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nathan_f77on Ask HN: Could you share your personal blog here?

I post about my electronics and DIY projects. I recently got a 3D printer and have been getting into woodworking as well, so hope to start posting more regularly.

nathan_f77on Original Prusa MK4

I've been thinking about getting a Prusa 3D printer for a long time, but now I'm leaning towards a Bambu Lab X1-Carbon Combo 3D printer. It looks really cool and seems like a more professional tool. Has anyone tried both? What would you recommend?

EDIT: I read some of the other comments in this thread and did some more research. Found some Reddit posts as well. I think I'll definitely go with the Bambu Lab printer.

nathan_f77on Anyone else witnessing a panic inside NLP orgs of big tech companies?

I would have never guessed that menial jobs would be the hardest ones to automate. I realized that humans have some incredible skills that were vital to our survival, and were honed over billions of years. But we take these skills for granted because most humans are born with these natural abilities, which are actually very impressive in the grand scheme of things. A janitor might not get paid very much relative to other jobs, but it took billions of years of evolution to hone their brain, muscles, balance, hand eye coordination, energy efficiency, information processing, etc. We're actually very impressive creatures!

nathan_f77on A spellchecker used to be a major feat of software engineering (2008)

This is very impressive. I ran it through ChatGPT and got the following response. The only mistake it made is "really" instead of "rarely".

------

> Correct the spelling:

Eye halve a spelling chequer It came with my pea sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a quay and type a word And weight four it two say Weather eye am wrong oar write It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid It nose bee fore two long And eye can put the error rite It's rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it I am shore your pleased two no It's letter perfect awl the weigh My chequer tolled me sew.

> I have corrected the spelling errors in the poem:

"I have a spelling checker

It came with my PC

It plainly marks for my review

Mistakes I cannot see.

I strike a key and type a word

And wait for it to say

Whether I am wrong or right

It shows me straight away.

As soon as a mistake is made

It knows before too long

And I can put the error right

It's really ever wrong.

I have run this poem through it

I am sure you're pleased to know

It's letter perfect all the way

My checker told me so."

nathan_f77on Monitoring my weather at home

This is cool. I think setting up a weather station will be my next home automation project. Real-time wind / rain data might be useful for some things. Has anyone integrated a weather station with Home Assistant, and do you use the data for anything?

nathan_f77on Sweet Home 3D is a free interior design application

I'm moving to a new house in the next few weeks, so I'll be firing this up again soon. It was fun to model our current house, and it was very useful for figuring out interior design. I also used it to set up some floorplans in Home Assistant using https://github.com/adizanni/floor3d-card And a 2D version with https://github.com/ExperienceLovelace/ha-floorplan

The home automation floorplan stuff was a fun project, but I don't really use it. I found that it's not as useful as a simple dashboard page with plain buttons and cards. But it was fun to work on just as a hobby, like painting models or setting up a model train set.

nathan_f77on Trash Train: I put my trash cans on rails so they move automatically [video]

This is really cool! Like something out of Wallace and Gromit. I love projects like this.

I've been wanting to add a remote controlled motor to our trash and recycling bins so that I can drive them up our driveway (which is up a steep hill.) I think this would be a very expensive project though, the motor and batteries must cost quite a lot.

nathan_f77on My Youtube earnings

I think that might be the average hourly rate since they started the channel. I think it would make more sense to calculate it on a monthly basis. It was probably close to $0/hour for the first few years, and it must be much higher now.

nathan_f77on Riffusion – Stable Diffusion fine-tuned to generate music

This is awesome! It would be interesting to generate individual stems for each instrument, or even MIDI notes to be rendered by a DAW and VST plugins. It's unfortunate that most musicians don't release the source files for their songs so it's hard to get enough training data. There's a lot of MIDI files out there but they don't usually have information about effects, EQ, mastering, etc.

nathan_f77on Riffusion – Stable Diffusion fine-tuned to generate music

That's an interesting idea. I wonder if this would work with inpainting - erase the 16th cell and let the AI fill it in. Then upscale each frame. Has anyone experimented with this?

nathan_f77on Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

Is there anything I can do to help poor and homeless people with technology? I'm in New Zealand and I would like to find some more ways to help people.

nathan_f77on Ask HN: Indoor air quality sensors and other IoT that's local-first and not DIY?

I'm not sure how accurate it is but the values seem reasonable. It hovers around 360ppm for fresh air. I can see it creep up if I'm in my office with the windows and door closed, and it spikes up if I breathe onto it.

nathan_f77on Ask HN: Indoor air quality sensors and other IoT that's local-first and not DIY?

I recommend looking at Zigbee devices. They are local-first and don't require an internet connection (or any network at all.) If you don't have any existing home automation software or hardware, then the easiest way to get started is probably with a Home Assistant Yellow: https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2021/09/13/home-assistant...

I've been very happy with my $20 Zigbee air quality sensors that I bought from AliExpress [1]. No DIY required, just plug them in and pair them with Home Assistant. These cheap sensors don't really have quality components or accurate readings, but they're accurate enough to get a good sense of my air quality and set thresholds to automate extractor fans and air purifiers.

If you really need a commercial-grade and highly accurate sensor, you could look at this iQi Zigbee sensor for $300 [2]. But I would recommend the $20 ones from AliExpress for home use.

[1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003815133870.html

[2] https://www.trutechtools.com/iqi-air-quality-monitor-v1-with...

nathan_f77on maps.google.com now redirects to google.com/maps

I think they probably did this for SEO. Having /maps on the root domain will help it rank higher in search.

This was a joke, but now I'm wondering if Google services are special cases that are hard-coded in the search results. Or are they just treated like normal websites and use the same pagerank algorithm as every other site? If I search for "maps", I see Google Maps at the top, and Apple Maps in second place, but they both look like regular website links.

nathan_f77on Evernote to be acquired by Bending Spoons

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm going to try them out now.

EDIT: I was able to export my main "Evernote" notebook into a 1.8GB .enex file, and have started importing all the notes into UpNote. It works well so far! I really like the Markdown editor, that's already a lot more comfortable to use. I will probably switch to this.

It's just a bit strange that importing notes from Evernote is a premium feature, so you can't even try it out properly before paying. There should at least be a free trial.

nathan_f77on Circadian lighting with Home Assistant: Like f.lux, but for your house

Adaptive Lighting is also a good option for Home Assistant: https://github.com/basnijholt/adaptive-lighting

I've automated all the lights in my house using Zigbee switch / dimmer modules behind the light switches on the wall. This was a very affordable option, but unfortunately I can't change the color. I can only turn lights on and off or change the brightness. I'll have to think about getting some ceiling lights with adjustable color temperature whenever I move to a new house.

One thing I really like about my current system is that it still works without any internet or network connection, or if my Home Assistant server is offline. The light switches just function normally. I think this would be a bit more complicated with controllable ceiling lights, but it could probably be done via Zigbee binding and a Zigbee wall switch.

nathan_f77on proofInAToot

I honestly thought this was going to be something to do with flatulence before I clicked on the link!

nathan_f77on Ask HN: Have you set up a procedure to disclose your passwords in case of death?

Yes, my wife will have access my LastPass account and a backup of all my 2FA codes. I have emergency access set up with Lastpass, and Inactive Account Manager [2] for my Gmail account. I would recommend Cryptosteel for backing up important passwords and secret keys: https://cryptosteel.com

I'm a solo founder, so I've also set up some contingency plans for my company. However, I really need to work on a "family manual" that has all the details about our finances, bills, rental agreements, and other personal details. I handle a lot of things that I haven't really documented anywhere (just lots of files that are semi-organized in Dropbox and Google Drive.)

The most important thing is to have disability and life insurance. PSA from @patio11: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/988094196274769920.html

This should be considered mandatory if you have any dependents.

[1] https://www.lastpass.com/features/emergency-access

[2] https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en

nathan_f77on Show HN: I designed a ring binder to organize 1,700 resistors

Very nice! Your Raaco organizer project looks a lot more convenient! I will keep yours in mind as well.

Thanks for the tip about card binder sheets! I was hoping to find something like that at a stationary store, but they don't seem to be too easy to find in New Zealand. I should have looked a bit harder and gone to a board/card game store, because they do have them for trading card games: https://vagabond.co.nz/ultra-pro-silver-series-9-pocket-page...

Tabs would be handy as well. I tried adding some to my binder but I think I bought the wrong size since they were too small and hidden by the sheets.

I also found this 3x3 grid of pockets with flaps for a 3 ring binder: https://www.amazon.com/StoreSMART-Plastic-Binders-10-Pack-RM...

I was worried about dropping the folder or tipping it upside down since all the resistors will fall out, so I think this would be even better.

nathan_f77on Shell script best practices, from a decade of scripting things

This is fantastic! I'm going to start using this as the baee for all my scripts, and will also start using shellcheck (on CI as well.)

nathan_f77on A Bluetooth Low Energy soil moisture sensor

This is really cool! I'm already running Home Assistant and have bluetooth temp/humidity sensors around the house, so it would be great to add some of these. I've never ordered a PCB like this before with SMT assembly. I have some other PCBs that I would like to design and manufacture, so it will be helpful to start with this and learn how to do it.

nathan_f77on Sound

Awesome! I really enjoyed the mechanical watches post as well: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch I might send this to some of my friends who are high school science teachers.

nathan_f77on Linear.app

This seems like a really nice tool. I'm quite happy with some of the "older" tools I'm still using: Shortcut for project management at my company, Trello for personal todo lists, and Evernote for notes. Trying to stick to the philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" when it comes to all these new tools and services. I think Shortcut and Trello are still great tools and I'm not in a hurry to replace them. But Linear does look very good. Maybe I'll try it out whenever I start a new project.

nathan_f77on Obsidian 1.0 – Personal knowledge base app

I might give it another go. I tried switching from Evernote a while ago but was a bit underwhelmed. I don't really see the value of bidirectional links yet, the search feature in Evernote has been working fine for me. But will try it out again, and maybe give it a week this time.

EDIT: The Sync feature is far too expensive. I pay about $22/year for Evernote: https://evernote.com/compare-plans Syncing is a core feature, and I'm not going to use any notetaking tool if it can't sync my notes between mobile and desktop. I don't really want to switch to a tool that will cost $96/year. I'd be comfortable paying up to $25/year.

Even better if there was a self-hosted database that I could run on my own server, or a way sync via Dropbox or Google Drive (that also works on mobile.) Maybe iCloud is an option.

nathan_f77on Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one another

I'm using a zzh (CC2652R Stick) from electrolama [1]. For the software, I use Zigbee2MQTT (z2m) [2] running as a Home Assistant [3] add-on. Here's a full list of supported USB Zigbee adapters for z2m [4].

[1] https://electrolama.com/projects/zig-a-zig-ah/

[2] https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io

[3] https://www.home-assistant.io

[4] https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/adapters/#recommended

nathan_f77on Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one another

I got into home automation because I wanted to control the temperature in my office using a plug-in electric heater and a temperature sensor. I set up a thermostat in Home Assistant that would turn on the heater when the room was cold, and turned it off once it reached the desired temperature. Then I put it on a schedule and set up some automations, so that my office would be warm by the time I got up, and the heater would turn off if I was away from home.

After that, it turned into a fun hobby. There's some cool things you can do with it, but it's just a lot of fun to write programs for my house and figure out routines and automations.

All our lights turn on automatically via motion sensors, and stay on based on bluetooth presence detection using our phones and watches. I also have a "night mode" that uses a lower brightness, and switches to using night lights in our hallway and bathrooms.

When we get up in the morning, the coffee machine turns on, the kettle starts boiling, the blinds are opened, and the TV turns on and plays a breakfast news program. (If we get up later then it chooses the TV channel on a 1 hour delay.) I set up a "movie mode" for our living room that turns off all the lights when a movie starts playing on our Roku, and turns on some dim lights when the movie is paused or stopped. We also never need to manually turn off the TV or stereo. When my wife and I both leave the living room and go downstairs, then everything turns off automatically after a few minutes (TV, stereo, any podcasts playing on an Echo, etc.)

When I walk into my office, the lights turn on, my computer wakes up, and it automatically unlocks when I'm wearing my Apple Watch. If I'm away from my office for a few minutes then the screen is locked, the lights turn off, and Spotify is paused. (Then Spotify resumes playing when I come back in, if it was previously paused by an automation.) Whenever my webcam turns on for a Zoom call, my air purifier is switched to quiet mode, and it turns off the fan in the bathroom near my office. It also turns on a ring light for better lighting, and turns it off when the call is finished.

The automations for our alarm system are really useful. Our alarm is automatically armed in "home mode" at night, and "away mode" whenever we are both away from home. It's automatically disarmed in the morning, and when we arrive home.

Our kitchen rangehood extractor fan turns on automatically when we're cooking, or if the pm25 in the kitchen goes above a certain level. Home Assistant also controls all of the heat pumps in our house, and all of our plug-in electric heaters are controlled with a thermostat that uses temp/humidity sensors.

I'm not quite finished yet - I don't have any cameras, and I want to put Amazon Kindle Fire tablets around the house to use as dashboards / controllers. It's also been surprisingly difficult to automatically open the garage door when we arrive home in the car, so I'm planning to use some ESP32s and design a secure protocol using 433 MHz transmitters/receivers. (I wasn't able to get presence detection working reliably with WiFi, even with a long-range antenna.)

Anyway, it's a hobby with lots of fun puzzles and challenges, similar to designing a Rube Goldberg machine or building a model train set. It's nothing life-changing or super important, just something fun to work on.

nathan_f77on Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one another

Sure, but it's long enough that I don't get annoyed when I need to change a battery. If I ever build or renovate a house then everything will be wired, but these are working really well for now.

nathan_f77on Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one another

This is great news, the Matter protocol sounds like it will make things a lot easier in the future.

If you're looking to get started with home automation, I would recommend using Home Assistant as the central software to control everything. Matter seems to solve some issues that I don't really experience as a Home Assistant user. You can use Home Assistant as the gateway that connects all your hubs and devices together.

I would also highly recommend buying Zigbee products from AliExpress. These are far more affordable than anything that you find in a retail store or from big brands. If you're very wealthy then you could afford to go with Philips Hue products for everything, but I've had a lot of success with some very affordable Zigbee and Bluetooth devices.

Here's the products I would recommend (all prices in USD):

* XIAOMI Mijia Bluetooth Temp/Humidity sensors: $4.86 - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000528071010.html

  * You can flash these with a great custom firmware: https://github.com/pvvx/ATC_MiThermometer

* Sonoff Zigbee products: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003446793340.html

  * Motion sensor: $9.49

  * Door/window sensor: $8.49

  * Temp/humidity sensor: $8.49 (If you prefer Zigbee to Bluetooth)

* Moes Zigbee switch and dimmer modules for wall switches and ceiling lights: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002668368040.html

  * 1 gang switch: $11.19

  * 2 gang switch: $13.06

  * 1 gang dimmer for LED lights: $13.06

  * 2 gang dimmer: $14.92

* Tuya Zigbee Garage Door module (with relay + reed switch sensor): $18.39 - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003610757320.html

I've been really impressed with these battery-powered devices. I was worried that I'd be constantly changing batteries, but some of my motion and door sensors have lasted for over 2 years on a single CR2032 battery.

nathan_f77on Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one another

I have a lot of Zigbee devices, and I've never experienced a pairing issue like this. I use Zigbee2MQTT with Home Assistant, with a electrolama ZZH USB stick - https://electrolama.com/projects/zig-a-zig-ah/

During my first attempt at home automation, I used to mess around with flashing custom firmware onto WiFi devices (Tasmota, ESPHome.) It was a huge pain whenever the hacking process stopped working (tuya-convert), and I had to open up the device, solder some wires, and flash the chip via USB serial.

Nowadays I can just buy any Zigbee product I want (usually from AliExpress), and get it set up in zigbee2mqtt without any extra steps. And it's all local within my home, and no hubs or cloud services required.

I think Zigbee is better for me because I have a lot of battery-powered devices, such as sensors for motion, door contacts, and temperature/humidity. I'm really impressed that the button batteries usually last for 1-2 years.

nathan_f77on I need structure in my life

I also struggle with not having enough structure, which is exascerabated by being a solo founder who works from home. I often tend towards being a night owl unless I'm very careful about going to sleep on time. Sometimes taking a melatonin tablet will help me stick to my sleep schedule, but sometimes that doesn't even work.

One thing that has really helped me over the last month or so is booking regular sessions on https://www.focusmate.com. Even if I just book a 20 minute session every morning, this helps me stay consistent with clearing out my email inbox and answering support tickets quickly. (Although I'm actually in a session right now and I got distracted with writing up this comment. I will go back to doing my emails after this! I should probably share my screen with my session partner so that I don't get so easily distracted.)

I also used to get very overwhelmed when I would see a lot of cards in my Trello todo lists. The problem is that I would dump all of my thoughts and ideas into a single Trello board, so it would turn into a bizarre mix of miscellaneous projects and ideas for things to do, like "buy some new socks", "pay an invoice", "go to an Ethiopian restaurant", "take some drum lessons", etc.

I solved this by creating a new Trello board that is strictly for important tasks. So now I have an "Ideas" board which is my old dumping ground of random things, and a "Tasks" board that only contains important things that I actually need to do. I also came up with a priority system where I would prefix each title with a number from 0 to 9, and I set up some Butler automations that would automatically sort the list alphabetically in ascending order. So then I would start each day by looking at my tasks board and doing the highest priority tasks first. During a lunch break, or after I finish my important work, then I allow myself to take a look at my "Ideas" board and maybe pick a fun project to work on, or do some personal errands. It's pretty hard to maintain a work/life balance when you work and live in the same place, because everything really starts to blur together. One minute I'll be working on a bug fix for a customer, and the next minute I'm playing around with some home automation project.