Probably it doesn’t quite count as a gadget, but repurposing my old PC as a home server. Firstly it makes a great mass storage solution making all my media accessible from any device, no matter what architecture it is and what apps it can run. I also self-host Home Assistant, Syncthing, Radicale, Navidrome, Jellyfin and UrBackup. The ten years old 2 core Pentium with 8GB of RAM can do it all, it’s much cheaper to run than half a dozen subscription services and I have total control over my data and privacy.
If it counts, definitely the Steam Deck. With that and emulators, it’s like having almost every game I’ve ever owned in one portable machine.
I just got one so reading this makes me hopeful. Fallen out of love with gaming a bit in recent years
Also just ordered mine. Since I started working fulltime remote a year ago, I found myself not wanting to spend more time on my desk after work. That translated into me almost giving up gaming even though I used to love it. Moving to a place where I can have a second desk would cost me one Steam Deck per month so I just went with a Steam Deck lol
Almost all my gaming is on my SD now. Love this thing.
In a similar vein, I love my ps vita. Hacked, it’s an absolutely amazing console, and is able to boast the “actually fits in my pocket” award.
Such a cool console. Sony butchered it, but theres still so much fun to be had with it. We got a GTA san andreas port by the community ffs
Sony wishing they didn’t make the vita is a double edged sword, because it also means you can be a completely obvious hacker, and Sony doesn’t give a singular fuck. And they still ban people for hacking on ps3, so it isn’t just age.
Yeah i have a modded psvita, scene is suprsingly active. You got ensō?
I have whatever I set up with when I hacked it tbh. I don’t really do much beyond transfer games onto it at this point
A custom cane. I know it’s silly but I get a lot of compliments on it. It’s hand crafted in Ukraine and it has a steel sculpture of Thors face adorned on the front.
If you’re someone like me that is going to need that for the rest of your life, why use some cold looking medical device or that stupid “hurry cane”? Nah I’d rather it be as beautiful as it is functional.
I’ve taken it on all my travels so far and it makes for a great conversation piece and a great way for others to broach the uncomfortable topic of my accident or walking impairment. Most people will ask about the cane first before asking me why I need it. Prior to owning the custom cane nobody asked me about anything.
It’s hand crafted in Ukraine and it has a steel sculpture of Thors face adorned on the front.
Now that is a B1tchin’ cane.
A countertop water boiler. It turns out I go through just about 4L of tea a day and now I spend a lot less time boiling water. And when you refill it and it comes to temperature it plays Fur Elise
edit: typo
Bidet for sure. A good one in the $300-400 range. It is such a gamechanger to always have a clean ass. And without TP, the toilet never clogs and you aren’t spending extra on TP. Also helps with hemorrhoids if/when you get those, as TP is really rough on your asshole/not good for you.
I still have some TP for guests, but with the dryer built in, it really isn’t needed.
Also, a bidet is a lifesaver if you like extreme hotsauces. Basically, it’s the only piece of daily furniture that makes me go “God, I’m so glad I bought this” for literal years since I got it in the pandemic. No cold toilet seat during winter. Heated seat that doesn’t slam. Hot water. Hot air blow dryer. Self-cleaning.
Not for everyone obviously, but I developed a synthesizer habit some years ago, and right now is probably the best time ever for a beginner to get into it. Korg’s Volca series, Roland’s Aira compact, teenage engineering’s Pocket Operators, Arturia’s Microfreak, and Elektron’s Model series are all affordable and a great way for a beginner to start making some cool-ass music. Beware developing a habit though. It only stays affordable so long.
Lemmy needs a community dedicated to pointless debate over which flashlight is best. I’m about to permanently borrow somebody’s ThruNite T1 but it’s too heavy, I miss the mini Maglite I used to carry. Phone flash is fine, yes, but I miss a flashlight/torch without a fucking login procedure involved for fuck sake.
Its kind of silly, but VR. I like hanging out in vrchat with my internet friends and it makes me feel a lot closer to them. Even when we’re just talking and goin to cool worlds.
A home server. Originally a Dell R710, now a custom built desktop.
If I can possibly self host something now I will do that over using big tech proprietary services. I feel free.
How do you access it away from home. I’m able to access my NAS since Synology gives us a domain to use and we do everything using port forwarding. I would assume that if you set everything up by yourself, you would need to get your own domain and ssl certificates and everything?
I have a domain name on cloudflare DNS, Let’s Encrypt certificates that auto renew and an Nginx reverse proxy pointing at the services I host. Port forwarding through the opnsense router for https.
It’s been a journey setting it up, but its basically been unchanged for about 5 years now and works well. If I need to I can VPN in too.
3d printer
Massage gun. I thought they were an over hyped trinket until I tried one. Relaxed a muscle that hadn’t relaxed in years.
If you’re using it purely to relax muscles, then it is amazing. All the other claims about them seem to be BS though.
A bedside arm for mobile phone. No more uncomfortable phone holding for bedtime youtube session.
Your physiotherapist and your sleep doc will both agree that watching or reading your phone in bed is a bad idea.
You may rock out a rebuttal that sounds like “I know driving drunk is bad but I need to”, or so, but your bed is for sleeping and sometimes play-dates.
So many people who want to play farmville in bed.
Hey. That’s between you and your doctor if you’re an adult and can make your own healthy choices. You can, right?
Bone conducting ear phones, I have tiny narrow ear canals and can’t get any type of ear bud to go in my ears, the bone conductors are a revelation for listening to audio books, radio and music when I’m out and about
Got a brand to recommend? Sounds awesome.
Mine are Shokz, I’ve had them a couple of years now with no issues at all, the battery lasts for many hours, I’ve never had then run out for.my use case
Very late reply, but thanks a lot for this info! I’m actually kind of excited to try those now. You’ve opened a door for me with this.
Thanks again!
A Blunt Metro umbrella. Makes me happy every time I get to use it. It’s aesthetically pleasing, it oozes quality, it’s easy to bring with you.
WTH is a blunt metro umbrella? (Retorical I am about to search it but still …)
I’m guessing some sort of collaboration with Snoop Dogg? 🤷♂️
An Ice Cream Maker. Been making my own Ice Cream for years now and its amazing. The cheap machines which requires you to freeze the bowl is nice, but the one with a heat pump built in is amazing. In 3 hours I can make batches of Mint, Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream.
Woah! I didn’t know they made heat pump ice cream makers (for non commercial users) at a decent price.
Amazon sells them with the search term “with compressor”. I got this one 2 years ago, it’s pricey but you can get smaller ones with less volume for cheaper. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01FXMW4AS/
I love kitchen gadgets and thought to myself… dang! Will get one… then saw 600… I don’t eat that much icecream lol…
I found the $600 to be reasonable considering how much I make. But they do sell smaller ones for 200-300 the bowl just has a smaller volume.
