Lets use the Stream Deck to control a HomeKit device.

I get warm in the computer room occasionaly, so I have a small fan I turn on and off frequently. I also like to wear big wired headphones. I never take my headphones off when I reach for the fan. So I'm constantly reaching the end of my headphone cord. Well, I just got this Elgato Stream Deck. And, I have some smart outlets that I can control with HomeKit. But, The Stream Deck does not have a plugin for HomeKit, at least not that I found.

The smart plug I'm using is the koogeek Smart Plug It's a pain to setup with homekit, I have one that I can not get to work. :) But, I have the fan connected to one and I can control it with homekit.

Now how do I connect it to the Stream Deck?

I have HomeBridge running on a server. And I have added it to HomeKit. In HomeBridge I added the Homebridge Http Switch plugin. This plugin has 3 rest inputs that it can call for turning the light on, off, and checking it's status. It expected 1 and 0 for the status call. No idea why it's not expecting json and boolean, but so be it. I'll wright my own plugin later.

The Stream Deck has an action called MCControl this can connect to a rest endpoint as well. But it has some quirks as well. It does do a post for setting, but instead of json it sends plain/text. I'll end up writing an action that works better here, but again this works, if you have an endpoint that can handle the quirky behavior. Maybe this is based on some standard I'm not aware of but, its not how I would have done it.

In between these I have a small Node JS app. It keeps track of switch state, and provides apis for the Stream Deck action and the HomeBridge plugin to talk to.

const port = 3000;

const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
let app = express();
app.use(bodyParser.text({ type: 'text/*' }))

var switches = {};


function getSwitchValue(switchName, trueValue, falseValue) {

	let value = switches[switchName];

	if (trueValue === undefined) {

		trueValue = true;
	} 

	if (falseValue == undefined) {

		falseValue = false;
	}

	if (value === undefined || value == false) {

		return falseValue;

	} else {
		
		return trueValue;
	}
}

function setSwitchValue(switchName, valueAsBoolean) {

	// Don't care about current state of switch - or if it exists or not at this point.
	switches[switchName] = valueAsBoolean;
}

// ==================
// General purpose getter to show the state of all switches in the browser.

app.get('/', (request, response) => {
	
	// return current state of all known switches
	response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
	response.send(JSON.stringify(switches, null, 4));	
});


// HomeBridge http switch end points.
app.get('/switches/:switchName/on', (request, response) => {

	let switchName = request.params.switchName;

	//console.log("switchOn called for switch: ", switchName);
	setSwitchValue(switchName, true);

	let switchValue = getSwitchValue(switchName, "1", "0");
	response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
	response.send(switchValue);	
});

app.get('/switches/:switchName/off', (request, response) => {

	let switchName = request.params.switchName;

	//console.log("switchOff called for switch: ", switchName);

	setSwitchValue(switchName, false);

	let switchValue = getSwitchValue(switchName, "1", "0");
	response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
	response.send(switchValue);	
});

app.get('/switches/:switchName/status', (request, response) => {

	let switchName = request.params.switchName;

	//console.log("switchStatus called for switch: ", switchName);

	let switchValue = getSwitchValue(switchName, "1", "0");
	response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
	response.send(switchValue);	
});


// ==================
// Stream Deck MCControl endpoints.

app.get('/switches/:switchName', (request, response) => {

	let switchName = request.params.switchName;

	//console.log("got status request for switch: ", switchName);

	let switchValue = getSwitchValue(switchName, "ON", "OFF");

	response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
	response.send(JSON.stringify({ state: switchValue }));
});


app.post('/switches/:switchName', (request, response) => {
	
	let switchName = request.params.switchName;

	//console.log("switch set post called for switch: ", switchName);

	var data = request.body;
	console.log("Data: ", data);

	if (data == "ON") {

		switchState = true;

	} else if (data == "OFF") {

		switchState = false;
	}

	setSwitchValue(switchName, switchState);

	let switchValue = getSwitchValue(switchName, "ON", "OFF");
	response.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/json');
	response.send(JSON.stringify({ state: switchValue }));
});



app.listen(port, (err) => {
	if (err) {
		return console.log('something bad happened', err)
	}

	console.log(`server is listening on ${port}`)
});

I run this little server on the same server where I have HomeBridge.

Now for the final piece. Automations in HomeKit. I have a couple of automations in HomeKit that do the following:

• When the Switch turns on, turn the fan on.
• When the Switch turns off, turn the fan off.

There is a bit of a delay when I use the Stream Deck due, to a configured polling interval, but it works like a charm. And, if I use HomeKit to control the fan directly. It updates via HomeBridge, and the Stream Deck switch reflects the correct state.

Nice and Simple...

I want a new toy, to keep my head expanding

I made some purchases recently to spruce up my at home computer setup. I use this setup for work and play. So, I need everything to serve double duty, and to not get in the way. I don't want to have to spend a lot of time moving things around when I transition from work to play.

Stream Deck

The first of these recent additions is an Elgato Stream Deck. This is basically a set of extra keys with little screens on each key. You can configure the keys to do almost anything. Some applications provide direct support, but you can easily add buttons to execute keyboard shortcuts for anything you need.

I have profiles for Zoom that give me better mute buttons. I have a profile for Intellij IDEA with common shortcuts, and I have a profile for Visual Studio Code with shortcuts.

In addition to this, my default profile, has some frequently used applications, media controls, and a switch that controls an office light via HomeBridge and a small custom web server that is integrated with Apple HomeKit.

I'm still figuring out the best way to configure this, and I'm sure it will evolve greatly over time.

Keyboard

I have spent several years using the Apple Magic Keyboard. I'm very used to it, but now that I have multiple computers on my desk, Macs and Windows, I wanted something that could connect to more than one machine easily.

So I went crazy and bought a click RGB wireless keyboard. I got the Keychron K2 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard. I can quickly switch between up to 3 computers and with a small switch on the side, I can switch it between Windows and Mac, although I don't really have to do this in practice. I normally just leave it set to Mac.

The key travel is really messing with me. I have grown so used to the low profile, low travel keys. There are also changes to the keyboard layout that have been causing me issues. I have no doubt that I will get used to this new keyboard in a few day, but I do wonder if I should have gotten an extended keyboard layout.

I went with the Brown Switches which aren't as clicky, but wow, it's still so loud compared to the almost silent keyboard I have been using.

The RGB is kinda of cool, and I have bee leaving it on so far, but I think I will likely just use this in backlight mode, sometimes.

Mouse

I haven't made a decision yet on a new mouse. I currently still have a few corded cheap mice on my desk. But, I want to get a new wireless mouse that supports multiple machines. I need to do more research and pick something. I'll probably end up with a Logitech, but I'm not sure yet.

More info to come later.

Whats up with Coffee

For the longest time I did not drink coffee at all. I drank soda, I enjoyed tea, but I didn't like coffee. I would watch everyone line up at the coffee maker in the morning, and wonder why they liked it. I told myself it was just addiction driven consumption. Certainly there is some of that, but obviously I was being silly.

Over the last few years I started getting the occasional sweet drink at StarBucks. I would get the occasional lattes, mochas, and Frappuccinos. And, eventually I decided to try a cappuccino. That was the thing that finally got me. I started to love the creamy, rich, sometimes chocolatey drink. As I slowly reduced sugar in my diet, I increased the number of cappuccinos I would get. In the before times, I was getting a small cappuccino almost every day of the week at lunch.

Around the time we started working from home, I started making coffee at home. I started with the Hario V60, a hand grinder, and an electronic scale.

I normally make some version of a pour over, or I'll make French Press, and lately I make the occasional AeroPress. I make one cup at a time. I have 2-4 cups a day, probably too much.

I find that I prefer medium roast blends of coffee. I really like a Harris Teeter Kona Blend and my current favorite is Charleston Organic.

Now I need another cup.

Brain Dump

I was thinking about a few blog entries, but they were all small. So, I'll combine them into one big mess.

3D Printers

I was an early adopter of 3D printers. My 2nd printer was a Makerbot, but Makerbot stop focusing on consumer printing and stopped supporting their older printers. I will never buy anything from them again.

Today there are so many amazing options available. The technology has gotten cheaper and easier to work with. I have been considering buying one of a couple of different printers.

• Original Prusa I3 MK3
• Creality Ender-5 Pro

I just ordered the Prusa. It costs more than the ender, but has a few more features and good support. Its a kit that I will have to build. Should be fun.

8-Bit Madness

I'm a nut for old computers and old computer games. I've been pretty excited to follow the progress of the Commander X16. This is a new retro inspired computer. The idea is that you can write software and work with a simpler easy to learn, but more modern, computer.

It should be easy to port old C64 code and make some amazing new things as well. This computer is being created by a team of people, but the 8-Bit Guy is the driving force.

He has a great series on the history of Commodore. I have watched it a few times.

RSS Feed changed

I changed the blog rss feed from Atom.xml to JSON Feed. If you were using the old feed, you will likely need to delete and re-add with the new one. I highly doubt many people I know would even use RSS, but thought it was worth mentioning, just in case.

I changed it because the JSON feed is easier to deal with and the reader I use handles it fine.

NetNewsWire

Defaults to case insensitive

So this has bit me twice in the last week. Once for work and once on personal projects. When my mac updated to use APFS a few releases ago. It chose the most compatible option and is case-insensitive. Which is wrong for any one developing code and deploying on linux or unix based case sensitive systems.

Mac Disk Utility format options

I can change this, but I would have to reformat and rebuild my system. So I'll likely not change it till I get a new machine.

I Give Up

I tried for so long to only game on the Mac. And, it is possible. There are some great games on the Mac. But, so many games are never ported, or are ported badly. Many others that used to work, no longer work, due to the 64 bit transition.

So I bought an Alienware R8 with a 2070 Super. It's not top of the line, but it can play games. I won't be using it for much more than that.

I'm really curious to see what happens with Apples transition to Arm based Apple Silicon. But, for now I'll be doing most of my gaming on a PC again.

Fun to Learn

I haven't been keeping up with the latest changes to Swift and the iOS. This has been keeping me from updating existing apps on the store. I have also wanted to update and bring some of my old apps back. I have a few ideas for new apps that I would like to create as well. So, I have been spending a bunch of time working on improving my iOS development skills, and getting up to speed on the current state of iOS development.

Wow, things have come along way. I was never a big fan of Objective C. It has some great features that really helped, but it always felt old and cumbersome to me. Swift seemed like the future right from the beginning. It feels like a modern language to me. The new versions of Swift have improved and evolved the language in wonderful ways. Perhaps more importantly, I enjoy writing code in Swift.

I have been using a Paul Hudson's Hacking With Swift site to get back up to speed. I think his teaching style and pragmatic approach is very compatible with my own coding preferences. He has a large number of guided videos on YouTube that are great when combined with the content on his site and in his books. He also does an amazing job at updating everything for the latest language updates.

DispatchQueue.global().async {
	do {
		let data = try Data(contentsOf: url)
		let downloadedData = try self.decode(type, from: data)
		DispatchQueue.main.async {
			completion(downloadedData)
		}
	} catch {
		print(error.localizedDescription)
	}
}

I have headed down this path before. What makes it different this time?

Honestly I don't know, but it feels different. I feel more committed to getting something new released this time. But, only time will tell. Will I stick with it, and dedicate my free time to it? I intend too, and I hope I do. There is nothing like the feeling of setting a difficult goal for your self and reaching it.

3rd Gen iPad Pro

Apple just released several great updates to existing products. The most significant update was to the iPad Pro. I have been a huge fan of the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil since the first version was released. This update has refined and improved the iPad Pro in almost every way.

Specs

• 11 inch, and 12.9 inch screens
• Both available in silver and space gray
• Sizes for both in 64GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB
• Improved speakers and microphones
• Home Button replaced by Face ID camera system
• Not a feature but worth mentioning: Headphone jack removed due to reduced thickness.
• USB-C connector replaces Lightning conector
• 18W power brick included
• A12X 64-bit processor
• Improved cameras

What I ordered

I got the 12.9 inch, space gray, 256GB LTE iPad Pro. This is the first time I have paid extra for the LTE option, and I only plan on using it when I need extra conectivity. I wanted to get more storage this time, but I could not justify the added price for it. I was already ok with the larger iPad Pro, but this generation physical size actually got smaller while keeping the same screen size. It feels perfect now.

I also got the new Apple Pencil, which charges wirelessly while connected to the iPad case via magnets. The pencil is a little smaller. It has a new double tap feature for tool selection in apps that support it. Also, there is no longer a cap to lose. Pairing is done wirelessly when the pencil is connected to the side of the iPad.

I once again got the Smart Keyboard. Its a little better this time around, but still not perfect.

Pros

• This is a nearly perfect device. It feels great, it looks great, I love using this device.
• The pencil is always charged and I don't have to worry about losing the cap.
• Application updates are rolling out with support for the pencil double tap.
• This thing sounds amazing, not as good as the HomePod, or a real stereo system. But, for travel this will be a great way to play music.
• iOS keeps getting better.
• How fast is this thing, It handles everything with ease.
• With USB-C the dongles I already purchased for my Macbook Pro can now be used with the iPad as well.

Cons

• This is an expensive luxury item. I wish it was cheaper. I would have bought more storage if it was cheaper.
• Why does it come with the short USB-C cable. They sell a longer cable, it needs the longer cable.
• No headphone jack is a bummer, but understandable. I can't remember the last time I plugged headphones in to my iPad.
• iPad does not support external storage connected via USB-C. There are apps that can do this, but this should be supported by the OS directly. I'll be shocked if this is not in the next version of iOS.
• I should be able to develop iOS apps on iOS. The OS upgrades that are needed to support this take iOS from a Mac companion to a Mac replacement.
• No mouse and trackpad support. I need a cursor sometimes.
• The Apple Smart keyboard does not have media keys. I want the standard set of keys.

My CPO Tesla Model S

I have been watching and drooling over Tesla since they first started selling cars. I believe that electric cars are the obvious path forward. As battery technology improves and becomes cheaper there will be no reason to have a fossil fuel car other than for entertainment.

Tesla has been leading the move forward with a top down approach to electric vehicles. Selling luxury vehicles now with a long term plan to start selling reasonably priced vehicles later. We don't know for sure if this plan will work long term. But, I think it is already working. Tesla looks to be heading toward a profitable position as their latest manufacturing line is ramping up.

One area where Tesla has become the clear leader is with the Super Charger network. There are Tesla charing stations located along most major road systems all over the world. This gives their cars an easy and quick way to recharge that few other systems can compete with.

I originally signed up a Model 3 reservation, but decided to get a similarly priced Model S instead. Mostly because I'm impatient. But, also because I was very unsure of the minimal interface of the Model 3. I've been re-thinking that lately. But for now I'm sticking with my Model S.

Our Car

I only had a few must have options on my list:

• Premium Audio System
• Auto Pilot Hardware - would have loved version 2, but for the price I was ok with version 1.
• Air Suspension
• 19" wheels. The larger 21's aren't worth the hassle and cost.
• I wanted Silver, Gray Metallic, or Blue for the color. But, I ended up with Multi coat Red.

Our car also has:

• Power Lift gate
• Sunroof

Purchase Experience

You order online and their web site works pretty well. I did have an issue with the car that I originally chose selling out from under me. I called a sales rep and he helped me find a non yet listed car in California that had everything I wanted.

I did have to pay, as part of the purchase price, to have the car shipped to North Carolina. It took about a week to ship.

All of the purchase forms and required documents were all handled via the website. Even the trade in info was entered via the web. For the most part this was a good experience. However, there were some issues with communication from Tesla. They sent us the final loan info right before the delivery. We had to scramble to get things notarized and completed. Due to out dated laws in NC Tesla only has a showroom here. They can't legally sale cars here directly. So, we can't sign and handle the loan info at the delivery. It's silly and needs to change. It made things stressful.

Delivery

Our delivery was delayed a day due to a crack in the wind shield. This would normally have been fine, but Tesla did not call me to let me know this. I only learned about this when I was calling for another issue. Fortunately it was only a single day delay. They replaced the windshield at no cost.

Tesla does pretty well at training people during the delivery. They go over everything and let you ask any questions you might have. I pretty much knew everything that was covered already. You can spend some time on Youtube and get in depth information on every aspect of the car.

In less than an hour we were driving home.

We did have one issue with the delivery that was quite annoying. When we handed over the title for our old Prius, we had not gotten it notarized. I missed this completely. The delivery person also missed it. So they had to send it back to us to get notarized.

Charging

Initially we were charging the car at home with a 110 standard plug. This gave us about 4 miles of range per hour. This is not enough to make up for a normal day of driving for me. Luckily it only took a week to get a new 240v dryer style plug installed in the garage. With this I can charge up my normal daily use in a few hours. I regularly get around 30 miles of range per hour with this connection.

We have used the Super Charger network a few times. It's been great, with some planning you can go pretty much anywhere you need with only a little more time spent charging than you would need to spend at a gas station. Your going to want to stop for food and bathroom breaks anyway. Getting used to the difference is the only real problem.

Driving

Driving this car is like a dream. Our car is a Model S 85. We do not have the performance or dual motor options. It's not nearly as fast as the newer tricked out cars. But, it is crazy fast and easy to drive. When you need power its there. No hesitation, no struggle.

All of the included technology makes this a great driving experience.

Conclusion

It's only been a few weeks, but so far I have to say I'm ridiculously happy with this car. It's like having two car payments, and the insurance is a bit more. I've never had more fun driving a car.

Who knows what will happen in a few years I may trade it in on a new or used Model 3. We need more people to buy electric cars and to drive the price down. Don't fight the future, embrace it, and have a good time.