Measured the reverberation in our main room: double the optimal time for clear conversation. This echo problem clashes with our preference for minimal furniture and hardwood floors. My suggestion of a huge stuffed Gund elephant, like one I once saw at a Hokkaido airport, did not convince Dwight, so we’ll keep searching for more understated solutions to mitigate the echo.
Category: Home Living
My science project: optimizing a vent fan
Built a dashboard to compare humidity and temperature in the closet beside our front door to another room. It also displays outside conditions and the status of the closet’s vent fan, providing the data needed to optimize its run times.
Over-engineering a closet
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!
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.
Bicycle for an upright citizen
After 30 years, Dwight was ready for a new bike, one with a more upright posture that eases the pressure on his wrists. Today he picked it up and brought it into our home to fiddle with the attachments and admire his purchase. It’ll soon be relegated to a rack in the basement garage. And no, it’s not electric.
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.
Homemade biscotti: just what the doctor ordered
We both now have colds, so it was an at-home day, except I dragged myself five blocks to Trader’s. Dwight had promised to make his world-famous biscotti, but we were running low on staples.
Unraveling wiring and taxes
Installed a 3-gang screwless switch plate for friends. Easier said than done: I had to unwire the three switches, thread the wires through a backplane, then reconnect the switches. (This photo is an example in our home.) It was lucrative work: I learned we are paying too much tax on our parking spaces: they’re homesteaded, but tax is less if they’re not homesteaded, which seems upside down.