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kmoorevs wrote: Alexa is dumb as a rock and can't control anything on my local network. So, in recognition of this you got two of her sisters to add to your collection?
I just have an device with plug-in pass throughs and a button controller - one for each of the pass-throughs. On. Off. No internet. No Alexa. No subscriptions. And nobody knows my business.
Ravings en masse^ |
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"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Marc Clifton wrote: So let me get this straight - in order to turn on or off a light in your house you can talk to Alexa which in turn somehow connects to another web service that actually controls the light (what, on, off, dimming?) and all of this relies on various Internet connections and services to all work correctly?
#InternetOfShit
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Actually, we have some philips hue lightbulbs[^] and the philips hub[^].
It allows you to control your lights within your own network via an app on your phone.
You can also connect it to Google assistant if you want to control it via your voice but otherwise you can just control via your phone app and eve if the Internet goes out the hub uses your local wifi. It actually works nicely.
We have a couple of places that needed ability to turn lights on/off but no switches and this solves this.
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With the possible exception of {para | quadri}plegics, why would anyone need a system for remote control of lightbulbs, and why would anyone "outsource" such a simple function to the internet?!
~40 years ago, you could buy kits that allowed you to control appliances using powerline signalling. Those, admittedly, required a central controller, which could today be replaced by a phone app (using WiFi). It appears to me that the technology has only gone downhill since then.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Daniel Pfeffer wrote: why would anyone need a system for remote control of lightbulbs,
Because people are like the novelty, are lazy, or the elimination of common touchpoints. Whatever, that wasn't the point. The point is that an IT services provider could do a better job of updating their paying customers on the current status of a weeklong outage. My customers certainly expect/demand better than that from me.
Daniel Pfeffer wrote: why would anyone "outsource" such a simple function to the internet?!
I agree that it sounds nuts, but hey, it has worked well for years. Apparently, the hub device has to be connected to the mothership to handle the Alexa integration...not sure...I don't do iot, I do lob! The app still works (didn't know this last night) if it was logged in prior to last week with all their services crashed.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
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Captain Sir Tom Moore in hospital with coronavirus[^]
If you don't know who he is, he's a 100 year old ex-army officer who raised £32,000,000 (US$45,000,000) for charity via the internet by walking lengths of his garden.
He would have been given the vaccine, but he was on medication which prevented that.
Get well soon sir!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I remember the news about him...
Kudos for the man, I hope he can recover from it.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I agree wonderful man - just bad luck 🤞
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Always seem to miss at least one device that now has a leaking battery (AA).
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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It's usually a game controller.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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Just buy rechargeables and be done with it.
Not for the price of the cells - for the price of the equipment you'll never ruin again.
ZNTER cells are easy to recharge, can charge em with a usb-micro phone charger. Though they are a little pricey. (dont need a caddy/dock - each cell has its own socket!)
I've still got NiCd cells from over 30 years ago..
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No problem if you have a routine ... I'm referring to the ones one forgets about.
When you buy something that comes with batteries, do you immediately run out and buy rechargeables?
Never no "instant gratification"?
And you got your AAA, AA, C, D, etc.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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Yeah... The point to my routine is that changes don't need to be remembered and accommodated.
I've already got every size I use and have had so for decades.
Nah mate. I planned for this day and bought the batteries before I knew what they'd go into.
:laughs: There's an 8-pack of unopened shrink-wrapped NiMHs I can reach from bed..
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Thanks for the reminder! I had forgotten to remove the AAA from my QC headphones after a trip in December. I'm sure I have a few others in old remotes that ought to be removed.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
"Hope is contagious"
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I have a battery-less flashlight, with a crank, for emergency purposes. Never really needed it.
Or, I thought it was battery-less. A couple of weeks ago, I managed to open that lid hiding a LIR2450 cell that was leaking all over. (I wasn't aware that Li-Ion cells would leak in a way very similar to dry cells.)
I have been unable to find LIR2450 cells in any store around here. I can get them from several web stores, and they are not that expensive. The only thing holding me back is that all of the web stores selling them are of the kind with a minimum postage & handling at a level where I have to buy four of those cells for the buying price to exceed the P&H ... I need only one! Maybe I ought to buy another three cranked flash lights I guess I will buy four, then, for a total of almost double the announced item prices.
Can anyone tell: If I put the three extra on the shelf as "spares", will they last longer if they are fully charged? Half charged? Discharged?
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I had a generator on my bicycle ... the one you tilt towards your tire. Man, what a drag!
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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Sure - they were the standard on all Norwegian bikes fifty years ago. Maybe even forty or thirty. If they were mounted correctly they didn't drag too much. And if you had used one of those with modern LEDs, you could have had some floodlight!
The cranked flashlight is most important if you are out on some week long mountain trip without seeing any supermarket where you can buy new batteries. Or if you are climbing around in mountain caves and then your ordinary flashlight starts to fade. Solar cells for recharging the battery doesn't really do it in a cave. Not even up in the mountains from November through January if you are living under the Polar Circle. The cranked flashlight is a emergency solution. And, for your week long mountain trip: The weight of mine is no more than 145 grams, with "infinite" battery capacity (as long as you do not run out of food).
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I do my best never to forget that device with the 24V 5000 mAh batteries.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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Gerry Schmitz wrote: a leaking batte
Unfortunately, that's the new retro style (really a bunch of years old).
OK - in the past we had zinc-carbon batteries and leakage was always a problem. Then came alkaline batteries. For many years they were the batteries that never leaked. That, however is history.
Alkaline batteries have gotten cheap - very cheap - and then, if you look for the place of manufacture you see why. And I have seen the consequences. How bad is it? I've unused AA alkaline batteries (from a very well know and publicized brand) leak whilst sitting in a drawer - with at least five years left on their "good until" date. So, they've evolved from never leaking to leaking whenever. I will not purchase or use batteries from China. Period.
Now, not to be left out of the picture, I have seen some of my older NiMH batteries also begin to leak. Admittedly, these were off-brand and I've since learned my lesson. A very smart charger I own gave the actual capacities of these 2000 mah batteries (large capacity at the time) to be from about 1400 to 1800 mah. That lesson was, strangely, concurrent with the source of alkaline batteries.
Li-ion . . . . we've seen those flame out pretty often, as well.
Assuming you didn't go way out of your way to get Zinc-Carbon batteries, you've had alkaline batteries leak. If you've not yet learned for yourself, learn from my sad story.
And one day, if we're really all very good, industry will realize that real QC is a good investment in brand loyalty and start making things you don't have to fear before you open the package
Ravings en masse^ |
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"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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I would like to see mandatory I.Q. tests.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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I've been saying for years there should be a "parenting" exam before you are allowed to get pregnant / father a kid: fail it and you are "fixed" for life. This would at least raise the IQ of the next generation, if not this one...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I also think 100 is highly overrated. Life is more complex (these days) than that.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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