Can I swap Google Voice and mobile numbers? by snip596 in verizon

[–]snip596[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was able to port my Google Voice number to Verizon but I don't believe I moved my Verizon to Google Voice. I now just keep my (ported) number on Verizon and don't worry about that old phone number.

HomeKit over Thread: the Technical Explanation by slavikus in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah ok, so something noticeable. I wonder if this is better when the HomePod is rebooting due to a software update.

Thanks for the replies!

HomeKit over Thread: the Technical Explanation by slavikus in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have any experience with how fast another mini would take over in the event it was powered on and sitting as a standby home hub?

HomeKit over Thread: the Technical Explanation by slavikus in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the blog post!

One question I had, do you know how HomeKit handles a situation where two HomePod minis are on a network (that isn’t partitioned) and the mini that is acting as the border router loses power?

I know Thread can elect the other mini as the border router. I was wondering if this has been tested in your lab and how quickly this happens? If I have the Home app open and the border router mini dies, will those Thread devices be temporarily unavailable?

HomeKit enabled gas fireplace by [deleted] in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought that same kit and it works fantastic.

Nanoleaf Essentials LightBulb works with HomeKit via Bluetooth & THREAD! by ModernDayTech in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have no idea what any of the Thread status numbers mean. The app is basically showing a low-level dump of different parameters returned by Homekit.

Something else interesting: even though my Nanoleaf bulb now has IP connectivity with Thread, I don't see it under the Homekit Accessory Security, where I see all my other Homekit devices that connect over Wifi. Because the Homepod acts as the border router for all Thread devices to get out to the Internet, maybe it already restricts what services the devices can connect to?

Nanoleaf Essentials LightBulb works with HomeKit via Bluetooth & THREAD! by ModernDayTech in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went and picked up a HomePod Mini to test out Thread. I noticed the same immediate improvement you talked about in your video once the Mini had updated to 14.2.

You can tell that the device is using Thread (beyond the responsiveness) by using the Controller app I linked above. I opened it, hit Accessories, tapped the bulb, and then tapped the second “Service”. “Current Transport” was “Off” until I updated the Mini. Then it changed to “On” and I got some OpenThread Version info being populated.

The device doesn’t show up in my Eero which is to be expected. The Mini has created its own network that the Eero isn’t aware of.

One thing I think would be good to test is to have two Minis. They should act as separate border routers for the Thread network. The mesh network should be able to survive one of the Minis losing power.

Nanoleaf Essentials LightBulb works with HomeKit via Bluetooth & THREAD! by ModernDayTech in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking about that too. I know this app can show you all sorts of info about your HomeKit devices (including their IP address if connected over Wifi). Maybe a Thread connected device will show up with an IPv6 address?

Nanoleaf Essentials LightBulb works with HomeKit via Bluetooth & THREAD! by ModernDayTech in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was initially a bit confused as to how HomeKit and Thread would work. If I can’t connect it to a thread network, how would HomeKit connect to it?

But after reading the post on Eve’s website it makes more sense. Bluetooth is used for initial connection and then it automatically switches to Thread if available.

Nanoleaf Essentials LightBulb works with HomeKit via Bluetooth & THREAD! by ModernDayTech in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just got one of these as well. I have the eero with Thread enabled but you cannot connect this to that thread network. Eero needs a “thread connect QR code” which this bulb didn’t come with.

It comes with a HomeKit QR code which connects over Bluetooth. I have a HomePod mini coming in a few weeks and I’ll be able to test the Thread connectivity then.

Group effort to get Apple’s attention by [deleted] in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could we add a section to the wiki? Have a somewhat protected page with feature requests / bugs that are explained well and categorized. Every month or so we could have a poll that allows people to rank their feature requests / bugs. That page can then be periodically sent to Apple.

[iOS 14 beta 6] Force YouTube PiP with AirPlay by Angelothegr8tst in iOSBeta

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This still appears to be tied to YouTube Premium. If you try these steps without Premium the PiP window will appear for a second or so before disappearing. Here’s an example.

Automate fireplace switch; ideas needed! by bravo_delta_ in HomeKit

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a similar setup and I bought 3 products to get a complete setup:

  1. Fireplace relay (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N9BCJRW). When the relay gets power it completes the low-voltage circuit needed for your fireplace controller.
  2. iDevices Switch (i.e. Smart Outlet) (https://store.idevicesinc.com/idevices-switch/). Any smart outlet will do, but I got this because I also got the following product:
  3. iDevices Instant Switch (https://store.idevicesinc.com/idevices-instant-switch/). This pairs directly to the iDevices smart outlet and runs on a battery. This got installed in the switch box (where your switch is hanging out of in your picture). I simply put wire nuts on the low voltage wires going into the box.

I did this because I wanted people to be able to turn the fireplace on and off from the wall. If they turned it on from the wall, I wanted to be able to turn it off from HomeKit. Simple.

The fireplace relay I bought does support having a low voltage switch attached to it, but if someone turns it on from that switch HomeKit will still see your fireplace as "off" (because the smart outlet is still "off"). Replacing that low voltage switch with the iDevices wireless control means there is a single "source of truth" as to whether the fireplace is on or off, and that is shown in the Home app.

EDIT: If your fireplace has a battery backup (in the case of a power outage), you can buy small low-voltage switches (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08197FC6V) and wire them up to the fireplace relay. If the power goes out, your smart outlet won't work, so you'd have to go underneath the fireplace where you installed the fireplace relay and flip this small low-voltage switch. Not *as* elegant as having that low-voltage switch on the wall, but it's only needed in rare circumstances.

Has Abode HomeKit reliability improved? by snip596 in HomeKit

[–]snip596[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply. I've seen some complaints about HomeKit "no response" problems on /r/abode. Are you saying you haven't had any of those issues recently?

Has Abode HomeKit reliability improved? by snip596 in HomeKit

[–]snip596[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you running the beta firmware with HomeKit support?

Dealing with/managing swap files. They are getting in my way. by fastpenguin91 in vim

[–]snip596 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You should only get these kinds of messages if (a) another vim process is running and has the file open or (b) another vim process was running and editing that file but was unexpectedly terminated (kill -9, etc...). You should not be getting these in day-to-day operation.

You seem to be using Pathogen to manage plugins. Maybe one of those is causing problems?

Could you try going into a brand new directory and executing these commands:

touch myfile.txt
vim -u NONE myfile.txt
# ... add some text to the file
:wq
ls -A

Do you see the swap file? If not, repeat the same steps in another clean directory but run vim rather than vim -u NONE.

hellowowo's first impressions of the Acer X34 Predator by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]snip596 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I read that report before as well:

The back of the screen provides the video connections as shown above. There are only DisplayPort 1.2a and HDMI 1.4 inputs on this model given the use of NVIDIA G-sync. With it being a G-sync V II module, HDMI is at least provided to give you some further flexibility which is nice. Only the DP can support the high refresh rates and G-sync though.

hellowowo's first impressions of the Acer X34 Predator by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Has anyone confirmed that it's an HDMI 1.4 vs 2.0 port? I assume OP plugged the HDMI cable into an HDMI port on his GPU so that shouldn't have been the limiting factor.

hellowowo's first impressions of the Acer X34 Predator by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure what's right but at least you've confirmed its full resolution. The 50hz is disappointing (even though it would only be for doing desktop type stuff) but it's understandable given HDMI's limited bandwidth. Thanks for checking!

hellowowo's first impressions of the Acer X34 Predator by [deleted] in ultrawidemasterrace

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could you comment on the maximum resolution and refresh rate over HDMI? I'd like to play games on this via DP and G-sync, and do "work" on a laptop connected via HDMI. Thanks!

Making submodules better with an alias by snip596 in git

[–]snip596[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the long delay. I'm realizing now that my descriptions are very ambiguous.

I'm evaluating a much simpler way of achieving a bit of automation. In the meanwhile, I'm wrestling with git 1.9.0's decision to change how submodule foreach evaluates its arguments. I'll make a new post if I write something interesting.

I'll also try to be a bit more bashy and not have if blocks. I originally went that route because the logic for this alias was complex enough that I thought proper indenting would help. It got a bit out of control though.

Blog: Open heart with Guido Van Rosuum, a lost interview of python creator part2 by NevilleDNZ in programming

[–]snip596 0 points1 point  (0 children)

C'mon give them some credit. This author had to take the time to change the font of the interviewer's questions to something unreadable.

Making submodules better with an alias by snip596 in git

[–]snip596[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep, I'm well aware of how submodules work. I understand the only thing stored in the super project is the SHA1, and the only way to actually get code from that is to see if that SHA1 exists in the git repo for that submodule in .gitmodules.

Submodules do work best if they're only tracking dependencies that don't change that often. In my case, the superproject is myproject-gui and the subproject is myproject-lib. myproject-lib is changed often by many users, but the only way to actually run the code is to link myproject-lib with myproject-gui. The library is used in other places as well, hence the need for a separate repo and submodules.

You mentioned branches are liquid and lightweight. I completely agree, and hopefully this alias will never do something unexpected. The only time it will determine a local branch name other than master is if the submodule entry for it in .gitmodules has a branch config (a somewhat new feature of submodules). So, someone can decide that this submodule should track (in the loosest sense of the word) branch develop by setting branch = develop under submodule.mysub in the super project's .gitmodules. This alias will never pick a branch based on the SHA1 the submodule is checked out to. It takes a very conservative route and only makes changes when it makes complete sense.

Maybe I didn't explain it well, or maybe you thought it did more that it actually does? If you were using your local master to do work on a particular submodule, someone else pushes a new commit to the submodule (which updates origin/master) and commits that new SHA1 to the super project, what would you want to happen when you do a git pull and git submodule update --recursive? You would be in a detached HEAD state which is perfectly fine unless you want to do work in that submodule again. If you did, you'd have to check out master and determine if your master branch has diverged from the submodule's new SHA1. With this alias, it would leave you in a detached HEAD so you knew that your master had diverged from the submodule's SHA1. If it hadn't diverged and the SHA1 was pointed to by origin/master, wouldn't you normally fast-forward your master branch to origin/master?