High end ricecooker ended up getting more use than expected.
USB KVM style switch to change mouse/kyb over between work and personal device
I agree with carbonating your own water, but sodastream is expensive compared to a DIY carbonation setup. Get a 5LB CO2 tank, some carbonation caps on Amazon, and a good gas regulator. Total should still be less than $200 USD.
The 5LB tank will last at least 5 times longer than the sodastream and total assembled size on my counter is about the size of a sodastream setup. Refilling that tank at a food safe gas supplier is even cheaper than exchanging a sodastream tank.
Yes, but it still adds up to more in the end. The cheapest within driving distance I've found [1] is half the cost to refill the sodamistic 60L bottle from what sodamistic charges, and almost half the cost of refilling the 5LB tank, but the 5LB tank holds 5x more CO2, so after 2-3 refills you're already losing money compared to a DIY solution when accounting for cost of the whole setup.
Also higher pressures are better obviously. Another tip is to use cold water because that apparently absorbs CO2 better.
You can also carbonate wine. My girlfriend was very excited to be able to buy cheaper white and rose wines and just carbonate them instead of buying more expensive bottles of sparkling wine.
Once you start kegging your homebrew, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.
After primary fermentation, I siphon from my carboy into a 5 gal corny keg, then I hook it up to my CO2. Turn the pressure up to maybe 20-30 PSI (strictly for carbonating; turn it down for serving) for maybe a day or two. If you want, you can shake it to dissolve CO2, but I'm lazy and just let time do its thing. It's awesome. So much less work than bottling.
Agreed, but I expect the HN audience is already far from the norm covered by your "many people".
For now the fact that I've got a sodastream swap place in walking distance makes it an acceptable solution
I know you can get so-called "active" switches that tell both host computers that there's still a monitor plugged in, but they're expensive, especially if you use a monitor higher than 1080p. I'm not even sure once exists that will support 1440p @ 144 hz with GSync.
However, I haven't looked for KVM switches in almost two years. Has this situation changed? Is there a KVM switch that will tell the host machines that there's still a monitor hooked up when I switch it to the other machine that will support my resolution and refresh?
I've replaced the 4K Dell and side monitor with a big curved 8K Dell, which has a built-in KVM. My keyboard, mouse, headset, external speaker bar, and webcam are all plugged into the monitor, and they all swap from one PC to the other with a keyboard shortcut that also switches the monitor source. It's a lot handier. However, if I manually switch my portrait monitor to the PC that uses DisplayPort, my windows will still get moved to it when I switch everything else to the other PC. So I just don't switch that portrait monitor very often anymore. Using the keyboard shortcut has made my lazy and I don't bother with the last monitor unless I really need it.
After years of paying $30 per exchange, I decided to switch to an Spärkel Carbonator machine, which just takes a tablespoon of citric acid powder ($5/lb) and a tablespoon of baking soda ($1/lb) per bottle. So much cheaper.
I'm very tempted to order the system and use it in a 220V country with a stepdown transformer. The specs on the website say that it's 110V only — I assume that's true for the actual product?
IT means when I finish work I have to hit the switch to change input on each monitor (and with one setup vertically, it can be awkward, and one requires going through a menu, which is annoying).
I also have to swap the USB dongles for keyboard and mouse from the laptop docking station to my desktop.
Would a KVM fix this for me ?
SO I can just hit a single switch and it will swap over the keyboard / mouse and my monitors?
I'd love that.
It's not one button, it's 3, one per KVM, but yep - I just tap the button on each KVM (under the monitors) and the desktop changes, the mouse/keyboard work, and the other machine is up and running in front of me.
Even the webcam mounted to the monitor switches over - because it's not just mouse/keyboard, there's a couple of USB ports too.
One thing I'd recommend (because otherwise wiring gets unmanageable) is to bunch together the mouse, keyboard, video cables using some split-sheathing. I have an 8-way KVM for the main monitor (all ports used) and this makes it much easier to figure out what's going where.
You can get KVMs that switch multiple monitors, but you pay more for multiple monitors and for multiple input types (HDMI & Display port), so depending on your setup, it may make sense to have the some monitors on the switch but manually select inputs on others.
KVMs tend to work well, except
- you need to pause for a second when switching to allow the USB devices to reconnect, or sometimes things get into a weird state, like keyboard thinking a modifier is pressed
- rarely things get confused anyway, and I have to unplug and re-plug in devices to one of the computers. Cheaper KVMs and smarter mice and keyboards seem more prone to this.
Otherwise you'd need a KVM that supports 3 monitors which I'd imagine is a compatibility nightmare if they're beyond 1080p@60hz
You would need a triple monitor KVM with at least 2 USB inputs. You could also get an Ultrawide monitor to simplify further, which is what I have done.
I also use them in cocktails (about 1/4 packet per cocktail), put in first and pour cocktail ingredients over the crystals to dissolve (or shake if not using any carbonated ingredients).
Bit pricey...250ish...but build quality inspires confidence that it'll last
Working: plug display to work laptop
Not working: plug display to my laptop
A proper USB-C switcher would be nicer, but swapping one cable isn't _that_ hard.
I also keep switching frequently and looking for something similar
But for toggling over usb stuff this works fine and is cheap
This works especially well in cases where an actual KVM switch would be expensive or unavailable (in my case, I'm switching three 4K HDR DisplayPort monitors, which would require a very expensive KVM switch).
