Home Assistant – How Did I Get Here?

May 30, 2024
Home Assistant
I am absolutely horrible at turning off lights. That's how it began. The color changing aspect of Hue bulbs was cool, but adding motion sensors was when I saw the power of automation. I expanded Hue and added Amazon's Alexa for voice control. Then I tried Samsung's SmartThings to integrate…

Getting Jacked – Modular Style

May 16, 2024
Getting Jacked – Modular Style
One of my obsessions is modular synthesizers. It's an instrument, a puzzle, a teacher and the most interesting paradox of complexity used to create peaceful music.

My how he has grown

May 10, 2024
My how he has grown
One of the benefits to the extended career break has definitely been getting to watch Draco, our Chocolate Lab, grow up. Luna is an exceptional big sister and they are the best of friends.

Earthquake Data

May 6, 2024
Earthquake Data
I get asked about Rainier and volcanos a lot. I decided to integrate some seismic data into Home Assistant today for information and future notifications.

Rainier Timelapse with Synology NAS

May 3, 2024
Rainier Timelapse with Synology NAS
When I set up the Synology NAS as my backup solution and security camera solution, one of the things I was curious about was the time lapse feature. I don't really have any need for time lapses of my security cameras, but I did add one special camera on the…

Going Carbon Fiber for Camera Support

April 20, 2024
Going Carbon Fiber for Camera Support
The mirrorless switch has me excited to get out and shoot. With the 100-500mm lens requiring support in all but bright light, it was time to let my decades old Manfrotto tripod and monopod go and make the switch to Carbon Fiber. I went with SIRUI mostly, except I wasn't…