Moving away from ESXi to QEMU (KVM)
Rebuilding My Home Network ABSTRACT I have had my ESXi box for YEARS and recently decided to take a dive into the world of KVM (QEMU) on Ubuntu Linux. It’s a popular and completely open hypervisor that has become a staple in many datacenter environments. I had been loathing the change because it meant I […]
Read MoreOld School Oncall Pager With New Tricks
ABSTRACT At work, I serve on a team that has an on call rotation. As a heavy sleeper, SMS dispatches to my cellphone are not enough to get me out of bed. I needed a better solution, but what was that going to look like? I have an iPhone X and it’s just not loud […]
Read MoreDIY Weather Tube
ABSTRACT Just soon after moving into our new home in Northbridge MA, I have begin rolling out home automation technologies that are designed from scratch and uniquely custom. Doing it this way, I’ve more control over the quality and versatility of my deployment and design. The trade-off is a higher learning curve to achieve this […]
Read MoreUsing Dropbear to unlock a remote LUKs encrypted host
Abstract Working with one or a fleet of LUKs encrypted Linux machines, it may be necessary to do a remote reboot (as might be the case when you’re using the machine remotely). But what if the host has entire disk encryption such as LUKs and intended for remote users? If you ever needed to reboot […]
Read MoreWireless Halloween Jack-O-lantern
PROJECT This year, my family and I went into Hobby Lobby in search of Halloween decorations. I found a nice ceramic jack-o-lantern that was painted green inside and was only $3.00. I had an idea… I thought, “I could put an ESP8266 in there with a double LED and put a flickering loop on the […]
Read MoreKeyless Entry To My House
ABSTRACT We have an electronic Z-Wave lock on our back door. This lock works great with our Domoticz home automation system over the Z-Wave interface. The lock allows users to each have their own code, but an epic fail is that you have to take the lock apart to create/change/delete codes. I hate the way […]
Read MoreAutomated Tank
ABSTRACT So you may recall my tank notification project whereby I create alerts to our mobile phone to notify us to empty the tank for the dehumidifier in the basement. That project was cool, but it didn’t really come full circle. I got tired of emptying that beast daily! After all, who needs home automation […]
Read MoreGet notified on a full dehumidifier tank
ABSTRACT My dehumidifier uses an external tank (5 gallons) so that we can keep it running as needed to keep the basement humidity within the range of 30-50%. In this configuration, there is no “auto off” and the tank will overflow if not emptied. The goal is to keep the humidifier running steady so no […]
Read MorePanic Button using ESP8266
ABSTRACT At some point in our lives, we will have loved ones who live alone, but that doesn’t mean they have to be alone when help is urgently needed. Phones are great for reaching out – IF you can get to them and if you have time to dial, wait for the call to connect, […]
Read MoreFlashing WiFi smart home devices with Tasmota firmware
There are many WiFi controlled outlets, switches, and other gadgets out there on the market these days. These are great tools for smart home automation and are available for a reasonable price. These devices add smart convenience to our homes and the ability to do voice control of lights and other appliances just by asking […]
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