Author Topic: Bought any computing stuff today?  (Read 127214 times)

Kim

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    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #525 on: 25 November, 2017, 12:03:10 pm »
Are your bulbs running on ZigBee protocols? Should be fairly easy to get into. It is also possible to build your own but ZigBee (XBee) stuff starts to ramp the price up a bit.

The one I've bought is based on an ESP8266[1] (so it can speak WiFi directly).  My plan is to modify the firmware to raise the PWM frequency to about 10kHz (barakta can perceive the flicker upto about 6kHz, so the default 500Hz is no good), hack around the resulting instability, then see about re-writing it for stand-alone colour temperature changing according to the position of the sun behaviour.  Anything else is a bonus.

I'm trying to keep the internet-of-shit factor to a minimum - it should always come on on boot-up.  Nobody wants to have to use an app to turn their lights on and off.


[1] https://authometion.com/shop/en/home/14-lyt8266-mounting-kit.html - it's expensive (moreso if bought pre-assembled) but if it works, I'm happy to pay a premium not to be locked into, well anything.  If you can easily write your own firmware, it doesn't matter what the manufacturer does in future.

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #526 on: 26 November, 2017, 06:13:56 pm »
Are your bulbs running on ZigBee protocols? Should be fairly easy to get into. It is also possible to build your own but ZigBee (XBee) stuff starts to ramp the price up a bit.

Yes they are. The ones I bought are just white ones not vary coloured. Via the Amazon Echo you can change the brightness and turn them on and off but you cant change the colour temperature (if you have coloured ones you cant change the colour). You can dived the lights into different groups and control them by group name. If you want to change temperature or colour you need to get the Philips home hub and get Alexa to control them via that.
For what we need at  present the inbuilt home hub in the Echo Dot has sufficient functionality.
I'm pleased with it and Mrs Pcolbeck is too. Currently we keep asking Alexa random things and turning the lights up and down then giggling. Its like being in Start Trek. I'm tempted to change the wake up word from "Alexa" to "Computer".
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #527 on: 26 November, 2017, 06:19:40 pm »
I'm tempted to change the wake up word from "Alexa" to "Computer".

Everyone called Alexa will thank you.

ian

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #528 on: 26 November, 2017, 07:18:16 pm »
Are your bulbs running on ZigBee protocols? Should be fairly easy to get into. It is also possible to build your own but ZigBee (XBee) stuff starts to ramp the price up a bit.

Yes they are. The ones I bought are just white ones not vary coloured. Via the Amazon Echo you can change the brightness and turn them on and off but you cant change the colour temperature (if you have coloured ones you cant change the colour). You can dived the lights into different groups and control them by group name. If you want to change temperature or colour you need to get the Philips home hub and get Alexa to control them via that.
For what we need at  present the inbuilt home hub in the Echo Dot has sufficient functionality.
I'm pleased with it and Mrs Pcolbeck is too. Currently we keep asking Alexa random things and turning the lights up and down then giggling. Its like being in Start Trek. I'm tempted to change the wake up word from "Alexa" to "Computer".

Shouldn't you rename it Hal?

The future sounds complicated. I'm still operating lights with a switch.

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #529 on: 27 November, 2017, 10:37:57 am »
Raspberry Pi 3 for MiniGB as her PiZero W is struggling to run the version of Minecraft that comes with the Kano distribution.

Still need to find time to work on my 1-wire temp monitoring for the flat.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #530 on: 27 November, 2017, 10:43:41 am »
Shouldn't you rename it Hal?

The future sounds complicated. I'm still operating lights with a switch.

That would be cool :) Unfortunately you can only choose from Alexa, Echo, Amazon or Computer at the moment.

I've made a rod for my own back though, Mrs Pcolbeck for whom this was all a surprise loves it but think the bulbs are too cold. I've had t order a load of the more expensive bulbs that let you change the colour temperature now plus a Philip home hub to access that feature. Luckily Amazon are doing a buy three items get the cheapest free on a lot of Philips Hue stuff at the moment. I'll reuse the no adjustable bulbs where the temperature doesn't matter such as in the bedroom.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #531 on: 28 November, 2017, 02:41:07 pm »
Well the bridge and one colour temperature changing bulb has arrived. Much better.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #532 on: 28 November, 2017, 03:42:46 pm »
Argos emailed me a £10 voucher, so I purchased a Kindle Fire 7 for £20. That really is ludicrously cheap. I only plan to use it for reading kindle graphic novels that my paperwhite struggles with.

Maverick

  • One of the rural idle
    • Twoberries
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #533 on: 01 December, 2017, 08:10:53 am »
8GB DIMM for the Microserver. HP had sensibly only used one slot for the supplied 8GB rather than 2 x 4GB that the usually do (IME). Should be good to run the 14TB of disks as ZFS now  :thumbsup:

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #534 on: 08 December, 2017, 01:01:48 pm »
Fortunately I didn't buy it  ;)  but work 2010 Dell i5 underdesk tower and old screen, has now become a Dell XPS i7 (8th gen) with SSD drive with 26" 1080p monitor.    ;D    Though my older graphing software doesn't work with Win10 yet.   :-\
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

David Martin

  • Thats Dr Oi You thankyouverymuch
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #535 on: 08 December, 2017, 10:00:16 pm »
SOUnds like my new toy though I have twin 23" monitors and a 19". Still gradually transitioning to it. And a Raspberry Pi on the HDMI input for one of them.
"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Maverick

  • One of the rural idle
    • Twoberries
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #536 on: 09 December, 2017, 09:38:06 am »
3 x Pi Zero3 kits to be Pi-Hole ad blockers. One for me and one each for the kids as xmas presents.

arallsopp

  • Beansontoast
    • Barring Mechanicals Blog
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #537 on: 21 December, 2017, 01:21:41 am »
The one I've bought is based on an ESP8266[1] (so it can speak WiFi directly).  My plan is to modify the firmware to raise the PWM frequency to about 10kHz (barakta can perceive the flicker upto about 6kHz, so the default 500Hz is no good), hack around the resulting instability, then see about re-writing it for stand-alone colour temperature changing according to the position of the sun behaviour.  Anything else is a bonus.

I've got a fair way with LED 5050 strips to colour cast the room based upon time of day. I'm using adafruit feather huzzahs or Wemos D1 Mini Pros for processing, and both have ESP8266 onboard. A quick dash out to wunderground api and I know the sunrise/sunset times for the day. I use similar code for Frebber's nightlight, which sets max lux levels based upon time of day, or the blinds which track the sun.

Its all automated using an NTP time signal. Hook me up if you get stuck.
Love words, hate lulu? Buy "Barring Mechanicals" on Amazon UK or US

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #538 on: 21 December, 2017, 12:57:38 pm »
The one I've bought is based on an ESP8266[1] (so it can speak WiFi directly).  My plan is to modify the firmware to raise the PWM frequency to about 10kHz (barakta can perceive the flicker upto about 6kHz, so the default 500Hz is no good), hack around the resulting instability, then see about re-writing it for stand-alone colour temperature changing according to the position of the sun behaviour.  Anything else is a bonus.

I've got a fair way with LED 5050 strips to colour cast the room based upon time of day. I'm using adafruit feather huzzahs or Wemos D1 Mini Pros for processing, and both have ESP8266 onboard. A quick dash out to wunderground api and I know the sunrise/sunset times for the day. I use similar code for Frebber's nightlight, which sets max lux levels based upon time of day, or the blinds which track the sun.

Its all automated using an NTP time signal. Hook me up if you get stuck.

That particular project has been thwarted by inadequate hardware:  The lamp can do a respectable warm-white and all the garish RGB colours you can wish for, but subtle changes in colour temperature aren't really viable.  More disappointingly, the white LEDs are nowhere near bright enough to light a room with (it's about right for a desk lamp).  And the ESP module seems nonspecifically dodgy, vis intermittent flash problems and the WiFi only working in access point mode - I need to moan at the supplier about a replacement.

ian

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #539 on: 16 January, 2018, 07:59:09 pm »
A portable hard drive (run out of plug sockets in the cupboard of technological shame). I've a slew of smaller drives hanging around (five) with various backups and stuffs on them and I want to consolidate and replicate between 2*2TB (one being an old Buffalo NAS and the new one other dangling off the MacMini under the stairs).

Of course, I'm fully aware that the result of this project will be digital crap smeared across six disks instead of five.

ian

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #540 on: 24 May, 2018, 09:30:30 pm »
A brace of magic security cameras. After three years of deliberation (the old alarm was stripped out of the Asbestos Palace when it was refurbished). I don't like alarms, I figure all they're good for is disturbing the neighbours. Unless you pony up for the full security detail, I don't expect the police will rush around, and anyway, any practised burglar will be long gone before anyone turns up. There's the old alarm box outside and it looks like the sort of house that would have an alarm, plus there are lights on timers etc. A brief stroll around after dark makes it obvious which houses are empty. I'd make a great burglar. Hmm.

Anyway, we both travel a lot, and often out late in the evenings, the street lights go off at midnight and thereafter it's completely black, so it would be reassuring to know to house is still standing and if something does happen we might at least have some evidence. Though if the police treat any video the same as they do bike cams, I might not get my hopes up.

OK, I confess, it's mostly so I can spy on the cats and capture evidence of their many nefarious misdeeds. I tried to learn the psychic art of remote viewing and failed, so this is the next best thing.

BrianI

  • Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Lepidopterist Man!
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #541 on: 26 May, 2018, 02:57:38 pm »
Not today, but a rather nice BenQ PD7200Q 27" 2560x1440 IPS monitor to replace my old Dell 2007wfp. http://www.benq.co.uk/product/monitor/pd2700q/.
As well as an NVIDIA GT1030 gpu, to drive the monitor, as the onboard graphics on my motherboard couldn't drive the screen at the required resolution.

Still to calibrate the screen using my spyder2 express colorimeter , but apparently the screen has been calibrated by BenQ themselves to an average Delta E of the sRGB Gamut of 1.1311. Not bad for a £280 monitor!

Morat

  • I tried to HTFU but something went ping :(
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #542 on: 31 May, 2018, 09:51:09 pm »
Nothing madly exciting but a Samsung 860 EVO SSD of 500giggles and cables to suit.
The game SSD on my home PC is completely full of one flight sim (DCS World) and the updates were failing. Can't have that.
Everyone's favourite windbreak

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #543 on: 10 June, 2018, 11:55:48 am »
A Bluetooth dongle, the first one I've brought for years, and I was surprised at how tiny they are now, I still cant pair my Bluetooth speaker with my Ubuntu box but I can swap files between the computer, phone and tablet.

CommuteTooFar

  • Inadequate Randonneur
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #544 on: 14 June, 2018, 10:01:56 pm »
I bought an Arduino Uno.  Part of turning my Proxxon milling machine into a cnc machine.

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #545 on: 14 June, 2018, 10:08:48 pm »
Had some cat 6 installed at home. And it doesn't work, sigh. Had to buy a cheap cable tester. Missing connection on one of the strands. Sparks will be back next week to sort it.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Kim

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    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #546 on: 14 June, 2018, 11:03:22 pm »
Had some cat 6 installed at home. And it doesn't work, sigh. Had to buy a cheap cable tester. Missing connection on one of the strands. Sparks will be back next week to sort it.

Make sure they've got the strands in the right order too.  Sparks aren't known for their understanding of RF, and failing to follow the standard colour code (getting the pinout right, but splitting signals across different pairs) is a popular way of cocking it up, and one that can be tricky to detect without proper test gear or Mk 1 eyeball access to the punch-downs.

(DAHIKT)

Afasoas

Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #547 on: 01 July, 2018, 11:35:01 am »
Nothing madly exciting but a Samsung 860 EVO SSD of 500giggles and cables to suit.
The game SSD on my home PC is completely full of one flight sim (DCS World) and the updates were failing. Can't have that.

At the moment the main server is using a single SSD recycled from something else and the backup server uses a 500GB spinner.
In the near future they will each sport a pair of 860 EVOs (250GB variant) in some sort of RAID so a failed boot disk doesn't bring the server to its knees (... not that I've already had experience of that  :hand:)
I chose the Samsungs not for performance reasons, but energy consumption based on the servers typical workload (a constant trickle of read/write).

I've just ordered the 1U case, pico PSU, el cheapo 120 GB SSD and an Asrock J3455B-ITX mobo as a replacement to the Intel E3815 Atom NUC that sits in my DMZ. This is used for hosting demo web sites, hosting git repositories, running a jenkins build server that automatically deploys the demo websites and then deploys them live at the push of a button. It also runs a range of other things in tmux sessions, with the advantage I can SSH into it from anywhere.

Thing is, I now need to work collaboratively on some documents and run a shared calendar etc.. RunningNext Cloud with Only Office on the NUC was going to be asking too much of it.
The NUC might be offered for sale soon - ideal for anyone who wants a low power/always on server to do DHCP/DNS etc.

slope

  • Inclined to distraction
    • Current pedalable joys
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #548 on: 05 July, 2018, 05:31:50 pm »
Just bought a new 27" iMac from John Lewis online, to replace a 2010 Mac Mini/26" LG monitor combo

Wow :o the screen colours and contrast of everything are so bright and saturated - I'm scared - is the future this vivid?

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Bought any computing stuff today?
« Reply #549 on: 07 July, 2018, 10:27:07 am »
An Nvidia GTX1080 Ti 11Gb. That'll make Zwift fly!