Honeywell Thermostat and Amazon Echo

I can adjust my thermostat from the app on my phone - which is nice, but the real advantage is being able to build the schedule without having to wade through the menus on the limited physical interface of the thermostat itself.

So, I'm not sure how much I would use the integration with the Amazon Echo, but it's cool to see it is an option:

"Amazon Echo can now control your Honeywell Total Connect Comfort Thermostat. Use Alexa, the voice service that powers Amazon Echo, to set the perfect temperature in your home by voice command. Simply say "Alexa, set my temperature to 72 degrees" and enjoy your home's comfort without having to lift a finger."

Also, you can get a cheap refurbished Amazon Echo today from Woot.

Ping "emoji"

I'm so short-sighted... I never thought about emojis for server names.

NMAP totally chokes on scanning machines when the hostname is just emojis. 💩💩 pic.twitter.com/IITtxse462

— Jerry Gamblin (@JGamblin) June 18, 2016

Gadgets

Gadgets are dead. Long live the (cheap) gadgets.:

"Amazon doesn't need to make money on the Echo itself, as long as it drives more commerce to its retail business. Same with Google: as long as the Chromecast gets more people to watch YouTube videos and download more stuff from Google Play, they don't have to make money from the gadget itself." 

"This trend isn't going to kill off the smartphone, or the PC, or the tablet. But it means lower-cost gadgetry that lasts a lot longer. We're only seeing the early stages of this shift now, but it has a lot of potential to shake up how we think about and how we buy our devices."

No More Headphones?

Great, but I want this solved for when I'm running...

Could headphones become obsolete? Learn what’s possible with steered sound #tech: https://t.co/kqcyn3SqDk pic.twitter.com/fMpJUIASfn

— Cisco (@Cisco) June 1, 2016

Count to 1023 on Your Fingers

Count up to 1023 with just your 10 fingers :) ! #binary #math pic.twitter.com/1ZHD6iBiza

— Binary Ground (@BinaryGround) May 9, 2016

Via @kfalconspb

World Backup Day

Ha!

Today is #WorldBackupDay! The one day a year when we back up all our files. https://t.co/dmRIh4Fgnq

— Terrible Networker (@BadAtNetworking) March 31, 2016

128 GB Floppy Disk

Better than a Zip drive!

Tech Fatigue

People are getting tried of keeping up with all the changes or maybe most things are good enough.

In the last year, I went from an old 42 inch HDTV LCD to a new, thin Vizio 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart TV. I upgraded to an iPhone 6. I've had an old iPad Mini for years that I rarely use. I don't have a smart watch. I've had my Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostats for a while. I'm not really interested in a drone.
I might upgrade my Garmin GPS running watch or add a fitness band. I geek out over the data, so I'd like to have the heart rate and sleep information that something like the Garmin Vivosmart HR would provide.

Smart Mirror

This project looks like way too much work and buying a monitor for it makes it expensive, too - but I like the idea of a Smart Mirror.

Color Laser Printer

I don't print a lot, but I've been very happy with my Brother HL-2170W Laser Printer (Wireless and Wired) that I got for less than $100. It looks like they aren't making it anymore, but others recommend the Samsung SL-M2825DW/XAC Wireless Monochrome Printer. It was also around $100, but is about $150 now.

Which means when I'm in the market for a new laser printer, I will be able to consider something like the Xerox Phaser 6022/NI Wireless Color Photo Printer for around $150.

Toner cost will be an issue, but for as little as I print, it won't be a huge factor for me.

Library Internet Access

I'd like to check-out the internet, please. Libraries are going beyond providing internet access at their buildings by loaning hot-spots.

Nixie Drone

Nixie - a wearable drone.

More Cord Cutting

First, people were dropping cable TV. Now, they are dropping home internet service. I stand by my crazy suggestions to keep customers.

Scripting for the Win

When you’re a coder, you code things to happen automatically so you don’t have to do them again and again manually. pic.twitter.com/PgtIgyb8zs

— Charles Arthur (@charlesarthur) December 15, 2015

Beartooth

Speaking of VHF/UHF radios that work with your smartphone http:https://t.co/rjRiD8lHqT

— BobW (@K0NR) December 4, 2015

Along the lines of the goTenna... the Beartooth:

"Beartooth is a software defined radio peer to peer communication platform that encases your phone and doubles your battery life. Our proprietary software defined radio allows your smartphone to communicate even without cellular or wifi service. We allow for Push to Talk "PTT" voice communication, text messaging, and geolocation sharing on our offline maps."

And:

"Our product will require FCC approval. We are currently working with attorneys and technical advisors who specialize in FCC approval. Our products are designed to meet the technical and legal requirements of the FCC, and we anticipate a favorable part outcome."

The audio on this video is spotty and you still only get high level info, but they do mentions amateur radio as a target market (along with consumers.)

Li-Fi

So, I'm gonna have chips for bluetooth, wi-fi, NFC, and Li-Fi in my devices?

"So, will Li-Fi be a competitor to Wi-Fi in the future? 

I highly doubt they will be competing technologies and will most likely be complementary if anything. For instance, you could have a situation where you have Li-Fi overlaid on top of a Wi-Fi network in high density environments such as a conference hall. The Li-Fi can support the dense number of users and wouldn’t interfere with the Wi-Fi network. In terms of home uses, it is unlikely to become commonplace as you would need to have an Ethernet connection to each light and the lights must remain on for communications. Most home users like the ability to use the internet in the dark and that is not possible with Li-Fi."

Li-Fi
1 kbps (infrared light)
1 Gbps (visible light)
224 Gbps theoretical

Wi-Fi
1.3 Gbps (802.11ac, 3 spatial streams, 80 MHz channel, SGI)
10 Gbps theoretical
(802.11ax research in 5 GHz band)

Vizio TV Watches You

I know there is a "in Soviet Russia" joke in here, but I hate to hear that the Vizio TVs are tracking me:

"Vizio's technology works by analyzing snippets of the shows you're watching, whether on traditional television or streaming Internet services such as Netflix. Vizio determines the date, time, channel of programs — as well as whether you watched them live or recorded. The viewing patterns are then connected your IP address - the Internet address that can be used to identify every device in a home, from your TV to a phone."

Other than that, I really like my Vizio (M55-C2) 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart TV.  Maybe it is too smart.

D&D in VR

There is now an app where you can play Dungeons & Dragons in VR. https://t.co/G5Z97GZ6Er pic.twitter.com/fYdL09mkFx

— Peter Rojas (@peterrojas) November 16, 2015

Do I feel lucky?

Well, do ya, punk?

Command line Russian roulette. pic.twitter.com/qk09i8O1LY

— John Fitzpatrick (@j_c_fitz) November 6, 2015

OneDrive Changes

So unlimited space didn't last long with OneDrive...

"Since we started to roll out unlimited cloud storage to Office 365 consumer subscribers, a small number of users backed up numerous PCs and stored entire movie collections and DVR recordings. In some instances, this exceeded 75 TB per user or 14,000 times the average. Instead of focusing on extreme backup scenarios, we want to remain focused on delivering high-value productivity and collaboration experiences that benefit the majority of OneDrive users.
Here are the changes:

• We’re no longer planning to offer unlimited storage to Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers. Starting now, those subscriptions will include 1 TB of OneDrive storage.
• 100 GB and 200 GB paid plans are going away as an option for new users and will be replaced with a 50 GB plan for $1.99 per month in early 2016.
• Free OneDrive storage will decrease from 15 GB to 5 GB for all users, current and new. The 15 GB camera roll storage bonus will also be discontinued. These changes will start rolling out in early 2016."