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!homelab@lemmy.ml can easily become very involved.
But for other activities, fishing, watercraft (motorized or not), woodworking, ham radio, and civic advocacy (ie public transport, housing, anti-corruption). All of these can easily be a lifetime's worth. All but the last one do require obtaining equipment, but the best part is that the equipment is often readily available on the used market.
If you had to pick one of those for a newcomer to get into, which one would you recommend?
Of the grandparent commenter's list, civic advocacy, hands down. It is infinitely the most important.
It very much depends, I think. Ham radio was really helpful to me during 2020 because it was a social activity that was compatible with distancing requirements, and is a great way to talk with people afar. As in, other continents but also local folks as well.
Fishing, watercraft, and woodworking all have different prerequisites, like a nearby body of water or the space for equipment. They also require some logistical planning, like fishing licenses, how to identify and prep fish, and where to source wood. These things are often easier to learn if you know someone who already partakes in the activity.
But for civil advocacy, that one has no tangible result that you can put in the living room, earns no awards or points, and puts you directly in the public spotlight, ugly as it may be. And yet, despite all that, it has the potential to impact the greatest number of people in the most accessible way. Paraphrasing a Greek proverb, to commit to this endeavor knowing full well that it will never serve to yourself a benefit, that is a sign of a great and virtuous citizen. Such actions speak loudest.
All the activities I've listed are activities that hone personal development, and can be passed on to another generation, just in case you wanted even more engrossment. I'd say the greatest challenge is just getting started, taking that first step, whatever the activity may be.
Mistakes will be made early on, but this isn't amateur aviation or bomb disposal where the consequences are dire. Sometimes you just have to send it and keep at it.
I used to sink hours into home brewing. If you like fancy beers, you can make your own with little more than a stew pot and a bucket.
We are in the age of really cheap, but high quality guitars. You don't have to own an exorbitantly expensive gourmet brand like Gibson, Fender, Martin, or Taylor. There are lots of companies making very fun, playable, and CHEAP guitars.
If you want to play electric, there are companies like Firefly, Harley Benton, and Donner, making terrific guitars for less than $200.
If you like acoustic guitars, you can buy really nice new ones for under $500, but if you buy used (which I recommend for an acoustic anyway), you can find lots of nice 20-40 year old guitars from Yamaha, Washburn, Alvarez, Takamine, and others for less than $200.
Then comes the distraction part of learning to play, and practicing. It can take a lifetime, but if you are committed to it, you will be rewarded by steady satisfying progress for your entire journey.
Doing it, can confirm.
Check out www.justinguitar.com for top quality, free beginner's course.
Justin is great, he's probably taught more people to play than any other single human.
That's the other thing - once you've got a nice guitar for cheap, there are all sorts of great resources on the Internet. The best guitar teachers in the world are all over YouTube, offering lessons, tips, tricks, licks, and more, for FREE!
Go learn to SCUBA dive. Being 100 feet under water is amazing.
My wife passed away February 28th 2019 and I was lost in life. I wandered into a shop and was certified to dive on June 16th after a few classes. By January 16th 2020 I was Advanced Open Water certified and on June 28th I was Rescue certified. I actually want to become certified to instruct and use my underwater videos to pay for teens and young adults who have survived sexual abuse to become certified to dive and hopefully be able to provide them a set of gear.
I personality am a survivor of mental, physical, and sexual abuse. Diving has been the best thing in my life and in less than 100 dives I have seen things that people with thousands of dives haven't. It has also helped my mental health more than anything else I've ever tried. Now I just want to be in the water every chance I get.
What you need to get started is training. Dive certification will run around 500. You can find some shops that charge a bit less and some that charge more. The biggest thing in the agency alphabet soup is to find a shop that truly teaches and then plan to do advanced certification as well. If you can travel to do the Advanced Open Water certification do it, a week somewhere warm with some diving is worth it.
Things you should really buy: mask, fins, and snorkel. Buy it before you start the class. You can go on Amazon and buy any cheap mask and snorkel set where the mask has a tempered glass lens/lenses. Skip the dry top snorkel, they don't really do much other than cause issues (I have a design for one that would be amazing but need to prototype it first and don't have the ability/funding right now.)
For fins you need a scuba fin, I prefer ones made for dive boots rather than barefoot ones. Then you can walk around in the dive boots and have more grip and a little protection vs being barefoot. The fins I use are Cressi Pro Light but if I was to buy a set today I would look at the SEAC Propulsion S. And buy yellow or orange fins, trust me.
After that a dive computer is a really smart buy. You have a couple choices there and they can get expensive. A good basic computer is the Cressi Leonardo series or the Mares Puck Pro + Series. I started started with the Mares Puck Pro and just updated to the Mares Quad CI but will use the Puck Pro as a backup. You can use the app that comes with the dive computer but if you use Android and want to keep all your logs in one place even if you change computers (and you probably will if you get started) DiveMate is worth it. It works with tons of dive computers and you can still have signatures in your logs. I haven't used paper logs since my first certification. If money is no object the Garmin Descent Mk3i is one I (and many others) have drooled over.
Next is BCD and Regulator set. I'm looking at the Scubapro Hydros Pro with Air2 for my next BCD. Regulator I would suggest is the Scubapro MK25 with the G260. I use the MK20 with the G250, it's a tank and works great. Grab a console with depth gauge and pressure gauge as well, if you can get one with a compass as well all the better.
3D printing.
Get a used printer or build a new one (building it teaches you a lot about how it works).
Start downloading models... toys, gifts, tools.
Start seeing what little things you can fix and improve around your home.
Encounter something you need to print, but can't find anywhere to download... Get into CAD and start making your own models.
Also there's a nice side effect if you get into 3D printing: it's suddenly really easy for your family/friends to buy gifts for you. There's never enough filaments you could have.
A barbell, plates and a rack. Lifting has changed my life immeasurably for the better. It was something to do during covid instead of just drinking, but now it has become my passion
I got into lifting. Which got me into fashion because I needed a whole new wardrobe once my clothes became too small for me.
Photography. Yes you can do it with your phone, but a proper camera makes the process much more intentional. It can cost a fortune, but it can also be relatively cheap. I started off with a little digital camera when my daughter was born to document her kid years, now I'm dragging large format sheet film cameras up mountains on camping trips. Any mirrorless or DSLR from the last decade will get you going. Also photography pairs so well with basically any other hobby and sometimes can provide the motivation to do the other thing. Tons of YouTube videos and channels on the subject.
Biking. Great as a way to get around town in a healthy way. Brings about that joy of being a kid just ripping around the neighborhood. Then I started getting more and more into mountain biking, which has been a fun rabbit hole. Progressed slowly to avoid injury, and now I'm ripping blacks at the bike park and just raced my first enduro last month.
Running. Trail, road, whatever, just run. The best stress relief imaginable, and the best time to work through whatever is in your head. You'll feel better, maybe not always in the beginning but after a run definitely. Buy some shoes and off you go.
Climbing. Noticing a physical activity trend here. Climbing is awesome though. Such freedom of movement, it's like self weighted vertical yoga. Bouldering is a great place to start. No ropes or technical ability required, just bring a friend to a gym and they'll get you started. From there you can get your own shoes, get a membership, learn to top rope, meet some more experienced climbers, go outside with them, learn to lead ... another deep rabbit hole.
Hope those give some inspiration!
Haters gonna hate, but buying hardware capable of running my own offline AI has been my best money per hour investment ever. However, I got into it after reading all of Asimov's robots stuff, after an avid interest in compute hardware, and after having followed a few AI safety/general researchers. I got into it for customised learning, but that quickly expanded into many other explorations. Particularly I have advanced techniques for exploring AI thinking structures that are a lot of fun to play with. I play with images, video, 3d modeling, writing, agents, chat, roleplaying, and training.
I love doing AI prompt engineering, so I get it big time. In my case, though, I just do anime-style imaging with SDXL, IL, and SD 1.5 models. I use a website for my RP desires (not one with age verification, different topic for a different time), however, but I'm decent at prompt engineering, though.
Gameboy Advance
If you live in an area that gets a lot of snowfall, buy a zamboni. Keep it in a garage. Then, when a big ice storm hits, your time will arrive! Take your zamboni to the city streets! While the city ice crews are trying to melt the ice, you'll be out there thickening and polishing it to a glimmering shine! You'll be the ying to their yang. The negative to their positive. You will be the balancing element in nature! Buy your zamboni, and take to the streets!
Try 52 book?
A book a week, for a year is the premise.
I just go into charity shops and buy random books off the shelf, it's very, very hit and miss.
That's part of the fun.
Obviously I have my favourite genres/authors, this method means I either learn names to look out for or, avoid
I got back into hobby electronics after life getting in my way for 20ish years. And wow things are a lot more available and out of the box than before.
Lately I've been getting into I²C peripherals. They're pretty cheap too. Wanna build an X that does Y? Adafruit probably has some breakout board for you that does what you need. Hook it up to your platform of choice (Raspberry pi, arduino, etc etc) via four wires (well, 2.. I just run power from a raspberry pi as well) and you're good to go.
Optional: Combine it with a 3D printer to make chassis and mounting platforms.
I now have a raspberry pi that knows its absolute orientation, altitude, and position. I'm currently working on PWM input for receiving inputs from an RC radio I happened to have. After that it's PWM output to control servos. I might build it into a semi autonomous RC plane/drone or similar. We'll see where this project takes me.
Hiking shoes and poles. Spending time out on trails will be my next attempt at healthy coping.
I bought an analog camera (Canon EOS 300) for like 15 euros at a thrift store a year ago and luckily it worked. It has kinda kick-started my interest in photography. Analog photography is quite expensive tho, so a better recommendation would be to buy a cheap used DSLR. Personally I bought a Canon EOS 40D at MBP for like 80 euros, but anything like it would probably be fine.
A camera from 2008 doesn't sound like something that would still be relevant today, but honestly it's a great device. It's kinda like an old manual car in camera form. If you know what you're doing you can absolutely take amazing photos with it. It has all the buttons and options you might need, just not the fancy new stuff like face tracking autofocus, sensor stabilisation, EVF, etc.
My dad (who is a more professional photographer) let me use his professional grade lenses on this thing and the results are absolutely stunning. But even something like Canons 50mm lens is very decent. Will it beat anything modern? Probably not. But you sure can learn and take stunning pictures with it. Since then I got a more modern camera as well, but honestly the 40D still keeps surprising me. It takes a bit more effort to get something good, but it is also super rewarding.
One (1) library card. No purchase necessary. Can do it online in minutes and with a free app like libby have access to more interest than you could ever satisfy.
cat cat kitty-cat kitty-cat-cat cat-cat-cat cat kitty cat
one need money
i got into it by going :3 and adopting a cat
I have had many wonderful cats in my life, and I do not currently have a cat, and I have not had one for some time.
Maybe I should get a cat.
Cross stitch :)
R36S handheld retro game console. You'll be investing in SD cards & alt software while searching for roms & ports of games you already have.
It's pretty great.
Planting native plants and checking out the cool bugs that show up.
I read this and my only thought was "Factorio". Oh well.
'Tis the season for over-the-top programmable RGB holiday light displays choreographed to music.
https://kno.wled.ge/
https://www.xlights.org/
(I haven't gotten to the "choreographed to music" part of the hobby yet.)
You need a bunch of WS2812 or similar LEDs, esp32 microcontrollers, wires, power supplies, mounting hardware, etc.
Get a shitty motorcycle and fix it up and ride it. You'd be amazed at what you can do with some time and and a couple youtube videos.
A little groove box. Like the Roland T-8 or Novation Circuit.
Few hundred bucks will get you a used one. Super fun to sit around and make your own simple beats and songs. No musical knowledge required!
I'm a big proponent of modern affordable musical electronics. If you like it, it's a fun little thing to do. If you love it, there is endless depth to pursue in many directions. No natural rhythm or understanding of melody needed. It's fun to just sit and tweak knobs and notes until you like what comes out.
I also recently discovered this website called "Strudel REPL" that let's you code electronic music in your browser for free. Another fun way to check out the hobby without spending anything.
if you don't have one a steamdeck.
Flashlights really do seem like an endless rabbit hole to sink into. They’re surprisingly affordable too - there are tons of Chinese models in the 30–60 euro range that outperform name brands costing over 100 euros.
You could even turn it into a challenge: try to research the absolute best everyday carry flashlight for yourself and see if it arrives in the mail before you’ve already found a better alternative.
Fleshlight. As far as getting into it spits enough.
VR. Spend all day in another world.
I'm tyring to eat less animal food so have been buying odd vegan ingredients for cooking and substitution. It's fun.
Therapy.
Like, I'm gonna be real with you for a second. I've had this little crash out before, but I have actually tried to get therapy, and I have been given an appointment, and I showed up to the appointment, and the therapist fucking did not.
I have literally gone to multiple locations through insurance-approved things, and I have waited my time, and I have made the calls, and I have sent the letters, and I have sent the emails, and I have responded to the emails, and I have done all of the things. And I have been unable to get therapy, and I have decided that, since the universe will not allow me to have therapy, I'm not allowed to have therapy.
In my experience, majority of therapists are garbage. I've experienced the same, but once you get one who actually shows up and is actually good at what they do, it's worth it.
That's wild. Please keep trying. You. Are. Worth. Every. Effort.
Eta: in the meantime: meditation, some sort of art (paint, photography, pottery, mosaic, a coloring book, sketchbook, doodle, journal, short story etc).
Rubik's cube
Get a jet Ski.
And a second one
If you want something calm, you could try houseplants. There's all sorts of options from easy to difficult to keep, and it's easy to end up filling your home with them, which is actually pretty beneficial unlike some other clutter