Well, that was a fun rabbit hole down which to fall:

After ignoring it for years, I got Home Assistant running along with ESPHome. From there, I made a bunch of over-complicated buttons and blinking LEDs - except the buttons and LEDs were in different rooms of the house.

Oh, and an ESP32 camera works alright on it. And it can send OTA firmware upgrades to all the ESP32s from a web UI, which is handy.

Also I can see the odometer and average MPG of our car on my phone and I was reminded why I hated my Logitech Harmony Hub (though it did sort of work to control my basement entertainment center made of old junk)

At some point, I might actually accomplish my goal of spying on the doorbell with an ESP32 (which was why I actually started down this path in the first place)

I guess the tl;dr of it is like when I first started tinkering with Arduino blinkenlights, except now it's sneezed all over my house and actually seems pretty cheap to get into. But I will likely constrain the mad science to the basement and garage until further notice

(That said, it would be keen to wave my sonic screwdriver - er smart phone - at the basement and have it lurch into arcade mode)

@anne @DeliaChristina Holy crap that story is absolutely amazing, thank you for sharing!

@craigmaloney Rolling coal in my mcmansion spare bathroom to own the libs and expiring from carbon monoxide poisoning

Oh, you know what else was pretty neat about this Home Assistant + ESPHome thing? Since Chrome has WebSerial APIs, I could flash firmware onto a handful of ESP32s over USB/FTDI right from the browser. No desktop software installation needed.

I seem to recall that Mozilla has demurred from implementing this API in Firefox over security objections. But, dang, it's a nice thing for fiddling with microcontrollers and little utility widget boards.

Would it be tempting fate if I used “Edgar” as the wifi SSID for APs dedicated to IoT devices around the house?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Dreams_(film)#Plot

So, for reasons, I ended up using my Favorite Coffee Mug to burn some incense in my office last Friday. Today, it tastes like incense even after much scrubbing. I am somewhat disappointed in past-me.

Oh and the reason this is my Favorite Coffee Mug is because it's an all-metal mug paired with a hot plate. It's the only reason I've managed to have hot coffee in the morning over the past 18 months.

All other mugs are neglected and go cold by the time my absent mind remembers coffee. Maybe I should switch to a thermos?

@lordbowlich Well, usually, my habit is to pour a full cup that I forget for about 90 minutes and then drink over about 10 minutes when I remember. I usually remember to turn off the plate before it cooks the dregs

I will never forgive Scott Adams for the Dilberito

https://www.avclub.com/in-memory-of-the-dilberito-a-stomach-ruining-dilbert-t-1842213522

@magic_aye well well well