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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 18th, 2023

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  • One time I was at a specialty beer and cheese shop and I saw this guy pushing a cart alone with two children. He generally looked beaten down and glum. The kids are rambunctious, he’s exhausted, wife is missing but obviously in the store with them.

    He is browsing the cases, killing time waiting for his wife to come back. He grabs a small block of cheese, looks interested it and adds it to the cart.

    A few minutes later, the wife returns and immediately spots the cheese block. She picks it up and screams “$10? For a block of cheese you haven’t even TRIED yet? Absolutely not.”

    Then she hurled it back in the case and stomped off while he sullenly followed her with the cart and kids




  • Typically for devices that require a hub, it’s because they do not have WiFi chips. Often manufacturers leave off WiFi chips because the power draw is too high for the batteries, but there are other reasons too.

    The hub act as a bridge between whatever local networking protocol is used (zigbee, z-wave, BLE) and the LAN. For example, a lightbulb may use z wave to talk to a hub, the hub uses Ethernet/wifi to connect to the LAN, the LAN connects to the WAN.

    In some cases, you can setup a system that controls everything locally without needing an internet connection at all. This is often preferred in the home automation space by users who want to ensure reliable access to devices.

    Some centralized hubs can talk directly to many brands of devices without needing many proprietary hubs, but they tend to be expensive or require a licensed dealer to install.

    For a DIY option, look into Home Assistant running on a raspberry pi






  • Actually I really liked The Andromeda Strain including its ending, but it had a similar let down feeling. I think it’s worth the read. See how we thought about pandemics in the 90s before we had a major outbreak in the western world (excluding HIV)

    Crichton is best when he’s writing hard science fiction like Andromeda or Jurassic Park. Sphere is too science fantasy for him and he struggles with how to make it work.




    • One Day by David Nicholls because it uses overlapping narratives and different perspectives to tell one story
    • The Dog Stars by Peter Heller because it uses a post apocalyptic backdrop to take you on an emotional journey with the characters
    • This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud because its overlapping narratives over decades continually recolor events and motivations and outcomes
    • Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin because its three protagonists have their own stories to tell, but they are intertwined and dependent. -Same Bed, Different Dreams by Ed Park because the complex story structure lends itself to a powerful emotional journey for the protagonist and the reader