Blog de Joe Freeman

The Amazon Alex app is a unifying console for IOT and other experiences.   I recently struggled trying to reset some legacy Zigbee devices that were paired with controllers I no longer had. It turns out I can use that app to reset my bulbs even though: It isn't obvious how you reset devices. The failure connect screen doesn't offer reset as an option. The program doesn't list my Amazon Echo as being able to do that on the screen where it describes resetting the devices. Backstory I received a pair of white Philips Hue A19 bulbs as part of an Amazon promotion.  Later I sold my Echo and got a new Amazon Echo with the built-in hub.  Newer Hue lighting supports both Zigbee and Bluetooth while older devices are controllable over Zigbee networks.  Never have I ever owned a Philips Hue hub. The bulbs must be reset to factory settings to onboard them to a new hub. In my case, my 4th gen Amazon Echo. The older bulbs can't be reset over Bluetooth. I couldn't get the rapid...

I had a consulting job at a company that got new gates.  The new gates have a different experience between doors and based on whether you are going in or out. Between 1000 and 4000 people use the gates per day. A back-of-the-napkin analysis says this interface costs the company $300/day or over $80,000 per year plus any frustration. They often pause at this gate system to deal with the interface inconsistencies.  3000 people * 5 seconds / 3600 sec/hr * $80/hour fully loaded * 5 d/w * 50 w/y The gate system as a use case They bought a combined entry/exit system. Looks good from here. Here is a different set of gates by the same vendor in the same building.  I was going to say that these were on the way out but this picture is also on the way in. Bi-directional gate control - flow optimization The gates support traffic in both directions.  Each turnstile has two card readers, one for each direction through the gate. The card reader is "right-handed" on entry and "left-...