Ask HN: What else do you do besides computers?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2237141

by clyfe • 15 years ago

7 23 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I seem to spend way too much time on the PC. 9 hours as a job. And then comes the hobby / personal hacking. And then there are news/movies and knowlege, and other entertainment.

For inspirational purposes, what do you do that does not involve a PC?

DanielStraight• 15 years ago

Cooking is definitely my top hobby. It allows almost unlimited creativity, and you get to eat the results. Does it get any better?

justinj• 15 years ago

get wet (surf), get lost (travel), get warm (icehockey).

sgoraya• 15 years ago

>> What else do you do besides computers?

Wife and one child provide a lot of 'doing' :)

I have a mountain bike that I ride around nearly every evening for at least an hour (a lot longer on weekends)- I ride that same bike to a gym three times a week;

Read a book;

lhorie• 15 years ago

martial arts and guitar

pzxc• 15 years ago

Does playing with my smartphone count (it is not a pc)? Hehe.

Seriously: Reading books, tennis, swimming, lifeplanning, occasionally going out for a drink with friends.

mindcrime5• 15 years ago

Over the years hobbies have come and gone, but some of my other interests include:

Mountain Biking

Wrestling (amateur wrestling, that is. I wrestled in High School)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / Submission Wrestling

Powerlifting / strength training

Running (mostly trail running these days, when I run)

Live music - I'm mostly a metal-head and I love a good live metal/rock show. But I also like classical, so I'll go to an NC Symphony Orchestra performance every once in a while.

Watching Doctor Who and Torchwood.

During football season I like to go out to a sports-bar and eat wings and watch the Miami Dolphins games. I'm also a UNC Tarheels fan, but I am not as into the college game as I am the NFL.

Every now and then I like to do the dance club scene, although not as much as when I was younger.

Reading is big: I like horror, suspense/thriller stuff, sci-fi, fantasy, urban fantasy, and all sorts of non-fiction topics. Most of my non-fiction interests are fairly typical geek fare though: various topics on science, math, philosophy, economics, etc.

I'm also something of a Libertarian activist and actually ran for Lieutenant Governor of NC in 2008 (I wasn't elected.)

bartonfink4• 15 years ago

No shit? You're Philip Rhodes? I voted for you (and then got the hell out of NC).

mindcrime5• 15 years ago

Yeah, that's me. :-)

Oh yeah, and thanks for the vote! I didn't win, but I did pretty well by historical standards for a LP candidate for state-wide office in NC.

bartonfink4• 15 years ago

I'm married, with a baby on the way and a couple of dogs. That eats up most of what I used to call 'fun time'. I don't do any hobby or personal hacking, although I do consulting outside of my day-job and am able to scratch that itch that way.

When I can find 'fun time', I abuse the hell out of my Netflix membership, mostly by watching historical foreign films, documentaries and crime dramas. I am also a fairly skilled bowler, with a 186 average. I am an unskilled but enthusiastic golfer with an average closer to my bowling average than I'd like. I read as well, although my tastes are a bit unusual (last book I read to completion was Vergil's Aeneid in the original Latin - I'm working through Atlas Shrugged at the moment).

Not sure what inspiration you can draw out of that, but I'm sure this will put Google one step closer to tying all my online identities together.

mindcrime5• 15 years ago

I'm working through Atlas Shrugged at the moment)

What do you think so far? How far into it are you?

Not sure what inspiration you can draw out of that, but I'm sure this will put Google one step closer to tying all my online identities together.

Heh, I've given up hope on that front. I suppose you could say "officially" now, since I mentioned earlier the one thing that's an absolute, sure-fire dead giveaway to my real-life identity. <shrug /> Oh well, if somebody can connect the dots of all my various online accounts, more power to 'em.

bartonfink4• 15 years ago

I'm only 150 or so pages into it - Dagny is reminiscing about her teenage years with that prince she used to date (don't remember his name right now). I still have a ways to go, and the family makes it hard to make big chunks of progress into the book. I carve out 15-20 pages here and there, but I always feel a little sad when I have to put the book down and deal with something else.

As for how I like it, thus far I am a little concerned about one point. The characters that I think I'm supposed to like (Dagny and the prince boyfriend) all seem to have gotten where they are by being born into awesome situations. Don't get me wrong - Dagny is a hell of a lot more sympathetic than her brother, for example - but it's hard to look at her as a "self-made woman" when the railroad has been a family business for like 5 generations. I'm hoping Hank Rearden shows up more, because he seems more in line with someone I'd sympathize with.

Other than that, though, I like it quite a bit. It's almost like my own thoughts are echoing back to me. I think it would be interesting to see what Rand would have done had she been alive now and whether the advent of the Internet, for example, would have changed some of the isolation she writes into her characters. Also, Dagny would have been able to track down that missing symphony she heard the train conductor whistling a lot easier.

th0ma5• 15 years ago

Guitar practice

Sailing (both small one-designs, and helping crew on things like catalinas)

Drawing

Going for a drive and listening to music or talk programs

The never ending quest for a new or better pizza

Social online mixer type real-world events

Museums

Conferences, and generally travel

Ham radio (oops, mostly PC hah)

Kites (and kite aerial photography)

Swimming

I would like to get more into rock climbing

Visiting family, friends, small business owners

tfitzgerald• 15 years ago

Painting, cooking, and photography.

amathew• 15 years ago

Powerlifting/Strength training

Comic books

Reading

Record Collecting (late 70s punk,60s/70s soul, and new house and techno 12"s)

clojurerocks• 15 years ago

Triathlons

atgm• 15 years ago

Kendo, Photography, Cooking, Reading... though the reading is on a Kindle, which may count as a computer for you.

erichcervantez• 15 years ago

I raise a family ;)

JoeAltmaier• 15 years ago

Scout leader, enable a game club at the local high school, support a disabled vet, go to classical music concerts.

clueless123• 15 years ago

Nothing like going flying..

As much as I can, I go fly Airplanes, Sailplanes, Paragliders or go Skydiving. In all this activities I am forced to focus 110% on the activity at hand, leaving no space for work stuff to keep running in the subconscious, making the activity incredibly freeing.

(It is kind of a kill -9 for work related zombie processes )

Ps. Recently I found out Yoga also does the trick

eengstrom• 15 years ago

Reading. Cooking. Wine. Travel. Gardening. TV. Sailing. Guitar. Cats.

I didn't do much of this when I was in my 20's, was all about work. My 30's seemed to be about spending time with myself, less with other people. Now I'm over that phase (and nearly the age bracket), I'm looking for more social things to do in the out doors (other than bbq and beer). Rafting, live music, fishing and hunting are things I'm trying to do more of.

Pretty much anything that involves one or two of my friends. I'm obsessive about reading, actual print books and tend to consume them bibliographically. Just finished a run on our first founding fathers. Last year was history of sail, wars and politics. Pretty boring to talk about with non-interested parties, fascinating to read, but isolating.

Ask HN: What else do you do besides computers?

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