Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

I have experimented a lot with stuff I have and wearables are coming closer to interesting use. For instance I picked up a second hand Twiddler one hand keyboard/mouse and with some practice I can program with it a bit. Then hooking that up to a rooted smartphone with Linux seems to work fine. Allowing me to 'program' a bit while walking, but of course with the phone on my left wrist and Twiddler in right hand, it doesn't allow for very stable viewing/typing. Best would be augmented reality, where the augmented part is a projected, stable screen on the right-middle side of my right eye with a usable resolution (so not Recon). Then programming I think about the issue for a while and then write code; this seems to match that model particularly well and it's actually how I work at home. I stand in front of 'something' (can be a tv or window or ...) and my laptop is on my right on a standing table. I contemplate the problem and move my concentration to the right to the screen when I found a 'solution'. I think this would work well. However, there are no augmented reality devices ready for this. I tried a few and they gave me headaches or were quite uncomfortable.

Guess it's waiting for Glass or something to hurry the .... up. But that'll probably be disappointing as well; seems we are quite far removed from this. So for now I'm focusing on the software side, like having a live/reactive, predictive programming language which can be used almost only with alphanum chars. I have a lispy (but it would work with all lisps which don't have syntactic sugar) which predicts the parentheses well enough to almost never having to type them. This helps with entering code faster with one handed keyboards and voice (which I think is a dead end btw). However the issue which always arises is editing code, not adding code. That is also something you can reason about and try to solve without having the actual hardware, so it's something i'm working on. When I have time (i'm in a startup, unrelated to this hobby right now), I will blog about everything. I promised myself this will be before the end of the year ;)

I've messed around with golf for about a year or two before getting serious this summer. Lessons made the biggest improvement. After I had a rough idea from the lessons, reading really made me understand the hows and whys.

This should help you on your way: If there are any golf courses around you, check their clubhouses for a local pro. There's usually someone around giving lessons.

This is where you need to spend the most money. Buy 5 or 10 lessons. Learn the fundamentals first, dont worry about distance, worry about contact.

Do this instead of a "craigslist deal". You'll be sure to get sound advice from someone who really understands the game.

For clubs, buy used or secondhand. These will last you until you either fall in love with the game or give it up and something else.

Suggested reading would include:

    Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf — Ben Hogan
    Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons And Teachings From A Lifetime In Golf — Harvey Penick
    Golf My Way: The Instructional Classic — Jack Nicklaus

If you want to try it out in a less intimidating environment, check out your local Par 3 course.

They're usually pretty low-cost and only 9 holes. As someone who enjoys playing golf, but doesn't have it as a top priority to get better at, 18 holes of a real course can be exhausting and frustrating if I'm not playing well. 9 holes on a par 3 can be over in less than an hour.

I third this. Also teaches the benefits of persistence and dedication.