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How have you customized your life -- electronically?

J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
Goodness me- no "electronic toaster" for you.

We do have a retro-look electronic toaster, and it often does stupid
things, like refusing to stay down when it's in a weird state. The fix
is to unplug it for 5 seconds or so to reset whatever bizarre state
it's managed to get itself into. Mechanical toasters don't do that,
and toast better too. DGMS on the states and menus of the new
microwave. A proper appliance has two states: standing up, and lying
on its side.
I bet that you still don't
have a 4 HP. 120V,15A "electronic" lawnmower as well.

One of the things I like about San Francisco is the almost universal
lack of lawns. And air conditioners. When I lived in New Orleans, if
you didn't mow the grass twice a week, it would grow so tall the mower
would bounce off. And after mowing the lawn for an hour in the sun,
you *needed* the air conditioning.
You, sir, are not meeting the expectations of the modern advertising world.

It's weird that the prime use for billion-transistor chips and
gigaflop processing turns out to be stupid, violent video games and
watching NASCAR crashes on giant plasma displays.
Thanks- it is good to see common sense.--

Good, simple things endure. Like me!

John
 
R

Richard Henry

Jan 1, 1970
0
We do have a retro-look electronic toaster, and it often does stupid
things, like refusing to stay down when it's in a weird state. The fix
is to unplug it for 5 seconds or so to reset whatever bizarre state
it's managed to get itself into. Mechanical toasters don't do that,
and toast better too. DGMS on the states and menus of the new
microwave. A proper appliance has two states: standing up, and lying
on its side.


One of the things I like about San Francisco is the almost universal
lack of lawns. And air conditioners. When I lived in New Orleans, if
you didn't mow the grass twice a week, it would grow so tall the mower
would bounce off. And after mowing the lawn for an hour in the sun,
you *needed* the air conditioning.


It's weird that the prime use for billion-transistor chips and
gigaflop processing turns out to be stupid, violent video games and
watching NASCAR crashes on giant plasma displays.




Good, simple things endure. Like me!

John- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

A couple of years ago I got an electronic coffee maker as a gift.
When it works right, it makes really good coffee in small amounts.
However, I have had a couple of problems.

Soon after I got it, I dropped the water container while filling it
(it lifts off so it can be filled at the sink or wherever your best
source of water is). I broke off the little check valve at the
bottom, so all the water woulr just run out at once.

After that was replaced, it became apparent that it is insane. There
are two buttons on the device to allow a large cup or a small cup of
coffee to be delivered. There is also a cleaning mode that empties
the entire water container (to be activated when no coffee cartridge
was in place). However, I could not be sure that the machine would do
as asked, so I always had to have an extra-large joke coffee cup in
the machine when making coffee.

The machine sits on a storage shelf now unused, and I buy pre-mixed
bottles of Starbucks' Frappacino for my home coffee needs.
 
R

Richard Henry

Jan 1, 1970
0
One regular poster here has designed a microcontroller-based, networked (
(remotely accessible), whole-home climate control monitoring system
(heating-AC/hot h2o/heat exchangers/the whole works). Others have modified
their digital toaster (I'm not mentioning names... (c: )

How has your profession (or hobby) leaked into your everyday life? What
customizations or applications have you put electronics to that makes your
life easier and/or more fun?

I have installed two Radio Shack motion detector light systems, one
over the garage door and one to replace the front entry light.

I have an unfinished project (waiting for my next retirement, layoff,
or firing) to build a PIC-based lawn sprinkler controller that will
link to a PC by some means (USB, serial port, wireless) and allow me
to set watering schedules by a graphical calendar program running in
the PC.
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
On 21 Apr 2007 08:31:39 -0700, Richard Henry <[email protected]>
wrote:

[snip]
A couple of years ago I got an electronic coffee maker as a gift.
When it works right, it makes really good coffee in small amounts.
However, I have had a couple of problems.

Soon after I got it, I dropped the water container while filling it
(it lifts off so it can be filled at the sink or wherever your best
source of water is). I broke off the little check valve at the
bottom, so all the water woulr just run out at once.

Klutz ?:)
After that was replaced, it became apparent that it is insane. There
are two buttons on the device to allow a large cup or a small cup of
coffee to be delivered. There is also a cleaning mode that empties
the entire water container (to be activated when no coffee cartridge
was in place). However, I could not be sure that the machine would do
as asked, so I always had to have an extra-large joke coffee cup in
the machine when making coffee.

So you admit you're a non-technical person? I manage to use the two
buttons to control five different mug sizes.

I love my Keurig coffee machine. My wife prefers tea and I prefer
near-espresso-strength coffee. It serves us well.
The machine sits on a storage shelf now unused, and I buy pre-mixed
bottles of Starbucks' Frappacino for my home coffee needs.

Yeccch!

...Jim Thompson
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
A couple of years ago I got an electronic coffee maker as a gift.
When it works right, it makes really good coffee in small amounts.
However, I have had a couple of problems.

Soon after I got it, I dropped the water container while filling it
(it lifts off so it can be filled at the sink or wherever your best
source of water is). I broke off the little check valve at the
bottom, so all the water woulr just run out at once.

After that was replaced, it became apparent that it is insane. There
are two buttons on the device to allow a large cup or a small cup of
coffee to be delivered. There is also a cleaning mode that empties
the entire water container (to be activated when no coffee cartridge
was in place). However, I could not be sure that the machine would do
as asked, so I always had to have an extra-large joke coffee cup in
the machine when making coffee.

The machine sits on a storage shelf now unused, and I buy pre-mixed
bottles of Starbucks' Frappacino for my home coffee needs.

We have a steel kettle, a cute yellow porcelain coffee pot (I collect
coffee pots) and a ceramic drip cone. With a bag of Peet's coffee and
the local Hetch Hetchy water, it makes as good a cuppa as you can get
anywhere in the world, which is approximately 10 times better than you
can get anywhere in Britain.

But there's a trick: before you put the Mellita filter into the drip
cone, place a toothpick sideways in the bottom of the cone. That keeps
the filter from plugging the outlet hole and it drips much faster, and
faster dripping makes better coffee. After, we compost the used
coffee, the filter, and the toothpick.

John
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have installed two Radio Shack motion detector light systems, one
over the garage door and one to replace the front entry light.

I have an unfinished project (waiting for my next retirement, layoff,
or firing) to build a PIC-based lawn sprinkler controller that will
link to a PC by some means (USB, serial port, wireless) and allow me
to set watering schedules by a graphical calendar program running in
the PC.

Our garden has a drip system with one 24 volt solenoid valve wired to
a hand-twist mechanical timer switch. It takes about 400 milliseconds
to give it a twist and get it going; twist harder if you want more
water. No programming, and it's been absolutely reliable for about 10
years now.

John
 
R

Richard Henry

Jan 1, 1970
0
On 21 Apr 2007 08:31:39 -0700, Richard Henry <[email protected]>
wrote:

[snip]


A couple of years ago I got an electronic coffee maker as a gift.
When it works right, it makes really good coffee in small amounts.
However, I have had a couple of problems.
Soon after I got it, I dropped the water container while filling it
(it lifts off so it can be filled at the sink or wherever your best
source of water is). I broke off the little check valve at the
bottom, so all the water woulr just run out at once.

Klutz ?:)


After that was replaced, it became apparent that it is insane. There
are two buttons on the device to allow a large cup or a small cup of
coffee to be delivered. There is also a cleaning mode that empties
the entire water container (to be activated when no coffee cartridge
was in place). However, I could not be sure that the machine would do
as asked, so I always had to have an extra-large joke coffee cup in
the machine when making coffee.

So you admit you're a non-technical person? I manage to use the two
buttons to control five different mug sizes.

I love my Keurig coffee machine. My wife prefers tea and I prefer
near-espresso-strength coffee. It serves us well.
The machine sits on a storage shelf now unused, and I buy pre-mixed
bottles of Starbucks' Frappacino for my home coffee needs.

Yeccch!

Mine is not a Keurig. Maybe I'll look for one.
 
R

Richard Henry

Jan 1, 1970
0
Our garden has a drip system with one 24 volt solenoid valve wired to
a hand-twist mechanical timer switch. It takes about 400 milliseconds
to give it a twist and get it going; twist harder if you want more
water. No programming, and it's been absolutely reliable for about 10
years now.

John- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

My "new" (it replaced the 2 80's-vintage 6-station controllers that
came with the house and never worked reliably) 12-station controller
is now in the "Off" position, where it will be for about a week since
we are having a rainy weekend.
 
J

Jim Thompson

Jan 1, 1970
0
On 21 Apr 2007 08:31:39 -0700, Richard Henry <[email protected]>
wrote:

[snip]


A couple of years ago I got an electronic coffee maker as a gift.
When it works right, it makes really good coffee in small amounts.
However, I have had a couple of problems.
Soon after I got it, I dropped the water container while filling it
(it lifts off so it can be filled at the sink or wherever your best
source of water is). I broke off the little check valve at the
bottom, so all the water woulr just run out at once.

Klutz ?:)


After that was replaced, it became apparent that it is insane. There
are two buttons on the device to allow a large cup or a small cup of
coffee to be delivered. There is also a cleaning mode that empties
the entire water container (to be activated when no coffee cartridge
was in place). However, I could not be sure that the machine would do
as asked, so I always had to have an extra-large joke coffee cup in
the machine when making coffee.

So you admit you're a non-technical person? I manage to use the two
buttons to control five different mug sizes.

I love my Keurig coffee machine. My wife prefers tea and I prefer
near-espresso-strength coffee. It serves us well.
The machine sits on a storage shelf now unused, and I buy pre-mixed
bottles of Starbucks' Frappacino for my home coffee needs.

Yeccch!

Mine is not a Keurig. Maybe I'll look for one.

There's a newer version than mine, with _3_ cup size buttons.

Keurig is a "K-cup" cartridge-type of machine.

There are other brands that use paper-enclosed coffee inserts. These
dry out quickly, losing flavor.

...Jim Thompson
 
T

tersono

Jan 1, 1970
0
One regular poster here has designed a microcontroller-based, networked (
(remotely accessible), whole-home climate control monitoring system
(heating-AC/hot h2o/heat exchangers/the whole works). Others have modified
their digital toaster (I'm not mentioning names... (c: )

How has your profession (or hobby) leaked into your everyday life? What
customizations or applications have you put electronics to that makes your
life easier and/or more fun?

My wife is blind. Yes, there are kitchen timers which are intended for
the blind, but the one we had couldn't announce the time remaining-
and you couldn't even check that you'd remembered to start it.

So I made one which gives different tone of beep depending on whether
you've pressed the minute, ten-minute, or hour setting button, and
which speaks the time remaining when you press a button. That's one
PIC, one speech-storage chip, and a CMOS D-type.Current when not
running is microamps.

I also made talking kitchen scales; disembowel cheap electronic
scales, find a signal relating to weight, and again use a PIC and a
speech storage chip. (Yes, you can get such things off the shelf.)

This has been a piece of own-trumpet-blowing by an old git in the east
of England. Thank you for your forbearance.
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Richard said:
I have installed two Radio Shack motion detector light systems, one
over the garage door and one to replace the front entry light.


I have a motion sensor controlled light in my driveway, another by
the back door and one in the hallway, so I don't fall while looking for
a light switch at night. Being half awake while leaning on a cane in
the dark, is dangerous.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
T

tersono

Jan 1, 1970
0
We have a machanical twist timer. It ticks while it's running and goes
DING! when it's done. You can locate it in the dark and easily feel
the pointer position and get a good idea of how much time is left. In
15 years, we've never had to replace the batteries.

John
It's good to remind the electronics nut that there are other ways to
solve problems!
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
My wife is blind. Yes, there are kitchen timers which are intended for
the blind, but the one we had couldn't announce the time remaining-
and you couldn't even check that you'd remembered to start it.

We have a machanical twist timer. It ticks while it's running and goes
DING! when it's done. You can locate it in the dark and easily feel
the pointer position and get a good idea of how much time is left. In
15 years, we've never had to replace the batteries.

John
 
F

Franc Zabkar

Jan 1, 1970
0
Working with electronics all day, I want nothing to do with it in my
time off. I want all my household appliances to be as simple, dumb,
reliable, and analog as possible. I'm comfortable with simple, old-gen
PC applications because they work and are predictable.

We push technology only in those places where it really pays off. If
there's no big benefit, stick the the stuff that's known to work.

John

I recently went shopping for a washing machine. I only saw one that
didn't have a microcontroller. As an engineer I can appreciate the
gadgetry, but as a tech I also understand the repair cost. No fancy
electronics for me, thanks.

- Franc Zabkar
 
B

Boris Mohar

Jan 1, 1970
0
One regular poster here has designed a microcontroller-based, networked (
(remotely accessible), whole-home climate control monitoring system
(heating-AC/hot h2o/heat exchangers/the whole works). Others have modified
their digital toaster (I'm not mentioning names... (c: )

How has your profession (or hobby) leaked into your everyday life? What
customizations or applications have you put electronics to that makes your
life easier and/or more fun?

I ripped out the computer out of my 91 turbocharged Volvo and installed this:
http://www.megamanual.com/forums.htm

It did not make my life easier but it certainly made it more fun.

Oh yeah, it is open source project.
 
F

Franc Zabkar

Jan 1, 1970
0
One regular poster here has designed a microcontroller-based, networked (
(remotely accessible), whole-home climate control monitoring system
(heating-AC/hot h2o/heat exchangers/the whole works). Others have modified
their digital toaster (I'm not mentioning names... (c: )

How has your profession (or hobby) leaked into your everyday life? What
customizations or applications have you put electronics to that makes your
life easier and/or more fun?

Admittedly it's very trivial, but my most recent fun with electronics
was to hack a $40 DVD player based on a Sunplus chipset. I added a USB
port to it and replaced its "Tevion" banner with a photo of my own.

- Franc Zabkar
 
J

Joel Kolstad

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim Thompson said:
There are other brands that use paper-enclosed coffee inserts. These
dry out quickly, losing flavor.

Senseo.

There's also Tassimo, which is closer to a K-Cup... they're also bar-coded
so that the machine "knows" what it's making -- hence the Tassimo machines
can make lattes and hot chocolate (with milk) besides the water-based drinks
that the Keurig can.
 
J

Joel Kolstad

Jan 1, 1970
0
Franc Zabkar said:
I recently went shopping for a washing machine. I only saw one that
didn't have a microcontroller. As an engineer I can appreciate the
gadgetry, but as a tech I also understand the repair cost.

In theory the electronic ones should be more reliable... the traditional
washing machine timer, with a bazillion little detents pressing spring-leaf
switches *will* fail, it's just a question of when.

In practice I wouldn't be surprised if the electronic ones weren't
particularly more reliable. The fact that anyone can easily sit down and
building a washing machine controller or similar in a matter of weeks now
has unfortunately often made reliability something of a secondary concern to
manufacturers, it would seem.
 
P

Pete Wilcox

Jan 1, 1970
0
In theory the electronic ones should be more reliable... the traditional
washing machine timer, with a bazillion little detents pressing spring-leaf
switches *will* fail, it's just a question of when.
Pretty much guaranteed that *every* washing machine will fail, given
enough time, electronically-controlled or not, the prime cause of failure
being vibration in the spin cycle inducing strain in the mechanical
components, but electronic circuit boards are as susceptible, if not more
so, to mechanical strain.

Personally, having kept our vintage (100% mechanical) washing machine
going FAR past it's reasonably-expected lifespan by maintenance
as-and-when, seems to me that the major causes of failure/stoppage are A)
Blockage of the outlet impeller by items that slip between the inner and
outer drums, ie. coins from pockets, safety pins, items of jewelery, etc.,
and B) component fracture, ie. inner drum mounting brackets, rubber
glands, and/or fractures/disintegration in the concrete damping blocks.

The old cam-driven microswitch program controller has much to recommend
it; it stands up to vibration reasonably well, is cheap, and the only
thing that is likely to disrupt its program is contact failure (which is
easily dealt with by a can of servisol/WD40) or, at an extreme,
dismantling and going over the contacts with a nailfile/emeryboard. Any
weak solder joint in the "electronic" equivalent, subject to the same
mechanical forces, can produce an "intermittent" failure mode that can be
an absolute bastard to track down, and result in many hours of fruitless
investigation.

All-in-all, I'd side with the "appropriate-technology" camp. If it does
what you want it to do, with the minimum of fuss, then it's the right
product. The more "knobs-and-whistles" there are, the more there is to go
wrong. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Cheers,
Pete.
 
J

Joel Kolstad

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi Pete,

I think you make a good case that, if you're stuck out in the boonies
somewhere, electro-mechanical washers are probably the way to go, since when
they do break you'll have a pretty good shot at being able to repair them
yourself. :) Electronically controlled machines... not so much (ok, maybe
not at all...).

Pete Wilcox said:
Any weak solder joint in the "electronic" equivalent, subject to the same
mechanical forces, can produce an "intermittent" failure mode that can be an
absolute bastard to track down, and result in many hours of fruitless
investigation.

It just seems to me that with appropriate quality control and design
(including isolation mounting, etc.), you should be able to design a washing
machine controller board with an MTBF of, say, 100 years.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Electronically controlled washers are typiclaly a lot more water and
electiricity efficient than the old "fixed cycle" designs. This might not
rise to the level of "broken," (although Jim's leftist weenie greenies would
disagree :) ) but it's close enough that newer machines can be considered
"valid" improvements, IMO.

---Joel
 
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