Su Casa Es Mi Casa – Vera automation hub hacked

Xipiter has a great write-up on how they hacked the MiCasaVerde Vera quickly and easily: The device has embedded SSH private keys on THE IMMUTABLE sections of the firmware image so we know that all these devices have the same embedded ssh key. It uses that key to access the manufacturers backend and set up …

Smart Leak Detection – Using the Utilitech Water Leak Detector with SmartThings home automation

As I’ve been moving all of my home automation projects over to the SmartThings environment, I’m expanding my number of devices and scenarios in order to take full advantage of the easy monitoring and alerts which are possible within the SmartThings ecosystem. The Problem Leak detectors are normally pretty simple devices; water conductivity completes an …

Smart Smoke Detection – Using First Alert ZSMOKE with SmartThings home automation

As I’ve switched my home automation from Vera to SmartThings I’ve also been expanding my network of z-wave devices at home. Since SmartThings does such a great job with different notification options I’ve also been looking more into monitoring our home for different kinds of damage or danger. One of the first tasks on the …

Price differences for the USA and Canada: Alcohol

Having lived in the US for over a decade there are quite a few cost of living differences I notice when I return to visit Canada. One of the more obvious differences between the two counties is the treatment of alcohol. The first and most obvious difference is how one purchases liquor or beer. In …

Hyperlapse video of a walk down the IB Pier

I’ve been playing around with the Hyperlapse app from Instagram and took it on a walk down the pier at Imperial Beach: This was hand-held and I didn’t make any efforts to keep the camera steady during my walk. I’m pretty impressed with the way it turned out and will definitely use it for some …