Smart Light

In our house we have accumulated a variety of smart plugs, smart bulbs, and smart wall switches that all provide a specific solution for different lighting needs in the house.

Outside we have a really cool garden border with a built in channel carved out of the backside for rope lighting. We have on the following Teckin timer. Whats great is Amazon already provides some tools in the Echo app we leverage to turn this on at dusk and off at sunrise. And bonus - this outdoor smart plug gives us another outlet we can use for lawn decorations during the holidays.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KB63CYN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1



In the bedrooms and living room we have lamps plugged into the smart plugs from Dlink and WeMo

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BB2MMNE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1



In the kitchen and dining room there are ceiling lights that leverage WeMo light switches.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DGEGJ02/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Also in the kitchen and at the front door as well as the office ceiling fan, we screw in smartbulbs by a company called MagicLight.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VQJYYYR/ref=twister_B082CYBDLG?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1




Lastly - or maybe firstly since these little numbers have been in the house before Echo made an appearance - we have smart light switches that control the front porch lights. They aren't WiFi or internet connected but provide smart with a simple control program and LCD screen to punch in your latitude and longitude and program it to turn on or off with sunrise or sunset. Just brilliant

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AIKQZ8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Everything is working in harmony because Echo. But of course I cant leave well enough alone...

I found a great little wall switch with timers from 1 minute to 30 minutes that would be a terrific solution for the bathroom fan. And as I do most times, I'm going to try out one and see how we like it for the master bathroom before I buy another for the spare bathroom

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IB0ZJXE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

In addition to that new product, GE has come out with a very inexpensive dimmable smart light switch that would be perfect to replace the dining room WeMo switch.

https://www.cbyge.com/pages/pdp-smart-switch

So heres what Im hoping to do when Mark gets some free time - he's my resident electrician. :)
Install the new timer in the bathroom and take the existing WeMo light switch from the dining room and use it for the overhead light in the same bathroom. Take the new GE dimmer light switch and install it in the dining room.

Will this be the end to the iterative madness that is home automation at our place? What do you think.

Gary Larson Said it Best...

https://www.thefarside.com/2020/02/12/0

R.I.F.

Update #2

"The Man Who Solved the Market..." is headed back to the library. Ya, I guess I'd recommend it. Its kinnnnnda biography - kinda hearsay history lesson? O.k., basically if this kinda thing interests you there are worse things you can read. I'll have forgotten most of it once Im done with the next three books on my list.

"Logicomix" is a fun intro - its like the entrance to a rabbit hole. I'll get thru it tonight or tomorrow and then I can finish up The "Rich Don't Always Win" and start "Sync..." Those will be good for the plane ride to Key West this week.

A rabbit hole on the internets led me to "The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time" so I added that to my list for 2020.

Finished
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution Hardcover – by Gregory Zuckerman
November 5, 2010

On the Nightstand
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou, with art by Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna
Bloomsbury USA, 2009

The Rich Don't Always Win
Sam Pizzigati
(2013-09-26)

Sync: How Order Emerges from Chaos in the Universe, Nature and Daily Life
Steven Strogatz
Hyperion, 2003
 
Not Started Yet
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Number: The Language of Science
Tobias Dantzig
Plume, 2007

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences
John Allen Paulos
Hill and Wang, 2001

How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking
Jordan Ellenberg
Penguin, 2014

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
Charles Seife
Penguin, 2000

A Tour of the Calculus
David Berlinski
Vintage, 1997

First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid [full-text]
Euclid, with annotations by John Casey
Project Gutenberg, 2007

Measurement
Paul Lockhart
Belknap, 2012

The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time
Jimena Canales
May 26, 2015

Mmmmm Hmmmm

"The best revenge is not to do as they do" --- Marcus Aurelius

Something Beautiful For Monday

Tabletop Whale sells amazingly deatailed and beautiful science illustrations.
Their site is here:

http://tabletopwhale.com/index.html

Dammit

Finishing up "The Man Who Solved The Market" and as Im wandering around the internets I find yet another book I just have to read

The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time 

by Jimena Canales (Author)

Dammit.

Overbuying

A few months back we were running up against some network issues. I'm the default geek in the house so it was up to me to figure it out. My best guess was the wireless portion of the dsl modem just wasn't up to snuff. The solution was a new $100 Google router. Best money I've spent in a long while - bye bye to intermittent trouble frustrating me and taking up brain cycles.

Before I landed on a new router I will tell you that the thought crossed my mind to call the phone company and upgrade the speed in hopes that might fix the problem. It wouldn't have helped this particular issue but it got me to thinking. How many times have I overbought? If I had upgraded the speed it would have increased the speed but everything I have on the network is at optimum efficiency already. That would have been additional and wasted capacity.

How often am I solving for a want or necessity with a solution overmatched to the need?

Transportation?
Housing?
Insurance?
Entertainment?
Investments?
Education?