinate system; take a Euclidean basis for concreteness). Another way to represent that information is with the following function f(n) = {1 for n=1, 0 for n=2, -1 for n=3}. You can extend this representation for (countably) infinite vectors, i.e. sequences of numbers, by allowing n in f(n) to be any integer. For example, f(n) = n can be thought of as the vector (...,-2,-1,0,1,2,...). This representation also works when you allow n to be any real number. For example, f(n) = cos(n) and g(n) = e^n can be thought of as a gigantic vector, because af(n)+bg(n) is still a "gigantic vector" and functions like that satisfy the other properties needed to treat them like gigantic vectors.
This allows us to bring geometric concepts from space and apply them to functions. For example, we can typically define a metric to measure the distance between two functions. We can typically define a "norm" to talk about the size or energy of a signal. With a little bit of extra machinery (dot product), I can find the cosine between (real) functions and get the "angle" between them in function space. I can project a function onto another function, or a subspace of functions, using linear algebra extended to function spaces. This is how I would actually take that infinite-dimensional problem and approximate it: by projecting it onto a suitable finite basis of vectors and solving it in the approximation space.
Math can be so much fun. I fell in love with math after watching the linear algebra series by ThreeBlueOneBrown. Unfortunately I don't have much time to do math puzzles, because I'm too busy with programming puzzles, hacking puzzles, arduino stuff or building stuff inside or outside the house.
I highly recommend checking out The Bright Side of Mathematics if you want to learn more about math in some detail. His videos are a lot shorter than typical open course lectures covering the same material, but you still get the major results and important proofs. He has playlists on linear algebra, real analysis, probability, and tons of more technical topics. IMO if I need to learn high-level math in a short time, he's where I go first.
Also, despite the channel name, he has both bright and dark versions of all his videos so my eyeballs don't melt.
3Blue1Brown is great too.
Hit me with your top flashlight fact.
The first flash lights could only light up for a moment at a time, creating a flash… hence the name
I didn't know this. I'll have to remember it for future small talk!
Honestly, I just made that up... but then I looked it up and its basically true.
I am not disappointed in the slightest.
There is more to flashlights than brightness. Color (color temp), ability to render the colors of objects (color rendering index [CRI]), and intensity (Candela) are some of the most common measurements.
There are also things like how tight you want your beam and the type of optic you want. Do you want a reflector or TRI optic? There are so many little things that go into the perfect flashlight for each individual.
Is there an ultra niche market for flashlight customization, or is it mostly enthusiasts DIYing their own setups?
There is! Check out intl-outdoor.com for a very wide variety of flashlight bodies and a large range of emitters. I have never DIYed my own flashlights however I plan on changing that in thr future.
Have you seen the Flashlight community on lemmy.world yet?
Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !flashlight@lemmy.world
Of course! I was actually on there right before I found this community. Before the reddit exodus, I was an avid member of r/flashlight. I have over $500 of flashlights and annoy the crap out of my friends with the age old "have you seen my new flashlight?"
Leather working. I inherited my grandfather's old hatchet and knife from when he was a boy scout, these 80+ year old relics had their original leather sheathes that were totally disintegrating and stiff. After looking fruitlessly for replacement sheathes I decided it couldn't be that hard to make my own, and now I'm hooked. I have leather cases for all of my devices, leather bags for different traveling needs, and leather wallets and trinkets make the absolute best gifts. People are always blown away by hand made leather products.
Got any pics? That sounds cool!
I second this request
I've been out of it for a while now, but I spent a number of years Nerfsmithing. Which is to say, I modified Nerf blasters. I upgraded the internals to get longer range and higher rates of fire. My real fun, though, was modifying the exteriors to see just how silly I could get. I made a lot of different designs, but below is my masterpiece.
I attached a real red dot sight, after carefully painting it to look like a Nerf accessory. I attached a real laser sight and tactical light, after mounting them inside the case of what had been an official Nerf light. The 10-round straight magazine was replaced with a 35-round drum magazine. A rifle strap (in bright yellow) and a Nerf bipod finished off the main unit (a Nerf Stampede).
Then I attached a Nerf Magnus pistol, still fully functional, as a front grip. And I attached a Nerf Zombie Strike Machete under that as a bayonet.
It looks overbuilt and ridiculous, which is what I was trying for, but it was also an absolute terror in the office Nerf wars. I had a lot of fun building it.
I love radio control trucks, but not for competition or to go fast. I like taking them for a walk like one might walk a dog ... it's just fun and a bit silly.
I get walking them. Sometimes it is just fun to watch things like that work.
Increasingly, mini painting has been eating my life. I tried to fight off 40k obsession but it's been slowly pulling me in for a while now. But probably the weirder part is, I haven't actually played the game yet. Still trying to get everything tabletop ready.
When I ready mini painting I though you were talking about doing normal paintings on tiny canvases. 😅
Was into mini painting for a while when my partner and his friends still used to play BattleTech. I did play a bit myself but painting was much more exciting. :D I'd love to get back to it - always looking enviously at the Warhammer displays in our games store.
Do it! The characters make great display pieces even if they're not being used for anything. You can also try looking into 3d printed stuff, which is much cheaper, if you don't care about it being tournament legal or anything.
Speaking of 3d printing, have the minis ever made you interested in potentially getting into 3d printing?
Yep, it's quite tempting. There are a lot of mini companies that sell .stl files so that you could make proxies for Warhammer armies or just make tons of cool display pieces. Small studios can even publish whole game systems online with just .stl and .pdf files.
The problem is just finding people to play them...
There's a Basketball community, though it's small. We'd love to have you!
bought myself a magnet for magnet fishing, hopefully that's fun
Oh man I did this and thought I caught the mother load. Me and my friends labored so hard to pull it up onto the end of the pier. It was so heavy. Ended up being a park bench lol
I mean that's a hell of a thing to throw in the garage
Haha it was super gross. Just left it leaning on the pier. Thought the park people would want it back haha
Magnet fishing is basically litter collection, isn't it? What is the best thing you'd hope to find?
Apparently it's pretty common to find guns. There was a video floating around a while ago of some guys that pulled up a gun and called the cops to report it and turn it in. The cops were mostly annoyed about the whole thing though.
pulling out a gun would be kinda exciting
A safe!
True, it could be fun to find some stolen goods!
someone fished out a stolen motorbike in Dublin a couple years ago and there was an article about that
Just make sure to post about it on an Internet forum and then never show anyone what's inside the damn thing
big metal bar could be useful. pulling out a shopping trolley would be funny but idk what I'd do with it after
A gun?
Idk how you exercise caution when doing this…. But find out and do.
Remember to tie the other end of the rope to your belt loop or something.
the rope is 20m so hopefully it doesn't all go in the water
I think the main worry is losing it to a place that is simply inaccessible. Better safe than sorry.
oh that would be awful, hopefully doesn't happen
And risk getting dragged off a bridge? Naaaah tie that shit to a handrail
What magnets do you recommend?
don't know yet, I still haven't tried it out
Probably "menial task automation", I use Sonarr(series), Prowlarr(movies) and Taiga(animes) + Jellyfin(media server) all conected to my qbittorrent so I don't have to individually download an episode or movie, I can just set that I want to watch it and the programs download it automatically, just set it and forget it and use the jellyfin phone app to cast it to my tv.
Also retrogaming emulation in general, I love watching videos about the newest cheap portable that runs up to PS1 and searching for the perfect shaders to use on retroarch, which I find it to be the mega bezels pack with slight reflections to the side.
It's very taxing on the hardware though, you do need a gaming rig just to emulate old games if you use these.
Jellyfin! Taiga! Ok that's what I'm doing for new year. I'm setting them up so I don't have to use my buggy fire TV too watch stuff.
New rp4 pro should be on the way in the next couple weeks :D
We are the same. Piracy has been my longest running hobby, and now I self host all the stuff that pirates for me. I use docker containers running on my Ubuntu server.
Also games, especially retro handhelds.
Nice to see someone out there with such similar interests! 🤜🤛
Could you point me in the direction of some tutorials/videos/whatever of the media setup you have? I have a NAS that I use to stream movies through Plex, but it's still very manual (use my PC, connect to VPN, download movie, upload to NAS, watch on TV). I would love to have something that automates it more but I have no idea where to start. I keep reading on Lemmy about people having setups like this and I'm jealous.
It should be noted that my NAS is a Terra Master F4-210 and I'm not sure how capable it will be of doing this kind of thing. It runs some weird proprietary Linux distro call TOS. Not sure if i can even flash it with a different distro.
I have done like 10% manual +90% automation this way. Installed zorin os on old laptop, connected 2tb external HDD, paid and started using emby, and then installed qbittorrent remote on mobile, installwd samba on zorin. Set zorin to not shut off and hen I close lid off. Once this is all done, started adding torrent via qbittorrent remote, then using solid explorer move files to external HDD and th n stream it in tv via emby app
SpaceInvaderOne has a good tutorial series on youtube centered around Unraid. It does look like it's possible to run unraid on your Terra Master. The trash guides are also very useful/informative.)
I setup Unraid about a year ago and have been slowly expanding it. It took a little to wrap my head around how docker containers and the Servarr group of programs in general talk to each other, but after the initial setup a lot of it "just works". If the system runs Plex fine it should be able to do the rest.
Ahhh... Looks like that guide is for the Intel versions of the Terra masters only, and minimum required 2gb ram. I have one with an Arm chip and only 1gb. 😔
I'm getting a bonus in February, so I think I might build a micro ITX system with more modern parts. This will help with transcoding as well.
Thank you!!!
Flashlights are an interesting one. I somehow ended up in !flashlight@lemmy.world and it's definitely a unique hobby. I'm not sure if I'm willing to really join all of you yet, but reading the posts can be pretty cool.
For me, it's probably CRTs, other display technologies and old hardware in general. It's fun to tinker around with stuff. And playing games, be it new or old, on CRTs is what I live for.
I highly suggest a Convoy or Sofirn flashlight if you ever get into flashlights. Both are very reliable for an extremely reasonable price.
As for CRTs, are there any advantages to CRT over other display types? Is it a personal preference?
Haha thanks for your suggestions, I'll look into it :)
And with CRTs, yeah, they can be pretty good. Of course, a calibrated CRT has perfect black levels, but that's not even the best part. OLED and Plasma can do that too, after all. What I love about CRTs is the motion clarity. During motion, every display except CRTs becomes blurry. That's the most important part for me. It makes a night and day difference for games.
I made a post about a high end CRT monitor here. This monitor can go up to 1440p or up to 160hz (not both at the same time, though). I love it.
And of course, a standard definition CRT is awesome for any pre HD console. They look awesome.
So yeah, I think we definitely lost something with the transition to LCD and OLED. I hope I didn't get into to much detail here, once I start with talking about the greatness of CRTs, it's hard to stop :)
I, like many of you I'm sure, am an avid collector of hobbies. Recently I've been into Analog Photography. Partly because I like the old machines involved and also because of the creativity and expression of making pictures.
One might ask: 'why not use a digital camera? It's so much easier, potentially cheaper and technically "better".'
To me it's like painting instead of drawing, maybe similar but also very different. One is not better than the other and you will get different results.
I post here on !analog@lemmy.world but mostly on pixelfed.
Have you seen the new LEGO Polaroid set?
Man, not another hobby...
My weird hobby is reading textbooks on forensic medicine and other forensic sciences. Like how to perform an autopsy, how to identify the cause of death, how to take and interpret fingerprints from different surfaces and such. I am a trained toxicologist but unfortunately only had basic training in forensic toxicology as part of my curriculum (and not working in that field now). 🙂
That is actually really interesting. Would you ever consider going into the field or will you remain all hobby? I'm studying basic forensics in my criminal law pathway in High-school but it is VERY surface level.
I'd love to but would need a lot more training to do so. Which I fear I won't get due to time and financial constraints - you know, being the bread winner of the family, full time job, a child... But on the other hand, I do love my current job and it earns me the money to buy all the expensive text books, so I won't complain. :D
What do you do at your current job if you don't mind me asking?
After spending a bit more than a decade in academic research, I am now a regulatory toxicologist in biocides assessment at a national authority. Sounds boring but comes with much work in international committees which is fun (and oftentimes restores my faith in humanity) and we do some research and teaching, too. Plus, it is a nice job in terms of doing something for society, making the world a safer place... 🙂
You know, you got me wondering… why do fleshlights have no lights? They should do rgb or something.
You could even gamify it. Have pulsing rings of light to set a healthy pace and collect metrics, or switch it to game mode where you need to follow the pattern like “dance, dance revolution “
lol, adult bop it.
TWIST IT
I remember a company making sex toys with actuators that could communicate across a network, so that two people masturbating with linked toys could interact with each other. This article includes the word "teledildonics." The problem is latency.
Because they're not made by Razer
Yet.
Knight rider lights down the sides and powered by kinetic energy.
I will only accept that if it also plays clips of Mr Feeney talking dirty to me.
Lately I’ve really been into making and integrating home automation devices.
Mostly I’m just trying to ensure my privacy in an increasingly non-private world, but it’s a fun medley of skills to deploy - 3d printing, soldering, electrical engineering, a bit of programming, and even some carpentry work.
Is it a lot of coding? Hardware? What about it do you find to he the most satisfying?
Regarding coding, it sort of depends - if you build lights driven by WLED, it can be as simple as getting the parts together and visiting a website. (There are now even plug in, no solder boards you can buy.) But there are some platforms such as HomeSpan, where you more or less configure the whole thing from the ground up and it can be involved.
The hardware requirements are sort of piecemeal, but all of my home automation stuff - microcontrollers, sensors, switches, etc, all fit into a relatively small toolbox (and a totally messy workbench). Most components (aside from tools) aren't super expensive, but LED strips and power supplies can get spendy.
I've been doing smart home stuff for a while, and have a slew of systems that, well... many years ago I didn't think about how they leaked my data, or really cared how easy it was to integrate things. I'd just install a new app, throw a new bridge onto my network, etc. After a while, the question of what device is on what app, or if this sensor can trigger that action/device is burdensome.
I get a lot of satisfaction out of reducing the complexity of my digital life, and knowing that there's less vulnerable points within my network (and less data about me leaking out).
Life, and the business of living is really challenging. My wife and I have ADHD, and being able to reduce even minor burdens frees both of us up to focus more on just living. (And sometimes it's just fun to have rainbow swirly lights!)
Shaving.
Not in the sense that you might be used to, but "traditional" wetshaving. There are so many aspects to this hobby, it's overwhelming.
Shave soap - all sorts of great scents, different soap bases offering various types of lather.
Razors - Double Edge, Single Edge, Open Blade (straight, shavette, etc), Safety Bar, Open Comb, mild, aggressive, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium... and on and on.
Brush - Synthetic, Badger, Boar, soft, gelly, backbone, handle size, handle shape, knot diameter, knot loft,...
Blades - Lots of options, and they are very very inexpensive (especially DE blades). Different blades often work well in certain razors but not others, and certain people prefer different blades. Blades are highly subjective and it's fun finding some that work really well for you.
Aftershave - alcohol based, toner, balm, skin food, all sorts of great scents, etc.
I got permission to copy most of the reddit wiki on the subject to de-reddit all the info, and we host it at https://wiki.wetshaving.social. I also help run the lemmy instance dedicated to the hobby where people share what they shaved with, new things they bought, and anything else related to shaving.
I've had a very reliable DE setup ecer since I started shaving. My dad had done the research for it, and it always provides a clean shave. I've always thought that if you have to do it for the rest of your life, you might as well make it enjoyable!
operating systems
Favorite OS? What are the benefits of using that OS over others?
well I like KDE neon cause it's fast and is designed good for me
Let’s see, I got adhd and up until well… next month when I get my first post-college paycheck… been pretty limited on funding. With that in mind
So yeah, idk… a little bit of everything
I've been into vr for a few years. If you've kept up with vr drama, what is your opinion of Meta?
And to your tools point, any favorite tools or multitools? I've been looking into multitools for a while but am very hesitant to pull the trigger on a leatherman.
As someone who also watches it: the Quest 3 looks good, but it’s a dumpster fire of a company, the pass through looks usable. So I’m glad to see the Nreal (or whatever they’re called this week) getting close. And if you don’t mind being tied to a computer, every review of the bigscreen beyond loves it. But the $3t gorilla entering the room is either going to show that VR/AR/MR is good and here to stay, or that it will remain a niche for the foreseeable future.
🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
I’m a geek, not a nerd. And I have 20/20 vision.
Several of those (1: homebridge, 2: Plex/sonarr/haugene)can run in containers on a raspberry pi, just use an external USB Hard drive (not just memory card or thumb drive). So you can do that for a pittance . For board games, Tabletop Simulator or BoardGameArena will help you do it online with real people.
I got an intel 12100 running the server, its a solid efficiency chip and allows me to also transcode as necessary. Also, I've got a bunch of drives totally up to 24TB right now, I'm sure I could find a way to connect that to a Pi, but my build is efficient enough for me, especially with the price of power in the US. The price isnt super clear from the bill from our apartment, but the local rates are around $.16 / kwh
As for Tabletop Sim, I realy do need to give that one a shot. I think I even already bought it, just haven't played.
TTS is good, it’s just better with a controller - honestly, I might buy a used Quest (fuck Zuck) , for a better experience. But Board Game Arena and Tabletopia both offer (for a fairly reasonable fee) a ton of people to play against.
Table top Sim with vr is a guilty pleasure of mind. I highly recommend if you ever get the chance. A friendly reminder that you don't need a new VR headset to play. Just go on Ebay and save yourself $100 on a used headset, because with new headsets always coming into the market, someone is always looking to sell.
Ah! Okay, I misunderstood. Sounded like you were wanting to get into it with a limited budget, not that you were already into it.
Ah, I was just trying and failing to point out that I’ve managed quite a few hobbies in spite of limited funds. I might go a little nuts with the new checks I’ll be getting. :-)
Gotcha! In that case, go crazy! :)
I have an odd obsession with tornado sirens and other civil defense things. The odd harmonies that different kinds of sirens can make together. Cold War vibes, and the feeling of "well, we're fucked then" when the emergency alert system goes off, only to find that it's just another ho-hum thunderstorm on the other side of the city. I don't know a whole lot about the stuff but I've spent many hours of many days soaking up videos about it on YouTube.
I miss when all school kids had to worry about was fire, tornado, earthquake, and nuclear annihilation.
Glad I'm not the only siren enthusiast on Lemmy! Sirens are incredible machines, and I adore learning about their history. So much has been discovered these past few years in the community.
There are dozens of us! Maybe we should find or start a siren community on Lemmy. I just don't have time to moderate, or I'd do it...
I love lights and lighting in general.
Any new technologies that you are following that involve lighting? Ant recommendations for lighting rooms for a newbie?
LED lighting is very much being developed and various standards around the colour reproduction of the light and so on are probably the newest in terms of technology.
My recommendation is to use dim, warm lights for room lighting as the day goes on so as not to affect your circadian rhythms.
My actual is philosophy of psychiatry/psychology/science in autism.
The more I read and learn in this field the more I think people should begin with it before diving in the autism topic itself. Researchers did and still do atrocious research in autism without acknowledging conflict of interest, taking ethics in account, breaking basic human rights, "finding the question when having the answer", etc. A lot of what could be read on autism is just bad.
My best friend was an usher at Dollywood, and freaking loves flashlights. Collects them and has a shit ton.
I like crafting. Anything with fabric or yarn or thread.
Restoring and collecting mechanical calculating machines and slide rules. I was abysmal in math at school, but I love those implements.
I can ramble about a few things:
Check out the blf forums. Reddit also used to have a great flashlight community but I avoid that site now. There are flashlight communities on Lemmy and kbin. Cheule is a good YouTube channel to check out.
Thank you for the recommendations, I actually made a BLF account soon after the reddit affairs. I think I mentioned this somewhere else in the thread, but I've been pretty deep in flashlights for some time (don't say a word) and have known about BLF since forever ago!
I've never seen Cheule though. I'll be sure to check them out.
I don't know that it's unique, but I never actually stop modding Skyrim. Wife always asks, "Still modding Skyrim?", and I always answer with some lie like, "Yeah, but I'm finally on the home stretch here."
I see this as an absolute win! You get to keep life flowing through a game you love. That can't be said about a lot of things.
Fiber arts: popular ones like knitting and crocheting, but I also have a spinning wheel and really enjoy spinning yarn. I used to have a loom, but I didn't really enjoy weaving so I sold it. Lately I've been really in to darning socks and visible mending generally. Fortunately there are tons of fiber arts meetups and online communities so it's easy to find other people who are into any niche area.
It always makes the hobby more enjoyable when you have others to share the joy with. I'm happy you have a large group to enjoy!
My brother loves o lights I think they're called, apparently there's like a whole community for just buying and selling this specific type of light so you aren't alone XD for me I love Rubik's cube type puzzles and lightsabers, I've made my own lightsabers and code in my own lights :) I feel like my friends are tired of hearing me talk about it XD
I've always heard that olights were known to lie about specs. I have also heard they have an ugly idea of customer service. Has he heard of sofirn or convoy? If you think he has enough lights, he needs more. From more companies!
I feel the pain of friends getting tired of hearing about your obsessions. That is kinds why I made the post. Lemmy is just a bunch of crazy nerds and geeks.
Oh and, do you have any photos of the lightsabers? Any favorites or stories about making them?
I've not heard of those, I'll have to ask him if he knows about them! And true that lol. And I really like this one from sabertrio, and I think I'm just really enjoying the community and being a part of everyone's enthusiasm for the hobby :)
I like socks. All kinds. Footie socks, ankle, calf length, knee high, thigh high, stockings... I've only just realized this in the last year or so but now I'm constantly wearing fun socks.
What is an example of a fun sock?
Well, currently I have on a pair of knit mid-thigh socks and they're fun. But I also got a pack of socks recently that have designs celebrating Ichiraku Ramen from Naruto Shippuden, and my Christmas gift from a good friend was some toe-socks with rubber grips on the bottom - Quite unique and fun to wear.
I have a dozen different hobbies, but I was really into flashlights for a while too. I was into them enough that my wife asked me to stop buying more flashlights and lanterns. I didn't stop though! I only stopped when I finally decided I had scratched that itch, have obtained what I want, and was bored. But now I have great flashlights in both of our cars, in my mom's car, one at each exterior door of the house, one at the garage door, and a few lanterns in the closet. She very much appreciates the fruits of my labors now that I'm finished.
So what's a good lantern to get then? :)
I've seen the sofirn BLF LT1 described as a great LED powered lantern that can change color temperature, brightness, and charge your phone.
Lockpicking isn't just for committing crimes! It's a whole hobby! You can't prove that I've ever picked open a lock to get into someone's apartment... Mainly because I still can't get into this damn Abus 72/40, let alone trying someone's front door
If you want something I can talk to you about for hours, get me started on Kerbal Space Program. You know, there's really no "getting good" at KSP, only learning, and for all the planets and moons, there are only like five challenges: Taking off without blowing up, getting to orbit, orbiting the Mün, landing on the Mün, orbiting Minmus, and landing on Duna. Each of those requires a bit more knowledge than the last, and everything after those is just a remix of what you learn from those. To get to orbit, you have to take off successfully. To get to the Mün you have to learn about transfer windows and bi-impulsive transfers. To land on the Mün you need to build a ship capable of getting to and landing on the Mün. To get to Minmus, you need to learn how to match inclinations. To land on Duna you need to learn how to do all of that, but on an interplanetary scale. Everything else–landing on Dres, the Jool 5, returning from Eve–it's all just more advanced versions of those five things.
Of course, there's skill in making these missions as cheap as possible, as low part count as possible, as complicated as possible (see Matt Lowne's YouTube channel), and there are SSTOs to figure out, but ultimately the game itself is about exploring, and to do that you just need to learn those five things. This is just one of many rants I can go on about the game
Most apartments use Kwikset locks, which are cheap and ineffective. Picking one of those was easier than picking the practice lock from my kit. I could get my front door open in 30 seconds flat with a single pin pick, or like 2 seconds with a city rake.
Yeah, after about 10 minutes of practicing on a practice lock I decided to try my front door. Raked it in seconds. It was so fast my dad had a code operated bolt ordered that same night.
I always thought it was BS in movies when they pick a door lock in a few seconds, but nope! That's completely realistic. The rake was even faster than my key on some attempts.
That's photography with a hoto, not an orn!
What would analogue pornography be?
A magazine?
Edit: would it be a prostitute?
Of course it’s a magazine. Forgot about those. I’ve not done that kind of photography before tho.
A 900 number? I didn't think this through.
I race RC cars. 1/10 scale outdoor and 1/28 scale indoor. Both on-road.
I also help run the club that sets up the races.
How fast would you say a hobbyist RC goes? I've only ever seen the $20 walmart RC cars and am curious about any differences, as I imagine there are.
Depends on the class. Most of the 1/10 that I race are between 20-30mph.
I’ve run some classes that hit 60-65mph. My club doesn’t have any classes hitting those speeds but a local outdoor club does.
My 1/28 can hit 20mph depending amount of upgrades. The one I race hits maybe 15mph, but to scale that’s faster than the 1/10 I race. Some of the very highly modified 1/28 cars can supposedly hit 60+mph, but no one locally races those particular cars and I’ve never seen it.
Is your flashlight molded after anyone though?
Warframe. I've been with the game since it's founding and find it to be a blast. The evolving story as they tried out new things and reworking core mechanics with huge improvements is just something I deeply enjoy.
Homebrewing. I have a little brewery setup and a 3 keg kegerator I made out of a fridge. I'm probably going to brew a chocolate porter thisnmorning
Is brewing only alcoholic or does brewing incorporate all sorts of different beverages?
What's your favorite?
Brewing beer, I would like to make sode somwtimw though! (That wouldn't actually be brewing though, still would be fun). My favorite is a chocolate oatmeal porter I've made 5 or 6 times.
Pinball machines. And what they say is true, they’re expensive to maintain and nobody only owns 1.
I went to a really cool pinball museum in Georgia before a wedding where you could play all the pinball machines for an overall fee of about 10 dollars. One of the best experiences I've ever had.
Nice! There are several that are partially bars, too!
The only sport I watch is Sumo wrestling.
Foraging. We have a community too. You will try food that you can't buy in a grocery store. I definitely recommend Staghorn Sumac Lemonade, Blaming my friend Jeff, Garlic Mustard Pesto, Wild Black Raspberries, and Paw Paws.
Some plants also offer health benefits
Yarrow for stomach isssues, Plantain for inflammation, and Milk Thistle for making yourself fart uncontrollably during your intercontinental flight to New Zealand while you lay claim to the middle seat and make it everyone else's problem.
In addition to have a well rounded post on Lemmy I'd recommend you be completely sure of any plants you eat. You accept the risk. You don't want to mistake a poisonous plant! Sometimes you may only mkae that mistake once. In conclusion Jeffery Epstein didn't kill himself, neither should you by eating the wrong plant.
I have this weird art medium I came up with where I take things in the fridge and cabinet that are past the date and turn them into art materials. It began because people I know always debated over what to do once something in the fridge lived its lifespan. Throwing it away always seemed wasteful, and throwing it outside for the animals to eat sounds generous to nature, but you end up poisoning the ecosystem.
The hobby began as I was cleaning out the fridge and wondered if a certain sauce that was forgotten about in the very back of the fridge would make a good paint. It then kicked off from there. In our world where we never know where what we eat comes from or is made of, sometimes something makes a surprisingly good paint when expired, sometimes it makes a good texture builder, sometimes an aroma enhancer, sometimes a good clay substitute, etc. I then find a way to make it last as long as possible, or at least long enough to show people. It sounds weird, but I have created some of my best masterpieces this way.
I think I have quite a few perfectly ordinary hobbies that share a couple common odd quirks/common themes.
2, I quite like small, compact things.
For example, I built my own computer, a Ryzen 3600/GeForce 1080 machine...in a very small case, a Fractal Node 202. I have a gaming PC the size of a VCR. Hell even my keyboard is surprisingly compact. I'm not one of those nuts with like a 64 key board or whatnot, i use a Cooler Master Masterkeys Pro M. It has a numpad, but lacks the arrow keys. They've been grafted fairly cleverly into the numpad to preserve the layout you're used to. It's a fully functional board with 13 fewer keys.
My wood shop is a 10x12 shed on the corner of my property, into which I have crammed a table saw, jointer, planer, drill press, router table, miter saw, a laundry list of hand tools, measuring and layout tools, clamps, cans of finish, a rack for stock, and a decent workbench. It can be a little difficult to work inside the building, but unpacking into the hard just in front gives me a very functional workspace in which I've turned out a couple of birch bookshelves and a pair of oak and pine end tables, among other smaller projects.
Collecting snail shells. Turns out there are hundreds of land and freshwater snail species, many that are easily identifiable by even as an amateur. Some are common but many are in narrow habitats or restricted ranges, making collecting an adventure. The microsnails might be the coolest. They're insanely small but under a hand lens they can have very intricate shells and they are everywhere! It's like pokemon but irl.
Don't know if it's a hobby, but I'm fascinated with exoplanets, specifically exoplanets that might be inhabited with intelligent life (as we know it).
Every year I will spend several hours catching up on the latest exoplanet discoveries/news, and try my hand at crunching numbers to predict the number of intelligent species in the Milky Way right now.
The cool thing about this is that each time I play catch-up the numbers get a bit clearer. When I started about 15 years ago many of the nested filters to whittle down the final count were very fuzzy, to the point of just being very vague guesses (I think I usually go with 0.1% of planets from the prior filter in that situation). But it seemed like each time I review the latest data the next filter down gets clear. When I say filter I'm taking about things like: planet exists in the habitable zone of its parent star; planet is far enough away to not be in a locked orbit; planet (or large moon) is big enough to have a molten core (and thus a magnetosphere), etc, etc).
Of course, none of this means we'll ever necessarily meet another species (space is so absurdly vast). But it's fun to ponder nonetheless.