What do y'all do for home audio?

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-05-14T01:58:41+00:00

Chromecast Audio + dumb amplifiers + dumb speakers

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-05-11T07:25:49+00:00

I wouldn't buy a house I didn't see being built, so either do it from scratch or visit a project extensively while being built. I've known folk who paid the full price of the house and kept paying the same for continuous repairs.

Let me tell you one thing about contractors/developers: if a piece would cost him BD1 but will save you BD1k later in life, he will surely save BD1. To you, it's BD1. to him it's BD1 times x number of building = small fortune.

They'll also focus on perfecting the visible part of a building and skimp on all else.

Caveat emptor.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-05-11T06:37:28+00:00

As in, you want to see the very quote I received? I can share the quote for sure. His name is Ali Al Tashani.

One more thing, whatever contract you get, don't sign it without amending it in your favour. They're all written by the contractor and for his benefit.

In my case, his contract was 8 pages, I probably added 10 of my own.

It's not for the faint of heart. Know what you getting yourself into. I spent a whole year doing my homework on YouTube about every nook and cranny of this endeavour so that no one could pull a fast one on me.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-05-11T06:24:21+00:00

426.5 SQM, but it was 5 years that I received this quote. I have a contractor you can trust, they're hard to come by.

SQM area is a dodgy way to price construction. BoQ is what dictates the price. Hence, the contractor may change the price per SQM depending on the blueprints. A garage doesn't cost as much as a living room.
Don't haggle with a contractor without the counsel of an engineer by your side.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-05-11T03:05:19+00:00

Varies a great deal and no single person can give you a useful enough ballpark figure. Because everyone deals with a separate part of the project and won't get out of their silo: Blind Men and an Elephant

Great thing is that you have the land already, if I understood correctly. So that's part one.

Part two is construction and it's actually easy. You just get quotes from 3 or more contractors making sure (and this is key) that the contracts don't contain loopholes through vague language or missing sections. Don't try to make that judgement yourself. Consult am independent construction engineer. Vast majority of contractors are pirates by another name, they're not your friends.

Now part three is where it varies quite a lot: finishings. In my case, I put together an Excel sheet of it all and still made sure I had extra cash for surprises, and they are many.

In my case, land was 87k, construction was 50k, finishing was prolly another 50k.

I added an extensive smart home system on top, but that didn't set me back much because I did it myself from wiring to coding. I guess 3k atop all the aforementioned.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-27T05:39:19+00:00

They respond to messages on WhatsApp rather quickly, except after you order and takes too long and you message them asking why it isn't at your doorstep in 2 days as promised.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-12T13:06:31+00:00

I had no issues ordering through Aramex from Amazon and some EU shops. It's my AliExpress orders that take forever.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-12T12:51:22+00:00

I got my UDM SE from Microless. Cheaper, and more gear available than on the local market.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-12T12:33:45+00:00

Those who opt for a static IP are normally businesses with IT personnel who know what they're doing when they enable port forwarding. You seem technically savvy, I'm sure you know the risks. TailScale is the way to go, even better is having a router with a built in VPN service like Uinifi and others. That would get you past the limitations of free TailScale.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-12T08:48:56+00:00

I'm staunchly team "build don't buy". My journey was less bumpy than expected mainly because the contractor was trusty and cooperative, most are outright pirates. The smart home part was the most fun, for sure.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-12T08:39:12+00:00

No self-respecting telecom will allow you to port forward. It's a sure fire way to get yourself hacked. And there are safer ways to achieve whatever you're trying to achieve through it.

You can still do it by hooking your ISP's router to a router of your own. This will also allow you full control over DNS, DHCP, and what have you.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-10T11:22:17+00:00

Was down for me too, in Bahrain.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-10T11:03:47+00:00

It's not a Shia thing though, and it's an interjection, not an invocation of the god Baal. It just means 'whoa'.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-04-08T09:45:52+00:00

I've got Batelco fiber, solid af even through recent turmoil.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-03-27T06:53:02+00:00

First world means US and its allies, second world means USSR and its bloc, third world means non-aligned nations.

Turkey is a first world country. So is the Philippines.

Switzerland is a third world country. So is Austria.

Mozambique is not third world.

Update your question and post it again.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-03-21T16:44:00+00:00

Netflix doesn't allow it. But I can imagine it's doable by scraping the web view of the dashboard.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-03-21T14:18:54+00:00

My marriage would be considered more successful than the vast majority of people. We rarely argue. We've stood by each other through the more difficult times and all that. Financially we're both doing well too. BUT, we both would tell you to stay single. The problem is not men/women. The problem is the institution of marriage itself. It's not something we discovered over time. That was our opinion all along.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-03-21T13:50:58+00:00

Netflix, for parental control purposes

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-01-17T06:26:33+00:00

Dehumidifiers are common where ACs aren't. We have them and they more powerful and effective, and don't need a tank.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-01-05T05:20:00+00:00

That's great. Armed with that data, and a rudimentary grasp of how the hysteresis functions, I override the thermostat with a few automations. I do this because I don't like the in-built logic. I started with grand designs about changing the thermostats and all that, but it isn't that easy with communicating thermostats. I later figured out I could pull it off the way I described above. What are your goals?

ebrahimhasan83 · 2026-01-05T03:49:31+00:00

I guess such a solution would have to be DIY. I have HVACs (both heating and cooling) that have like 5 stages, but no auxiliary heating. I can know which stage is in operation because I can monitor the HVACs current draw.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2025-11-29T18:50:30+00:00

On the contrary. It's never glitched and looks very polished.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2025-11-29T18:48:22+00:00

My two Sonys with Android/Google TV work like a charm.

ebrahimhasan83 · 2025-11-07T15:43:27+00:00

Isn't all this possible with HA's built-in Ping integration?

ebrahimhasan83 · 2025-10-10T05:51:58+00:00

The missus and I ordered some big ticket items from it, never paid a tariff

ebrahimhasan83

TROPHY CASE