After my second Compute Stick died, I decided to just rewrite the whole thing in Swift and SwiftUI and have it run on iOS. Also, it was an excuse to learn modern iOS development. I’ve found it much easier to maintain and that it just works better, but it is specifically tailored to my needs and not generally useful to others like some open-source projects are.
I’ve revised my SmartThings-based light and computer wake/sleep system to use HomeKit and a new macOS daemon.
Ever wanted to set up a minimal HTTP proxy to protect your API keys so you don't have to encode them in your app? So did I. It took me a while to figure out, having never done it before, but I finally got it working. I try to explain how to do it here.
Update: December 2021 I replaced my Sony receiver with a Yamaha one and had to update the remote to support it. First, I had to fix a problem where one of the IR LED connections broke and wasn’t controlling the TV anymore, which broke when I disassembled it so I could get to the ESP32’s buttons.
Our new house has a total of eight floor-mounted forced air heating registers. The second floor tends to be colder, so I wanted to automatically redirect air to the rooms we’re in to save heating oil and keep us warm. After failing to find any suitable smart heating registers, I went about building my own.
FDM printing ABS benefits greatly from a high temperature environment, so I made a version of the IKEA Lack enclosure for my Ender 3 Pro.
I got fed up with the problems I was having with the Raspberry Pi 2/Linux combo that was running my Magic Mirror, so I replaced it with a second generation Intel Compute Stick running Windows 10. This was fairly quick to do, and has given me fewer problems and is notably snappier to work with.
I'm too lazy to wake three computers, turn on two monitors and flip on the lights, so I built an automated system to do it for me.
With a new computer comes new speaker stands and shelf brackets that can see over my newly rearranged desk.
I like having a drink with me, but I also like having my hands free and don't want to carry it around all the time. The solution was to make my own drink carrier that would clip onto a belt loop.
With the forthcoming iOS 10 HomeKit updates, I decided to finally get Siri support for my SmartThings, Nest and Insteon hardware. None of these directly support HomeKit (well, Insteon does, if you want to buy a new hub), but some industrious developers have put together their own intermediary solution to this problem, Homebridge. I decided to take that route, and add my own support for Insteon FanLinc devices.
With Comcast's expansion of data caps, I started looking into how to monitor both per-app usage on my Macs, as well as per-machine usage on my network. I went with two solutions: Little Snitch and Gargoyle.
One day I came across Michael Teeuw's Magic Mirror project -- a Raspberry Pi displaying daily information on a portrait mode HDTV behind a two way mirror. This seemed like a great project, and I decided that I wanted to build my own (updated December 26th, 2015).
The laundry is in the basement, but we're usually on the second floor. The variable length cycle of our washer and dryer make it hard to time when they will be done, and the variable running speed makes it difficult for a vibration sensor to accurately report when they're completed. I decided to take advantage of my SmartThings ThingShield and build my own completion sensor that monitored the LEDs on both appliances to send push notifications to my phone.
I needed a new welding project, and Zoe needed a way to store her bakelite bracelets. A weekend later, and I had built her a wall-mounted rack to store her bangles.
A couple of desk-mounted shelf supports welded from steel stock. Late 2014
Building three desktop speaker stands with some steel stock and a welder. June 2014
Using a Seiki 50" UHD TV (and later a Samsung 55" curved UHD TV) as a desktop computer monitor with Windows. mid 2014, updated early 2017
My first steps in learning oxyacetylene welding techniques.
Modifying the stock Sonata head unit's XM harness into a line-in jack... unsuccessfully. December 2012 - January 2013