# Technology items you never thought you'd want/need, until you used them **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062 "2021-02-02T16:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/41 "2021-02-03T17:41:31Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I think I’d rather have to dispose of a body than hydroflouric acid. Hydrofluoric acid can be neutralized with sodium bicarbonate and poured down the drain, and has the advantage of leaving no genomic material or bones for forensics. Bodies are [surprisingly hard to get rid of](https://youtu.be/n_W7DvKlsks) and often seem to [come back to life at the most inconvenient times](https://youtu.be/6t5awMTGqog). Stranger ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/42 "2021-02-03T17:51:23Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Hydrofluoric acid can be neutralized with sodium bicarbonate and poured down the drain, and has the advantage of leaving no genomic material or bones for forensics. The fumes are nasty, though. I hate working with that stuff. If I had to break down a large animal carcass beyond all recognition, I’d heat it in a strong lye solution until everything was liquid except bone and teeth, then dissolve those remains in heated sulfuric acid. No fumes, no systemic toxicity. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/43 "2021-02-03T19:10:53Z")
I was staying at a friends house and I tend to stay up much later than normal folks. One night I stepped outside to smoke and I found their garage door open. It tuned out that something was opening the door for about and hour every night. I don’t recommend leaving the door to the garage unlocked is what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/44 "2021-02-03T20:27:52Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > I’m a little behind I guess. I never saw the point in a remote unlock or even having a keyfob, and never ordered a truck with them. I bought one off the lot in 2017 which had the keyfob with a button to unlock/lock the doors. I always liked my remote unlock, but my wife thought it was stupid. Then she realized how much easier it was to load/unload three small children and accoutrement into a minivan when she could unlock and lock the doors remotely. It just occurred to me that I think auto-open van doors are silly - but now I realize that for those with small children they are a logical improvement to remote lock/unlock. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/45 "2021-02-04T00:44:48Z")
So, no one’s at all hesitant to have a garage door that can be hacked? And the OP is leaving their interior door open for tradespeople, where all it would take is a remotely unlocking the garage to gain access to the house… I’d be wary of that, myself. Here it is, from the first post: > [@Hampshire](#): > > Can give access to my home remotely. Because the garage is attached and I leave the garage/house entry door unlocked, I can let people in when I’m not there. Had a contractor friend who was going to fix some plumbing while I was at work. Told him to call me when he got to my house. He got there and I opened the garage for him to give him access. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/46 "2021-02-04T00:58:11Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I think they’re owned by the same parent company, but a few manufacturers offer Smartkey. It’s nice if you want matching keys for a fancy Baldwin front door set, and regular Kwikset for the garage and backdoor. Yes, Stanley / Black & Decker owns Kwikset, Baldwin, and Weiser. There’s a confusing overlap of which Baldwin locks have Smartkey cylinders, or can be keyed the same as Smartkey by old-style changing the internal pins, and which can’t be keyed the same by any means. Cheaper than Kwikset? Yikes, that’s cheap. 🤣 The tech I never thought I’d embrace is sous vide cooking with an app-driven device. Using it tonight to cook dinner, actually. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/47 "2021-02-04T01:38:51Z")
A microwave. Yeah, now I use it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/48 "2021-02-04T03:04:11Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > I’m a little behind I guess. I never saw the point in a remote unlock or even having a keyfob, and never ordered a truck with them. I bought one off the lot in 2017 which had the keyfob with a button to unlock/lock the doors. > > Now I’m spoiled. No more checking the door locks by pulling the handle as I leave. I can push the button in my pocket as I walk away and listen for the chirp to tell me it’s locked. And if my hands are full I can push the button and unlock all 4 doors. No more fishing for the key, turning it in the lock and reaching around to unlock the back door. I should have gotten this technology sooner. Now just wait until you get a smart key. As long as it’s somewhere near the car (like in your pocket/purse) you never have to touch it. Grab the handle and the door unlocks, push a button on the door handle and it locks. You can even set it (or at least I can on my car) so it automatically locks as you walk away. When I used to wear a jacket in winter, I kept the key buried in an unused inside pocket. It would go months without seeing the light of day. Now I just keep it in my pants pocket, but still, I never think about it since I can lock/unlock the doors and start the car without needing to do anything more than having it with me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/49 "2021-02-04T03:35:54Z")
My wife never saw any reason for a Google home device, but they were giving them away cheap, so I picked one up. It sat in the box for months until I showed her she could use it to call up her favorite radio station. Now she uses it all the time for weather and other things. She especially liked that it replies when you thank it. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/50 "2021-02-04T03:49:15Z")
Instant Pot. A brilliant bit of technology that makes killer pulled pork in 2 hours. Ridiculous and delicious. Cordless drills. Trying to do projects with a corded drill now would be tragic. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/51 "2021-02-04T04:28:58Z")
Feeding it to the hogs seems tidier. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/52 "2021-02-04T13:53:29Z")
I have spent summers on a hog farm and I found it anything but tidy. You’re welcome to it. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/53 "2021-02-04T14:21:09Z")
Yeah, I’ll pass. I’ve visited a hog farm. But i also used hydrofluoric acid for a job. I’ll pick the hogs over that. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/54 "2021-02-04T14:38:49Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > The fumes are nasty, though. I hate working with that stuff. > > If I had to break down a large animal carcass beyond all recognition, I’d heat it in a strong lye solution until everything was liquid except bone and teeth, then dissolve those remains in heated sulfuric acid. No fumes, no systemic toxicity. So how much lye would one need for about 150 pounds of let’s call it waste material? ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/55 "2021-02-04T15:07:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So how much lye would one need for about 150 pounds of let’s call it waste material? Need answer fast? > [@RealityChuck](#): > > My wife never saw any reason for a Google home device, but they were giving them away cheap, so I picked one up. It seems silly at first blush, but it is amazing how nice it is to be able to sit on the couch, and just say “Hey, Google, play One-Punch Man on Living Room TV, volume 100%”, and… voila. ETA: Weird, Discourse took out my first (partial) quote of **Dewey\_Finn** , and replaced it with a full quote of the OP… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/56 "2021-02-04T15:21:19Z")
Not that fast. I have some planning to do. (Disclaimer: “this is for a novel I’m writing”) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/57 "2021-02-04T15:33:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So how much lye would one need for about 150 pounds of let’s call it waste material? I don’t know what’s optimal. I would probably use a standard 50% by weight solution, and I’d use a roughly equal volume of that to biomass. So that would be about 75 pounds of lye in 75 pounds of water. I suspect you could get by with a lot less, especially if you had the option of adding more heat and more time, but I’ve never had to. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/58 "2021-02-04T15:50:44Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So, no one’s at all hesitant to have a garage door that can be hacked? The security protocols setting up the garage door app seemed pretty robust. I’m sure the Russian government could hack it, but if someone wanted to break into our house, there are easier ways than trying to hack the garage door app. We have plenty of glass windows and doors that could be smashed in a second. Plus, we can set our security alarm (we rarely do, but we _could_) so that opening the door from the garage to the house would set off the alarm. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/59 "2021-02-04T15:54:53Z")
Japanese-style robo-bidet seat for the loo. I mean, I’ve successfully wiped my own arse for most of my life, normal bidets are nice and all - I’ve certainly enthusiastically used them when in e.g. the Middle East - but what could all this tech _possibly_ add… I am now reluctant to go out for extended periods lest I have to shit somewhere that doesn’t have one. OK, slight hyperbole, but I’m _definitely_ never again living in a house without one. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062/60 "2021-02-04T15:58:19Z")
Robot vacuum. We turn that little sucker on when we leave the house and it goes under the bed, and other hard to reach places. Even when the room looked fine, it fills up with dog hair and other debris every time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-items-you-never-thought-youd-want-need-until-you-used-them/932062.md?page=4)