Crocs. Technically two items but you need a pair to get the benefits.
Which ones? Just the standard ones? I am considering buying crocs as an alternative to house/home sleepers. Do you think that would work well?
Yeah, just the standard ones. Yeah I think that’s a great idea. In fact just yesterday I bought some new slippers from the supermarket which turned out to be badly designed chinesium prototype slippers and thought about just having a second pair of crocs for indoors. I just checked and you can even get fluffy lined ones!!
A bidet.
Japan has ruined toilets for me.
I can ruin toilets just fine myself, thank you.
Bidets are from Italy though.
They may have invented them but Japan perfected them.
A dog.
Have had a dog most of my life. Hard to imagine living without one. They’re better than people, fantastic companions, and the entire relationship is based on each other trying to make each other happy.
How do you deal with losing them? It’s as hard as losing a loved one imo
It’s very hard. I cry for days and drink a lot. It is a huge piece of life suddenly gone. But, like my last dog, I see all the things we did, so many adventures, and how many people are upset—even strangers at my climbing gym reached out because they knew him but not me; someone even drew an amazing portrait of him for me and it’s on the wall. That made me realise how awesome a life he had and how many people loved him. A truly good boy that got a hell of a life.
I know I’ll be sad, but it passes and I’ll be very happy with what I did for my dog and what they did for me. Then I’ll get another dog and they’ll get an awesome life too.
Building and running my own server for self hosting multiple tools for my home.
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Bitwarden Password manager, now sharing logins/passwords for stuff my fiance and I both use is easy, and every single website we use has its own unique randomly generated password so when one site gets breached, our logins aren’t compromised anywhere else
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Plex, it’s like your own self hosted Netflix. My file copies of any movies/TV shows go on here and it parses em all, keeps it all grouped together, streams in 4k.
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Shinobi, for my security cameras. Self hosted free CRTV application, works with any open spec cameras. Has movement detection and tonnes of other open source options for plug-ins.
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Deluge, handy UI for downloading torrents onto my server. Conviently added presets to it that let me download to the very folders Plex scans… cough cough.
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Kavita, self hosted server for books/pdfs. Some e-readers can even connect to it. A couple popular manga reading apps also work with it. Can also just use its own browser web interface as an e-reader, it has multiple options for styles (infinite scroll, page swiping, left/right click, and even supports right to left mode for manga!)
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Nextcloud, pictures/document storage. Sort of like a selfhosted filesshare/file backup. Has a mobile app that can automatically backup every picture/video you take on your phone!
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Gogs, open source super lightweight git repo. Has only the bare minimum of features, basic web hook, authorization, permissions, simple web ui to edit. It does the job I need it to and that’s good enough.
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OpenVPN, self hosted VPN so I can securely access all the above stuff without exposing it to the internet.
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Also I host my own websites on it, publicly exposed. Blog, a writing project, nothing terribly fancy.
Eventually I plan to add some more stuff to it. Migrate my smart home dependencies over to Z wave and install Home Assistant, so I don’t have to rely on sending my info to google/amazon/etc to do basic smart home stuff.
Plex
You should check out Jellyfin
Plex is getting shittier by the minute, and this is a good alternative.
I havent had any issues with Plex so far, so I continue to use it. Ive definitely looked into jellyfin and it doesnt seem painful to swap over, but at the moment there hasnt been a compelling reason to make the switch.
I put media in my folder, plex scans it by the time I sit on my couch, I click button, show plays. No issues to speak of so far.
Shinobi is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the suggestion
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As someone with waxy ears, an ear pick with a wifi camera built in. Would get blockages, cotton buds just pushed it back, olive oil or peroxide would get air locked. The webcam ear pick was super cheap and makes it easy to scoop out any lumps of wax.
Got any recommendations? My ears have been pissing me off lately cause they’re constantly feeling blocked. Not just for the ear pick but anything in general to help with to much wax in the ear.
I use a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and white vinegar. I drip about ten drops in one ear, let it sit there while I read a book on my side. Then I catch it all with a Kleenex tissue as I rotate my head.
This works great on ear infections too.
Sunglasses and UV-blocking clothes.
With the first I discovered that I have a high sensitivity to light, now I can see much more during the day.
And the second is very useful, protecting me from sun without the need to worry about sunscreen (except for the face)
Most clothing is UV blocking. That’s why farmers tans exist.
Not as much as you would think, and especially less nowadays with companies cheapening out on quality.
As long as there are no holes lol
The uv radiation permeates the fibres, even when there aren’t holes that aren’t supposed to be there. It’s dependent on the thickness of the weave. Fun new fear to unlock. https://www.solbari.com.au/blogs/solbari-blog/can-uv-go-through-clothes
Synology NAS (basically a hard drive always connected to the home network and internet) - has been amazing for auto-backing-up photos from the family phones and for running Plex run my own personal streaming service for the whole family around the world. Has been great for file transfer too. I can easily move files between my phone, PC, Steam Deck, etc and all the USB memory sticks I had have been sitting in a drawer ever since.
Exercise compression thermals - wear these is super comfortable and really warm. I wear them constantly at home and can have the heating off almost all winter (UK). Saves tons of energy and money.
Electric blanket - another great low energy purchase for relaxing under when watching TV or warming up the bed before sleeping. Gets super hot while hardly using any energy at all.
Split unit air con installation - this was expensive and I thought it would be unnecessary in the UK, but it seems to be used more and more every summer as we get more heatwaves and summers are becoming unbearable.
Safety razors - I have really thick facial hair and the multi-blade razors from big name brands would dull really quickly and cause tons of shaving rash. These razors are sharper, last longer, are recyclable and much better for my skin.
Liquid ink refillable rollerball pens - I tried fountain pens after seeing the online communities that are crazy about them, and really didn’t like them. I found rollerball pens I like that take fountain pen ink and have been super happy with them. I write a lot at work and this has gotten rid of the plastic waste of throwing away used disposable ballpoint refills every couple of weeks.
Hitbox controller - I’ve been playing Street Fighter 6 since release and I made a leverless controller box myself and I’ve loved using it to play SF6. Managed to make it for one third the price of what these things sell for and completely customised it.
More info on the homemade controller?
