A thought exercise nobody asked me for, but somebody had to do. With numbers and with sources. There’s an urban legend as old as the school year and as persistent as Pediculus humanus capitis itself: that pharmaceutical companies release lice in schools to sell their shampoos. For years, scientists, pharmacists and sensible people have dismissed […]
The Lice Conspiracy: Someone Had to Do the Math Read Post »
Since December I had been patiently putting up with one of those everyday frustrations that, before you notice, turn into a project. I work with two machines at once: my Ubuntu laptop running Wayland, and a Windows PC that I drive from the Linux box using Deskflow — the free continuation of the old Synergy.
UI tests are the guardrails an AI needs: the story of clipboardwire Read Post »
Last weekend I installed a misting system in my patio garden to help cool down the space during the hot summers in Madrid. The system uses a pressurized water line managed by a Zigbee solenoid valve. The valve is supported and controlled by my Home Assistant setup via Zigbee2MQTT. Rather than keeping the misting always
Smart Misting in My Patio Garden – with Home Assistant Automation Read Post »
Today I received an unexpected email that left me pretty disheartened. It came from the official account of Qvadis, the company behind the smart intercom I have installed at home. The message couldn’t be clearer. Here I’m pasting it, translated into English, from the original message in Spanish: Server Shutdown – Official Qvadis Statement Dear
Bad News: My Qvadis smart intercom and door opener is becoming dumb Read Post »
In my home automation project, one of my first goals was to control all the lighting. From being able to turn off all the lights that my kids (who act like they own Iberdrola) insist on leaving on, to turning off the kitchen light when leaving with my hands full. And also, why not —
Home Lighting Automation: Smart Relays with Home Assistant Read Post »
As I mentioned a few weeks ago in my post Prosegur Alarms: A Step Back in Home Assistant Integration, I’ve installed an AJAX alarm system at home. And despite some voices claiming it wasn’t possible, I now have it successfully connected both to an Alarm Receiving Center (ARC) and to my Home Assistant home automation
My AJAX alarm completely integrated into Home Assistant Read Post »
In the world of home automation, integration between devices and services is key to ensuring a seamless and convenient experience. That’s why I always appreciate it when a service provider or manufacturer facilitates access to their API, allowing the community (or the company itself) to develop integrations for platforms like Home Assistant. Unfortunately, this support
Prosegur Alarms: A Step Back in Home Assistant Integration Read Post »
At home, we have our washing machine and tumble dryier in the laundry room in the attic. When the attic door is closed it’s really difficult for us realizing when the washing machine and/or the tumble dryer have finished the corresponding washing/drying cycles. Because of this, taking advantage of the home automation system based on
Home Assistant: My Laundry Room Automations Read Post »
Several months ago I proposed turning my door intercom into a smart intercom by using an Asterisk IP PBX installed on a Raspberry Pi, and with an I/O hat, according to what I explained in a previous post. I managed to progress up to the point I already could pick up and hang the intercom,
Turning the door intercom into a smart intercom (and II) Read Post »
By the end of March I started to feel wrong with what seemed a sinusitis with a lot of mocus and fever. My doctor prescribed antibiotics, and I spent a whole week taking them. I took April 1st and 2nd off from work because I still wasn’t feeling totally OK… On Monday April 4th I
My personal experience with COVID Read Post »
