Author Archives: Truman Boyes

It’s been a while since my last update. It’s a new year, and overall I am optimistic about ideas and new developments.

Here are some things I have been up to / thinking about:

• Doing a lot more Home Automation with Home Assistant. This is a great system for automating all the smart things in the house. It’s quite feature rich, but it also needs a bunch of work to really get it going.
• I started adding more Zigbee devices into the house to complement the existing WiFi and Zwave devices. My only issue was that I needed more Zwave “routers” to help in extending the signal around the house. Lot’s of plaster and brick are blocking the RF from getting around the place. Why Zigbee? Well, it’s much simpler that WiFi and possibly more secure for outside devices.
• Been looking into LoRaWan technology and devices. Which then took me on a wild ride reading up on Helium (HNT) and other similar tech. I think LoRaWan is going to really be something for IoT. I am now looking to implement this on the boat.
• I ordered a Bobcat Miner for Helium. This should be pretty interesting to setup in our town, and possibly add another on the boat in Jersey City.
• I was reading up on Algarve, Portugal. Would be great place to visit with the fam.
• Had a great time out at Sushi by Bou in Nomad location.
• Looking at 5G CBRS and micro cell tech; primarily from JMA Wireless.
• Going to rewire all the DC/AC wiring on the boat. Ordered some good marine cable. It will be good to know all of the layout incase there is an issue in the future.

• Interesting Links and Articles from tabs that I had open:
  • https://www.npr.org/2022/01/20/1074256096/even-babies-and-toddlers-know-that-swapping-saliva-is-a-sure-sign-of-love
  • https://medium.com/voskcoin/what-is-the-best-helium-hotspot-miner-to-buy-e26f3f4a0c37
  • https://www.amazon.com/Emporia-Monitor-Circuit-Electricity-Metering/dp/B08CJGPHL9/?encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=pk7gj&pf_rd_p=e3507245-c2c1-4f99-8b1e-89193a9e9975&pf_rd_r=BK2K12RSH4DGJX7S6187&pd_rd_r=cf6e6a36-8d5e-4dfc-8aa0-edd60bf0bfba&pd_rd_wg=iKCi7&ref=pd_gw_bmx_gp_kh2l6zin&th=1
  • http://oldcomputers.net/trs80pc2.html

I am excited about the upcoming week. It is a pivotal moment, personally and professionally. The 117th World Series starts on Tuesday in Houston.

We do all this work in technology, to get to this point. The see the season reach a climactic conclusion. To have winners. To have a reason to try harder than ever to see an investment payoff.

I am traveling next week to get out to the games and to connect with some of our team and partners. Looking forward to the trip to Houston and Atlanta.

Seasonal Change

I snapped some pics of plants that are in full bloom outside our house. Brilliant colors and intricacies of their complex patterns.

Home Automation

For the longest I have had all different types of home automation technologies. In our old house I setup Insteon, which was a complex setup of new switches that communicated between each other in an evolved X10-like protocol. Over time, I switched to various things like Zwave and Zigbee devices that connected to a hub. Couple that with Google Assistant devices, some Amazon devices, a bunch of WiFi outlets — you get the point… it started to get messy.

I just recently started using Home Assistant (running a Raspberry Pi 4 8GB) to serve as the bridge between all the of technologies. So far, it’s really neat. There is a simple way to control nearly every switch in the house, to build scenes (ie. waking up, night, etc), and to interact with audio and sensor devices. Music can follow you where you go; lights can auto turn off; and certain events can trigger more complex automation scripts.

Other Interesting Findings

I now use a paid subscription of Koyfin. This is basically a Bloomberg Terminal for regular people. It’s amazing. You can research and chart nearly any equity with advanced queries and macros.