My Smart Home Bluetooth Scale I bought from Aldi wants to revoke my right to protest

 

Nice try, clause 4.2.2.1 (6)! 

Home Assistant with Feedreader for Google Alerts (monitor a share), Planning Alerts (new developments in your area), Open Australia (what your local member says and does)

RSS is a really powerful tool. Google Alerts allows you to monitor for news and new results, and importantly output to an RSS feed.

Here I'm picking an Adelaide company I quite like; to monitor few news via their stock ticker:

Through HomeAssistant, you simply want to enable that RSS feed via the feedreader component.

Very quickly, you've suddenly got a push notifications:

This opens up a huge range of possibilities. Want to have your automation platform let you know when your local representative talks about cycling infrastructure?

What about automatically discovering your neighbour is going to knock down your fence via planning applications in your area?

   

Configuring Wifi for a Samsung Powerbot without the Remote

I bought a Powerbot vacuum a month or two ago, minus the power pack and remote.

I figured it would be straightforward, but ended up spending a lot of time tracking down an SLPS-250FFOT charger, then finally the AU adapter for it.

Only today did I manage to plug in my robot vacuum and... 

Immediately failed to install the SmartThings app on my Samsung A11. What the actual fuck. How is your legacy SmartThings classic app supported on this phone, but your rewrite isnt?

I installed the classic app, started and...

Error downloading countries list.

Why. What server did you kill off in June 2020 that you shouldnt have?

After a bunch of googling and an angry review later, I found my old S7 and installed the SmartThings app, as my battery dwindled rapidly.

Setup new device, vacuum, and.... wait what. Press the CLOCK button on the remote to put it into AP mode, so I can connect wifi?

I didnt get a remote. A replacement is $75AUD. My bargain bot is turning into a nightmare.

One forum poster suggested they got past this step, but not how.

It turns out if you switch it off with the emergency switch, and it has no wifi, it is open to configuration.

Oh thank god.

So now, with the help of a party hat and homeassistant, I have a robot vacuum that is cleaning my house when I leave for the pub.

Paywave/mobile payments for Chuggers

I dont like high pressure fake charity collectors; but a chap with a can collecting for something like MS; I trust a lot more - no getting my credit card details; if I say no; they wander on.

Around Adelaide there is a particularly entertaining lady who has a very big McCaw with her - her success rate must be fairly good.

Most of the time though these days; I have to say I have no spare change, only card.

So, dear lazyweb; can someone please make a QR code or similar "open url" kit; letting someone with a smart phone tip - be it through an app store like subscription; a one click donate with the web payments API; or the charity equivalent of a kickstarter.

What I want as a donator:
- Mutually shared identity. Who am I giving my $ to, and do they have a scumbag rating?
- No spam. My local animal shelter spends a lot on print/mailouts to prompt recurring donation. If I can tell them not to spend $5 on media but on their cause; thats better for all
- kickstarter like updates; *if* I opt in to a specific project.

Wanted: Owntracks clients as easy as Slack

Right now its tricky for groups of cyclists to coordinate.  It's very easy to get split,  and hard to meet a group mid ride.

Owntracks solves a lot of this;  but setting up your own mqtt broker is tricky.  Some hosted options exist,  but then configuring is tricky for non tech users - remote config/config import helps alot; but its not perfect.

Secondly,  I have multiple groups I want to share my location with for different purposes.

I really wish the owntracks clients were as easy as the slack mobile clients - easy team swapping,  easy signin.

Strava game idea: CTF

Foursquare made me think about this, with its checkins and mayorships - it's basically just CTF, but an individual game.

At the same time as that is happening, Strava is posting challenges; people are everesting, and groups naturally form around the sport.

So why not use the strava API to detect time spent since someone climbed a particular hill, and give the score as time + elevation * number of people who climbed it on your 'team'.

Now if only I wasn't riding so much that I could implement a prototype :(

Getfridged implementation

That took a while!

A wonderful insight into one of the creators of Bojack Horseman

Tips for switching between BPM's?

I have been trying to wrap my head around good ways to do this. I play dance floor music: Drum and bass, glitch hop, call it "EDM" If you have to :P. Generally i Am floating around 87 - 90 bpm: So for example I would like to switch into a 115 or 140 track from that. Anyone have good tips other than transitioning two ambient parts together? That generally doesn't work well with the genres I am playing as there is always some sort of beat going.

Submitted August 08, 2015 at 03:13PM by grey_mattersDNB http://ift.tt/1OWWYnM

Well, that was a hell of a birthday

• Doctor tells me by SMS I have a good chance of getting cirrhosis because of my genetics.
• Venue cancels on me the day before; after having waited a full extra fortnight due to availability.
• It's officially cold, wet and miserable here.