@cynar@lemmy.world
member since 17 Jun 2023 10:06
comments
- on Smart devices can testify against you: How home robot data is being used in court in c/technology@lemmy.world · 2d ago
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on Smart devices can testify against you: How home robot data is being used in court in c/technology@lemmy.world · 4d ago
I’ve been trying to find a IoT thermometer that can survive oven temperatures long term (or at least its probe can). No luck so far. I currently don’t really trust its own settings.
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on Smart devices can testify against you: How home robot data is being used in court in c/technology@lemmy.world · 4d ago
A bit of both. It’s a mindset that keeps me from doing anything too stupid, and a good one to pass on to others. I can play around, so long as I don’t make her life harder.
It mostly stops me putting brittle, or janky setups into use. I need to actually streamline and ruggedise them. I benefit from that too, in the long run.
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on Smart devices can testify against you: How home robot data is being used in court in c/technology@lemmy.world · 4d ago
I’ve been playing with my smart home for years now. I’m well past the “oh wow” honeymoon phase and into the “just do your job” phase.
I forgot to mention WAF, Wife Acceptance Factor. Any smart system should fall back to a dumb one, if something goes wrong. E.g. You should never require WiFi to turn your lights on. There should always be a switch that will just work. Central control computer crashes? The wife is annoyed the house is now just dumb, not that the house is now dead.
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on Smart devices can testify against you: How home robot data is being used in court in c/technology@lemmy.world · 4d ago
I’ve considered that, for the same reasons. My machines are obnoxious enough to be heard through half the house on their own however.
The built in smart ones seem to be the worst of all worlds. They farm you for data, while not providing much of use. They try to tie you into ecosystems, that stop you using the data elsewhere.
My solution was going to be to monitor current draw, via a power monitoring plug, running Tasmota. Once it’s below a threshold for long enough, send an alert.
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on Smart devices can testify against you: How home robot data is being used in court in c/technology@lemmy.world · 4d ago
Smart home stuff can be done right.
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You need to focus on the use case. Is what it is doing actually necessary? E.g. smart lights are amazingly useful, smart washing machine? Why?!?
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The S in IoT stands for security. Smart devices need to be treated as security risks. Mine have their own WiFi to play on. They don’t get to play with my important devices. Also, internet access is a privilege, not a right. ZigBee is often superior to WiFi too. Control the bridge and you have absolute control of their internet access.
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Open source for the win. A lot of IoT options can run open source firmware. This helps break open the black boxes and let you see if they are doing bad things. Home assistant, EspHome, and Tasmota are the big 3 to look into.
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If you’re not the customer, you’re the product. Google etc sell smart speakers at a loss. If you must have them, treat them as actively hostile. I’m still trying to find a good alternative to some of their functions, but getting there.
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on Plasma and electricity convert CO₂ into methanol, butane and other useful chemicals in c/technology@lemmy.world · 5d ago
Hydrocarbons are one of the best energy stores available. We also have large networks already set up to distribute and use them. Being able to dump large amounts of excess energy into hydrocarbons as energy storage and feedstock would be a big gain for saving the planet.
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on Devastated father says his 9-year-old son spent $118,000 on YouTube ad campaigns for his Minecraft channel using a company credit card — bill racked up in just three weeks was supposed to be one $20 in c/technology@lemmy.world · 17 Sep 2026
Fully agreed on that. There is also a balance of allowing them to explore an idea space, while keeping them clear of risks and negative problems.
E.g. my minion is currently obsessed with Minecraft. They are actually getting quite good at the design part too. They want to play online though. I’m not happy with that, so I am setting up a private server. It will be whitelist access only. They will be able to play online and talk with their friends through Minecraft, but not random players online. When they are older, I’ll allow it, but only when I am in the (physical) room, keeping an eye on things.
If you try and shoehorn your kids into only what you think is acceptable, then you will have problems. If you have shown you will help them explore their own interests, they will come to you with them. If you regularly shut them down, they will go behind your back, where you have no control.
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on Devastated father says his 9-year-old son spent $118,000 on YouTube ad campaigns for his Minecraft channel using a company credit card — bill racked up in just three weeks was supposed to be one $20 in c/technology@lemmy.world · 17 Sep 2026
I read it more as, if your kid is intent on something, rather than slap them down, try and work with them to turn it into a positive experience.
Most kids adore doing stuff with their parents. It lets them practice adult skills, with the safety net of a trusted adult behind them.
With something like streaming, it would be down to the parent to keep them safe and let them explore their creativity. It sounds like this dad screwed that up, but is trying to at least own his part of that.
There are nuances between feral parenting and helicopter parenting.
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on GDPR trap Smart Glasses: Why Ray-Ban Meta wearers can be held liable in c/technology@lemmy.world · 15 Sep 2026
I have issues with face recognition. While I’m not face blind, I have issues with remembering faces. This also cascades into remembering information about people.
A local face matching system, that can flag pertinent facts to me would be life-changing.
I refuse to let the likes of meta data mine me however. I also don’t want to be in the same boat as the people currently abusing the glasses already.
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on Your reminder to remove the microphone from your TV remote today in c/privacy@lemmy.ml · 12 Sep 2026
Randomly this appeared in my feed.
youtube.com/shorts/Qpyd7TsH14Y
Doesn’t say anything about the receiver side, but shows the mechanism quite well.
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on Your reminder to remove the microphone from your TV remote today in c/privacy@lemmy.ml · 10 Sep 2026
Speculating, but I would guess they applied a band pass filter to it. You can then either take a simple threshold value, or look for a rapid change and trigger off that. 4 buttons means 4 sets of filters, each tuned to a different frequency.
That said, the analogue electronics engineers of yesteryear were insanely competent and making analogue circuits do interesting things to save money or space.
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on Google mapped the brain and nervous system of a fruit fly, and modders forced it to play Doom in c/technology@lemmy.world · 10 Sep 2026
I think the Minecraft modders got there first. That would push doom to 3rd at least.
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on Your reminder to remove the microphone from your TV remote today in c/privacy@lemmy.ml · 10 Sep 2026
I believe it was old school analogue electronics, but I’m speculating there.
I just looked it up, it was ultrasonic signals. The main one was the Zenith Space Command.
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on Your reminder to remove the microphone from your TV remote today in c/privacy@lemmy.ml · 9 Sep 2026
Not fully related, but early TV remotes used sound rather than IR. The buttons made a distinctive “click” noise, from a mechanical mechanism. The different clicks were detected in the TV and used as input.
Plus side, no batteries to deal with.
Down side, about as (un)reliable as you would expect.
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on Calls in the UK to ban sex offenders from buying smart glasses in c/technology@lemmy.world · 8 Sep 2026
Tbh, I would love an appropriate pair. I have issues with memory, particularly regarding faces. A set of smart glasses would be an almost perfect aid to me.
Unfortunately, I don’t trust any of the manufacturers not to abuse the hell out of all the data they generate. I’m also fully aware of the idiots abusing them, and ruining things for everyone else.
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on How awesome or f*cked are you in c/gaming@lemmy.world · 21 Aug 2026
Project Zomboid but on normal mode here. At least I don’t have sprinters enabled…
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on Pet owners say smart pet feeder outage led to furry ones going unfed in c/technology@lemmy.world · 15 Aug 2026
It’s worth noting that I think both should exist.
No software dependence at all if possible, just a basic microcontroller and firmware.
Agreed, I just want a ZigBee endpoint as well.
As for the smart home stuff, I already have it in place, so it’s no additional expense.
Control wise, your method would be fine for someone techie and motivated. It would annoy the hell out of some non techies, particularly if they had vision issues (think OAP). It would also close down the option of relatives helping out by monitoring it remotely.
As I said, different target audiences. Both have their places. I just wish the smart option did its job properly, rather than the half baked options we keep getting.
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on Pet owners say smart pet feeder outage led to furry ones going unfed in c/technology@lemmy.world · 15 Aug 2026
To each their own. I prefer having the ability to adjust things from 1 central source. I’m prone to losing remotes.
Also, how would you do such a remote. You would also need a screen for feedback etc, which puts you back at square 1.
Also, a remote would be considerably more expensive than the extra cost of a ZigBee/Wifi enabled microcontroller.
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on Pet owners say smart pet feeder outage led to furry ones going unfed in c/technology@lemmy.world · 15 Aug 2026
The ability to play with it, without having to fiddle with tiny switches is a big feature to many. Often these are used by people with mobility issues. The ability to add an extra feed, due to exercise, or adjust the timings to account for changes in life plans are a godsend to many.
Smart home devices are a balancing act. The extra control means more can also go wrong. Minimising that is a big part. The most critical is making it behave sanely when it suddenly goes offline. E.g. smart light switches become dumb ones, when the central hub goes down.
Off the top of my head.
Adjusting from the sofa, or bed.
Auto off when you leave the house.
Auto off when the room is unused for a while (great with kids).
Colour temperature and brightness adjustment to match sunlight (great for conditioning children to go to bed easily).
Party Mode
Auto dim turn on at night(avoids waking you up to much on bathroom runs).