I’ve been installing various forms of home automation in my houses and offices for about 15 years. In that time, we’ve gone from Z-wave or Zigbee to Wi-Fi and gone from first having to build a computer in the home to manage the automations to apps to appliances to web services and now a hodgepodge of all of it. I’ve got automations I’ve written in python, borrowed from lovely GitHub repos, and probably 20 times what is running that I’ve deleted over the years. The hardest part seems to find compatibility and know the approximate setup time to expect. Setting expectations is important. Especially if installing an HVAC control means…
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Configuring The New HomePod
Last week, Apple finally shipped my new HomePod (and by finally, I mean exactly when they said they would). And setting it up couldn’t have been easier. Even easier than setting up my first Echos. So here’s the deal. Plug in the HomePod and then when it boots up you’ll see an overlay on an iOS device (iPhone, iPad, etc). You’ll want to use the device that has an AppleID you want to use on the HomePod (e.g. the one that your Apple Music account is using). When you see the Set Up button, tap it. You can then select a location for the HomePod. This is important mostly if…
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MacJury Holiday Gift Guide
Chuck Joiner was kind enough to have me on MacVoices again, this time an episode focused on Holiday Gift Guides. I’d tried to stay sub-$50 but then Chuck totally stole some of my selections. We laughed. We cried. Hope you enjoy!
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Control Philips Hue From Wink
I don’t like hunting through multiple apps to turn off a light in my house. Therefore, I’ve been trying to get everything centralized in the Wink app. When it comes to managing Philips Hue lights, the Wink can turn them on and off, as well as change the percentage that a bulb is lit, acting as a dimmer. Philips Hue lights run through a bridge, known as the Hue Bridge. This device bridges the Wi-fi network and allows the Philips Hue app to control your lights. Once your Hue lights are configured, open the Wink app and tap on Add a Product. At the Add a Product screen, tap on Lights.…
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Control A Wink From Alexa
One of my favorite options in the latest round of home automationry is the ability to voice control all the things. The Wink has a pretty substantial list of supported home automation devices. The Alexa can control the Wink. Therefore, the Alexa can do all the things, even though integrations with Alexa were not built for most of those devices by Amazon. The beauty here lies in the ubiquity of APIs these days. Alexa has a recipe-style option called a Skill (further humanizing her). Basically, you add the Wink skill, then scan for devices that are connected through the Wink, then viola, tell Alexa to do something to them. To get…
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Add A Chime To Your Ring
The Ring is a great little device. I love it when I see an alert on my Apple Watch, tap a button on my phone, and then see the UPS deliverer walking away from my front door. When you’re home though, it’s nice to have a door chime. The first thing you do when you’re setting up one of these is to join a wireless network called Chime-****something****. This is pretty common in the home automation world. Devices ship running as a WAP so you can wirelessly control and set them up. Once the device joins the wireless network, open the Ring app and then verify that you’re joined to the…
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A Thermometer For The iPhone
The practical uses of Wearables and Home Automation never cease to amaze me. I recently added a Kinsa thermometer to my collection of useful toys. This little device uses the 1/8th inch jack like the original Jawbone did. It works like a regular thermometer, but displays temperature on an app that runs on the iPhone. It’s simple to setup and once setup, works the same as any other thermometer. Due to the power of the Internets, you can then select symptoms and check for common ailments that match. You can also look at your history, tracking the rise and fall of your temperature. Overall, a cool little device and a…
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Add A Chamberlain Garage Door Controller To Wink
There are two main garage door openers in the home automation space. The first is the Chamberlain MyQ and the second is the GoControl. The hardest part about setting up the MyQ was that I had to hit a funny orange button on my existing non-automated Chamberlain opener and then hit the button on the opener in my car to sync ’em up. It took about 10 tries, but eventually it worked. Once configured, I didn’t love the loud noise the device made to open the garage door (guessing that because it’s compared with a strobe that this is a safety measure). Once the Chamberlain is configured, open the Wink app.…
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Connect Amazon Echo To An iHeartRadio Account
The Amazon Echo can’t control a FireTV. I guess they’re different groups at Amazon. And not all the music you want is available on Amazon Prime. Royalties, contracts, etc being what they are, sometimes Amazon can’t find something you want. But, even if an artist or song isn’t available, you can often hook into a channel that fills the void on iHeartRadio. So, let’s connect the two. To get started, you’ll want to log into http://alexa.amazon.com. Then, click on Music & Books and then scroll down to the listing for iHeartRadio and click on the logo. If you haven’t linked an account, you’ll only have the option to “Link your account now”…
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Alexa, Order Me A Pizza
Domino’s is arguably not the best pizza in the world. But it’s pizza. And, if you have an Amazon Echo, you can order it without opening an app, touching a keyboard, or making a phone call. This makes for a great look at using one of the skills options in Alexa to extend the usefulness of an Echo. To do so, you’ll first setup a Domino’s account (aka Pizza Profile). Do that at Dominos.com (avoiding any conflicts with the Noid along the way). Also setup an Easy Order, which is the kind of pizza that Alexa will order each time you tell her to do so. Once done, you’ll need…