Category: Projects

I don’t like connecting odd devices to my home network.  A quick Internet search will reveal the problems with doing so–that manufactures have a tendency to never patch them, resulting in a bunch of small computers with large security vulnerabilities serving as network entry points.

But things can still be done right, for those who care.  And after years of hearing reviews for the Ring Video Doorbell on my favored information security news podcast (which personally endorses the product), I began to consider it as an exception to my otherwise rather rigid policy.

Then some neighbors began to complain about break-ins.  The tactic so often used: perpetrators would announce their presence at the front door to determine if anyone was home, and if so, to scan the interior of the home and come back later–if not, to break in then and there.  This was in fact the exact type of scenario for which the Ring was designed.  I proposed the option to Liz, who agreed.  So we used a collection of Amazon gift card credits and purchased their Video Doorbell 2.

Admittedly, their promotional videos are a little goofy, with actors creating a scene in which a couple guys in black trigger the camera and the homeowner yells at them through the speaker and they go scampering away like deer.

But, I could do that should I choose.  Through various settings, the camera and microphone activate from motion, which then records a 30-second clip, or if I acknowledge the video, it keeps recording until I stop it.  And of course it activates when someone pushes the button.  It’s wired into the existing doorbell circuit, which feeds the battery a trickle charge, and integrates with the old wired chime, and naturally–WiFi.  Alerts are delivered as push notifications through their official applications–both desktop and mobile.  And at any point I can activate the device to see a live feed, and through another button push, activate my device’s microphone so I can threaten whoever’s on my front porch.

Equally important, it updates its firmware automatically.

So far, it works as advertised, and while the price point was a little steep, they did not cheap out on its manufacture, even having included a variety of hardware/tools/wiring.

I have yet to catch any ne’er-do-wells, but that’s just as well.  I do, however, have a collection of riveting videos involving me shoveling the driveway and the car leaving and entering the garage.  In all practicality, it’ll probably be most useful when I’m working in the basement and can’t hear the doorbell, or to verify a package delivery, or to one day yell at the kid’s first boyfriend just for fun.

In the meantime, it’s just cool.

–Simon

Now that a proper TV stand is in place, I thought it time to revisit the audio setup.  I say this because the stand slightly modified the arrangement of some speakers, and music sounded just different enough that I couldn’t let it go.  So when the girls went out grocery shopping, I used the rare moment of silence to begin a calibration.

In theory, the measurable amplitudes of a sampling of sine waves across the spectrum of 20Hz to 20kHz should register a similar decibel score.  In practice, the physical limitations of speaker drivers prevents this, but settings can be tweaked to reduce the disparity.  I lack any sort of professional calibration equipment, but in reality a good sound setting is merely defined as preference by the listener, so I opted to use what I had on hand and simply settle for a mere approximation.

iTunes has, through whatever typical obscure Apple methodology, determined the above frequencies to be focal points in the human range of hearing.  I’m sure there’s some kind of math behind it, but I didn’t care enough to research it.

So, I YouTubed each of these frequencies for a test tone, played the tone, then measured the decibel level with a free sound meter app on my phone.  I’m not sure how accurate this method was, but I aggregated the figures as guidelines (chasing the dogs out of the room in the process as they did not appreciate the test tones above 1kHz):

I noticed an amplitude dropoff at the high and low ranges, which I found satisfying in that I had already adjusted the levels to compensate, based on my hearing alone.  I made some minor adjustments.

So my hearing may be getting worse, but I can still identify amplitude variations across the audible spectrum.  At least now when I’m forced to watch M*A*S*H reruns, I can at better appreciate the audio balance.

–Simon

The Christmas tree is up.

That statement carries heavy implications, to which family men everywhere shudder from mild PTSD.

Seriously, it’s a lot of effort for such a bizarre holiday decoration.  In years past we had opted for an artificial tree, mostly because we lived in rented property, but also because I didn’t want to deal with the mess.  That’s when we acquired would would be known thereafter as “The Martha Stewart Tree”, because we bought it at K-Mart (of all places that’s where Martha Stewart had her brand sold at the time), and it looked better than any artificial Christmas tree we had seen elsewhere.

But the tree came with very questionable pre-wiring (which I later removed), and the clipped wires of the tree’s frame were lethally sharp.  And the damn thing dropped fake needles everywhere which the vacuum refused to pick up.  Fuck that tree.

So we’ve since made the switch to real trees.

Of course, real trees have their own set of problems, but whatever kind we got this year has been especially awful.  This one doesn’t have any real branches, just a bunch of fluff that can’t support any weight, so I only have half the lights on it that I would normally.  And the sap gave me an allergic reaction.

Plus, the ornaments keep falling off.  Look at the kid’s consternation as she debates their placement:

This was a terrible species for a Christmas tree.  I sure hope Liz remembers what it was so we don’t get that kind again.  I’m about to go Griswold on the neighbor’s spruce.

–Simon