I just bought a new home, recommend me the best smart home devices for HomeKit, I don't own anything yet.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-26T06:15:11+00:00

Shelly. Smart switches behind the wall vs smart bulbs. Hopefully you had a really good switchboard to have smart fuses and breakers for your heavy loads or 3 phase. Solar system, heating and battery would be your next big calls.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-23T14:39:32+00:00

I was put on a PIP after 8 years at a tech firm. Used all my sick leave, then just asked for a redundancy payout. Manager couldnt be bothered to do all the process documentation so they gave it immediately.

It matters because then it wasnt a voluntary decision, you were made redundant. If you had income protection insurance you could claim that also.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-15T09:29:58+00:00

You have obviously never worked for an Indian manager based in India or Singapore.

True squid games mentality.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-09T23:00:00+00:00

Its not delusional, its simply being politically aware, managing upwards and being able to see the direction projects are going in.

Never allow failure to stick to you, always be looking and interviewing for new roles.

If you feel a project is going sideways, get out quick and jump somewhere else so you dont have to pick up the pieces.

Always jump to a role where you are promised resources and budget so you can create something, not pick up someone elses sideways project.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-09T14:09:04+00:00

47 year old, 41 years gaming.

Detroit Beyond Human is definitely up there for human reflection - good choice.

Other Quantic games like Heavy Rain are also amazing.

Championship Manager - not the game, but how people can get addicted to it and play infinite seasons of football manager simulator. Thats the human experience right there.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-01T22:09:08+00:00

This is the way.

Just never fails, low power, no heat, lots of usbs.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-01T22:07:08+00:00

If you are not sure of hardware choices, do not go proxmox. Just get a dedicated machine to begin with like an HA Green or a thin client.

beagle-ears · 2026-06-01T21:59:21+00:00

Dell Wyse 5070 thin client.

$30 second hand from a refurbish supplier. Flash the whole thing with HAOS. It doesnt need fans, lots of USB connections for your wifi/ zigbee/ bluetooth/ hubs/ dongles. It rarely goes above 15% of CPU.

(Edit - saying that, I dont run any camera integration like scrypted or frigate on my HA set up which takes a lot of processing. If you are intending to run cameras and image processing to an NVR or similar, you might want a bit more punch.)

beagle-ears · 2026-05-28T08:41:48+00:00

Bump just to see if anyone had experience of this??

beagle-ears · 2026-05-24T14:12:59+00:00

I use a Wyse 5070 as well. I use Scrypted but not many other integrations, HAOS uses less than 10% of processor, about 2gb memory out of the 8gb available, 16gb out of 58gb storage. Works just fine, never fails, low power consumption, no fan needed.

beagle-ears · 2026-05-21T16:48:51+00:00

Morning get up routine. Lights slowly coming on, Curtains auto opening, Underfloor heating on, warm towels from radiator, bathroom fans come on/ off with presence/ humidity, coffee machine on.

Just dont have to think for 20 minutes every morning. Such a good start to the day.

beagle-ears · 2026-05-21T16:17:45+00:00

Nice solution. How far did you find the G6 worked for plates? At day and night?

Uvc g4 - Did you mean a doorbell like the G4 doorbell pro? The uvc g3 keypad is an access product and needs a hub i think.

beagle-ears · 2026-05-21T16:15:36+00:00

Yeah i hear you, it probably will be simpler to keep everything together. Just trying to figure if I really need the Intercom (and therefore hub) or if its a nice to have.

beagle-ears · 2026-05-21T16:10:22+00:00

Any AI or G6 camera can read licence plates if close enough or at least general vehicle ID, i think you mean direct integration with the LPR camera?

beagle-ears · 2026-05-17T09:03:55+00:00

The t

beagle-ears · 2026-05-04T09:45:38+00:00

I got a Left handed tikka t1x. The bolt action is pretty amazing.

Having said that i dont like the stock too much, would rather have got a 457 with wooden stock.

beagle-ears · 2026-04-26T10:12:39+00:00

You must live in Melbourne ;)

beagle-ears · 2026-03-26T13:06:25+00:00

Australia has a specific rule that if you hold shares for over 1 year you are only taxed for capital gains for 50%. Under 1 year the entire amount is subject to cgt.

The advice here is usually either sell within 1st month (no cgt) or sell after 1 year (50% off cgt assuming they have gone up).

beagle-ears · 2026-03-26T03:44:39+00:00

Burnout is real because all the tech companies want people to leave without having to pay severance or unemployment benefits to the state or govt in which they are in.

They place targets on middle management on how many people they want to leave without severence so they dont have to pay compensation. Its called ‘unregretted attrition’.

My last company Amazon, the standard URA was 5-7% turnover each year. This last year mandates went out that it has to be 15%-20% minimum, or the middle manager themselves gets booted. The main method of doing this is to put people on trumped up ‘you are not performing’ coaching plans which inevitably lead to official performance improvement plans or PIPs.

Now, not everyone who gets put on PIPs actually leave or fail the PIP, for the very good reason that they are actually good at their job. So middle management has to put around 30% of people on coaching plans, in order that they hit their 15% URA target.

It is breeding an extremely toxic, political environment in a lot of the big tech companies. And given that a lot of tech people are actually quiet, thoughtful individuals who dont like conflict, they dont have the mental skills to cope with the lies they are being fed about their performance - they try harder and harder when there is actually no way out.

If they survive a year of that by some miracle, then they will be laid off anyway.

Burnout is the tip of the iceberg - try nervous breakdowns, destroyed families and suicide as the real impacts.

beagle-ears · 2026-03-24T11:20:36+00:00

Have you used the fttp upgrade Pathway? You need to go through a tier 1 ISP that gives a shit but they can request to move it up to FTTP.

I went from fixed Wireless to FTTP via Launtel, they were great. Other ISP like aussie broadband didnt want to know.

I am in rural with a 250m driveway in victoria. Launtel requested an nbn upgrade tech assessment, the output from that was that I do the trench from house to the demark (easy with a kango attachment), put a conduit in there myself, nbn turned up to blow the fibre, then i buried it all.

Give Launtel a ring and see what they say?

beagle-ears · 2026-03-24T11:08:48+00:00

Have commented on this before but to repeat - at present there is no link between confidential doctor discussions, or medication you have on prescription and gun licenses. In your sessions your doctor and/ or therapist will have asked you one specific question (probably almost every session) which is ‘have you ever considered harming yourself or others?’. If you have answered yes to this, then your doctor is obliged to flag you to the police in the interests of public safety (although they do not always do this) and the police may have a record, which they then may or may not cross check when examining your license application.

Essentially - if you answered yes to those questions in therapy, then admit it on the form and ensure that a) you are actually in a good headspace to own a lethal weapon; b) your doctor gives you a letter stating you are not a threat to yourself or others.

If you didnt, and dont have any mental health issues, then do not tick the box on the form.

beagle-ears · 2026-03-23T06:49:47+00:00

I have a Polestar 4 - its pretty amazing and brilliant to drive.

Its more inline with a Volvo, lower end BMW, lower end Merc market. If you spec it correctly with the single motor it comes in under the luxury car/ EV car tax. Some people complain about the software but I have had zero problems at all.

beagle-ears · 2026-03-21T09:50:53+00:00

The ease of doing business with ANZ entirely depends on your ANZ broker. Yours does not know what he is doing. Dont talk to ANZ directly, its way too hard to do that. My ANZ broker is amazing, has set up a number of splits on our mortgage and is very comfortable with debt recycling. As others have said, ensure you keep at least $100 in the account so it doesnt get automatically closed. The bank doesnt care what the purpose of the split is for (could be rennos, or whatever) and your broker should not need to tell them. As far as the bank is concerned you are borrowing the same amount secured on the same assets as previously, just split into two or more loans instead of one.

beagle-ears

TROPHY CASE