Learn a new language using Language Transfer method!
Pay what you want, but the lessons are very well done and quite different than your textbook (no writing anything down at all). The teacher doesn’t push you to donate at all but I tell you it’s absolutely valuable and worth it.
3d printing, wood working and carpentry is the trifecta of self sufficiency. 3d printing to make complex or small parts, wood working to build furniture, shelves and tools and carpentry to repair most everything in your house, from basic plumbing, electrician work, timber framing and dry wall repair.
I’m currently working my way down the rabbit hole, no 3d printer yet but I have some experience in CAD. Really the only things I buy brand new are tools to build more tools/stuff lol.
Electric heated clothing is pretty great. USB heated clothes can only accept 10 watts a piece which isnt alot of but its suprisingly enough to keep you warm. Very energy efficent. They make more powerful electric jackets that run on power tool batteries too which are considerably more powerful. The limit to heated clothing is obviously how big a battery you can carry with you but even a 10 watt usb heated clothing has incredible amounts of CLO units (the scientific unit of measurement for the amount of insulation a particular piece of clothing provides
Layers are super important, thermal underwear (pants and shirt) will go miles in keeping you warm. Same with putting on multiple layers of pants, shirts, and jackets. Certain materials are better than others but at the end of the day every piece of clothing you manage to stack is added insulation regardless of material. Plastic synthetic materials beat most natural plant fibers in insulative property. The only natural fibers that really come close is wool.
Wool stuff is generally very good at keeping you warm but it can have a bit of a texture, requires some care when washing, sheds quite a bit, and it has a certain smell you have to adapt to or try really hard to wash out.
If your job just involves a lot of standing like a traffic signaller then you can probably get away with wearing a double puffy blanket as a cloak which will also help tons. I love my double puffy its great.
If you are dealing with fuck-you levels of cold well below freezing it may be worth getting a snowmobile suit, I’ve heard those are incredibly insulating.
Read this article by lowtechmagazine its full of really good info on keeping yourself warm.
I repair almost everything and just love to tinker with gadgets and tech in general… repurpose/reuse old things, make beter versions of them, etc.
Simple example, all of my old audio equipment now has Bluetooth, an MP3 player, an aux input, a USB port (for MP3 playback) and an SD card reader (also for MP3 playback)… oh and let’s not forget the FM tuner that comes bundled with those thingies 😂. Don’t use it, but still, it is a nice option to have at your disposal 😉.
I hand draw cards using dip pens, ink, brushes, or whatever media is interesting. It’s a nice way to spend time, and art shops have a fascinating array of niche products. There’s a bit of consumerism there, since you’ve got to buy the supplies. But a few supplies goes a long way, and there’s not really the sort of expansion lock in that other products have. You’ll always want a new ink color or a different nib for some purpose, but you can get any brand you want. They don’t look great, but, uh, it’s the thought that counts?
I buy sheets of paper and cut them to size. I use Strathmore drawing paper a lot. It’s not excellent at holding most inks, but it’s Ok and it’s fairly stiff, which is good for cards. Clairefontaine Triomphe paper gives great crisp edges on the ink, so sometimes I’ll draw on that and attach it to stiffer paper (www.jetpens.com/…/10365).
There are tons of kinds of papers and nibs and quite a few inks. Mostly I’d say there’s nothing bad, just different things have different uses. Art stores have racks of fancy paper to use for trim or other decorations. You’ll want some standard nibs. Leonardt and Speedball sells sets. Some really fun nibs are the Brause 361 and Zebra G. For writing the Windsor and Newton calligraphy ink is really nice. For drawing I try out different brands or whatever color or texture seems nice for what I’m doing.
Just to get started, I’d get a set of Leonardt nibs (they come in a carrying tin) and a straight handle, black Windsor and Newton calligraphy ink, and any drawing paper stiff enough for a card. Then think of a card design and buy the colored inks you need of whatever brand.
The only thing in this hobby that has ever seemed crappy are the plastic nib holders with patterns printed on them. They dry out and split. I can’t find a picture online, but every art store with nibs always has these holders too. The Speedball plastic ones are fine.
Thanks! I’ll have to keep this in mind next time I’m getting supplies to try some of these out. I initially started with some standard Pentel pens and some blank index cards for practicing on when the thought struck me to try out making some small cards.
Neither one of those will help you as a developer. If anything, I would look at that combo and be skeptical. Project+ would be a better choice. A good GitHub profile would be even better. But I don’t think you will have much trouble as a Java developer. There are still a lot of jobs out there.
Many hobbies have some sort of cost associated, I would hope materials to do the hobby aren’t necessarily seen as negatives.
People have been doing HAM radio (and learning it), electronics tinkering, woodworking, fishing, etc for ages. There are upfront costs to get equipment, although used stuff abounds, ongoing costs are materials or components that one wants. For some things once you get it working you don’t necessarily have ongoing costs.
I see commercialism as exploitive, just purchasing things not so much.
I see commercialism as exploitive, just purchasing things not so much.
Yeah, to elaborate a little, the question’s more aimed at finding activities that aren’t actively trying to rope you into buying more and more to keep up. A couple classic examples of what I had in mind to avoid would probably be like a trading card game or some tabletop game with collectible(?) miniatures (not sure what those games are called), whereas with crafting hobbies it’s simply a necessity upon exhausting craft materials.
The amount of consumer pressure within ham radio can be larger than you think. HF rigs can go for thousands of dollars, with VHF/UHF gear up there too.
Yes there are a lot of far less expensive ways to enjoy amateur radio. And I really should get my too-long unused cheap rig out of storage and do some of them, like digital modes on a computer over HF or satellite with a homebrew antenna and my old analog HTs.
P.S. It’s ham not HAM. It has never been an acronym so it should never be capitalized. Ham radio at the beginning of a sentence just follows normal English language capitalization rules.
Hiking is great. Swimming (assuming you live near a safe body of water) can be very cheap. Simple sports like basketball and soccer are popular globally because you need basically anything round that bounces a bit and can play or practice some variant.
I think overall, any sport or activity can be expensive if you buy the bullshit that x equipment or y must have variant is the best and will increase your enjoyment. Videogames can be crazy cheap and simple considering entertainment time vs. cost but you need to be somewhat aware of the model you are playing in…and basically know how to download good stuff. Cooking can be expensive if you’re trying to emulate bullshit social apps that tell you to follow this expensive trend or you have to eat a certain food this way, but I think learning to cook and prepare in your price range is incredibly satisfying. Spend the same but it’s massively improved quality.
Reading and learning is often free through libraries and provides many benefits.
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