locked out

[John Larkin]

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

lunatic fringe electronics

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700) it happened John Larkin
<jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote in
<ctdafeldu2goput1hop6kvns23fsla3bth@4ax.com>:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.

Sooner or later 'trickey will go down,
and millions will die .
As all transport is 'lectric no food in supermarkets,
no light, no airco, no cooking, no shaving, no clocks, no alarms, no TV,
no radio, no internet, no phone, no freezer, no ..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5128079/Doomsday-solar-storm-devastate-Earth-moment.html


Not counting trump pushing the wrong button., or pestering the wrong country.


Cloud? bad idea, not safe, Big Brother spying on you, cut off from your data if no connection.

I was just in the attic looking for 5 1/4 inch floppies... Found
hand written diary by my mother in 1947, drawings I made back then as a kid, not bad for data retention.
No floppies found...

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:22:59 -0500, Joe Chisolm
<jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-
some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to set
temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another switch
OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on and can't
be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you buy,
reads your email, puts all that info together.

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have
a simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool
to keep that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need
some programmable crap.

Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection. I've done some test. Unplug
the ISP link (local lan up and running) and you can cause a fire-tv to
hang, you have to power cycle it. Modern crop of programmers dont
seem to understand the concept that the net can and does go down.

Once we design a product with a uP and an FPGA, it's tempting to keep
adding features, the theory being that every feature might get us some
additional sales. So we have to keep remembering that the basic
functions have to be easy to understand and evoke.

My favorite button on my Rigol scope is DEFAULT SETUP. Get me the hell
out of here.

In consumer electronics, buttons and LEDs are cheap, and code is
cheap, and there are no conventions for user interfaces, and
"features" seem to sell. So hidden internal states and bugs
profilerate.

A dishwasher needs two buttons, WASH and STOP. Two LEDs, WASHING and
DONE. One of ours has a zillion touch-sensitive buttons that operate
randomly if someone brushes the front with their belly when they use
the sink. You need a flashlight to see what the buttons do, because
they are labeled in black print on stainless.







--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc

lunatic fringe electronics

 

[Joe Chisolm]

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-
some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to set
temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another switch
OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on and can't
be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you buy,
reads your email, puts all that info together.

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have
a simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool
to keep that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need
some programmable crap.

Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection. I've done some test. Unplug
the ISP link (local lan up and running) and you can cause a fire-tv to
hang, you have to power cycle it. Modern crop of programmers dont
seem to understand the concept that the net can and does go down.

--
Chisolm
Republic of Texas

 

[amdx]

On 6/3/2019 10:19 AM, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.

I ended up in court over a real estate deal. My wife keeps a daily
diary of all the happenings. During the trial the diary was put to use,
I thought oh no, my sex life is going to be in court.
Luckily, it didn't happen.
We won the court case but F'ing lawyers fees were as much as the lawsuit.

 

[DJ Delorie]

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> writes:

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states.

Our thermostats are so smart they wouldn't listed to people any more,
because they thought they knew better. My wife STRONGLY objected.

So, new rule of smart home projects: if your wife can't figure out how
to use it without your help, you have failed.

 

[Brian Howie]

On 03/06/2019 16:19, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.

What's AC ?

Brian

--
Brian

 

[Jeroen Belleman]

On 2019-06-03 20:36, DJ Delorie wrote:

John Larkin <jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> writes:
Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states.

Our thermostats are so smart they wouldn't listed to people any more,
because they thought they knew better. My wife STRONGLY objected.

So, new rule of smart home projects: if your wife can't figure out how
to use it without your help, you have failed.

<https://xkcd.com/1912/>

Jeroen Belleman

 

[Robert Baer]

amdx wrote:

On 6/3/2019 10:19 AM, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac


The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.


 I ended up in court over a real estate deal. My wife keeps a daily
diary of all the happenings. During the trial the diary was put to use,
I thought oh no, my sex life is going to be in court.
 Luckily, it didn't happen.
 We won the court case but F'ing lawyers fees were as much as the lawsuit.
Isn't the loser required to pay all fees?

 

[Robert Baer]

Jan Panteltje wrote:

On a sunny day (Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700) it happened John Larkin
jjlarkin@highlandtechnology.com> wrote in
ctdafeldu2goput1hop6kvns23fsla3bth@4ax.com>:


https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.

Sooner or later 'trickey will go down,
and millions will die .
As all transport is 'lectric no food in supermarkets,
no light, no airco, no cooking, no shaving, no clocks, no alarms, no TV,
no radio, no internet, no phone, no freezer, no ..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5128079/Doomsday-solar-storm-devastate-Earth-moment.html


Not counting trump pushing the wrong button., or pestering the wrong country.


Cloud? bad idea, not safe, Big Brother spying on you, cut off from your data if no connection.

I was just in the attic looking for 5 1/4 inch floppies... Found
hand written diary by my mother in 1947, drawings I made back then as a kid, not bad for data retention.
No floppies found...

....and the writing had not FADED! (floppies would have looked as if
unformatted)

 

[Joe Chisolm]

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 09:38:33 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:22:59 -0500, Joe Chisolm
jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-
some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy,
reads your email, puts all that info together.

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have a
simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool to keep
that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need some
programmable crap.

Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection. I've done some test. Unplug the
ISP link (local lan up and running) and you can cause a fire-tv to hang,
you have to power cycle it. Modern crop of programmers dont seem to
understand the concept that the net can and does go down.

Once we design a product with a uP and an FPGA, it's tempting to keep
adding features, the theory being that every feature might get us some
additional sales. So we have to keep remembering that the basic
functions have to be easy to understand and evoke.

My favorite button on my Rigol scope is DEFAULT SETUP. Get me the hell
out of here.

In consumer electronics, buttons and LEDs are cheap, and code is cheap,
and there are no conventions for user interfaces, and "features" seem to
sell. So hidden internal states and bugs profilerate.

A dishwasher needs two buttons, WASH and STOP. Two LEDs, WASHING and
DONE. One of ours has a zillion touch-sensitive buttons that operate
randomly if someone brushes the front with their belly when they use the
sink. You need a flashlight to see what the buttons do, because they are
labeled in black print on stainless.

Our washing machine is the same. We got a LG top of the line, rave
reviews. Full of buttons and leds. Load sensing, water saving with
"True Balance Technology". Another POS. Software bug will say
it's out of balance. Dumps water in, sloshes clothes about, starts
to spin. Software bug says "out of balance". Dump water in,
slosh clothes around, spin ... out of balance ... repeat, repeat
and repeat. It wastes a bunch of water trying to balance
because of the software bug. The fix is to call the repair
tech ($$$) to come replace the control board ($$$). By the
time I spend all that money I can buy a new "dumb" washer.

LG dryer is a POS also. "Sensor dry" does not work. We have to
put it on timed dry, go check when it "dings", run it some more.

Lowe's has a 35% off washer/dryer sale going on. Time to
go get something simple and rid ourselves of the current frustration.

--
Chisolm
Republic of Texas

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 3 Jun 2019 19:34:05 +0100, Brian Howie <nospam@b-howie.co.uk>
wrote:

On 03/06/2019 16:19, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.



What's AC ?

Brian

Air conditioning. We don't actually have any.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[Clifford Heath]

On 4/6/19 2:38 am, John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:22:59 -0500, Joe Chisolm
jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:
Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection.

Once we design a product with a uP and an FPGA, it's tempting to keep
adding features, the theory being that every feature might get us some
additional sales. So we have to keep remembering that the basic
functions have to be easy to understand and evoke.
A dishwasher needs two buttons, WASH and STOP.

Yes, THIS! Every button you add make the other ones less useful, less
findable, more cognitive load. It doesn't matter what text you put
behind them or how good the designer of your icon graphics is, you are
presenting people with a choice of actions, and they can't choose an
action until they've understood what the alternative actions are.

This "need to know" is reduced in children, who just push things and
observe outcomes, which is why older adults often need to get a child to
help with technology like remote controls, etc.

Clifford Heath.

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 16:20:39 -0500, Joe Chisolm
<jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 09:38:33 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:22:59 -0500, Joe Chisolm
jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-
some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy,
reads your email, puts all that info together.

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have a
simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool to keep
that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need some
programmable crap.

Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection. I've done some test. Unplug the
ISP link (local lan up and running) and you can cause a fire-tv to hang,
you have to power cycle it. Modern crop of programmers dont seem to
understand the concept that the net can and does go down.

Once we design a product with a uP and an FPGA, it's tempting to keep
adding features, the theory being that every feature might get us some
additional sales. So we have to keep remembering that the basic
functions have to be easy to understand and evoke.

My favorite button on my Rigol scope is DEFAULT SETUP. Get me the hell
out of here.

In consumer electronics, buttons and LEDs are cheap, and code is cheap,
and there are no conventions for user interfaces, and "features" seem to
sell. So hidden internal states and bugs profilerate.

A dishwasher needs two buttons, WASH and STOP. Two LEDs, WASHING and
DONE. One of ours has a zillion touch-sensitive buttons that operate
randomly if someone brushes the front with their belly when they use the
sink. You need a flashlight to see what the buttons do, because they are
labeled in black print on stainless.

Our washing machine is the same. We got a LG top of the line, rave
reviews. Full of buttons and leds. Load sensing, water saving with
"True Balance Technology". Another POS. Software bug will say
it's out of balance. Dumps water in, sloshes clothes about, starts
to spin. Software bug says "out of balance". Dump water in,
slosh clothes around, spin ... out of balance ... repeat, repeat
and repeat. It wastes a bunch of water trying to balance
because of the software bug. The fix is to call the repair
tech ($$$) to come replace the control board ($$$). By the
time I spend all that money I can buy a new "dumb" washer.

LG dryer is a POS also. "Sensor dry" does not work. We have to
put it on timed dry, go check when it "dings", run it some more.

Lowe's has a 35% off washer/dryer sale going on. Time to
go get something simple and rid ourselves of the current frustration.

If you want a gas stove with a uP control panel, it's like $500 and
will break in a year or two. Can you imagine a worse place to put a
cheap uP?

If you want one without a uP, prices start around $2K, $4K for the
good stuff.

We have a dual stacked gas oven in the kitchen, came with the house.
For some reason, the upper section has digital controls and the lower
one is old-fashioned, pneumatic or something. Guess which one still
cooks?

We store pots in the upper one.




--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

 

[amdx]

On 6/3/2019 4:20 PM, Joe Chisolm wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 09:38:33 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:22:59 -0500, Joe Chisolm
jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-
some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy,
reads your email, puts all that info together.

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have a
simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool to keep
that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need some
programmable crap.

Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection. I've done some test. Unplug the
ISP link (local lan up and running) and you can cause a fire-tv to hang,
you have to power cycle it. Modern crop of programmers dont seem to
understand the concept that the net can and does go down.

Once we design a product with a uP and an FPGA, it's tempting to keep
adding features, the theory being that every feature might get us some
additional sales. So we have to keep remembering that the basic
functions have to be easy to understand and evoke.

My favorite button on my Rigol scope is DEFAULT SETUP. Get me the hell
out of here.

In consumer electronics, buttons and LEDs are cheap, and code is cheap,
and there are no conventions for user interfaces, and "features" seem to
sell. So hidden internal states and bugs profilerate.

A dishwasher needs two buttons, WASH and STOP. Two LEDs, WASHING and
DONE. One of ours has a zillion touch-sensitive buttons that operate
randomly if someone brushes the front with their belly when they use the
sink. You need a flashlight to see what the buttons do, because they are
labeled in black print on stainless.

Our washing machine is the same. We got a LG top of the line, rave
reviews. Full of buttons and leds. Load sensing, water saving with
"True Balance Technology". Another POS. Software bug will say
it's out of balance. Dumps water in, sloshes clothes about, starts
to spin. Software bug says "out of balance". Dump water in,
slosh clothes around, spin ... out of balance ... repeat, repeat
and repeat. It wastes a bunch of water trying to balance
because of the software bug. The fix is to call the repair
tech ($$$) to come replace the control board ($$$). By the
time I spend all that money I can buy a new "dumb" washer.

LG dryer is a POS also. "Sensor dry" does not work. We have to
put it on timed dry, go check when it "dings", run it some more.

Lowe's has a 35% off washer/dryer sale going on. Time to
go get something simple and rid ourselves of the current frustration.

Good luck, I'm not sure simple is available.
I feel the same about a microwave, give me a mechanical timer over
a keypad and several extra buttons.
Visited my daughter recently, went to make coffee, I see you can make
full pot, small pot, large cup, small cup and a couple other volumes. So
I spin the knob to set for one cup, but I can't see the mark to align
with the one cup icon. I got out a flashlight and started looking it
over, no arrow, no dot. So I called my son over and ask him, he looks
for a few seconds, then hits the power bottom leds light up, I see it is
set for a small pot, I twist the knob and watch the F'ing pretty leds go
around indicating the brew size until I get to one cup. Grrr...

Mikek

 

[amdx]

On 6/3/2019 4:35 PM, Robert Baer wrote:

amdx wrote:
On 6/3/2019 10:19 AM, John Larkin wrote:
0
https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac


The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.


  I ended up in court over a real estate deal. My wife keeps a daily
diary of all the happenings. During the trial the diary was put to use,
I thought oh no, my sex life is going to be in court.
  Luckily, it didn't happen.
  We won the court case but F'ing lawyers fees were as much as the
lawsuit.
  Isn't the loser required to pay all fees?

This was in Michigan 30+ years ago, I didn't get reimbursed so I doubt
it. It gets worse though, during the trial the judge said something
like. "I see the defendants attorney paid 'such and such' filing fee for
the plaintiff". It went over my head until much, much later when I
realized my attorney paid to have have some form filed to keep the case
moving. The plantiff was broke, (which is why she sued me) she had no
money to keep going so my lawyer paid.
I was young and ignorant, didn't really know what happen until it was
to later.
Details, I sold a house on a rent to own deal with $4,500 down
payment. It took the renter several months to pay the whole $4,500.
Then at the last minute backed out and sued me. I remember the judge
asking my why I sold the house for less $2,000 then the platifffs price,
I told him because now I had moved and just wanted out of making double
mortgage payments.

 

[mpm]

On Monday, June 3, 2019 at 12:23:10 PM UTC-4, Joe Chisolm wrote:

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have
a simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool
to keep that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need
some programmable crap....

For me, it's our crap Whirlpool piece of shit refrigerator.
I fucking hate it! (And I don't normally say "fuck" in open forums!)

If you EVER think about buying one of these... RUN !!

I would call it "junk" also, but that would be totally unfair to actual junk.
I can promise you this: I WILL NEVER -- NEVER -- NEVER BUY ANYTHING WHIRLPOOL AGAIN.

EVER. (And it's so bad, I don't even want to kick it the curb for fear that somebody else might have to deal with it.)

I might also note that its icemaker was very obviously designed by a team of fantastically incompetent imbeciles, but that too would be an unfair comparison to actual imbeciles.

My whole evening is now shot to hell just thinking about it.

 

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 15:50:21 -0700, John Larkin
<jjlarkin@highland_snip_technology.com> wrote:

On Mon, 3 Jun 2019 19:34:05 +0100, Brian Howie <nospam@b-howie.co.uk
wrote:

On 03/06/2019 16:19, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy, reads your email, puts all that info together.



What's AC ?

Brian

Air conditioning. We don't actually have any.

We don't either. But we do have two heat pumps. ;-)

 

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 16:19:06 -0700, John Larkin
<jjlarkin@highland_snip_technology.com> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 16:20:39 -0500, Joe Chisolm
jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 09:38:33 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:22:59 -0500, Joe Chisolm
jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-
some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to
set temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another
switch OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on
and can't be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you
buy,
reads your email, puts all that info together.

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have a
simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool to keep
that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need some
programmable crap.

Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection. I've done some test. Unplug the
ISP link (local lan up and running) and you can cause a fire-tv to hang,
you have to power cycle it. Modern crop of programmers dont seem to
understand the concept that the net can and does go down.

Once we design a product with a uP and an FPGA, it's tempting to keep
adding features, the theory being that every feature might get us some
additional sales. So we have to keep remembering that the basic
functions have to be easy to understand and evoke.

My favorite button on my Rigol scope is DEFAULT SETUP. Get me the hell
out of here.

In consumer electronics, buttons and LEDs are cheap, and code is cheap,
and there are no conventions for user interfaces, and "features" seem to
sell. So hidden internal states and bugs profilerate.

A dishwasher needs two buttons, WASH and STOP. Two LEDs, WASHING and
DONE. One of ours has a zillion touch-sensitive buttons that operate
randomly if someone brushes the front with their belly when they use the
sink. You need a flashlight to see what the buttons do, because they are
labeled in black print on stainless.

Our washing machine is the same. We got a LG top of the line, rave
reviews. Full of buttons and leds. Load sensing, water saving with
"True Balance Technology". Another POS. Software bug will say
it's out of balance. Dumps water in, sloshes clothes about, starts
to spin. Software bug says "out of balance". Dump water in,
slosh clothes around, spin ... out of balance ... repeat, repeat
and repeat. It wastes a bunch of water trying to balance
because of the software bug. The fix is to call the repair
tech ($$$) to come replace the control board ($$$). By the
time I spend all that money I can buy a new "dumb" washer.

LG dryer is a POS also. "Sensor dry" does not work. We have to
put it on timed dry, go check when it "dings", run it some more.

Lowe's has a 35% off washer/dryer sale going on. Time to
go get something simple and rid ourselves of the current frustration.

If you want a gas stove with a uP control panel, it's like $500 and
will break in a year or two. Can you imagine a worse place to put a
cheap uP?

I've never had one go bad.

If you want one without a uP, prices start around $2K, $4K for the
good stuff.

We have a dual stacked gas oven in the kitchen, came with the house.
For some reason, the upper section has digital controls and the lower
one is old-fashioned, pneumatic or something. Guess which one still
cooks?

We store pots in the upper one.

 

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 11:22:59 -0500, Joe Chisolm
<jchisolm6@earthlink.net> wrote:

On Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:19:25 -0700, John Larkin wrote:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90358396/that-major-google-outage-meant-
some-nest-users-couldnt-unlock-doors-or-use-the-ac

The key lock on my house has been reliable for 25 years. Ditto my
thermostat. Why would anyone spend $270 for a lock that won't let you
in?

Our cabin came with a smart thermostat that guests were always leaving
in weird states. I replaced it with a simple one that has a dial to set
temperature, and one switch for the fan, ON-AUTO. It had another switch
OFF-HEAT-AC but I removed that one, so the heat is always on and can't
be set below 40F.

Seems like some people have enough "smart" gadgets that they can't do
anything without their phone.

I bet Google knows when you come and go, knows what temperature you
like, knows what food you order, knows where you go, knows what you buy,
reads your email, puts all that info together.

I had a nest a few years back. What a piece of junk. I now have
a simple thermostat - set the temp and it will either heat or cool
to keep that temp. We live and work out of the house so I dont need
some programmable crap.

We've had a Nest for eight years. We bought it to keep track of the
temperature of a house we were selling in another state. When it
sold, I moved the thermostat to this house and bought another for the
upstairs. They work really well.

Amazon stuff is real touchy about net access. They assume always on
completely reliable net connection. I've done some test. Unplug
the ISP link (local lan up and running) and you can cause a fire-tv to
hang, you have to power cycle it. Modern crop of programmers dont
seem to understand the concept that the net can and does go down.

Don't use Amazon stuff or any of that ilk. My son gave us some smart
speakers for Christmas a couple of years ago. The box is unopened,
somewhere in the basement.