Hot take: truing a wheel with the spokes still on the bike actually works fine

Everyone I see online swears you have to put the wheel in a truing stand or flip the bike upside down. I tried doing it with my commuter bike right on the ground, just spinning the wheel and eyeballing it against the brake pads. Saved me 20 minutes of hauling the stand out of the basement. I used a 5mm hex key to tighten a loose spoke on the drive side, fixed a wobble that was rubbing my rim brake. It ain't perfect but my wheel rolls true enough for the potholes on Broadway in Denver. Why do folks act like you need a professional shop for a basic spoke adjustment? Has anyone else just eyeballed it and called it good enough?

I finally stopped using canned air for cleaning computer cases

I used to go through a can of compressed air every week cleaning out desktops at work. Then I picked up a Metro Vacuum ED500 from a shop in Portland for $80 and honestly it's way better. Anyone else switch to an electric duster and never look back?

Question about a $500 software subscription I forgot to cancel

I let a project management tool auto-renew for a whole year (which I wasn't even using anymore) because I missed the email reminder in my junk folder, so now I'm out that cash for basically nothing.

Heard a guy at the lumber yard say he never uses a story stick anymore

I was picking up some maple for a kitchen job yesterday and overheard this older guy telling the yard guy he just uses his tape measure for everything now, that story sticks are old school. I mean, I get it, tapes are fast. But it got me thinking about this built-in I did about six months ago. I rushed it and just measured each cabinet opening with my tape. When I went to install, nothing lined up right because of a tiny bow in the wall I missed. Had to spend a whole afternoon shimming and trimming. If I'd taken the twenty minutes to make a story stick of that wall run, I would have caught it in the shop. Maybe it's just me, but that little stick of wood with all the marks saves me more headaches than anything. Do you guys still use them for big runs, or am I being too careful?

TIL people overpay for airport transfers in Lisbon

I keep seeing folks book those private car services from the airport. Costs like 40 euros. The Aerobus is 4 euros. Takes you right to the city center in 20 minutes. I saved 36 euros last week doing this. The stop is clearly marked outside arrivals. Has anyone else found a cheaper way to get into that city?

Hot take: I think the push for only archival-quality materials in every project is overkill for most hobbyists.

At a guild meeting last week, someone insisted you must use linen thread and pH-neutral board even for a simple recipe book you'll use in your own kitchen, which seems like a waste of money and effort when basic cotton and chipboard would work fine.

Showerthought: I thought the new AI art tools were just a gimmick

I saw a friend post a piece made with Midjourney about six months ago and figured it was just a fancy filter. Then I watched a livestream where an artist used it to generate a base landscape, which they painted over in Photoshop for about 15 hours. The final piece had this weird, cool texture I'd never seen before. It completely changed how I see those tools now. Has anyone else found a use for them that surprised you?

I keep seeing people crank down their quick release skewers like they're tightening a bolt.

I was reading an old sewing manual from 1978 and found out the average zipper is 7 inches long. That seems so specific.

Had a long talk with my brother-in-law, a retired air traffic controller, about the 'no planes' theory. His explanation about radar handoffs and primary vs. secondary targets changed my view.