Simplicity in a complex world – recovered from the Wayback machine
[Originally posted October 28th, 2016]
It’s been a strange week not least for the first time in ages, I’ve had few if any firm plans.
No hospital appointments, holiday plans or things I need to squeeze in. My kid turned 16 (2 more years to go) and is currently out learning how to ride.
Seriously, no plans?!
I’ve not tidied any cupboards, spring cleaned or run around like a mad thing.
It’s been lovely. Kind of how I see retirement being, if I ever get that far. I’ve not even, really, read a book.
I have done some catching up on what’s happening in the world, thanking my lucky stars that although we’re in a mess because of Brexit, we’re not in America right now ? and taking time to smell the roses.
Well, more dahlias than roses, to be honest.
The house is tidy, I have been working out my next major home improvement plan and investigating some answers to questions I’ve day dreamed about.
At your age!
At my age, I’d like a smart house. I’d like my devices to connect to my internet and be controlled by me. I have a router that acts as a portal to the world. I don’t want anything else.
Nothing works that way though. There are various options, some including the Raspberry Pi, but nothing seems to work directly.
I did buy some internet controlled thermostats which have their own IP address (blocked from the outside – I jump on to our network by an encrypted VPN) which I control through a web app.
This is not the way the world has gone. There were issues with this technology: not least as it was open to the world. Fair enough, fix don’t bin a genre because of a few bad implementations.
I’ve looked at Nest, Z-wave and Wemo but they all work off radio waves, which require a hub. If the hub dies (and being the item running most often, it’s likely to be the first to go) you’ve lost all your automation!
So. I’m holding out for my internet of things. I’d like switches connected to my internet, operating with TLS. I’d like it all working off standards and encryption which are well proven and, lets face it, cheap to deliver. Actually, where did I leave my pi?
Posted: July 4th, 2018 under 42, Programming.