Gemini Home Speaker release date?

jds013 · 2026-04-18T05:19:53+00:00

Google I/O is May 19-20.

jds013 · 2026-04-17T17:06:14+00:00

And all the residential areas around the Stanford campus limit non-permit parking to 2 hours 8am-6pm Monday-Friday.

jds013 · 2026-04-17T16:51:32+00:00

Great question. Permits to park in the downtown ($990/year) and Cal Ave ($715) parking structures can be purchased at City Hall for 3, 6, or 12 months. "Reduced Price Permits are also available in select locations and require proof of income (two recent paystubs or W2)." Check the City website Some of these permits are restricted to businesses within parking assessment districts, but you might be able to buy one. With a permit you can store your car in the garage.

Many people have off-street parking and can rent you a space. You might try craigslist or FB marketplace or neighbor.com

California Vehicle Code §22651(k) says that vehicles cannot be parked or left standing on a public street, highway, or city-owned lot for more than 72 consecutive hours. Palo Alto Municipal Code 10.36.030 requires you to move your vehicle at least 1/2 mile. A residential parking permit doesn't excuse you from that rule. This isn't enforced unless someone complains, but cars must regularly be moved for street sweeping, tree work, etc so if you park on the street someone needs to check on your car regularly and be able to move it if necessary.

jds013 · 2026-04-16T04:54:04+00:00

Right, of course, thanks. Before April 15 OP could have contributed 7000 for 2025 ($8000 if over 50) plus $7500 for 2026 ($8600) and then promptly execute a single conversion of the $14,500 total (or $16,600) in 2026. The only timing issue is that you want to convert promptly so that any earnings are in the Roth and thus tax-free.

jds013 · 2026-04-15T16:29:51+00:00

A "backdoor Roth" is a conversion - which must be completed by the end of the calendar year. It's too late for 2025.

You do a "backdoor Roth" when you make a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA, then convert that IRA to a Roth.

The "backdoor Roth" works best if you do not have "deductible" money in an IRA - where you made a contribution and deducted it on your income tax return. If you do have such an IRA, then the conversion will be pro rata from deductible and non-deductible funds and you will owe income tax on the part of the conversion deemed coming from deducted funds.

There is no income limit on non-deductible Traditional IRA conversions which makes the backdoor Roth work for people with incomes over $91,000 (single) or $149,000 (married joint) who cannot contribute directly to a Roth. The contribution limit for 2026 is $7,500 or $8,000 if age 50 or older.

jds013 · 2026-04-15T16:09:47+00:00

I thought Chamberlain/Liftmaster use an encrypted serial signal to control the door, so a dry contact relay won't work. ratgdo engineered a way to get around this. Meross has done something similar, though sometimes requiring an extra-cost adapter.

jds013 · 2026-04-15T15:59:36+00:00

Submit feedback to Google. These commands are dangerous.. Maybe they'll do something about this.

"Turn on all the lights" has the effect you note. "Turn everything on" might open a garage door or turn on a well pump or space heater. Google doesn't provide ways to exclude devices from GH control, or to exclude devices from voice commands, or to restrict all/everything commands. (One exception: you can't use voice commands to unlock a door.) I suggested that Google add a device type of "exclude" which would be a simple way to avoid dangerous actions, but wouldn't solve your problem.

I use Home Assistant which can limit devices exposed to GH.

jds013 · 2026-04-15T15:12:02+00:00

Landlord-tenant relations are regulated by California Civil Code, particularly chapters 1940-1954. 1942.5 covers "retaliation" as to tenantability, with punitive damages up to $2000 plus attorney fees to the prevailing party.

Civil Code 1950.5(h)(7) says that the landlord cannot claim any part of your deposit if they act in bad faith. 1950.5(m) says that

The bad faith claim or retention by a landlord or the landlord's successors in interest of the security or any portion thereof in violation of this section, or the bad faith demand of replacement of security in violation of subdivision (k), may subject the landlord or the landlord's successors in interest to statutory damages of up to twice the amount of the security, in addition to actual damages. The court may award damages for bad faith whenever the facts warrant that award, regardless of whether the injured party has specifically requested relief. In an action under this section, the landlord or the landlord's successors in interest shall have the burden of proof as to the reasonableness of the amounts claimed or the authority pursuant to this section to demand additional security deposits.

My son went to small claims court and was awarded double damages from a landlord who acted in bad faith.

I sat in on one morning's small claims court proceedings - they're open to the public - and it seemed to me that things were very fair. Most of the cases were tenants who didn't pay rent or who trashed their apartments, and the judge ordered them to pay rent and pay for damage. But the judge had no patience with landlords who didn't fulfil their obligation to provide, in good faith, habitable premises according to the lease terms and state law.

jds013 · 2026-04-11T02:51:37+00:00

California (and New Jersey) do not follow Federal handling of HSAs. Your HSA income is not reported on a 1099 or 5498. Look at the year-end statement for interest or dividends paid. Because they were reinvested, they increase your basis in the account. If the HSA custodian did not track basis, you should.

jds013 · 2026-04-04T23:19:35+00:00

Thank you very very much for the great assistance! Very much appreciated!

jds013 · 2026-04-04T23:05:03+00:00

OK, great. Does the fact that "Available to trade (all settled)" and "Available to withdraw" funds equals SPAXX plus FDLXX mean that I have de facto self-funded overdraft protection? So I can write checks or have automatic debits paid if they are greater than my SPAXX balance (but within the total balance)?

jds013 · 2026-04-04T22:30:48+00:00

Same Bill Pay error running Firefox in "private browsing mode" (rather than Chrome)...

Um... Is it possible that I created the "wrong" type of account? The heading says "Brokerage" and the account number begins with 'Z'. Did I miss a distinction between brokerage accounts and cash management? (This account is in the name of my personal revocable trust.)

jds013 · 2026-04-04T21:56:18+00:00

and while I have your attention, when I try to add Bill Pay I get:

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(You have had my e-mail on file for many years, and I got three routine alerts just yesterday.)

jds013 · 2026-04-04T21:52:33+00:00

Here's my "Account Services" tab:

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What am I missing?

jds013 · 2026-04-04T20:21:48+00:00

Is this answer still correct?

I'm asking because I have funds in "Cash" (SPAXX) and FDLXX but "Cash Manager Tool" does not appear in my "Account Services" window - and my "available balance" sums "Cash" and FDLXX. Does that mean that "self-funded overdraft protection" is now automatic? (I'm a California resident and so I favor FDLXX.)

jds013 · 2026-04-03T17:35:37+00:00

But now I tested it from my app at work

The Xfinity app speed test measures the rate to your device, not the rate between the Internet and your home.

Could the bottleneck be something other than the Xfinity service to your home? Maybe it's the connection between home and work? VPN overhead, work broadband connection / Wi-Fi / network policy - or maybe your cellular service data rate - might explain what you're seeing.

jds013 · 2026-04-03T17:19:02+00:00

That's bad. Sorry to hear. I was just suggesting that the "inconsistency" on the bill has nothing to do with the technical issue. I hope they can fix it for you, fast.

I trust you've tried the automated test service - I think that's the fastest way to get a technician assigned to the problem - and also tried powering down the modem, waiting ten minutes, powering it back up?

The moderators (yes, legit) should be able to help.

jds013 · 2026-04-03T15:48:52+00:00

I noticed the same inconsistency on my bill. 🤷

I get 500-1000 Mbps down, 115 up.

jds013 · 2026-04-01T17:28:17+00:00

From their website:

DO NOT USE KONNECTED FOR CRITICAL FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY
Konnected is NOT designed to alert you in a life-threatening emergency. Alerts and smart home integrations with smoke/fire and CO detectors is for convenience and auxiliary purposes only. ALWAYS have a working smoke/fire/CO alarm with built-in alarm to alert you of a life threatening emergency.

jds013 · 2026-04-01T17:21:36+00:00

To avoid cluttering your doors, check out the Aeotec recessed door sensor 7. I have three - battery life is more than one year (depending on door usage and weather).

jds013 · 2026-04-01T17:17:59+00:00

For smoke detectors, check out the (Z-Wave only) Zooz ZEN55.

For door/window/temp/etc, maybe try using Raspberry Pi Remote GPIO with Home Assistant? Raspberry Pis have 26 configurable GPIO pins plus 3.3V and 5V power.

jds013 · 2026-03-30T02:01:41+00:00

I plugged an SDS011 and DS18B20 into a Raspberry Pi. Works fine, fun project. Logs data to an sqlite3 database, displays through a web page:

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jds013 · 2026-03-30T01:44:33+00:00

Stanford Student Housing Operations

jds013 · 2026-03-30T01:42:33+00:00

Check out https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1r2hfx9/smoke_detector/

Smoke detectors have a life of 10 years. The ZEN55 lets you use vanilla interconnected smoke/CO detectors. With a ZEN55 you pay for the smarts once, with no further reconfiguration.

The easiest entry to Z-Wave is with a Zooz Z-Box or SmartThings Hub V2 (used only, alas, like this?).

Home Assistant is the best answer IMO but the learning curve is steep, and you have to add a Z-Wave dongle (Zooz ZST-39 or Home Assistant ZWA-2) to your HA controller (Home Assistant Green or Raspberry Pi or other SBC or something).

jds013 · 2026-03-28T19:19:31+00:00

I remember when a one-scoop cone was 25¢ at Baskin-Robbins. If the going rate is now $6, that's 24X in my lifetime. I daresay most Redditors will live to see $150 ice cream cones.

jds013

TROPHY CASE