blog
(Almost Free) Voice Remote
The Amazon Echo Dot is a general purpose “personal assistant” that listens to your voice and can provide information on the weather, news, sports, and many other kinds of information with add-on apps called “skills”. A huge feature of the Dot (and all the Amazon Echo...
Is It Worth It?
As a smart home system designer & installer, I enjoy helping my clients solve problems by automating their homes and implementing new and useful devices and systems. My clients rely on my knowledge and advice and their positive feedback encourages me to continue...
Down to the Wire
Home Automation requires a solid home network foundation to work properly. There are a range of conflicting hardware technologies and software systems used by today’s smart home products. When reading product descriptions or specifications on retail boxes or websites,...
Turn your Amazon Echo into a DIY home intercom system
Update: "Never mind". As of this week (June 26, 2017) Amazon has pushed out software updates for all Amazon Echo products that allows direct room-to-room calling. Now by giving each of your Amazon Echo devices their own name (e.g. Office, Bedroom, Kitchen, etc.) you...
It’s Time to Pull the Plug on your Smart Home
Whether you are a do-it-yourself (DIY) enthusiast, or hire a professional to retrofit your home with the new crop of intelligent devices, it is worthwhile to have a basic understanding of how home control and home automation works. Follow my advice, and you’ll want to...
Fix Plex Movie Viewing Problems
Can't watch your Plex movies while away from home? Here's a quick fix! Are you enjoying the holidays away from home and getting frustrated trying to use Plex to watch a movie on your home server? There could be lots of reasons why that movie keeps buffering, stops for...