Buy it for Life

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17069345

Because I've been eating rice more often I realized via my energy bill that cooking in a pot on an electric plate for 30 minutes consumes massive amounts of electricity. Therefore I'm currently browsing for rice cookers, but the info on energy efficiency leaves much to be desired.

What would be the most efficient method to cook brown rice? Which appliance would be recommendable and ideally be in line with the Buy It For Life philosophy?

I guess pretty much any bread knife is a bifl one, but in the twenty odd years i've had this, i keep thinking to myself that this knife is awesome basically any time i use it. That's why i want to recommend it. When I bought it it was quite cheap too, does not seem to be the case anymore. Is a Victorinox 5.2930.26

Hardware far outlasts software in the smartphone world, due to aggressive chronic designed obsolescence by market abusing monopolies. So I will never buy a new smartphone - don’t want to feed those scumbags. I am however willing to buy used smartphones on the 2nd-hand market if they can be liberated. Of course it’s still only marginally BifL even if you don’t have demanding needs.

Has anyone gone down this path? My temptation is to find a phone that is simultaneously supported by 2 or 3 different FOSS OS projects. So if it falls out of maintence on one platform it’s not the end. The Postmarket OS (pmOS) page has a full list and a short list. The short list apparently covers devices that are actively maintained and up to date, which are also listed here. There is also a filter tool to easily specify your criteria of what must function to obtain a custom shortlist:

https://wiki.postmarketos.org/wiki/Special:Drilldown/Devices?DeviceType=handset

Then phones on the shortlist can be cross-referenced with the LineageOS list or the Sailfish list, which seems to be exclusively Sony¹.

So many FOSS phone platforms seem to come and go I’ve not kept up on it. What others are worth considering? It looks like the Replicant device list hasn’t changed much.

(update) Graphene OS has a list of supported devices

(update 2) Calyx OS has an interesting list some of which overlaps with pmOS

So Graphene’s mission is a bit orthoganol to the mission of Postmarket OS. Perhaps it makes sense for some people to get a Graphene-compatible device then hope they can switch to pmOS when it gets dropped. But I guess that’s not much of a budget plan. Pixel 6+ are likely not going to be dirt cheap on the 2nd-hand market. Worth noting that these phones are supported by both pmOS and Calyx OS:

• Fairphone 4
• Google Pixel 3a
• SHIFT SHIFT6mq

¹ Caution about Sony: they are an ALEC member who supports hard-right politics. They were also caught using GNU software in their DRM shit which violated FOSS licensing in a component designed to oppress. Obviously buying a new Sony thing is unethical. But perhaps a 2nd-hand one is fine. It’s still dicey though because the 2nd-hand market still feeds the 1st-hand market and rewards the original consumer. Sometimes it’s clear you’re not buying from an original owner, like someone on the street with a box of 100+ phones.

(update) It would help if we could filter out all the phones with non-removable batteries. I can confirm that these have non-removeable batteries:

• BQ Aquarius X5

(I know its not really buy-it-for-life, but it's a 100% cotton, no-stretch jeans which usually last me a couple of years)

Does any one of you know how to find a pair of Levis jeans given the info on the care label? The place where i bought it has closed down, other shops around me are staffed by pupils, and their website returns nothing.

Per the label:

Made in Spain, CIF A 08298606 00501 0126 32x34 267004 0204 08159 LEVI STRAUSS EUROPE MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA 15-23 AVENUE ARNAUD FRAITEUR BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

I believe the part in bold should specify the make (501) and the specific style.

As i don't really care about the brand: Can anyone recommend a decent pair of 100% cotton, no-stretch, straight-leg (but somewhat bulky thighs) jeans which can be worn with (biker) boots?

Thanks a lot for your help!

The things with a grid of holes and a little spinning blade that removes pills from furniture and fabric. I keep buying $10 shitty Walmart ones and they die after a few months.

Any brands etc that aren’t enshittified yet?

I'm looking to purchase a bike (probably second hand) and I want to make sure that it'll be easily repairable in the future for at least standard maintenance stuff.

Thing is, I don't know anything about bikes- I've heard people say off hand that modern bikes might perform better but are less maintanable, is this a thing? What qualities/features in a bike tell me that it'll be easier to maintain in the long run?

Hey all,

So I'm in the search for good quality skate style t-shirts, preferably not black and white. In the past I was a big fun of the Animal brand but in the recent years they've turned mainstream.

Any recommendations are much appreciated!

Ive usually bought champion ($35 ususally) and theyre decent, but theres gotta be other stuff out there. Im looking at as colour right now, because i got a hoodie at a festival from them and its super nice, but theyre $50 each unless you buy in bulk

what brands are out there that wont be a scratchy mess on the inside in one year?

Does anyone know of a mouse that can be used wireless, with a replaceable battery and that can be connected to the PC via USB-C to recharge the battery? Obtainable in Europe.

The reasoning is that I do not want to get into the situation where I do not have a charged replacement battery at hand and am therefore unable to use the mouse.

Currently I am using a mouse without a replaceable battery which got so old that the battery only holds for 1-2 hours without being connected to the cable.

I know I could simply go with a wired mouse, however, I like the cleanliness of minimal cables on my desk. Thanks for suggestions.

So I was searching for a BIFL rainjacket that can do it all (as far as thats possible ofc ;)). Of course I stumbled upon the Patagonia Torrentshell, but when I went to try it on, it felt "saggy" and a bit short on the arms. As I plan to commute by bike, I prefer longer arms.

Is there any rain jacket with a narrower fit, somewhere in the same price range as the Torrentshell?

Edit: i forgot to add, that I life in germany so I am open to european brands as well :)

Off to purchase some coconut oil!

We're looking for tower fan models/brands specifically, but you can use this post to talk about whatever :)

I was looking at my little speaker the other day and thinking to myself about how well it has done. My husband bought it for me about 10 years ago when we were just dating and had moved halfway across the world together with little money. It seemed like a big splurge at the time and we were using it to watch tv shows on our laptop without relying on the tinny laptop speakers (we didn’t have a tv). Fast forward to now and that speaker has traveled all over the place, been to the beach, been camping, been on sailing trips etc. and it still holds a charge really well and has pretty decent audio quality for its size. It even still looks good. I think ten years is pretty good for a little Bluetooth speaker, personally (maybe that's a normal amount of time?). Hopefully I can get many more years out of it. Anyway it feels strange to bring up older items and recommend them as BIFL because you never know if manufacturers have kept up their quality over the years. If these speakers are still being made with the same quality i definitely recommend them.

Hello, would anyone have experience with this brand?

In particular the nonstick performance as well as scratch resistance?

Any alternative recommendations?

Thank you. They're not cheap but if they are indeed durable they could be worth it. We cook nearly every day at home

My big stack of cartridge razor blades has just run out and I'd like to replace it with something less wastefull, and from what I hear a safety razor gives a better shave too.

From what I can see there's no big difference beyond personal preferance on ergonomics, but are there any brands to avoid? Any well regarded? Can I just get anything? Anything I might not have thought about?

I'm looking to change my reading and buying habits away from Amazon and need an alternate source for my ebooks. Where can I buy ebooks that won't expire or have their licence revoked and will allow me to download a copy of that ebook I can store on my own system regardless of the websites status?

I bought a Thule Crossover eight years ago and the zip on it has finally gone. Short of getting a local seamstress to fit a new zip, I think it's time for a new one, and am a bit tempted by the Thule Crossover 2 30l. Are Thule still good? Is there anything else of the same sort of size that I should be considering?

I just bought this carry-on, the 22" Essential expandable, from Briggs and Riley based solely on their lifetime warranty and the feature-set I was looking for in a bag.

I've suffered too many times with loose or damaged castors, wonky expandable handles, straps that break when cinched, and ZIPPERS - like, the one part of the entire bag that really, really needs to work!

I will be using it for the first time next month so I'll be able to offer my opinion on the bag then.

Anyone else already have one and care to share their experiences?

ETA: I forgot about their sustainability efforts: check out https://www.briggs-riley.com/pages/our-sustainability-efforts.

Again, not offering an opinion on use of the bag just yet, just passing along their information.

I have a Mastermouse MM530 by Cooler Master at the moment, bought on the basis of its "sturdy" build, but the mouse wheel has been playing up for a while now, occasionally scrolling down when I'm in fact scrolling up.

I'm not even looking for a gaming mouse, just a decent mouse with a clickable scroll wheel. More buttons is nice, but not needed. Any tips?

So, hi! Hello!

I've been looking for a spring coat/jacket and I came across this on Amazon. I love the colour, and I love the look. Very utility, kind of military with the epaulets.

But I've seen it under half a dozen different brand names with the same picture, and on Wal-Mart, and many other fast-fashion shops, so I assume it's going to end up being made of crafting felt or something.

My first thought was figuring out how to dye an army surplus jacket, but I doubt I'd get the colour I want. I've tried looking elsewhere, but I'm not even sure exactly what I'm looking for, here, but whatever it is I'd love for it to fit well, and to be made of a strong material that will last.