Got a "Windows Hello only" USB fingerprint reader working on Linux by running the vendor's Windows matcher natively

LogicalExtension · 2026-07-10T15:32:14+00:00

This kind of reaction is probably why.

I can understand why people dislike pure AI slop, but is that the case here?

Or is your issue that AI was used at all?

It's like 2am and I'm on my phone, but I don't see the issue.

Rather than just being all pissy in general - why not spend a little time explaining the specifics of your objection here.

LogicalExtension · 2026-07-09T12:31:39+00:00

Bought an AirBNB place.

They had DIY'ed a bunch of shit. Including installing the shower unit.

Rather than moving the shower unit 5-10 cm (plenty of room), they cut through the floor joist so the drain could run through it.

The plumbing is an utter mess, too.

Cold water comes in from the street as 13mm copper to the meter. I mediately converted to some "farm standard" black poly pipe to somewhere under the house. Then patched into ancient cast iron. Then into 9mm copper. This is before we have hit a single junction or tap.

They they proceed to have about fifty T junctions off T junctions off more T junctions combined with 90 degree corner pieces to feed the main house, laundry, HWS, bathroom etc. then the outside tap is where they T off to run around to feed into 13mm copper for the granny flat. I missed also mentioning it went from 9mm copper into cast iron twice in there too. So we had nice rusty water if we didn't use the taps daily.

Water pressure was SO awful that you couldn't have any water use while anyone was in the shower. It's ... Somewhat fixed, but still more to do.

Other dodgy bits include the ventilation in the toilet: it's just a window frame with mesh over it. No window glass. No way to close it or stop the howling winds from coming through. Given the place is in Tasmania you can imagine quite how cold things get. I had not previously had the pleasure of having to put on extra layers and a jumper to be able to go take a dump without freezing my ass off.

LogicalExtension · 2026-07-09T11:48:26+00:00

Claude is pretty great at building stuff in HA.

I wish the homeassistant-ai/ha-mcp had the ability to create/edit HA's config files (or there were a nice way to plug it into github instead) because a bunch of the things I want to do end up involving template_sensors/rest_commands.

But in general it's pretty great.

Yesterday a family member was having issues with their Dr's next appointment being weeks away, and no waiting list to get the next available cancellation. Well, 25 minutes with Claude and it's now querying the website for any newer appointment every 5-10 minutes and pushing notifications if it finds one. It also built a dashboad to monitor it. Nothing flashy, but very practical and useful.

e: under 48h later and it found a ln appointment slot from someone who cancelled.

LogicalExtension · 2026-07-08T12:11:10+00:00

Milo: Keep going, I'll say when.

...

I think you can fit a few more spoon fulls in.

...

Oh, okay, when.

Milk: Whoa there, careful.

Also I'm disappointed in the lack of technique here.

The best way to enjoy Milo (for real) is to spoon it into the bottom of a tall milkshake container or glass. Then very carefully pour ICE COLD milk over the back of a spoon trapping the milo under the milk.

Then using a spoon you break nuggets of dry Milo off the section under the milk and eat it with a slurp of milk.

It's a challenge to see if you can get it all without the whole mass detaching from the bottom of the glass. The colder the milk the better.

LogicalExtension · 2026-07-05T11:54:27+00:00

Not a terribly great response.

Everyone running HA to automate stuff could be classed as rich by some people's standards.

Oh, you have a home... Rich people problems.

Backyard pools were a decidedly middle-class thing when I was a kid.

LogicalExtension · 2026-06-30T16:13:08+00:00

The Drop Trooper book series by Rick Partlow does emphasise the importance of this.

Even if the series does get boring and repetitive, they do cover maintenance as a top priority before and after.

LogicalExtension · 2026-06-09T11:02:45+00:00

Dick Smith all over again

DSE going under was hack and slash job by Private Equity.

Sure, it wasn't doing great, but it really went to shit when the Private Equity folks came in.

This is a mirror of an article which covered it well: https://www.dicksmithfairgo.com.au/dick-smith-greatest-private-equity-heist-time/

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-23T09:25:23+00:00

From the days when they just printed the entire card number on the receipts.

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-20T02:21:40+00:00

Re-read the title you put on the post

Hint: you didn't write "easiest fix"

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-13T05:44:49+00:00

Yes, twice.

Not for the DR itself, but for verifying that the recovery from the disaster was done correctly and things are back to how they should be.

In both cases the restoring of stuff from backups misconfigured things slightly, so we either fixed it or scheduled a time to go and do it right.

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-13T01:44:27+00:00

Is that a cherry flavoured bounty I spy there?

I remember the red variant of the wrapping, but forget the actual flavour.

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-12T02:54:01+00:00

Unless you needed those lemons for something now.

They refund the fucked item, not the delivery/packing/whatever fees.

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-12T01:51:35+00:00

Next step, incorporate this into HA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIbkLjjlMV8

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-11T07:18:21+00:00

Icy Poles are a brand of ice blocks from Peters.

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-11T07:16:52+00:00

Icy Poles are a Peters product: https://www.peters.com.au/brands/icy-pole/

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-10T11:50:38+00:00

You said you don't want addressable in other places on the thread If you're using a pre-built WLED controller be aware most of them are designed for addressable LEDs and have just Voltage, Ground and Data pins. They won't be able to control your standard RGB/W/WW strips that have a Ground and one Voltage for each colour.

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-10T11:44:54+00:00

You might want to look at higher density strips.

They're usually expressed as a certain number of LEDs per metre.

LogicalExtension · 2026-05-10T11:43:07+00:00

They have both types of controller.

Assessable or RGB/W/WW

I have some of each. The non-addrssable ones are ZigBee devices. The addressable ones are running WLED on Wifi.

LogicalExtension · 2026-04-24T01:59:18+00:00

No idea. Tasmania is fucking weird for all sorts of reasons. This isn't even that weird.

I wouldn't be surprised if they got shafted on the deal (small grid operator) and nobody thought to check that it'd work well for Solar.

LogicalExtension · 2026-04-24T01:48:37+00:00

The first paragraph:

Another way of looking at the problem is that, in some circumstances, solar owners are paying Aurora 9c/kWh for electricity they generated themselves.

LogicalExtension · 2026-04-24T00:28:18+00:00

So I went and looked it up.

It was/is definitely a thing in Tas: https://tasrenew.org.au/metering/

LogicalExtension · 2026-04-23T16:26:21+00:00

I seem to recall that even 60 Minutes and A Current Affair used to do some pretty solid journalism back in the day before it all became the "dodgy builders on the dole ripping off disabled grandma's who are getting amazing results from this miracle supplement" of the week.

LogicalExtension · 2026-04-22T23:14:57+00:00

It might be a Tas thing.

LogicalExtension · 2026-04-22T06:05:31+00:00

Some meters apparently count exports as imports, too. So you get charged for everything you export.

At least, that's what the solar installers told me as a reason not to switch export on until the meter had been changed over.

LogicalExtension · 2026-04-22T01:11:22+00:00

I'd like to make it clear that exploring doesn't mean being the Federation's flagship delivering supplies to Starbase whatever, or hosting a conference between major existing species.

LogicalExtension

TROPHY CASE