Internet of Things Archive
Self-Emptying Robot Vacuums are a Game Changer
Written on April 12, 2021
in Geek Home, Internet of Things, Technology
Over the past decade, I’ve had a few versions of the robot vacuum. I’ve never been very impressed with them. They got stuck, they’d stop because the bin was full, they never seemed to get the carpets and rugs clean. But I’d see one on Woot and think, maybe this time will
Goodbye Pebble
Written on December 15, 2016
in Internet of Things, Mobile, Technology
As of December 7th, Pebble is officially no more. Their intellectual property was purchased by FitBit, who won’t be issuing any updates for the Pebble ecosystem. I love my Pebble Time Round. It isn’t a “smart watch for women,” but in my mind it’s the only smartwatch truly designed with women in
Securing Your Internet of Things
Written on November 23, 2015
in Internet of Things, Technology
Hi all! I’m Aaron and I’ve worked in Information Security (Infosec) for over 20 years. I’ve been a big fan of Nicole’s, Claire’s, and Ryan’s blog posts since Pure Geekery started, and thought I would try and write a guest post on my own. I read Nicole’s post about home automation and got
Home Automation: 1 Year Later
Written on November 6, 2015
in Geek Culture, Geek Home, Internet of Things, Technology
A year ago I posted about how my husband and I were going to start automating our home using the SmartThings platform. At that time, we just had two lights automated. We honestly didn’t do much with it most of the year (which is good, since Samsung didn’t provide the best upgrade
I love my ridiculous remote.
Written on October 9, 2015
in Geek Culture, Geek Home, Internet of Things, Product Reviews, Reviews, Technology
Update 12/20/2018: Logitech has disabled local APIs for their Harmony remote. I can no longer recommend this product. In the recent past, I scoffed at expensive remotes. I remember about five years ago, scoffing at my husband when he bought at $90 smart remote during a Woot Off (to be fair, it was
Nest Thermostat: Its Not For Techies
Written on September 18, 2015
in Geek Culture, Geek Home, Internet of Things, Product Reviews, Reviews, Technology
Note: This is about the second generation Nest. Google announced a newer one earlier this month with bigger screen and a more sensitive light sensor. As far as I can tell, those are the only differences. We bought a Nest thermostat on Black Friday last year, and now that I’ve had it
Migrating to SmartThings 2.0
Written on September 16, 2015
in Geek Home, Internet of Things, Product Reviews, Reviews, Technology
About a year ago I wrote about how we started our home automation project by buying a SmartThings hub. Samsung has just now released the new version of the of the hub, and we decided to pre-order. I just finished the migration process and thought I’d let you know how it went.
Home Automation: Choosing a Platform
Written on November 5, 2014
in Geek Home, Internet of Things, Technology
Disclaimer: We decided on and purchased SmartThings on our own. There are affiliate links that will give us a cut if you buy it though. It seems home automation is becoming the next big thing in consumer tech. It’s been something enthusiasts have been playing with for years now. But with prices and difficulty