Hobbies

[guids]

I dont think anyone has started a hobby thread?? I say this thread isnt so much a tell me what you do thread, but a thread where we can post quick rundowns/tutorials of what we do.


My main hobby is probably hacking, computer security, hardware hacking, phreaking etc. Here is a current hardware project that I plan on taking up this weekend:


http://www.hack247.co.uk/2006/06/01/xbox-media-center-tutorials-powerful-open-source/


becuase I dont feel like spening a ton on building a new PC, I think this will be pretty sweet. I plan on spending less than 200$ total, and if need be upgrade the HD to something bigger later on.

this will let you turn your xbox into a tivo:

http://www.mythtv.org/


which is the best feature imo, along with d/l NES and Atari roms and playing super mario bros, and punchout.


The site that that link is found is a great site with a bunch of projects similar to that.

hackaday.com

i-hacked.com


are also two that are similar.

[whiskeytown]

wargaming - though these days it's mostly computer wargames -

Hearts of Iron 2 rocks - at least now I have an opponent that plays back fairly decently - in the old days, out in NW Montana, I had to play both sides by myself - but it entertained me for hours on end -

oh yah, I play in a band (http://www.balletschooltroublemakers.com) - almost forgot - haven't had a gig for awhile

rb

['Chair]

3-5th grade: skateboarding, soccer
4-6th grade: street hockey, soccer
6-7th grade: shop lifting, soccer
8-10th grade: model rockets (started as a class project in 8th grade), soccer, wrestling
9-12th grade: recreational drinking and pot, soccer, wrestling

college < 21y/old - partying on campus, soccer, weightlifting
college >= 21y/old - partying off campus, soccer, weightlifting

[EvanJC]

[ QUOTE ]
I dont think anyone has started a hobby thread?? I say this thread isnt so much a tell me what you do thread, but a thread where we can post quick rundowns/tutorials of what we do.


My main hobby is probably hacking, computer security, hardware hacking, phreaking etc. Here is a current hardware project that I plan on taking up this weekend:


http://www.hack247.co.uk/2006/06/01/xbox-media-center-tutorials-powerful-open-source/


becuase I dont feel like spening a ton on building a new PC, I think this will be pretty sweet. I plan on spending less than 200$ total, and if need be upgrade the HD to something bigger later on.

this will let you turn your xbox into a tivo:

http://www.mythtv.org/


which is the best feature imo, along with d/l NES and Atari roms and playing super mario bros, and punchout.


The site that that link is found is a great site with a bunch of projects similar to that.

hackaday.com

i-hacked.com


are also two that are similar.

[/ QUOTE ]

guids, how did you get so awesome? my internet mental picture of you is really close to what i wanted to be when i was 13.

[guids]

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that at 25 I still have the maturity of a 13 year old.

[ElSapo]

[ QUOTE ]
I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that at 25 I still have the maturity of a 13 year old.

[/ QUOTE ]

Statements like this one would cast doubt on that.

My hobbies now tend to blend into second jobs or potential careers. These days I shoot photographs and am in culinary school.

I've always been very suspect of people who had no hobbies.

[guids]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHXgOxSGznE



How to crack a master lock with math!

[solids]

Wow, those are some pretty sweet links, guids. I'll likely try that out with my old xbox.

It kindof reminds me of a website called the Anarchist Cookbook (easily found by googling). It explains how to pick locks, get free money out of change machines, make bombs, etc. Not really my thing, but it's semi interesting.

On the topic of this thread, my hobbies include lacrosse, skiing, and poker. I'm also really starting to get into cooking, as well.

[jgorham]

Just picked up a new hobby I am really excited about. Not even sure what to call it exactly, but I use the program Reason to build music. Reason is a program that mimics a studio rack and allows for the use of samplers, mixers, etc. I bought it with a USB keyboard (which I really suck with) and am still learning all of the features of it, but it's a great program and a ton of fun.

Wiki explanation of the program (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason_(program))

[JaBlue]

my newest hobby is learning classical guitar. Started playing when I was 13 had a few rock bands with friends, started playing jazz when I was 16 and now because I get university-sponsored lessons from Colin Mcallister (http://www.colinmcallister.com). Decided to try out classical because I figured that at the very least, the technique would give a huge boost to my playing in jazz. I also think Classical is way easier to teach and of course my particular teacher's expertise is classical so I may as well take advantage of that.

Colin playing some contemporary guitar music:
http://home.sandiego.edu/~cadler/audio/LiberPulveris.mp3

I don't really like that piece but only example of his playing I could find. He's nuts.


Right now I try to play 2 hours a day, one hour technique stuff one hour learning pieces. Classical guitar technique is very, very demanding.

If anyone wants to get started playing classical guitar they should:

1) learn to read music, where the notes on guitar are

2) grow out and shape fingernails on the right hand. May sound silly but this is actually very important if you want to have a good consistent sound. It took me about a month or two of growing out my nails before I had what I needed. Then you shape them as discussed in Pumping Nylon.

3) get two technique books:

Pumping Nylon (http://www.amazon.com/Pumping-Nylon-Scott-Tennant/dp/088284721X/sr=1-2/qid=1172768479/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-3083917-0072848?ie=UTF8&s=books) and Kitharologus (http://www.amazon.com/Mel-Bay-Kitharologus-Path-Virtuosity/dp/0786617748/sr=1-1/qid=1172768510/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-3083917-0072848?ie=UTF8&s=books).

4) start learning songs. I am currently working out of book 5 of the
Royal Conservatory of Music Guitar Studies and Etudes (http://www.elderly.com/books/items/567-20.htm) series.

Some cool contemporary songs I can't play:

Leo Brouwer: Paisaje cubano con campanas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=papzZthlvxA&mode=related&search=)

Ernesto Cordero: Danza del Cimarron (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKMAjXcD1iU) (starts at :50ish)

Nikita Koshkin: Usher Waltz (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8lTyKrpcGQ)

Ronaldo Miranda: Apassionata (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71c2CrbI8gU)

[kidcolin]

"I've always been very suspect of people who had no hobbies."

Not sure that I'm suspect of them, but they're usually boring. I myself have been pretty boring for the past year, and I realized it's because I don't use up my spare time well enough.

Like JaBlue, I'm starting to learn classical guitar again. I just bought a really solid Alvarez Yairi 118 (http://www.alvarezgtr.com/prod_page.html?SeriesID=12&ItemID=33) for a fair price from my uncle. I haven't found a teacher here yet, but I have some #'s to call. I took about 2 months of lessons with a really amazing Hungarian dude in Boston, but unfortunately I ran out of funds. I only learned a couple songs during that, most of my time was spent on technique and drills. I'll of course start over to reinforce proper technique and such.

I won't be able to play as much as JaBlue.. once I get into it I'm hoping I can do 5-7 hours a week.

JaBlue, thanks for the links.. I'll check those books out.

The funny looks you get for having cokehead fingernails can be amusing, too.

[burningyen]

Looks like music is pretty popular as a hobby. I play guitar, these days mostly in a Pink Floyd tribute band (http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=1591). I'm also talking to a couple of guys about jamming some Police tunes for fun. An original rock project would be my ideal situation, but I can never find compatible musicians who don't want to become rock stars. You can hear a couple of my song sketches here (http://www.soundlift.com/burningyen).

[offTopic]

I'm all about bad-mediocre:

- golf (15)
- poker (1.5 BB/100, low-limit...I 2-table less than 10 hrs/week now)
- drums (started playing in the 5th grade, set in the 8th grade, played as a hobby for years and years, haven't touched them in a long time, though they're still set up)
- cooking (no formal education)
- computer games (this has fallen off precipitously, post-marriage)

[JaBlue]

I got my Yairi 118 in the mail yesterday from musicians friend. They packed it terribly and it is completely ruined. Big crack, lots of damage. The body is busted. Took 3 weeks too because they didn't have it listed as not in stock. I'm never ordering from them again.

[kidcolin]

Ja,

I think my uncle originally bought the guitar from http://www.maplestreetguitars.com/ . I'll have to double check when I get home but I'm pretty sure that's it. He said he spoke on the phone with them a while and they were really helpful. They shipped it to him overnight. My uncle sent it to me 3000 miles in the same box they shipped to him in, + some bubble wrap. No problems.

[ohgeetee]

My hobbies, from most time spent to least are

1. Close up Magic, mostly cards but moving onto others
2. Poker
Distant 3. PC Gaming, Watching MMA, Board Gaming, Guitar

I don't read, draw, or write as much as I'd like to either.

[guids]

The anarchist cookbooks realyl wasnt a website, it was a book/collection of TEXTZ!!! put out by a group named the jolly roger, this is what got me into this stuff, so I have a soft spot for it. I was about 11 or 12 and my dad got me an old 386 from work, along with some friends that had the anarchist cookbook on 3.5 floppies, I started learning about hacking etc. Everything in there is really dated though. Suprisingly enough, when I was in high school, i got into the whole extreme libertarian thing, Abbie Hoffman, yippies, TAP, but all that idealism has since been corrupted by a bunch of morans.

[Fishwhenican]

All of my hobbies now pretty much revolve around the outdoors. Camping, 4 wheeling, shooting, fishing and hunting with Hunting being the number one hobby (many times combined with the other hobbies).

I archery hunt as well as with rifle, shotgun, pistol. I reload most of my own ammo which is pretty fun to experiment with as well. Mostly hunt big game, elk deer, antelope but also enjoy turkey hunting, upland bird hunting (pheasants, grouse) small game hunting and coyote hunting.

I used to play in a lot of different bands when I was younger. Everything from orchestra and marching band to the classic WI wedding band. I do not play much at all anymore. Mostly just a little guitar around the campfire and the once in a blue moon Karaoke night at the local bar, LOL.

[wet work]

My hobbies are poker, reading, tennis, playing guitar,writing/recording music and a few other things.

The one I take most seriously though is playing music. I play with another guy about 4x a week. We play basically old-timey stuff. A mix of blues and old hillbilly music, some string band stuff. I lucked into meeting a guy who works at Folkways/Smithsonian and is a great bottleneck player. He's as much a teacher as he is a playing partner, I've learned so much stuff from him. He's basically an ethnomusicologist and also happens to have a huge collection of old 78s. So much of the material we play I would've probably never heard, there are just so many great tunes from that time period.

When we play electric it's more stuff like Derek and the Dominoes, Allman's etc.

I guess poker is the second. I've definitely played more in the last 5 years than I'd played in the rest of my life until that point.

[turnipmonster]

Ja, I love brouwer and recently finished learning the black decameron. have you learned any of brouwer's etudes yet? they are pretty easy to play and much more modern than most classical guitar etudes. also agree about the pumping nylon rec, that book is so great.

[nolanfan34]

I wish I could go pro at having hobbies. Much more fun than actual work.

One of my hobbies, that I've posted about before, is collecting unopened packs of sports cards. Most people ask what's the point of collecting packs if you don't know what's inside? The great thing is, it doesn't really matter. You can find the cards anywhere, but as time passes, finding unopened gems becomes tougher and tougher, because the supply is always dwindling.

Part of me likes the nostalgia aspect as well - reminders of all the good times I had as a kid collecting baseball cards.

Some pics I've posted before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/nolanfan34/Sportscards.jpg

My goal when I started collecting these was to get the equivilent of a full box of packs for each brand from 1980-1987. I pretty much have that, short about half a box of 1980 Topps baseball, and a full box of 1984 Donruss.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/nolanfan34/footballpacks.jpg

My favorite items to get are these kinds of old grocery trays and grocery racks. The cards are generally double-sealed, so the likelihood of tampering is a bit lower. Plus, they're sort of a rarity compared to the traditional wax box.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/nolanfan34/79packs.jpg

Some of the baseball variety. That's 1979 Topps with the nice yellow wrapper. Those wax trays are in my top-5 favorites of my collection.

My top-5 favorite items:

5. 1975 Topps Hockey wax pack. Not a notable year for any reason really, but my oldest unopened pack, and the kitsch of 70's hockey packs is very cool I think.

4. 1981 Topps Football grocery rack. Joe Montana's RC year. I have 3 of these, the packaging is a weird clear plastic compared to the cello type they later used for racks.

3. 1984 Topps Football grocery rack. I have a couple of these. Elway and Marino rookie year. I love the fact they tout "sugarless gum" on the wrapper.

2. 1979 Topps baseball wax tray. As seen in the above pic. Ozzie Smith rookie year. These trays are in gem condition, and I just like the brightness and uniqueness of the packs that year.

1. 1985 Fleer wax rack packs. Might seem like a lame #1, but 1985 is the year I started really collecting, so I have an attachment to that set. Clemens and Puckett rookie year. These rack packs, which actually contain 3 wax packs inside, were more common in 1987 and 1988 for Fleer. The 1985 variety is very scarce. I see single racks on eBay, but rarely a large lot of them. I picked up 12 to equal a full box a few years back, and am glad that I did.

I have some other hobbies too, like golf, beer brewing, and video games, but I certainly enjoy my collection.

[Badger]

I don't have any hobbies I would call interesting, but I definitely enjoy them.

First off, drinking is not really a hobby, but I spend a fair amount of time doing that. However, I would consider brewing beer a hobby. I've brewed over a dozen times now and finally made my own recipe. Here's me making a Chocolate Stout.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/1989/n17200974303256524654falw1.jpg

I've been climbing for about a year and a half now. I haven't taken this as seriously as I'd like, but still manage to get a couple hours a week in. I boulder V3's and sport climb single pitch 5.11, maybe. I'll lead 5.10's. Here I am on a 5.9 that looks harder than it is due to the camera angle (it was a tricky 5.9 though)
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7609/20061001reimers0017kb8zh5.jpg

Recently I've started cycling. I got talked into doing the MS 150 (bike 150 miles, raise money for MS). Typically I'll have some sort of "hobby" that is more or less purely for exercise. It's been running, swimming and lifting weights, right now I'm biking. I really like it. I just picked up a nice road bike to replace my steel bike from the 80's. It's a Felt F50 (Aluminum w/ carbon stays and fork, all Ultegra components). Got it on sale for $950. I've been very happy with it.
http://www.feltracing.com/06/04/2004_bikes/images/f50_02.jpg

Ever since a buddy in Spain convinced me to head over to Morocco and hike up Jebel Toubkal (Highest point in North Africa at 4,167 meters) I've been hooked on hiking/backpacking. Here's a couple pics from that trip.
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/1475/dscf0626sn5.jpg
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/7213/dscf0604is4.jpg

Each year I spend at least one full week backpacking and try to get out on some shorter local hikes when I can. Maybe I'll bog down the hiking thread with tons of pics, here's a couple from some favorite hikes:

Chile - Torres Del Paine
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1986/chilepicturestdp1eq0.jpg
Great Smoky Mountains
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/3172/dscf0203el5.jpg
Wyoming Wind River Range
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/5323/20060903wyoming0049et0.jpg
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3696/20060903wyoming0036ru7.jpg


I also love spending time with my dogs, and hanging out at the dog park. There's a couple really good ones here in Austin.
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6401/20060721mario0024ua7.jpg

Also I like to spend my time doing charity work which has included mentoring, projects for Engineers Without Borders, AIDS Walk, MS 150, and helping with volunteerism/philanthropy at my company.

Travelling is another big hobby of mine. I've been to Mexico a few times, Canada and seen a lot of Western Europe as well as a good chunk of the states. I'll be going to Central America soon and hope to take a decent trip to Asia within a year.


Also, much less of a hobby, but more of a time killer, I've gotten back into video games. (Nintendo Wii and DS), which I really haven't done since high school.

[orange]

My hobbies consist of playing RTS games. Lord of the rings: the battle for middle earth 2 is what I currently play. I used to really enjoy age of empires II and starcraft.

[adsman]

My big hobby is now snowboarding. I've managed to introduce a couple of good friends to it and they now come over regularly to board with me. I've let the guitar slide a bit but I'm determined to get back into it. Reading is also a big one. My secret nerd hobby is model train sets. I just love them. Don't have any myself, but when I get a big place, one room is going to be devoted to my all time balla mountain train set layout.

[Dominic]

Badger, you're really making me feel lazy. Stop it.

Seriously, very cool hobbies you have there...I'm thinking of taking up hiking, as I live in Las Vegas and there's apparently a lot of great hiking here.

[hobbes9324]

Stamp collecting - might as well get a tattoo on my forehead reading "dork" - but it lowers my blood pressure, and I'm a history buff, so I like it.

Here's a scan of my latest purchase....pretty much finishes off the Somali Coast for me...been looking for a copy of this one for about 5 yrs....

MM MD

http://members.aol.com/hobbes9324/somal.jpg

[theBruiser500]

nice picks and stuff badger. my hobby is being a pick up artist

[Badger]

[ QUOTE ]
Badger, you're really making me feel lazy. Stop it.

Seriously, very cool hobbies you have there...I'm thinking of taking up hiking, as I live in Las Vegas and there's apparently a lot of great hiking here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dom-
I highly recommend it trying out hiking. I had no idea how much I would enjoy camping/hiking/backpacking. And don't let me make you feel lazy, I do my fair share of sitting on my ass watching movies and such. The place I work for has plenty of people that will really make you feel lazy, people who compete in the Iron Man races and such.
As for hiking near Vegas I went somewhere that made for a great day trip. I don't remeber the name but there was a ton of red rock that was a lot of fun to scramble around on. Someone can probably confirm it's something obvious like Red Rock State Park. We stopped to shoot machine guns on our way back into Vegas, because we were in a traffic jam and one of my buddies has zero attention span.

adsman-
Sadly I didn't even think to put Snowboarding in my hobbies list. It used to be, but moving from Wisconsin to Texas will change that. I stopped kayaking too when I moved. I'm sure there's plenty of places to go, but I don't have free lessons and free kayak rental here.

[TimM]

Chess - does that count? It feels like work these days. I also bowl in a league, and I'm planning to join a pool league soon.

Do these things even count as hobbies?

[JojoDiego]

My #2 hobby right now (poker is #1) is probably gardening. Last year was my breakout year, with a so-so harvest of peas and pumpkins, a decent return on my sweet potatoes, and a wildly successful harvest of green beans. I do it primarily because I just plain enjoy growing crops (I've got farmer blood in me), and I also like feeding my family fresh/good food and gaining a bit of independence from the supermarket. Last year I grew more value than I invested in straight dollars, but that does not include the huge number of man hours I invested. The $ costs are quite low: maybe $2.00 for a package of seeds, a little extra each month for water (here in San Diego), and last year I also rented a rototiller ($40) and bought a couple more tools. This year I don't need the rototiller, but I might buy a little soil from Home Depot to improve the sandy area in the garden. (My compost pile didn't really work this winter.) The man hours required are huge: turning it over, preparing, planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, etc. I picked the last of the green beans and sweet potatoes last October, and I now need to turn the garden over and get something in. Mildew attacked the peas and pumpkins, so I might just do green beans and a few more sweet potatoes (and maybe try watermelons again). I might put in a couple rows of green beans now, a couple more in a few weeks, etc., so that I get steady production all season, which is very long in San Diego. And I might try to sell some at the local farmer's market this year. You can find good, basic garden tips here:

University of Illinois Extension (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/peas1.html)

A number of other hobbies have dropped off my radar for various reasons, such as my work on my 1967 Pontiac Firebird. Over the years, I've done a lot of work to it mechanically, and it needs more, as well as work on the interior and exterior. I've learned a lot about 1960s and 1970s Pontiacs and have numerous resources for the things I don't know (e.g., the forums on www.classicalpontiac.com (http://www.classicalpontiac.com)) and the products I need, but I just don't have the discretionary cash to invest in the car right now. So, I'm currently reduced to driving it on the weekend every 2-3 weeks, and occasionally drawing up lists of things I'd like to fix/improve. Frustrating. I'd love to be able to turn it into a beautiful, even-faster machine.

I also used to surf a lot, but I guess I've lost interest, along with time (I have a 2 year old and wife now). I also moved inland away from the beach a few miles a couple years ago, so I can't just walk to the beach with my board anymore. I still have boards, suits, etc., but I went only once last year.

I hunted elk from age 12-17 in Montana, and I still have all the equipment, knowledge, etc. Just need to move home.

[guids]

I know its too late for some, but I think that the guys who posted so far should edit thier posts with some kind of tutorial or primer that goes more indepth than just posting what you do for hobbies.

[chisness]

much younger: watching wrestling, little league baseball

computer games from past: starcraft, counter-strike (cal-m at one point, this is probably most fun activity i've ever
done (sad maybe))

current things i'm mediocre or bad at and trying to learn: golf, chess, squash, bridge

poker: solid mid-stakes winner, but not near top level


mario kart 64: probably what i'm best at, at least based on a pretty good variety of people i've played with

i doubt a tutorial will be too relevant in this forum, but i'll give some advice points (there are def some very basic and more advanced ones i'll miss):

-pick a lightweight for fastest acceleration
-if you begin to spin out, hold b to not spin out (works for delayed spin outs only)
-yoshi's valley: go right, left, insta right for best overall route
-kalimari desert: after the last tracks, use mushrooms or stars to take shortcut over the area to the left of the track
-if you get hit, to accelerate fast quickly tap a as you begin moving again
-if you have multiple red shells and are behind someone blocking with 1 item, fire 2 at a time so he can't block the 2nd (if he has 2 blockers, may need to fire 3)
-to fire green shells backwards, make sure your cart is straight or they'll instantly go in a sideways direction
-koopa troopa: best way to make shortcut is mini turbo into the ramp and go up its left side, you won't need to jump or use a boost at all (on 150cc)
-try to lay upside down question boxes directly behind real ones
-try to spread bananas evenly around areas you expect will get action (bridges are great, some walls like the right one after the bridge coming out of bowser's castle near the end get hugged by everyone)

-the most important concept is mini turbos
-to start, you power slide around corners by holding r and turning in direction of the curve (will get white E's)
-to get a miniturbo, you have to wait a second (important), and then move joystick from side to side (E's will change to yellow then orange). release r when they turn orange.
-try to do as many of these as possible while going around turns, as each one will give a small boost

-overall, it's kinda like poker in that playing a solid game and minimizing mistakes is huge. getting fancy by trying to pull off an extra mini turbo or not playing defense when you need to can hurt.

-playing for money: definitely do GP since having 8 players minimizes the item randomness. you also get rewarded more for staying ahead since opponent will have to use items on other players to get to you if he's behind.