Installed a super-quiet, low-speed fan to ventilate the closet by our front door. Next up: paint the grill to match the wall and design the perfect algorithm to control the fan. I’m considering factors like humidity and temperature inside the closet versus the rest of our home, and whether we’ve been outside, all using existing sensors, plus the weather and time of day. Or, I could just put it on a timer!
Category: IT
De-beeping a tracker for a bicycle
Wearing a cut-resistant glove, forced open a tracker to remove its speaker (the tiny white and gold circle). The speaker’s beeping is an anti-stalking feature, but I don’t want a bike thief to know they’re being tracked. My plan is to hide the tracker in a cavity behind the reflector, but it doesn’t quite fit. The reflector vendor is going to 3D-print a case with a slightly wider cavity that will fit.
AI-assisted braise: smoky Chinese eggplant with fennel and tomatoes
Chatted with AI about the Chinese eggplant I’d picked up at the farmers market. Arrived at a recipe for which I had all the ingredients. AI called it Smoky Braised Chinese Eggplant with Fennel and Tomatoes, and provided an ingredient list and a self-evident recipe for a braise. The dish did not catch fire: the smoky flavor comes from smoked paprika.
Trackers: a solution in search of problems
A tracker I’d ordered arrived in the mail room today. Now, the challenge is to explore use cases. The first idea is to help me remember my daypack, especially in coffee shops! When I walk 30 to 60 feet away from the tracker, my phone vibrates and displays: “Hey, did you leave your backpack behind?” Next up: tracking my bicycle if it’s stolen.
A watch that dares not show its face
In a moment of boredom, I decided to build my own watch face. I designed it on a PC then loaded it onto my watch. My goal was minimal form and maximal function, but the result was surprisingly displeasing and best forgotten.
Annual data snapshot
Today was the day to complete our annual data snapshot (around 500GB compressed) onto encrypted thumb drives. I keep these drives indefinitely, so if we ever need to recover an old file that we accidentally deleted at some time in the past, we can hopefully recover it from a snapshot.
Tech upgrade: new Dell tower
My tweaking project for the next few days involves setting up this Dell tower that arrived today. It’s replacing a 15-year-old Windows system, which will lose Microsoft support this fall and isn’t safely upgradable. Here, the new computer is tucked away behind a partition wall. The 19-year-old monitor and the 10-year-old Brother networked laser printer/scanner continue to meet our needs.
Wi-Fi Refresh
Replaced our Wi-Fi mesh which used routers first sold in 2016. Since then, communications standards have improved enough for this nerd to want to take advantage of a Black Friday deal. The Google routers are wired to Ethernet at three points in our home. I’ll convert the old routers into a Doctors Without Borders donation via eBay.
Brushes With AI
At the Victoria & Albert Museum it was Digital Design Weekend. Here, museum visitors are on a date with a difference. They’re communicating via phones using language restricted by AI. Meanwhile another AI system is generating social media comments on how the date is going. Elsewhere, machines creating water colors inspired me to imagine the…… Continue reading Brushes With AI
Old Dell, New Tricks
Our 14-year-old Dell was slowing down, so I gave it a new lease on life today by dual-booting Windows 10 and Linux (Ubuntu). Running Linux, it’s blazingly fast and handles almost everything Dwight and I need. Total outlay: $0.00 + too much of my time.