Category: Internet of Things (IoT)
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Waste not, want not!
9 August 2020 I was so impressed recently when I found a mini hi-fi system that a neighbour was throwing out and came across the following video post that tells one how to trick a car’s cd-player into accepting an auxiliary input and thought that I could stream Spotify through this mini hi-fi system. (Note:…
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Not all robots are equal
20 June 2020 You definitely pay for what you get with automation. I bought a 3-in-1 mop/vacuum/broom which was supposed to be all of that and have LIDAR and be able to self-dock and recharge. Well the fellas at: https://keithlily.com These folks are in the business of scamming people and caught me out. You will…
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General Purpose Technologies (GPT)
I think that we don’t always realise the impact that General Purpose Technologies (GPT) have had in our lives. My definition of GPT is when things become so widespread that we see their applications all around us then they are General Purpose Technologies. In addition, my other criteria is when the economies of scale have…
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Technology in recycling
Machines have made the world a better place. It is actually the engineers who develop these machines that are responsible for such improvements. Take the machines that we have in Australia as an example, these eliminate the need to sort bottles from cans, from plastics etc. The device scans each device that is entered and…
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The ubiquitous Raspberry Pi (RPI), as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device
I followed the instructions below here, in order to use the RPI as a NAS with a RAID-1 array with two mirroring 2.0 TB Harddisk drives (the abbreviation for these is: HDDs, they can be seen in the photo). Samba is a service which makes the NAS accessible to Windows computers on the same sub…
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Hello world!
This is the first thing anyone writes when they are learning a new programming language and it is very gratifying when you try something for the first time and are able to write these simple two words. I can do that on many LCDs connected to micro-controllers or connected to better and more modern OLED…
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Dolphin robotic cleaner which needs a “robotic finger” to operate
2 February 2020 I rent a house which has an absolutely brilliant robotic cleaner called a ‘Dolphin’. It works well except you have to switch it OFF, wait 20 seconds and then switch it ON again for it to operate. Apparently the next model up has a bluetooth interface for many hundreds of dollars more.…
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Power Bill Shock!
29 October 2019 (first created) I am sure many of you have opened your monthly electricity bill only to feel a little bit of panic rising as your mind tries to comprehend the number before you. In my case it was the eye-watering $601.3, which was laid before me. If you are anything like me,…
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Water Quality, for pools and ponds
29 October 2019 We bought 9 Comet (a type of goldfish) and put them in a water plant filled oasis, at least that is what we thought until 6 of them didn’t survive three weeks. To make matters worse the three remaining fish developed a disease called Ich. A bit of research and I knew…
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Energy Management, but how?
First published: 11 June 2018 then updated 27 June 2020 Most countries have energy labeling, but so what!? It took me a bill shock event to get me to really think about what to do. Of course managing your energy is good for the pocket but it is also good for the environment. You might…