Hardware

Content Update

The provided scripts have been updated on 16 Jul 2023. Specifically the SmartStrip part was not working as intended.

I've been a big fan of Betteruptime. I've started using it to monitor all my assets online (websites, DNS, ping, successful script runs) as well as my servers (using heartbeats).

I have a few Raspberry Pi's, and once in a while they hang (not sure why, maybe USB-to-SSD issues or something). Nothing too critical, but annoying.

Just got myself a Flipper Zero because #whynot.

However, the updating process from 0.6x.y to 0.82.3 was not very smooth sailing:

• First it was stuck in synchronising on the iOS app refusing to initiate the update (had to force quit + reboot Flipper Zero to get it to continue)
• After that, once I managed to upload the new firmware, it was stuck on Waiting for SD card after the Flipper rebooted.

The SD card I tried was an old 2Gb Samsung SD I had lying around (have 3-4 of these).

Recently visited Ikea and had to get a Christmas star-light like I used to have during my childhood.

Most of my (non-track) light at home is smart using either a TP-Link Kasa smartplug or Philips Hue (and I want to avoid adding more brands, more apps, and more shit). However, Philips Hue is quite $$$ and not always all that easy to get in Singapore (shady retailers, limited stock, not many options).

It's been over two years since my last rant.

I can now happily say this NFC tag hack works. No need to hack your purifier like with their previous kit (I almost purchased the kit -- but eventually decided against it; was it worth the trouble?).

But these NFC tags are significantly easier to use. After ignoring the "your filter is at 0%" for the past ~6 months, it's back at 100% with this. Remember to dust off and clean it once in a while (but even if you don't, the air coming out is still cleaner).

Shan uses her iPad a lot, but a lot of the more serious (interior design) work needs to happen on AutoCAD or Photoshop. That is just not going to work on an iPad.

When we're travelling (read: holiday) she's carrying an old Lenovo ThinkPad 13 (great device!) just "in case" she needs to open AutoCAD and edit something minor or read the drawings/dimensions. But honestly, most of the time that device is turned off and dead weight.

This summer, the Lithuanian government went public with an astounding finding. A Xiaomi phone sold in Europe — the Mi 10T 5G — could censor approximately 450 words and phrases, it said. The blocklist wasn’t active, but could be activated remotely. It was filled with political terms, including “Democratic Movement” and “Long live Taiwan’s independence.”

[...]

The accusations, which Xiaomi disputes, clarified just how fraught the West’s relationship is with China’s growing technology power. As China-based tech companies like Xiaomi and TikTok flourish, there’s still no playbook in North America or Europe to deal with their potential to censor or steer culture via algorithms.

"Google developing own CPUs for Chromebook laptops".

Interesting to see that many years after Apple started creating their CPUs for the iPhone (and now laptops/desktops), so many companies are following. Google is not new to building their chips (TPU, Titan (used in security keys and as encryption module for servers/Pixel phones), and likely more), but quite new to more generalised computing CPU for phones and laptops.

And it makes sense -- a lot of the generic CPUs were too generalist and not that great at their job (and are plagued with bugs). It came with heavy power usage. Having a ML/AI chip, a GPU chip, a generalist CPU chip (or two, one focussing on high performance, and one on efficiency, like the M1), one for security/encryption (Titan/T2), etc.