USB-C powered Water Leak Detector
I already had a battery-powered ZigBee Water Leak Detector in my utility room, but for redundancy I wanted to add a grid-powered detector (one is none and two is one).
nanocr.eu
Jon Lech Johansen's blog.
Latest posts
UV LED water treatment
I use a Reverse Osmosis system for drinking water. To eliminate any risk from bacteria growth in the storage tank or filters after periods of non-use, I’ve installed a UV LED water treatment unit after the RO system. Unlike traditional UV units that use a lamp, UV LED units are virtually maintenance-free.
Dahua VCS-SH30 PoE speaker
Earlier this year I bought the Dahua VCS-SH30 PoE speaker to play music for the local wildlife.
FriendlyElec CM3588 NAS
I recently bought FriendlyElec’s CM3588 NAS and I’ve been evaluating it for use as a NVR. It’s one of the few (the only?) ARM SBCs that has more than two 2280 M.2 slots. With its four slots you can do three NVME SSDs and one AI accelerator like the Hailo-8.
HomePod + Android #ForbiddenLove
14 years… It’s hard to believe, but that’s how long it’s been since Apple introduced AirPlay audio streaming (originally called AirTunes) with the release of the first AirPort Express. From Apple’s press release in 2004:
5 things Google doesn’t want you to know about Play Music
When you buy an MP3 on Google Play from your Android phone, Google prevents competing apps and 3rd party developers from accessing the file using technical and legal means. It can only be played in Google’s Play Music app. If you thought DRM was dead, think again. Google Play Music limits the number of devices you can use to listen to your own music and only allows you to “deauthorize” 4 devices…
Amplify your music with MagicPlay and the Raspberry Pi
MagicPlay is an open cross-platform audio streaming standard (think “HTTP for music”) that supports synchronized streaming to multiple speakers (like Sonos). For more details, see this Verge story. In the near future you’ll be able to buy WiFi speakers, TVs and other products that come with MagicPlay support out of the box. If you want to try MagicPlay right now, you can turn an existing device…
Too many gadgets…
I’m selling some gadgets that are collecting dust. Local pickup in SF only (but happy to hold an item for you if you’ll be in town in the next few weeks).
The Men Who Stole the World
A decade ago, four young men changed the way the world works. They did this not with laws or guns or money but with software: they had radical, disruptive ideas, which they turned into code, which they released on the Internet for free. These four men, not one of whom finished college, laid the foundations for much of the digital-media environment we currently inhabit. Then, for all intents and…
Google’s mismanagement of the Android Market
Earlier this week, CNET ran an article critical of the permission model of the Android Market. Google’s response to the criticism was that “each Android app must get users’ permission to access sensitive information”. While this is technically true, one should not need a PhD in Computer Science to use a smartphone. How is a consumer supposed to know exactly what the permission “act as an account…