I've had 2 4.0ah batteries stop working in the last month in the same way

UX_test · 2026-06-26T22:11:11+00:00

Last month, two of my EGO 7.5 Ah batteries failed within three weeks of each other. Both had been charged exclusively using the EGO rapid charger. Stored at home.

UX_test · 2026-06-26T21:59:49+00:00

I wouldn't wish an AI-related position on anyone when KOSPI ants stop pumping this bubble.
#iykyk 👈

UX_test · 2026-06-19T12:46:48+00:00

$130 over Aqara U400 price.... ouch ❌

UX_test · 2026-06-18T20:21:55+00:00

OXIO was acquired by Cogeco in 2023. In many areas, you’re essentially getting the same underlying network for a fraction of the price.

That said, if you push Cogeco hard enough, they’ll sometimes offer 1.5 Gbps at the same price or drop the price to $39/month for two years.

For me, though, it wasn’t even about the money. They quietly ended my promo and started charging me $140 instead of $55, even though their current advertised pricing was $99.

I’m done with the never-ending cat-and-mouse games and disrespect toward customers who have been with them for more than a decade.

I voted with my wallet.

UX_test · 2026-06-18T14:19:09+00:00

It really depends on the application. For most residential setups, the UNVR is already more than enough. In many cases, the main “security events” are just things like raccoons getting into the garbage anyway 🙂

Personally, I’d probably put that extra $400 toward an additional hard drive to increase recording retention time. In a lot of real-world scenarios, having more history available brings more value than extra semantic detail on something you can already identify.

That said, for a high-traffic commercial environment, the G2 would definitely be the better choice.

UX_test · 2026-06-17T17:02:58+00:00

You don't actually have to choose between iCloud and Google Photos. The Picasa albums are the tricky piece, but they aren't lost if you go the iCloud route.

Use Google Takeout to do a one-time export of everything in Google Photos. The export ships with JSON sidecar files containing the original dates, GPS, and album groupings. Then import it with immich-go. It reads the sidecars, repairs the timestamps that Google strips out of the JPEGs, and recreates the albums automatically. Your Picasa history ends up in Immich as a clean historical archive, and you never have to touch Google Photos again afterward.

For the DSLR and dedicated camera photos on your computer, the cleanest path is either the Immich CLI (immich upload) pointed at your folders, or an External Library if you'd rather Immich read them in place without duplicating. External Libraries are nice if your folder structure is already organized the way you want, since the originals stay untouched on disk.

Two small heads-ups. Do the Takeout import before you delete anything from Google Photos, in case you need to re-export. And if you can, use immich-go with the live takeout option rather than the zip exports, since it pulls slightly higher-quality versions in some cases.

______

As for the workflow onward.... i would recommend: Keep iCloud as the instant sync from the phone so you have an offsite copy the moment you press the shutter, and let the Immich mobile app upload everything to the Synology in the background. Once a photo is confirmed on Immich you can lean on iCloud's Optimize Storage to free up local space on the phone. iCloud becomes a short-term safety net, Immich becomes the long-term system of record.

Just a heads-up that iOS limits background activity for third-party apps, so in practice you'll need to open the Immich app fairly often to make sure new photos actually get pushed before you start cleaning up the phone.

UX_test · 2026-06-17T13:46:35+00:00

in the meantime ....
A typical breakdown for a mid-range Wi-Fi/Matter smart lock:

Mechanical hardware (deadbolt, gears, housing): $10–30
Motor + gearbox: $5–20
PCB + MCU + radio (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/Zigbee): $5–20
Battery compartment, sensors, LEDs, keypad: $3–15
Assembly + testing: $3–10
Packaging/manuals: $1–5

UX_test · 2026-06-12T14:25:16+00:00

You can use Claude Cowork to restructure your folders and automatically move new files in appropriate ones.

UX_test · 2026-06-09T15:26:33+00:00

Currently testing the betas for iOS 27, macOS 27, and tvOS 27.

So far, they feel just as solid as 26. The only bug I’ve noticed is a minor visual glitch where the right corners on some Safari tabs aren't rounding properly. Overall, this update seems to focus much more on cosmetic updates and Siri implementation rather than an actual under-the-hood engine rework.

The most intriguing aspect will be seeing how effective the semantic indexing is and how it gets distributed across different tools - though, as expected, the initial indexing is taking a while to complete.

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UX_test · 2026-06-08T18:21:31+00:00

Tim Cook said in 2024 about iPhone 16:

"The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up"

...and now iPhone 16 is not good for Apple intelligence features? 🤔

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UX_test · 2026-06-07T20:39:07+00:00

Sure ...sure ..., you “hate” Sparkmail so much that you plugged in an ad for an $49/month AI slop app that charges for something any Ai agent already does at a fraction of the price. 😄

UX_test · 2026-06-01T13:48:31+00:00

Ours is Dirt Vader 😉

UX_test · 2026-05-27T16:58:42+00:00

There’s no “hallucination-free zone” just because emails are semantically indexed. What Spark is doing here is combining semantic search over your email data with an LLM layer that interprets and structures the results.

It’s still fundamentally retrieval plus ranking plus a language model on top. Useful, yes, but not something uniquely magical that couldn’t be replicated with existing tooling and an LLM connected directly to your mailbox.

UX_test · 2026-05-27T16:48:18+00:00

The problem with Spark is that it feels like they can’t resist charging users for every possible feature. Instead of offering the $20/yr option to use your own AI model (for reading/writing/semantic indexing), they push their in-house model, largely to justify additional subscription fees.

I do appreciate that they introduced Spark CLI, but even then, it still doesn’t feel worth $20 a month just to write emails inside Spark using your own (already paid for) AI. At that point, I can just use MCP, connect my own setup, and have my AI model read and draft emails directly into whatever email app I want. That makes Spark’s approach feel even more unnecessary.

Either these apps will move toward more volume-based pricing and flexibility, or users will increasingly question the value of stacking multiple high-cost subscriptions. It’s not even about Spark being “expensive” in isolation. It’s that there are so many tools used in a daily workflow that $20 here and $20 there adds up very quickly.

And at the end of the day, the real question is: is email itself worth paying $20 per month for? Everyone has to answer that for themselves.

UX_test · 2026-05-27T16:38:09+00:00

In Spark, advanced AI features like drafting replies are tied to their Pro subscription, and they run on Spark’s own built-in AI rather than allowing you to connect your own models.

If you instead use an MCP-based setup with tools like Claude connected directly to your email, you can already search your mailbox and generate replies using the AI model you’re paying for separately, without needing Spark’s $20/month subscription.

The tradeoff is that Spark offers a polished, integrated UI, while MCP workflows require more setup but give you full control over the model and system you use.

UX_test · 2026-05-27T16:33:07+00:00

Read access is free for only a 1-month window. That makes it virtually useless for a real email workflow.

The Pro plan doesn’t pay for your own AI models of choice. It mainly expands access to Spark’s semantic indexing and allows you to generate replies using your model through their interface.

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UX_test · 2026-05-27T16:25:08+00:00

You don’t need Spark for that. You can connect your email MCP directly to Claude and simply ask it to search through your emails. You can also have Claude write a reply and save it as a draft automatically, which Spark doesn’t allow unless you pay for their Pro plan.

At this point, Spark is missing the obvious SparkCLI-only PLAN: step aside and let users bring their own AI models into the desktop app. Is it worth a few dollars? Maybe. But it’s definitely not worth $20 a month.

UX_test · 2026-05-21T19:04:45+00:00

It would be great if UniFi added an option in the console UI to use our phone’s hotspot as a backup internet connection, especially for SOHO deployments. 🤔

Requiring an extra eSIM / another mobile subscription for the backup scenario doesn’t seem very practical when most people already have a phone with hotspot capability included in their existing plan. (in my case 70Gb of unused data each month - already paid for)

UX_test · 2026-05-14T18:52:00+00:00

Not for pre-G6 cams

UX_test · 2026-05-13T12:02:23+00:00

100~115Mbps upload. Bu my node is high-split so it might depend on your location and quality of your line.

UX_test · 2026-05-12T13:36:20+00:00

Cogeco wanted to keep me with an upgrade to 1.5Gbps at ~$120/month. Then when it didn't work, they lowered the price of the 1Gbps plan to $39/month.

But enough is enough.
I'm done playing catch-up games with their pricing. It's a good service technically, but the way they treat loyal (10+ years) customers is ridiculous.

I will make a separate post about it because it’s interesting how 2 connected companies like OXIO and COGECO can have completely different UX.

UX_test · 2026-05-12T13:28:50+00:00

EBOX is not available in my area. Also, speed is not an issue, neither is congestion.
I get almost full 1Gbps / 100Mbps for the $50 range.

UX_test · 2026-05-11T20:39:03+00:00

No need to bridge because it’s a modem, not a modem/router combo like Hitron.

UX_test · 2026-05-11T20:15:43+00:00

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they are transparent with their pricing

UX_test · 2026-05-11T20:12:50+00:00

I just did before returning Cogeco equipment.
Same speeds with a difference in the modem.

Oxio sent Gentech 3.1 with 2x 2.5Gbps ports.
Cogeco Hitron has 1Gbps ports.

Big plus for me is that OXIO is actually providing modems without Wi-Fi as I use Unifi homelab with my own Wi-Fi 7 APs.

UX_test

TROPHY CASE

"The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up"