Not to sound like one of those people, but a bidet. It hasn't eliminated my use of toilet paper, but certainly has reduced it, while leaving a squeaky clean feeling. I miss using it while away from home nowadays.

Other things are eye masks (I have sleep quality issues) and ereaders (never moving with ten boxes of books again).

Some recollections from Reddit:

A bot that links the top posts of all time for a community. Gives a good sense of the community's greatest hits when referenced in discussions.

A bot that converts imperial to metric units or vice versa. Some people do find this one annoying, but as a metric user, this one helps me understand miles and pounds, etc.

A bot that summarises or pulls the first paragraph of a Wikipedia article.

They've stopped selling the Model X and S entirely in Australia, rather than providing the option of LHD vehicles like in the UK. Though if I was hypothetically in the market for these vehicles, I'd rather not buy one than have inconveniences that a grab stick is meant to help with...

I've had an Xperia S and Z5. I loved both phones because they were well designed aesthetically, both hardware and software, in comparison to the competition at the time such as the early Galaxy S models. As part of their UI skins, they also had some thoughtful features and some hardware features which at the time weren't so common, such as side fingerprint unlock with the later models. Nothing truly revolutionary, true, but just a well rounded experience, and at least with their early models, worth the slight price premium.

Then Sony stopped selling their phones in Australia a few years ago, so that was that. :(

There are enough phonetic elements in the English language that recent school curricula in places such as England and Australia are emphasising a mixed phonemic awareness/phonics approach, apparently with some success. Not all, but some children, appear to learn better with specific instruction in phonics also.

Of course, all discussion about teaching reading eventually leads back into the cursed 'reading wars'...

Appalled that the nursing home experience being poor is so widespread. Where I live, nursing homes are largely private enterprises receiving government funds and are poorly regulated. Residents often have to take out reverse mortgages if they own their homes to fund their nursing home residencies. And yes, the food is still often that bad.