I’ve got 3 on my list.
- BT-PAN Access Point - Kinda ridiculous, but I’d like to have one. I’ve also found a few BT-PAN-enabled dial-up modems, but I’d have no way to connect those up. Some of those could even be connected to USB printers for wireless printing. Not particularly useful anymore, I just find those devices interesting.
- Dot matrix printer - This one isn’t even as ridiculous. I really love that sound and how the text they print looks. Sadly, if I am looking for new ones, a basic 9-pin Epson dot matrix is around €200. But the ribbons are cheap as chips. In fact, often even cheaper. Just imagine casually handing out a document printed on dot matrix to someone nowdays.
- Nano pocket drone - Something like FQ777-124. Maybe a toy like that is a bit childish, but it still can be fun. In fact I already tried to order this one. From 4 different sellers, twice on AliExpress, twice on Amazon. I never got it :(
Thermal Camera.
They’re just so cool. Super useful for checking the effectiveness of stuff like insulation or heat sinks, and can be used to find hot spots you didn’t know existed.
I just have trouble justifying dropping $300 on something I would only get maybe an hour max of usefulness from before it sits in a box for years.
I got to use a thermal cam for research out in the desert for a summer photographing rattlesnake ambush sites, it was awesome.
(From what we could tell the snakes in fact did not use thermal cues for their ambush sites, just their eyes. But I got to play with a thermal cam)
I did this but with an infrared thermometer gun. As far as everyday use goes, it’s super helpful for cooking.
Seems like the kind of thing that could be rented out like those carpet/sofa cleaners. Except it’s probably too costly of a gadget to trust a layman to handle with care?
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Don’t give up man_in_space. I had only dated 2 people by 31. I didn’t meet my SO until I turned 34.
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This may not apply to you, but I was once in a similar situation. One day I finally realized that a relationship shouldn’t make me happy, it should make me happier.
I think that was quite a turning point and things got better from there for me. I started focusing on myself and finding things I enjoyed. Dates stopped becoming so daunting and I think people noticed that.
Anyway, good luck!
Resilience is sexy and perseverance is key. Go forth and flirt bro.
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“I’m sorry. I am autistic and might’ve misunderstood your signals. But would you possibly like to go out for a coffee some day?”
Then you’ve covered your ass. They know you’re shit at signals and further know to not speak cryptic to you. They also know that you’re interested and have a choice of just saying “No I’m sorry” without being cornered.
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Invest in yourself and get your ass online.
There’s no excuse being single unless you’re putting in absolutely no effort that to make yourself attractive in any way possible for a SO.
You can be fugly and with a personality you will still pull.
You can be Brad Pitt with no personality and you will still pull.
Most importantly, shotgun blast your asking out girls and be used to rejection.
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Steamdeck. My laptop is outdated and having hardware issue; I also can’t justify buying a decent PC tower. I have consoles but I miss a lot of the PC only games like the wargame series and HOI4.
I’ve a deck and it’s an amazing bit of kit. Valve hit it out of the park with it. I’ve found very little it can’t run, and the controls are excellent. The fact it has a full Linux desktop available and lets you play around with things is just icing on the cake.
A 3D Printer, I think I’d enjoy making small “functional” things.
I want one too but I’m scared I won’t use it. I’m holding off until I meet someone with one and see it in person
somebody said try your local library (this is probably a US thing)
I like the idea, but I fear that I would quickly run out of things to print that I actually need. After then I’d start looking for applications. And the one thing I don’t need in my life are more small (or large) plastic things.
I thought that, too but I mostly make small non-functional things, which is also nice
Do it! I recently purchased one and love it. Feel free to ask questions if you have any.
What are everyday uses for a 3D printer?
Great for fixing items around the house. Anything that is plastic or could be replaced with plastic can usually be printed. Also great for hardware and jigs. I’ve had mine for a bit over a month now and have been constantly running it. Check out printables or thingiverse to get an idea of what people are printing. Both are websites people upload models to.
it’s not a priority right now, maybe when I get extra money.
I’m looking forward to it though
Check your library. Mine has one available to use at many of the branches in my area. If I ever come up with something to print instead of buying one I’m going to try that out. Then if I decide to get really into it, I’ll have practical knowledge to know what I’d actually want to buy.
Instead, I’ve just never done any 3D printing, which is also fine.
is this a US thing? I don’t think we have these in our country.
I don’t think it’s necessarily universal in US libraries either. I’m not in a big city, but overall our library system is pretty good. They have a number of branches with “maker labs” so there are things like Cricuts, sewing machines, laser cutters, audio recording/production equipment and 3D printers you can rent. I’d recommend at least checking around.
Fixing and adapting things around the house is what I like most about having a 3d printer.
I’m pretty sure the first printer is now paid for itself by doing that. Just because of things I haven’t had to pay to replace. As of this summer I’m up to 3 printers and I can’t claim I’ve paid for all 3.
Can you give some examples of things you’ve replaced? I’m just curious
Sure.
- Feet for my keyboard
- Some shims for an over door set of hooks that were too wide for all our doors
- A knob for my garage door
- A chock for the same garage door
- The screw rings that hold the shades on a floor lamp
- A cap for some antique bellows that my grandfather made (so it can go in storage and not end up full of rodents)
- All sorts of screws and rods and covers of various sorts.
I’m about to design a new ceiling lamp nut for our kitchen, because the original has gone missing after a light bulb change. I’ll use a spare metal nut then print a cover to go on it so it looks intentional.
That’s amazing, thanks!
A Flipper Zero. I probably have the components to make something functionally equivalent, but that form factor, all-in-one nature, and simple UI look nice.
I have no need for it, I just want to tinker.
Same. Also a lockpicking learning set. Just seems fun.
Ever since my father passed I’ve got his old motorcycle standing around. So first thing would be a driver’s license for motorcycling. But I’m already taking classes so that’s that. And the biggest lesson is what a money sink this hobby can be.
Then I’ll need a motorcycle - either get the old thing working again or get a new one. Or why not both? Because the old one’s 30 years old and doesn’t have ABS.
And the third thing would be a Bambu Lab P1 3d printer. I don’t need the speed but damn do they look good.
May not be too hard depending on the age. Could just need the carb jets cleaned and some fresh fuel/battery. Check out bikes and beards on YouTube.
It’s a BMW K75 that’s been standing around for about 10 years, an inline 3 with injection and shaft drive. I’m hoping it won’t need much more than new tires, fluids and filters. But even if it turns out cheaper than a newer bike, I’m not sure if a resucitated old bike like that is the best choice starting out.
- A bike. My last one was stolen off my apartment balcony
- A kayak. Nowhere to put it though, and the balcony is out of the question thanks to 1.
Where do you live? I might have a kayak to sell.
So the thief climbed up to your balcony to steal your bike? What floor do you live on?
Yes. It’s the second floor. I was surprised and not sure how they managed to get down with it. It wasn’t a new or expensive bike by any means, actually an old used one I repaired with salvaged parts.
They have folding kayaks if that would suffice. There’s also some types that break into pieces and slide into each other like cups taking a 12 foot kayak down to like 3 feet.
I’d avoid inflatables in most cases though.
Aren’t the folding ones like super expensive?
$500 for an Oru Lake
$280 for a Tucktec 10’
There are other models but those seem to be the most popular.
They can absolutely get crazy expensive and started that way but have come down in price a lot.
That’s unexpected, thx
Same, I’m also currently looking for a kayak and it surprised me as well since when I last looked there wasn’t one under 1k.
Now of course they are limited compared to a normal kayak but for someone in an apartment that has no other options it would at least get them something until their living arangement allowed them to get a proper one.
And if all you ever want to to is casually hang out on flat water it really doesn’t limit you at all.
I know a guy who has one with stabilising air pockets on the side so it can actually be used along the coast for fishing but that one is super expensive
It would probably/possibly work without them but the issue with folding kayaks on the sea or rivers is more impacts, there’s a lot of rocks in the fun rivers and in the ocean/sea there’s reefs and other abrasives.
Whereas with a rotomolded kayak its durable enough to even be used for rentals in those conditions. You pretty much don’t have to give a shit with a rotomold since they can take a lot of abuse.
A mini pc for emulation. I’ve been following the emulation scene for years, particularly for Android over the last 5-6 years. I ride the bus to and from work, so it’s always been nice to have them. For home, I have a Rasobery Pi 3B. It’s nice. But it is a little outdated, and would like a boost in power. Thought about getting the RP5 if it ever comes out.
However, some companies are now starting to really go all in on mini PCs. For more modern PC gaming, it’s not gonna get you the greatest experience. And I have a gaming PC right now. But I find that I prefer to run my emulators sitting on the couch. And now a lot of these minis are able to emulate up to PS3 and 360. Or at least as well as the emulators can work. However, for a model running the specs I want, I’m currently looking at anywhere from $700-900. So it might be a bit longer till I can afford one. Maybe with tax money if nothing else comes up.
Steam Deck + Dock! Definitely consider it!
That was one direction I considered going. On one hand, i have pretty much pretty much everything up to the PS2 and GameCube that can run on my phone, but it would be awesome to have the option for some PS3 games. However, it is a bit of a mixed bag. Some games it can handle perfectly fine. Some of them I would absolutely love to have mobile. But there’s also a few others that it’s not quite there for. I want to say someone tried on the ROG Ally, and it did test a little bit better, so that would be an option as well.
But I also just don’t know how often I would use it. Like I got a Switch when it came out, and I feel like I mostly use it docked at home. It’s big, it’s awkward trying to get it out of its case and get comfortable while on the bus. On the other hand it’s a lot easier to just have a smaller controller I can slap on my phone.
But I haven’t written it off yet. Because like I said, some games would be awesome to have. And a lot of the ports I would like to take with my that they put on the Switch tend to be downgraded visually, so it would look better on a portable PC instead.
It might sound dumb, but I thought for a long time if it was worth to buy a tablet or not. Because I suspected I wouldn’t even use it if had it. Then I found a great sale that helped me confirm my suspicion.
I lounge around and browse Lemmy on mine.
If you don’t use it, maybe you could mount it in the kitchen to pull up recipes on. That’s what I would do, anyway
That and a music remote if you have some Bluetooth speakers about the place.
I bought a convertible Chromebook some time ago specifically to use as a sheet music reader, because the tablet I was using for that purpose was too small.
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A (mechanical) typewriter. I have a cork board next to my desk and I’ve fancied replacing my handwritten cheat sheets and notes with typewritten ones. There’s just something about typewritten stuff that makes it “official” to me.
A scooter/bike (electric would be fine). Never learned how to ride one, but I’d love to just take it for a ride up/down quiet mountain roads. Sure, I’d need to ride for a long time to reach somewhere quiet, but I feel that it’d be worth it.
I’ve found myself wanting to get a typewriter for a while, but I wouldn’t be able to justify it because I don’t really have anywhere to put it, nor would I really have any use for it. And an electric bike would perhaps be nice as well, but I already have an acoustic bike that works perfectly well.
Same deal with the typewriter, tbh. It’s always been one of the things that I want to buy if I get to have “a large amount of money.” I used to have a fairly small one way back then, and it’s small and portable enough to be stowed into some corner of my room when not in use, but it’s a bit finicky to use. It’s also one of those cheap ones that came out in the mid-90’s, back when electric typewriters (and computers) started eating away at its niche.
As for the scooter, I think it’d be a lot more useful to me. I can use it for weekly errands (groceries and whatnot). For the leisure rides I really want it for though, I should probably want a beefier one (with more range etc.). Btw, what is an acoustic bike?
Btw, what is an acoustic bike?
It’s a joking term for a non-electric bike.
Ah~ Hahahahaha! Thanks! That one wooshed way over my head. Some of those can be pretty acoustic tho.
One of my favorite things living rural is the peace and quiet everywhere all the time
IKR! If it were only more convenient (getting necessities without having to go very far, or just have them easily delivered), I’d probably love to live in a rural place.
Right now though, I am way too used to living inside of a big city.
An electric bike.
Always wanted one. Will never, ever happen though. The thousands of dollars they cost will always be better spent on bills/food/meds/doctors appointments.
I felt the same, so I built one for around 5-600usd. If you have a bike, you can turn it into an e bike.
You can get kits to retro fit a standard push bike. I think you can do that for a few hundred.
every decent conversion kit I’ve seen has been around a grand, and still requires you to buy a decent bike to put it on, plus puts the onus on me to not fuck everything up.
saw a setup with a dewalt drill before
I said I didnt want to pay thousands. :p
Right now, probably a Google tablet with a keyboard cover, but I’m broke and can’t justify it when I have a perfectly good laptop.
i bought myself a pink lava lamp. it arrives in 2 weeks. i am SO excited to stare mindlessly at it for hours.
lava lamps scare the shit out of me… every one I’ve had has blown up. No I didnt futz with them or use the wrong wattage light bulb or anything.
whoa what happened?
I’unno. They just blew up. I assume they got to hot some how, blew the stopper like a geyser and had hot wax and whatever liquid all over the ceiling and floor and wall and everything.
3 differnet lava lamps. one actual, legitimate lava lamp, two different knockoff ones.
As a retro computing enthusiast, I have a lot of systems with little practical value.
Fun level through the roof though.
