Year: 2015

My latest, and last, book for O’Reilly

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date December 3, 2015

I said a few years back that when Node.js released version 1.0, I’d issue an update for my book, Learning Node. Little did I know that waiting for Node.js 1.0 was like waiting for Godot, but in JavaScript.

I did try to do an update on the first edition of Learning Node earlier this year, but the changes were just too significant. So many of the modules I covered are no longer supported, Express 4.0 happened, and then there’s that Node.js/io.js thing, and skipping version 1, altogether. The first edition of Learning Node just can’t be updated, in place. The only solution was a new edition. It’s also a good time to do a new edition: there’s more stability in the development of Node.js, and less personal ownership.

I just hit the half-way mark in Learning Node, the second edition. It should be out for early release in January or so. The finished book should be in the market some time around April/May. We took a different direction with this book: smaller, learner, and staying closer to the core of Node.js. I’m very happy with the direction it’s taking. It’s the Learning Node book I probably should have written, way back in Node.js’s infancy.

Of my books, I finished JavaScript Cookbook, second edition earlier in the year, and I’m happy with it. I like the design of the book, and feel it’s nicely comprehensive. A new author has taken over for the Learning JavaScript series, beginning with Learning JavaScript, third edition. I’ve been chatting with O’Reilly about releasing Practical RDF to the public domain. With the second edition of Learning Node on its way to completion, I feel it’s a good time to ease my way out of writing books for O’Reilly, and finally take the plunge to self-publication.

My first book for O’Reilly was Developing ASP Components, published in 2001. It actually hit the Amazon top 100 bestselling books list for a brief moment. In 15 years, we’ve managed to publish 16 books, and I’m proud of all the work we’ve done together. O’Reilly has been a good publisher, and a good company to work with. They’ve always been supportive of my efforts. I’ve enjoyed working with the people, including, and especially, my long-time editor, and friend, Simon St. Laurent.

Documents Political

Put that FOIA down and back away slowly

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date October 18, 2015

Latest last update

My friend Karoli wrote an excellent article on all this fooflah. She has more reach than I do, so hopefully this information will eventually work its way around to the original publications.

There’s enough BS about the Clinton emails without additional false associations.

Because we’re all damn tired of hearing about the Clinton emails.

last update

Confirmed. The documents were issued by the State Department in 2014, in response to a FOIA request by The Telegraph’s Philip Sherwell. They have absolutely nothing to do with Clinton, and were not on Clinton’s email server.

Update:

I believe the Philip Sherwell, who instigated the FOIA request, also is the author of this piece, in the Telegraph. I’ve asked him if this was so, and whether he was familiar with the recent stories. Will update when I hear back from him.

earlier

I noticed a story claiming to be about a “smoking gun” proving that Hilary Clinton knew she had top secret information on her server. They got the information from a Daily Mail story. The story has since been picked up by Newsmax, the Telegraph, the BBC, and many other publications too numerous to list.

Five minutes is all it took to discover the FOIA request that produced these documents from the State Department. The request is completely unrelated to Clinton or her email server. The request was initiated by a Philip Sherwell, in August of 2012, and the request was for “references concerning a meeting Saturday April 6, 2002 in Crawford, TX between George W Bush and Tony Blair.”

It has nothing to do with Clinton, and was not among the documents turned over related to the Clinton FOIA requests. We know this for a fact because the FOIA case number and release date are printed at the bottom of the documents. And it seems that the publications weren’t aware that this story was told previously…in 2006. That smoking gun is looking more like a cap gun right about now.

Burningbird Smart stuff

Hack your home

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date October 15, 2015

I am very interested in Internet of Things, DIY, and smart home gadgets. I recently created a new web site, Hack Your Home, both because I wanted to grab a .space domain, and because I wanted to record my new home ownership experiences in one place.

My most recent writing, SmartThings Hub and Samsung SmartCam for Security (with a little Google OnHub action thrown in) covers the set up I have to secure our basement entrance. Let’s just say if anyone enters our home via the basement door or window, they won’t do so unnoticed.

I’m also fascinated by the new microcomputers and microcontrollers such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino. Over time, I plan on incorporating them into the fun, and providing associated how-tos.

The site won’t only be about gadgets. I’m also covering experiences with contractors, aided and abetted by the contractor web sites such as Angie’s List, as well as search engines. The latter has changed home ownership to a remarkable degree: no longer are we neophytes, tender bait for less than scrupulous electricians, concrete companies, and landscapers. Knowledge is still the most powerful tool we have.

Oh and pictures. Thanks to my Nikon P900, I have discovered my back yard is a jungle

Smart stuff

SmartThings Hub and Samsung SmartCam for Security (with a little Google OnHub action thrown in)

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date October 15, 2015

I have a Samsung SmartCam that’s monitoring our basement entryway. Though the camera has a motion sensor, my smart home hub, SmartThings, doesn’t yet use it. We’ve been assured that a future upgrade will incorporate support for the camera’s motion sensor. Right now, I’m using a SmartThings motion sensor.

The motion sensor monitors all basement motion in the evening or when I’m away. If there’s any motion, it sends me a text alert, turns on all lights that are currently connected to my hub (most of the house), and records a video clip of the motion using the camera. It also incorporates buffered video of the 15 seconds before the motion. This video clip is attached to the alert that’s sent to my cellphone. It’s also attached to the alert in the SmartThings app.

It works remarkably well. If we’re home, all the lights coming on will definitely wake us up. They should also give anyone breaking in pause before continuing. And the triggering happens immediately. The lights will still come on when we’re away (to scare whoever is breaking in). But when we’re away, we’ll also have the video so we can check if the motion was triggered accidentally, or we have a problem and need to call the police immediately.

I’m using the SmartThings hub to control the camera rather than the native Samsung camera app. I believe it does better than the native app and web site. Plus I can inactivate the camera when I want to deactivate its recording capability.

I turn the camera on at sunset and off at sunrise using an IFTTT rule. I also use the SmartThings Smart Home Monitor smart app to monitor the motion sensor in the basement, and part of its alarm notification process is to grab a clip from the camera (in addition to the lights and text message). This is a premium service that’s free until the end of 2015, and which will cost $4.99 a month starting in 2016.

screen shot of OnHub device bandwidth page One interesting effect from using a Google OnHub router with this setup is that you can actually see the upload bandwidth between the camera and the SmartThings hub. I originally thought the upload was going to a cloud via my internet connection and was alarmed at the amount of bandwidth being used. The engineers at SmartThings explained that the upload is only going to the SmartThings hub, and once I looked at the OnHub’s readings more carefully I could see this was so.

The lights, themselves, are a mix of switch, bridge, and bulb. I am using Cree light bulbs, several GE z-wave light switches, in addition to a Philips Hue Bridge and bulbs. The Hue bulbs are outdoor lights, and I’m changing them to red during an alert. Otherwise, they’re normal white during the night, and off during the day.

The brains of the entire outfit is the SmartThings Hub. Well, and me. Primarily the Hub, though.

How-to: install the motion sensor and Samsung SmartCam as Things in the SmartThings Hub. Add them to the room (in this case, our basement). In the Smart Home Monitor, click the gear box and then create a Custom rule. I use a Custom rule because I can set the monitoring to happen only at a certain time. In the page that opens, add a New Monitoring Rule. In the next page that opens, select your motion sensor.

Next, configure the device by setting its type and in which mode it’s active (Night and Away), and during what times. In the next page, configure the Text & Push notifications, Alert with Sirens, and Alert with Lights. You can also select the camera to use during the event. In my case, I’m setting up a push notification, turning on lights, and using my basement camera.

If you want different times for different modes, you can create multiple rules. For instance, I could use the Security routine to monitor the motion sensor 24 hours a day when I’m away from home, and reserve the Custom rule for when I’m home.

I set up an IFTTT rule to deactivate the camera during the day, and activate it only at night. No need to clutter up the LAN with activity during the day when I’m home. If I leave the house, it’s simple to turn it on manually. Eventually, I’ll probably create another rule to turn it on automatically when I’m Away.

Use the IFTTT Date and Time channel for the trigger, and the SmartThings channel for the action.

Smart stuff

What is your smart home is smarter than you?

Post author By Shelley Powers
Post date October 14, 2015

I recently received the SmartThings Hub v2, as well as several sensors and light bulbs. It’s been a gas putting all the things together, trying them out with my Amazon Alexa, as well as trying out the different SmartThings smart apps.

I connected IFTTT to my ST hub, and it turns on my bedroom and office lights at sunset. Another app has a motion sensor monitor the basement at night and if motion is detected, every light controlled by the Hub is turned on and a text sent to my phone. If I’m away from home, the text message also includes a one minute video clip of the intrusion.

If my front door isn’t locked at 10, it’s automatically locked. When I get a garage relay installed, if the garage door is open at 10, it’s automatically closed.

It’s fun, useful, and fascinating to see all the pieces come together. But it can also be frustrating, too, especially for a ST newbie, such as myself.

Today I was experimenting with a smart app to use a light as an alarm clock—having it come on gradually over 5 minutes. I ran a test case on my light in my office, just to see how it worked. It seemed to work fine, but something I did triggered it to run again. It turned on the light, I used the ST app to turn it on again. The app immediately turned it on again, and I turned it off again.

This on-off-on-off battled continued to happen for another five minutes, as I tried to figure out how to turn the smart app off. Eventually, I uninstalled the app.

As I wrote in Facebook:

It gives one pause in one’s enthusiasm for a smart home when one realizes that one has been having a heated argument for several minutes with a light bulb.