this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2025
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Just thinking about the little things we enjoy that is other people's way of earning, for example fishing.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I write software for fun and give it away. I also write software for money and don't give it away.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

🀘 Ditto!

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (8 children)

So many

Homelab

Buy broken electronics, repair, resell (so like microsoldering, diagnosing, etc)

Woodworking but I’m bad at it

Cooking

Music but I’m bad at it

3d printing/cad but I’m bad at cad

Language study ζ—₯本θͺž

Pcb design and some coding related to this but I’m bad at it

It’s why I get the anti work people. If I could change careers every few years I would. I love learning about new stuff. I post a lot but most of the time I do that is either when I have idle time at work, before or right after work (although sometimes it leaks into weekends). I hate the phrase jack of all trades master of none, it’s cool to know about a lot of things (as long as you recognize the limitations of your knowledge)

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

I recently learned that the full quote goes like this: "Jack of all trades, master of none, though oftentimes better than master of one." Thought that might reconcile you with the phrase :)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

it doesn't matter whether you're good at it or bad at it. As long as you enjoy what you do, that's all that matters :)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You can also be a jack of all trades, master of some. Or a lot. Or most. 🀝

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago

I do almost the same thing as a(n unpaid) hobby that I do as my (paid) job. I'm a software developer who writes open-source software on the side.

I've also seen a few of my other hobbies grow into serious industries with real employees. The (hobby) drone industry and the 3D printing industry are quite large and growing (I assume).

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Linux Sysadmin here.

I have a couple open source apps/scripts that have tens of stars and ones of forks. I'm also getting into micro soldering to fix electronics. Mostly for myself but I'll hardmod or fix friends equipment for cost of parts. I've been known to buy a broken console, fix it, mod it, then sell it for some extra cash to buy more soldering equipment.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Apparently I study timekeeping so much that I can program a clock on a graphing calculator without using any timer function.

It takes a fixed amount of time to alter a pixel on the screen, and when carefully crafted, the pixel clock itself serves as a timer.

I'm actually currently testing such a clock demo on my Casio right now.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (3 children)

are there significant differences in pixel response as battery voltage goes down?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Very good question!

At this moment I don't know for sure.

I've only been running it on consistent 5V USB power until yesterday.

I am keeping the voltage level question in mind though...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Welp, one of my 4 batteries died today (no worries on the memory on this model). I found a spare battery, but between that and switching back and forth to USB power, it does seem the calculator's speed might be lightly affected by voltage levels and even possibly by temperature.

Hey, ain't nothing perfect...

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

According to my ex, I'm pretty good at defending the horrible actions of others in a conversation

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

You have a future in politics!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Fixing bikes. But if I had to do it for a job, under time pressure, I'd hate it. Give me all afternoon to fix a bike and let me put on a 5 hour podcast about the collapse of the Aztec empire, that's my happy place

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Photography.

I've been doing it for a long time and I'm still somewhat mediocre. It could theoretically make me money, but for me the excuse for not doing it boils down to "but it would require me to deal with people", given that most sought-after and commercially viable things to shoot are weddings, graduations and so on. In the end I keep it as something I (mostly) enjoy and occasionally do as favours to friends and family. I mostly shoot live music in order to support the local scene; I also do extreme sports and a bit of wildlife & landscapes.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

I brew alcohol and grow mushrooms(gourmet and non-gourmet)

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

I write screenplays for fun.

I've written a bunch of short films and one day maybe one will get produced.

I'm also kind working on a historical drama feature film.

I really enjoy the creative process and don't truly care if I ever sell one it get one produced.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

I have a machine shop that I use for making things out of metal that are normally not made of metal (like a yarn winder).

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

wrenching on my subaru :p during covid i pulled the engine. it was my first time ever pulling an engine out of a passenger car. i also pulled subframes and completely redid the suspension.

it keeps breaking, i keep fixing. symbiosis 🀝

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Gardening or more specifically raising fruit trees. Right now I got about 50 citrus trees growing from trifoliate orange seeds. Once they're ready I am going to graft lemons and satsumas onto them. I'm not planning to sell the trees, rather I'll gift them to friends and family.

I also propagate houseplants and gift them to friends, family and colleagues. Since they're so easy to propagate it's almost no effort.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

This is so wholesome, planting seeds figuratively and literally. Cheers!

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Maintaining and modifying cars and motorcycles.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

I enjoy learning vfx through houdini, id be doing it still if it wasnt so annoying to get on linux (im not paying for it, that 260$ a year cost is for me ppl making money and id do it if I was)

Blender is hella fun, like the ultimate sandbox game, cities skylines with no constraints (except much harder) I think with more and more addons it'll be the perfect sandbox creative city builder. Like procedural roads, cities, procedural terrain, buildings, etc. When the laxk of freedom in those games dissapoint you just make animations, the end goal in some of these games like planet coaster is to have something cool to look at and modify freely, the economy means nothing, might as well make it in blender.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (7 children)

I got really into cocktails a few years ago (or "mixed drinks", if you want to be more technically correct). No way I'd be able to keep up at a real bar, even if I probably know more cocktails than many of the bartenders I've personally interacted with (TBF I haven't been to a bar since I really got into cocktails, and before I got into it I just went wherever it was cheap). Fixing drinks is at best half of the job anyway, and I'm rubbish at the people stuff.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I fix all the tech at work because our IT department is dog trash and not fixing something when I know how feels like bees in my brain. Does that count as a hobby? :/

I also sometimes cook food in a more elaborate way than necessary which I've heard some people get paid for

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Not exactly the same but Truck driving Simulation on PC.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Apparently there are people who receive monetary compensation for drawing comics. Some apparently can even do that as their main job. That's what I heard at least, they seem to be rare.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I have a bunch of hobbies but the two that I'm currently concentrating on are building guitars and working on motorcycles.

There are plenty of people who build or customize guitars for a living. I have sold exactly one that I built from scratch and that was probably 15 years ago.

I'm resurrecting a barn find motorcycle that I'll sell (or I'll sell one of mine to keep this, I haven't decided), but I'm not going to make any money on it because it's not sought after. I'm doing it for love. I'll break even.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Oh man I would definitely watch a tv series on custom built motorcycles and guitars. I can already feel my moustache growing. Jokes aside, I love this kind of thing, have a garage full of creations, the grown man's playground.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I try playing the guitar and taking photos.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I play golf, some days I wouldn't even call it a hobby more like penance and a walk in the trees and sticks

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Influencer (I shitpost non-stop)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

I make pretty good beer and pretty shit furniture.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Self hosting, I guess it makes me an IT person as a hobby?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

I am developing software as a hobby that is fairly specialized in nature. That is only because I could not get a job doing the same thing. Fuck corporate monopolies.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

My current favorite outside of gaming is selfhosting or homelabbing. Maybe not to a high degree but I manage four local servers and one offsite, with four websites. It’s pretty fun but makes me super stress when it fails. One of those websites is a work related database but it’s also very fun to manage.

Another small hobby I have is managing my own small library. Using LOC codes I learned from the library. I inherited a massive collection from retiring profs.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Mechanic. I have the tools and know how to fix my own car so long as we're not talking about an engine rebuild, (and even that I could do and have done in the past, but it's a pain in the ass usually and I don't wanna). I enjoy the tinkering and troubleshooting. If it were a more desirable and high paying gig, I could see myself doing it for work. I also am IT support for my boomer mom.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Kind of the opposite, but I void warranties for a living. Pays pretty well too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I bake fancy sourdough, grow vegetables, do landscaping (but not mowing) make great cocktails for people, ferment foods and drinks. Occasionally draw things for decorations.

On the other hand, we pay someone to mow, and also to clean the house every other week.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

I make espresso.

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