We all agree – HTTPS – the encrypted communication between WWW-browsers and servers – usually makes sense. However – under the cover of secure communications, some folks have silently pushed their version of rules into our life. And that makes things complicated – to say the least. Read More →
There are a few ways to measure power consumption, voltage or current with an Arduino. Unfortunately, the ESP8266 has a few limitations that make it somewhat difficulty to get things going. Let’s look at an easy way to achieve our task.
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The little ESP8266 and its relatives have already found it’s way into the developments of commercial devices as well as hobbyists. It is cheap, with tons of features and works super well when connected to an on-line power source. But it’s relatively large hunger for power – because it is WiFi based – was a big disadvantage whenever it came to battery powered devices – that is – until now. Read More →
While the LUMOSUR environment does it’s thing based on sensors, touch screens and mobile controllers, voice control is also a part of the mix. We are not developing an Alexa clone and you won’t be able to order a pizza through LUMOSUR, but you can entrust it with your home automation, air conditioners – even door locks – because it doesn’t require any cloud- or even Internet connection. However – a good microphone is required to reliably recognize voice commands. So – we tried the ReSpeaker v2.0 microphone array. Read More →
In Europa gibt es viele “Experten” die uns immer erklären, wie “digital” in der Wirtschaft funktioniert – oder besser – funktionieren sollte. Ich kenne zwei Gruppen dieser “Fachleute” – die eine Gruppe schwänzelt um amerikanische Großkonzerne herum und bewundert die “Innovationskraft” von Google, Amazon oder Facebook, die andere Gruppe saugt sich “Ideen” aus den Fingern die aus ihrer jeweiligen Sicht die Zukunft bestimmen. Beide Gruppen liegen völlig falsch.
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There are not that many people who care about vintage recordings. It takes the dedicated work of enthusiasts to hunt down old records or Edison cylinders, to restore them and to make them publicly available as part of our musical heritage. But all of this is in peril as a secretive new copyright bill makes it way through congress. Read More →
Home automation is cool. It really is. Switch power and or off, lights come on with a touch or voice command, everything can be controlled from everywhere. Well – sometimes. Or not. Because there’s a big fight going on below the deck. And you may want to wait who wins. Read More →
With Alexa, Siri and Google happily chatting around, let’s take a snapshot of what is available on Linux. Hint – not much. But let’s take a look. Read More →
Whenever you work in a local environment, you have to deal with a variety of problems. From setting fixed DHCP leases to creating special name server entries. Sometimes it is helpful to have a reflecting name server. Read More →
Say you built a small server – to play your audios or videos – and you want to easily and securely access it in your local network It works great and you consider making a product out of it. Well – here’s the thing – there is no universal, convenient way for users to safely connect to your server – even in their local network. Let’s have a look at the situation, backgrounds and possible workarounds. Read More →