And it’ll be hot and humid here. The front and the rain might have cooled stuff down a bit, but still hot and humid if the sun is out. Last hurrah of Summer, maybe.
Took most of the day but I eventually loaded up and made it to the BOL. Missed the sunset while dealing with Johnny Law. Pretty minor, so I can’t really complain.
Today we’ll see what needs doing first, and what the weather will allow. I’m sure there will be plenty of stuff to do, and some of it might even be on the list already.
W and D2 made it up last night, so priorities might be reassigned. My strike does not extend to the BOL as everything here benefits me.
Always be working. Entropy never sleeps. Stack so you have something to work with.
nick
Sunday. Good morning!
I posted a pot-pourri* under yesterday’s comments just now, and while I was typing it, Sunday’s post went up. I am too lazy to copy over, so go back and have a look if your time is worth nothing to you…
*A rotten pot! Apposite, perhaps.
W1 has an appointment with the gardener this morning, to figure out which trees need work. He says our cherry plum (prunus cerasifera pissardi) is sick and should be felled. Too bad about the fruit – we had a bumper crop this summer; the cherry brandy harvest is bottled and aging for Christmas gifts – but I am thinking I might get lumber for a couple of gubstocks and lots of handgub grips or knife scales out of the trunk. Every silver lining has a cloud…
Why am I up at 3:00 AM MST?!
I’ve noticed a slight slowdown in my touch-typing proficiency. Need some practice I guess. Hmm, here’s an empty slot where I can jam it in. and drop a note to my neuro in the meantime.
Argh. Now time for bed…
Time for coffee now.
That slugabed @Alan is probably still asleep.
I know, right? Some people are just lazy.
Automation is great, until it isn’t.
Last night at 12:30 O-Dark-Thirty, the living room light came on. No reason. This morning it would not turn on with the automated routine, nor Alexa voice commands. The native app would operate the light. Bummer. I removed the device from Alexa and tried pairing again. No good, Alexa cannot find the device.
I removed the device from the it’s native app, put it in pairing mode, and added it back into the app. Now to connect to Alexa. Nope, Alexa cannot find the device using the Matter device code. I tried four times using the normal method. I then had to factory reset the plug (Kasa), repair with the Kasa app, then pair the device with Alexa. It finally worked.
But some of my voice commands no longer work as removing the device from Alexa also removed from my routines. Now I have to redo those, establish control through the Apple HomeKit app. Tedious process. Even though the name of the device matches what was before, not good enough for the routines. Some unique code, that changes when re-adding the device, must be redone.
Do these idiot software developers even use the software they develop? Do they even try edge cases to see what happens? Testing software under ideal condition only, is flat out incompetent.
I have no idea what happened. Just one device borked itself. For someone that is not technically inclined such crap is a nightmare. I sometimes question myself on this stuff. A lot of lucky guessing. This automation stuff has got to get better before such automation becomes widespread. I am about to the point of going back to completely manual control, you know, regular switches.
ICE Captures MS-13 Killer Known As ‘The Witch.’ A Biden Judge Just Let Him Go.
https://redstate.com/kyle-becker/2026/09/05/ice-captures-ms-13-killer-known-as-the-witch-a-biden-judge-just-let-him-go-n2206565
bio:
https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/ohta-jinsook
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jinsook_Ohta
Born in South Korea (omitted by wikilies)
Nothing about how she came to the U.S., and no indication that she is a U.S. citizen. Possibly one U.S. parent fom description.
Visiting professor five years after getting a law degree.
She is not qualified to be a U.S. judge, even though she meets the requirements. She is an obvious DIE hire to check boxes.
Approved by a minority of 47 senators, with 27 absent. Another travesty.
“I have no idea what happened. Just one device borked itself. For someone that is not technically inclined such crap is a nightmare. I sometimes question myself on this stuff. A lot of lucky guessing. This automation stuff has got to get better before such automation becomes widespread. I am about to the point of going back to completely manual control, you know, regular switches.”
I tried X10 and let it lapse.
I don’t see a net decrease in time turning light switches off and on to offset the time spent monkeying with thrid-world electronic devices that are probably listening to me taking a dump and reporting it to their Chinese masters, who sell it back to marketers in the U.S.
One of today’s tasks is replacing one of two led kitchen lights. Perfectly happy with the light brightness and quality, but one burned out after a fraction of it’s claimed 50,000 hours. I might pull the cover off the old one to see if it has any obvious breaks in the serially-wired light string, but then what? Maybe set a timer for ten minutes as the allowance for running a solder bridge over the defective led? Life is too short and getting shorter.
@Ray: Agreed. We wanted a central app to control various things, like shutters and skylights. Of course, all devices use their own, proprietary systems. You can get devices from them taht let you control things over the network, but then you have to talk to those devices. OpenHab is a piece of open-source software that can do that – with various plugins for the various devices.
It works. Mostly. But the whole construct is fragile, and sometimes some part of it stops working for no apparent reason.
Of course, they have come out with a new, unified standard (“Matter”), only lots of manufacturers decided not to support it, or to support it in their own weird way. So it is like that famous XKCD.
Bang Bang!
Go look at the pictures online from the confirmation hearing.
Helped out at an event yesterday. Y’all may recall that – back when we had our whisky business – the wife and I put on a lot of events. So I know how they should run, and what to expect.
Um. Yesterday, I show up – having a bit of a weird feeling that there was no pre-event briefing. But it seemed pretty simple: participants paid an entry fee, got food and drink. What could go wrong?
Then the organizer mentioned that not everything was included – the guests would have to pay for dessert, spirits, and other things. Um…ok, where’s the price list? Where’s the wallet with change? Oh.
I’m running the food stand – french fries and grill – mostly by myself. His extension cord is too short – so I run home and grab a longer one. Tongs for the grill? Some people prefer bread instead of fried – bread we have, but no board to cut it on.
Oof. We made it work, but I’m tired, boss…
The plugs are Matter compliant. You have to add the device to the native app. From that app you get a code to make Matter work. Otherwise, you have to do a reset on the device, then add to Alexa. Of course, doing that reset disconnects the device from the native app. It is also possible to scan a QR code but that requires unplugging the plug and moving to an area with lights.
The order of adding the devices is important. None of that is mentioned in the documentation for the device. No information on how to add to Alexa, only the native app. Trial and error and finding the Matter code buried three levels deep in menus.
It is all very tedious, error-prone, and irritating.
I like being able to get into bed, say ‘Alexa, lights out” and all the lights go out. I like being able to wake up and say “Alexa start my day” and the necessary lights come on. I like the automation that shuts off some devices, such as the cable box, on schedule, and turns on schedule. What I don’t like is when it goes wonky.
First-world engineer problems.
I looked at home automation when we renovated our new to us house 15 years ago, and decided it wasn’t ready and also overpriced. I looked again when we renovated the new to us BOL in 2019-2020, and came to the same conclusion.
We have a few very basic remote-controllers in each house for switching on electrical sockets for lamps and other items that are outdoors or otherwise in inconvenient places to reach, and those (usually the remotes, from being dropped) occasionally fail and must be replaced. If I couldn’t get replacements, I wouldn’t be very bothered.
I played with X10 years and years ago, to the point of researching the comm protocol it used, and was simultaneously impressed with its simplicity, the cleverness of the transport, and appalled at its lack of robustness.
There was no way, at that time, to check if a device was “on” or “off”. There was no confirmation that the device had received the “on” or “off” command you sent. All comm was one-way, from the controller to, well, everything on the same leg of the power line. Address space on devices was limited. 15 devices, I think. One address was reserved for “all devices”.
If one room of your house was on one leg of the 220, and another was on the other leg, X10 could only talk to the one leg that had the controller plugged in.
I abandoned the idea of home automation at that time, and I’ve never gone back. Sounds like there are still problems with standards.
gmail is apparently down.
Not in the northeast US as of about a minute ago.
I am about to the point of going back to completely manual control, you know, regular switches.”
– my remaining client is adamant about keeping lighting OUT of the whole house A/V control system. He wants the lights to always work without issues.
The only way I know to get the stuff to really work is to use commercial products and a commercial control system like Crestron or AMX. Control 4 is more accessible to a hobbyist or homeowner. All the open source and hobby stuff is a pale attempt to duplicate what the big boys do.
That said, even with pro level gear, there are sometimes issues, especially when using barely supported gear or stuff that’s too old or too new.
I have a commercial lighting control system in my house that uses switches and outlets to talk to each other via radio. No central controller. It’s worked well for 18 years but is not current product. And I sleep with the manufacturer’s rep so I get good support…
It’s very handy to group a dozen switches on one button, and to hit one button on the way to bed to shut off all the lights.
——-
Sunny and very humid here. 87F. Coffee from the Moka pot, eggs and bacon bits to fill my belly.
Work. It should start soon.
n
I’ve been spoiled by a long run of no computer issues.
Gmail isn’t working for me. The rest of the internet seems mostly ok, with a little weirdness.
I’ve restarted the Brave browser, deleted my cookies, rebooted my laptop, reset my router.
Now I have to log back into basically everything.
Gmail works on my phone. If I run Proton VPN, I can try to log into gmail on my computer, but 2FA is failing. Without the VPN, I get DNS errors.
FML.
I’ll get through this, I know the drill. Now before I hit “Submit”, I have to re-enter my name and email.
The automation is better now than it was 10 years ago. I had several outlets, different brands, that worked with Alexa. Those different brands were a mistake. WEMO went out of the automation business and that killed three of my plugs that control lights. I basically threw all the different vendors out and have now settled on two vendors. KASA for the plugs, Lutron for the wall mounted light switches. I have had zero issues with Lutron in three years. There is a local controller involved that is connected the network. I am considering replacing three more light switches with some Lutron stuff. The nice thing about Lutron is the no neutral or ground wire is required in the switch box.
Lutron and KASA will work with Alexa and Apple HomeKit.
My son has even more automation that I have.
Gmail working now. Changed my DNS server to 1.1.1.1
Was automatic, which I assume is in the ATT router somewhere.
Don’t care.
Officially “light rain” here. Nice, 70F.
The old female cat is freaked out…
Last night astronomy outreach went pretty well.
There were a fair amount of clouds to the north and east but the south was clear. There was no moon and no planets until Saturn late (9:30pm) but everyone seem to have a good time.
IDK who makes KASA but Lutron is a pro level company. They brought that to their home line too. Lutron is not going out of business as they are world wide and a real manufacturer.
They are also a marketplace competitor for my wife, but even then, I think we may end up with Lutron in our house when we are forced to upgrade. I’m putting that day off by having stocked up on spares 10 years ago.
—
currently reattaching drywall to the ceiling joists. Some long time ago it got wet and pulled down from the joists. Old boy didn’t reattach it, just patched over and painted the worst of it. I have to use metal foam washers to pull it up to the joist or the screws pull right thru.
I don’t think I bought enough washers.
n
KASA is TP-Link I believe
Trying to down[lay because of the Chinese spying. Go ahead turn off my lights
We’ll turn off your lights when you least expect it, round eye.
It’s the backdoor access to your network that is the potential issue. Should def have IOT things on a VLAN or completely separate physical lan.
n
I did not buy enough washers.
DM is using that same weird picture of the royal grifters and their kids. I’m tellin’ ya, something strange is going on with that pic.
n
My impression is Lutron is “good stuff”. I don’t have any of their stuff. I’m just going off the fact they charge more for a light switch than Leviton.
I’ve had good luck with Leviton. When the Decora rocker switches became affordable way way back in the days of Diane von Furstenburg pushing “dusty rose” colored bath towels, I bought a bunch of switches and wall plates.
Still have a couple of dusty rose towels. From Sears. Still like the color.
Swapped out all of the switches in the duplex we were renting. The duplex sold just before the lease ended and the new owner flat out said “you are not getting your deposit back because you have a cat”. Dude was really hostile. Uh, she only slept and ate in the house. No litter box.
So we had a king-size mattress upstairs. Moving it out, well, we had a big oops and smashed in the sheet rock at the bottom of the stairs. That was repaired.
But we are not getting our deposit back even though the place is “move in ready” spotless. Because you saw a cat in the backyard. Ok dude. I can play this passive aggressive game with you.
The windows were self locking. On our way out, I pushed in the still damp sheet rock repair. Locked the doors. Knob and Deadbolt both. Left the keys on the kitchen counter. Climbed out a window. Called the guy and he wanted me to deliver the keys. Nah man, they’re on the kitchen counter. “But I don’t have a spare set!” Hey, you saw a cat on the patio and declared we are not getting any of our deposit back? Have a nice day!
He called a couple of weeks later and wanted to know why the light switches were not Decora. Like he saw when he bought the duplex. I guess it took a while for the lock smith to unlock the doors.
I moved the switches to the next house. And abut 8 years later to this house. I’ve had three failures in forty years. One single pole switch broke. Mechanical plastic break. And two Leviton touch dimmers. One by lightning. One by my brother, for some reason cleaning the chandelier in the dining room with the lights on and he zapped the dimmer.
Next up. Lightolier vs Halo track lights. Grin.
Ok, you got me. I actually went to the DM website and looked for the pic.
The vibe from the article I’m getting is that they really, really want something bad to happen to those kids in or around the school, so they can up their victimhood game.
Why else would you show pictures of the kids, name the school, and point out that they don’t have sufficient security?
Of course, I started out biased against both of the adults in that picture.
Calls Grow For Trump To Appoint Director To Ensure ‘Accurate’ 2030 Census
https://thefederalist.com/2026/09/04/calls-grow-for-trump-to-appoint-director-to-ensure-accurate-2030-census/
I don’t want to be director. I want to be the Census Czar.
Times a wastin’. Put me in place now. There is a lot of rot to uncover and bad practices to correct–the 2022 post-mortem on the 2020 census is proof of a conspiracy to manipulate the number to a statistical certainty.
With respect to the 2020 sentence I demand:
Immediate and full access to all records on the 2020 census, including management communication on government and private devices..
A forensic analysis of how errors were introduced and what system safeguards were lacking or compromised to allow post-enumerator manipulation. (In other words, it’s certain that the people in the field were not making asymmetrical errors favoring blue states.)
Identification and prosecution of all supervisory and management personnel who failed to maintain the data integrity of the census.
Identification and prosecution of all persons and organizations who participated in compromising the census.
With respect to the 2030 sentence I demand immediate passage of a the following laws:
Add tampering with the census for partisan purposes to the list of crimes of treason against the United States and make the death penalty applicable.
Make the question of citizenship a permanent requirement of every census.
Require that all census employees be citizens of the United States.
Establish a separate body to test the integrity of any electronic system used to collect or tabulate census information with a qualification deadline 12 months in advance of use, and failure to qualify activating the fallback use of paper forms. (2010 was done at the last minute on paper when the electronic devices were not ready. 2020 was done electronically. 2010 had historically typical error rates while 2020 had record high error rates that took years to confirm despite the assurances that it would be historically low.)
Establish a separate body to provide security and audit the census process in real time, with the authority to fire underperforming or dishonest employees, freeze the process and make arrests based on statistical analysis. They will also have the responsibility for post-census follow-up audits.
staged:
https://townhall.com/news/scott-mcclallen/2026/09/06/ohio-democrat-candidate-amy-acton-attacked-at-campaign-event-n2682578
Nice tiny little fire. Lots of bugs out tonight. Sky cleared a bit after 11pm and there were some stars and the hint of a Milky Way. Very quiet tonight.
Time for shower and bed.
n