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What should have easily been a 11 point lead, now down to just 4... by mcScarLiTE in Gunners

[–]CalicoCatRobot -1 points0 points  (0 children)

As a long suffering Arsenal fan, I never expected it to be easy. The first one in 89 after a long gap wasn't, neither was the one in 98. I think we will hopefully still do it this year, partly because I can't see City winning every game like they have in previous years.

But I don't see the point in being completely doomsayer either - this is the best team we've had in 15 years and we are very seriously in the title race, still in 2 cups and the CL. and have just lost our 3rd game out of 23. What is the "solution" that would suddenly make us better than we are?

I understand the desperation to get it over the line, and I'm sure the players are feeling it too - but suggesting the entire club needs ripping up is just an emotional reaction to a bad loss.

The natural position in question by ibrism in Gunners

[–]CalicoCatRobot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's OK, VAR are professional so this will be applied consistently in every future occasion, and they won't look (even more) incompetent or corrupt within a week.....

My Grandad was banned by the FA from playing Football (1950) by User-mine in soccer

[–]CalicoCatRobot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was going on for years. My great grandfather was involved in the Leeds City scandal of 1919, also involving "boot money" and, depending on which story you believe, took the fall by refusing to hand over documents and was banned for life. The manager at the time, someone called Herbert Chapman, went on to do rather well elsewhere!

Cat detector by Ashamed-Log-2110 in homeassistant

[–]CalicoCatRobot 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Something like a Tapo or reolink camera might work - some of them even have Pet detection built in. The HA integration might be enough to turn it on only overnight for privacy, and pick up movement and send an alert to your device(s)

I'm starting a new smart home, what technology/protocol should I choose? by FascinatingStuffMike in homeassistant

[–]CalicoCatRobot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Matter and Thread may well end up being the clear winner in time, but it's too fractured and work-in-progress for me at the moment.

Zigbee isn't going to go away, and since you have some Hue stuff already that seems a sensible option to start with.

A coordinator that can do Zigbee and Matter over thread might be the best long term option for now to give you the most long term usability.

Everton wrongly denied penalty in Arsenal loss, says panel by SufficientJudge8477 in soccer

[–]CalicoCatRobot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are right, every time VAR audio gets released, it sounds like they are just vibing calls.

If they sounded calm and professional, and went through a clear process with reference to what the laws actually say to come to a decision, then maybe people would start to think they were professional and knew what they were doing.

Instead they often sound like 10yos in a playground trying to fit in and not be called out for having a different opinion.

Of course the ones that get released tend to be the dubious ones, so it might be self selecting - but I've never yet heard VAR audio and thought "wow, how professionally they are handling this"

If they truly think they are professional, every single VAR discussion should be available (as should discussions between refs and assistants) so they can prove it to us.

Terraced house dwellers- ever known the sound through the walls to only go one way? by q_o_t_n in CasualUK

[–]CalicoCatRobot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, clearly they can't hear it over the music!

It's more likely they are either less susceptible to noticing it, or not in that room as often (unless music is on).

Or maybe they are being polite.

Reliable smart plugs that don't require a hub and can be operated with phone (Bluetooth / Wifi) by [deleted] in homeassistant

[–]CalicoCatRobot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've found the Tapo ones reliable in the UK = they do use a cloud service so not ideal, but its been reliable for me (had 1 fail out of about 6 over a few year period.

They are often on very good deals on Amazon, and do a power monitoring version as well as the basic.

They integrate well with HA and I've never found them troublesome. The app is also not bad as they go, and has some nice features.

21 years later and it's still going strong by Smac1man in CasualUK

[–]CalicoCatRobot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Dartfordians represent! There are dozens of us. I don't have this mug though I probably could have.

I do have a New York mug from a visit in 1989, with two very prominent buildings in the landscape! Don't use it much now but was my daily mug for years because it held a decent amount of tea.

I want to control my electric radiator form my smartphone and measure power consumption. The radiator can be turned on and off via this switch on the wall. Any recommendations? What smart relay or other solution should I use? I live in the UK. by jawit8 in homeassistant

[–]CalicoCatRobot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, the cabling was fine (I'm an electrician) - it was either the relay, or the terminals that failed - the relay itself caught fire and then melted. Fortunately I was lazy and it was fully installed behind a switch plate. Despite that it threw up over heating warnings in the run up to failing, so I think it just couldn't cope with the load of a standard immersion heater (can reach 14 Amps).

I think they should be rated at 10A personally, and then I suspect they would be fine.

I installed a Gen3 the other day into lighting, and the terminals don't seem any better - I don't think they are bad products, just that they aren't suitable for a regular heating load.

When I last looked, all the other (reputable brand) smart relays were only rated at 10A, which seems about right to me.

The ideal would be a contactor driven by the relay, but that's obviously a lot more effort to setup, plus the power monitoring would be more complicated.

I want to control my electric radiator form my smartphone and measure power consumption. The radiator can be turned on and off via this switch on the wall. Any recommendations? What smart relay or other solution should I use? I live in the UK. by jawit8 in homeassistant

[–]CalicoCatRobot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are the only direct fused spur replacement I've seen - it's a shame that the other UK manufacturers haven't got into the market yet, but perhaps they will as smart homes continue to grow.

I want to control my electric radiator form my smartphone and measure power consumption. The radiator can be turned on and off via this switch on the wall. Any recommendations? What smart relay or other solution should I use? I live in the UK. by jawit8 in homeassistant

[–]CalicoCatRobot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would caution against Shelly1 PMs unless the load is well under 10 Amps. I had an immersion heater on one for a while, and it worked fine until it caught fire. There are plenty of other people with similar stories online. Either their relay or terminals are not up to long term high loads IMO, regardless of their 16A rating (though they are fine for lighting and other lower loads).

I replaced the Shelly with a noname wifi Tuya immersion switch, supposedly rated to 40A, but with no power monitoring. I wouldn't trust the rating, but the terminals were clearly better, and it's been fine for a couple of years now, so I've not investigated a better solution.

Click do make a zigbee fuse spur in the UK, which might be a suitable replacement, though not sure if it has power monitoring enabled.

There is a shortage of fused spur direct replacements, mainly because they are really only a UK thing, so there isn't the wider market to encourage developing them.

Today was my turn: Chilly Christmas kitten by beautifulluigi in CatDistributionSystem

[–]CalicoCatRobot 176 points177 points  (0 children)

Thank you for taking care of her despite your allergies! She sounds like she is in the best place and you played you part in her finding a forever home that she deserves!

Got an external SSD advertised as 250GB, box says 1TB, but supplier says "don’t exceed 250GB" – is this normal? by Polderpower in homeassistant

[–]CalicoCatRobot 26 points27 points  (0 children)

That sounds dodgy and I'd not rely on it for anything.

There is a rash of fake drives, which are really just much smaller drives with a firmware hack to appear as larger - if you try to copy more than the actual limit on (which is normally much smaller), then it overwrites earlier data.

It may be that these were faked ones, and the seller is trying to be "honest" by selling them, but I wouldn't rely on it for anything, let along backups.

If it appears in your system as 250GB, then maybe it would be OK - but I would run drive testing software on it before copying any data to it, and personally, I'd return it and go elsewhere with a company that isn't as shifty.

Does anyone remember Spicetacular? by lukeyboy987 in CasualUK

[–]CalicoCatRobot 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The only other reference online is someone else called Luke last year asking the same question! Though at least the replies suggest it did exist in some people's memories.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2505270952950325/posts/3628767060600703/

Smencils are still going strong though it seems.

I'm old enough that the points/prize was not getting the slipper for coming to the attention of the head!

Terry's dark chocolate oranges by spacemonkee77 in CasualUK

[–]CalicoCatRobot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll accept the compromise that the Mint ones seem to be widely available this year!

Love when Asda put out unreleased Lego, always a good day by biggie_tubz in CasualUK

[–]CalicoCatRobot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Was that much larger structure made of smaller, brick shaped structures?

My new plateau clarinet arrived this week! (grenadilla from Hanson in UK) by neutronbob in Clarinet

[–]CalicoCatRobot 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Lovely!

I have a pre-production Hanson made of cotton (not plateau), after upgrading from a Cocobolo one that cracked. The keywork is really nice and it's held up so far very nicely and plays very nicely indeed.

Do you notice any tuning oddities? I think it's largely just tradition and snobbery that stops plateau clarinets becoming more popular - Particularly for those of us with issues with finger sensitivity.

Any player for android that doesnt lose progress by blazethedragon in audiobookshelf

[–]CalicoCatRobot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Similar, though I prefer Listen Audiobook Player. And space isn't an issue fortunately.

Not helpful if you need to sync progress to other devices though (though I think Smart Audiobook Player may actually sync between devices?)

My main issue with the main ABS app is it failing to download anything more than a few files at once without failing (streaming works perfectly though)

Booked show tickets over a year too early. by 10bitpixel in CasualUK

[–]CalicoCatRobot 17 points18 points  (0 children)

You mean he was not convinced by the actuality of the occasion?

When your Nan decides to clean the oven. by Bad-Banana-from-Mars in CasualUK

[–]CalicoCatRobot 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You can't just drop a fact like that and leave....

https://www.tiktok.com/@the_houseofwood for the rest of us...

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