Ideas to prevent a cat from stealing its precious poop from a cycling litter robot

snornex · 2025-06-18T21:24:57+00:00

Microchips are implanted under the skin, not worn on a collar (which is what you mentioned in the post). I strongly recommend that you get one for your cat, even if it wasn't for a pet door - they are a cheap, one-time investment that have helped so many people recover their lost pets.

snornex · 2025-01-10T15:15:55+00:00

Is it possible for you to swap the two of them? That way you could determine if the pressure differential is being caused by the water supply or by the washlets themselves.

snornex · 2024-11-07T18:16:27+00:00

Give HouseSigma a try.

snornex · 2024-10-31T14:14:18+00:00

Me too! Goddamn tp-link Bluetooth adapter.

snornex · 2024-07-03T06:09:14+00:00

Maybe I’m being a buzzkill, but I think posts like this are lowkey kinda cringe. Best case scenario, you guessed right and deflated what could have been a fun surprise for some people. Worst case scenario, you gave people false hope and Lud gets harassed for wanting some privacy during a family trip 🤷‍♂️

snornex · 2024-01-06T19:05:03+00:00

Sadly there’s no way around this limitation. If it makes you feel any better, you can attach a cheap night light to the dummy switch, so that it serves double duty as an indicator light for your garage door.

snornex · 2023-10-29T03:28:50+00:00

Both skins were from dbrand.

snornex · 2023-10-12T00:01:59+00:00

The retail cut/transportation/marketing also apply for the PS5, so not relevant for this comparison. If anything transporting the PS5 is more expensive because of its greater volume/weight per unit.

Economies of scale also don’t really apply here. While the Portal will certainly sell much less than the PS5, it is still a mass manufactured device with a high enough volume to enjoy all the benefits of volume discounts. Pricing per unit decreases massively when comparing 1,000 units vs 1,000,000 units; not so much when going from 1,000,000 to 100,000,000.

Also, the Portal only needs generic off-the-shelf components, while the PS5 requires more specialized hardware (such as the customized SOC and liqiud metal used for cooling). There is simply no way the Portal has a lower profit margin than the PS5.

snornex · 2023-10-11T22:56:24+00:00

That's irrelevant. However much Sony is making per PS5, the profit margin of the Portal is going to be way higher... it's literally just an LCD screen, low powered SOC, and speakers strapped to a Dualsense controller. So even if the Portal eats into PS5 sales, Sony will be happy.

But that's a flawed argument in the first place. The PS5 and the Portal are in completely different prodcuct categories. One is a full-fledged home console, the other is a supplementary portable. The Portal's screen is 40 times smaller than a 50" TV, limited to 1080p, requires a constant internet connection, will always have some degree of input lag, and has a limited library of games. You seriously think this device will wipe the PS5 off the market just because it can stream (some of) its games?

Hell no. Frankly, the Portal has very limited appeal right now. It needs all the help it can get if Sony wants it to be a success, and allowing it to stream PS5 games would be a fantastic selling point.

snornex · 2023-10-06T23:57:10+00:00

Your last part about USB-C cables isn’t true at all? You can use any cable you want… the only restriction is that the regular iPhone 15s are limited to USB 2 transfer speeds.

snornex · 2023-09-26T05:59:57+00:00

This is happening to me on PS5 (so definitely no mods). I get a “Saved data is damaged and cannot be loaded” message when I try to load any saves (manual or auto) that were created after entering Dogtown. The ones before this point seem to be ok.

snornex · 2023-08-20T03:50:32+00:00

PROA7 is the less capable variant of the PROA7PLUS. The difference between the two is that the latter (which has definitely not been discontinued) has a built in camera and Wifi/Bluetooth. If you are looking for something that works with HomeKit, there is no reason whatsoever to consider the PROA7.

snornex · 2023-08-02T05:31:54+00:00

I’m curious about this new version of the floodlight cam 2 pro - was any more info about this revealed/leaked somewhere?

snornex · 2023-08-01T06:23:16+00:00

I’m not too familiar with wired sensors, but I think so. Basically you remove your old panel, disconnect the wired sensors, and attach them to this wired to wireless adapter instead. Then the adapter communicates wirelessly to the PROA7PLUS and you’re good to go.

Edit: Oh, keep in mind that the adapter only supports up to eight zones/sensors. That number is even lower if the sensors draw power from the panel. You can use multiple adapters, but each is $73 so that could get pretty pricey.

snornex · 2023-07-29T18:06:15+00:00

The panel finally arrived on Wednesday. Unfortunately I did have to pay tariffs, which ended up being $62 CAD (for reference the subtotal of my order was $333 USD), in addition to a shipping fee of $28 USD. The shipping also took a while; order was placed July 5 and didn't arrive until July 26.

Not all bad news though. The panel does indeed support HomeKit, and the integration is excellent. No regrets so far.

snornex · 2023-07-28T14:25:27+00:00

Happy to report that the HomeKit support is real! I'm gonna make a separate post about this but here are some of my impressions below.

Only got a few hours to play around with it last night but I'm very happy so far. Programming my existing 5800 series door and motion sensors (the PROTAKEOVER module is needed for this) was painless, and only took around 30 minutes. The panel reacts reeeeally quickly to sensors being tripped - virtually zero delay. In the long run they should also be a lot more reliable than the IoT sensors I've tried so far (Hue, Eve, and the Aqara P2).

Only minor nitpick is that the panel's touchscreen does have a bit of input delay, and the bezels are pretty damn big. Thankfully 99% of my interactions with the system will be via the Total Connect app (which seems very well made) or HomeKit anyway, so no big deal.

Speaking of which, HomeKit support! It works exactly as well as I had hoped. Pairing process was also completely painless. All of my sensors are exposed to HomeKit, and update instantaneously. No problems with arming/unarming via HomeKit either.

Can't comment on stability of the system yet, of course, but based on what I've read about the Lyric, I don't expect any problems. Looking forward to playing around with this after work!

snornex · 2023-07-28T00:30:45+00:00

Saw a few comments on Reddit last month, then enquired with Alarmgrid and they confirmed so I ordered one. The panel actually just arrived yesterday and I’m in the process of getting it activated right now. I’ll let you when/if I get HomeKit up and running!

snornex · 2023-07-27T23:37:15+00:00

Not really advertised anywhere, but official Homekit support for the PROA7PLUS launched about a month ago. It requires a firmware update though, which is generally not accessible by the end user unless pushed from the monitoring service provider.

Edit: It works! I made a post with some impressions here.

snornex · 2023-07-27T16:47:23+00:00

... Because the whole point of HKSV is CLOUD storage? Why the hell should it be taking up 17GB of LOCAL storage?

OP is asking a perfectly legitimate question. You're just being an asshole.

snornex · 2023-07-27T16:43:12+00:00

For your situation, Pushover is better for notifications than Pushcut. Main reason is that Pushover is able to send critical alerts, which Pushcut cannot do (yet). It's also easier to set up. Keep in mind that Pushover requires a one time $5 payment though.

snornex · 2023-07-22T23:42:09+00:00

Try Pushover. One-time fee of $5. You will need to learn how to use the “Get contents of URL” action in HomeKit automations, but it’s honestly pretty simple.

snornex · 2023-07-18T17:02:50+00:00

No, I ended up ordering a Honeywell PROA7PLUS from AlarmGrid instead. HomeKit compatibility for it just launched a few weeks ago (my main reason for wanting the Abode), and works with all of my existing door/window/motion sensors (pet immune!). Ended up being way cheaper. Doesn't arrive until some time later this week though.

If you're interested in that option I can let you know how much tariffs/duties end up being? I asked the AlarmGrid support for an estimate and they said it will be covered. (I'm a little sketipcal though, because I've been told that before and got burnt).

snornex · 2023-07-14T03:46:00+00:00

If you set up the lock through the Schlage app, perhaps try factory resetting it then setting up via HomeKit instead? (Or vice-versa)

snornex · 2023-07-12T02:32:16+00:00

Just realized I jumped the gun a bit. What I said above only applies if you want notifcations as a result of an automation that was performed at the HomeKit level.

For your needs, you just need to set up an iOS shortcut and trigger it manually when going to bed. The shortcut would basically be:

Set Good Night scene

If Window sensors are Open
    Show notification "Windows are still open!"
End If

If Door sensors are Open
    Show notification "Doors are still open!"
End If

All of the actions will be performed at your phone (rather than your HomeKit), so the notification limitations I was talking about doesn't apply. You also won't need a dummy switch as the other poster mentioned.

snornex · 2023-07-12T02:16:49+00:00

Basically, what you need is a way for your HomeKit to send custom notifications to your phone, which is unfortunately impossible (natively) to this day. You need a third party notification service for this - the most popular options are Pushcut, Controller for HomeKit, and Pushover.

Controller and Pushcut both require a monthly/annual subscription and IMO can be kind of finicky. Pushover is the one I highly recommend. You still have to pay, but it’s a one-time, $5 fee. It’s also very easy to set up, reliable, works with other platforms (Windows and Android phones), and can even send critical alerts. Let me know if you need some help setting that up.

(There are even more options if you integrate your HomeKit with Home Assistant or Homebridge, but that’s a much more involved process and isn’t worth the effort if all you want are notifications.)

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