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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 14th, 2023

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  • You’re right in that running HA just for a WoL timer would be silly, but (presumably) it’s already running for other, less silly purposes.

    I’d say the main benefit is when the machine requires regular (as in daily) reboots, or if it’s something you don’t trust is fully private and want to be powered off outside work hours. Not useful for me, but I can see why it would be handy.










  • Node Red by far gave me the best automation for numerous lights. X minutes after sunrise, it iterates every light that is on and calls turn off with a fairly long (2 min?) transition time, so the lights all gradually fade off.

    It’s been running for years without me needing to touch anything, it doesn’t care if you replace/rename any lights, and the slow fade when it’s still getting brighter outside makes the change invisible.

    I’ll bet you could do the same thing without Node Red, but nowhere near as easily.



  • I use a dumb 433MHz wireless doorbell (apparently this one on Ali Express, but the exact one doesn’t matter) with a Sonoff RF Bridge running Tasmota. It’s far faster and more reliable than anything with the smarts built into the button, and the battery lasts at least a few years.

    I’ve got it set up to take a snapshot on the front door and driveway cameras, send a push notification with the front door camera, announce on the speakers that someone’s at the door, and turn on the outdoor lights at night.

    The doorbell was $8 shipped, the RF Bridge was somewhere in the mid $20s but I already had it for some door sensors, and if you don’t already have a camera, a decent Reolink is under $150 shipped directly (or under $250 from a physical shop in NZ like PB Tech).


  • I’ve had a Chromecast and not apple tv and its quite decent.

    The main thing that bugs me about my Chromecast is the gradual loss of functionality over time, presumably as a part of planned obsolescence or deliberately crippling features to make you pay for premium options.

    Next time I need to replace/upgrade something, I think I’m just going to skip streaming at all and just hide a full desktop somewhere and pirate everything.


  • I’m thinking I might go without PoE and just meet my current need, then add a PoE switch to support cameras if or when I get them.

    That’s more or less what I did when the dirt cheap AliExpress cameras died - just got a PoE switch from PB Tech and a small pile of Reolink cameras (RLC810A). Definitely the best value-for-money, and works well with Home Assistant. Way better than those stupid splitters or having a pile of individual POE injectors.





  • It depends on what you’re building. If you want a normal rectangular house, 3D printing will be incredibly inefficient and pointless compared to traditional framing techniques.

    On the other hand, if you want curved walls, traditional framing becomes incredibly complex and expensive, whereas 3D printing takes exactly the same materials and labour regardless.

    I think 3D printing an entire house is just a gimmick, but it will still be an incredibly useful tool, even if only used for simple things like making rounded foundation pads or retaining walls that follow the landscape or curved hallways connecting modular buildings.


  • Having some word or phrase marking the end of a request makes the voice recognition a little more reliable. It doesn’t have to be polite, but being polite when it’s totally unnecessary is a good habit to build.

    “Do X please” makes it unambiguously clear (to a machine) where the end of the request is, whereas “Please do X” is mostly pointless.