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Home Automation and the Internet of Things; answers to readers comments
CES blog posts Our CES reports on new robotic vacuum cleaners, smart refrigerators, and environment-sensing scales were some of our most popular posts with our readers, as was our coverage of Cisco’s talks on the Internet of Things. There’ll probably be a few more CES reports to share. In future posts, we’re going to cover some of the new home automation gadgets coming out that will make the Internet of Things a reality. Trouble is, too many existing appliances weren’t designed to network. Let’s say you wanted to use our app to decide when to turn your gas dryer, fireplace, or furnace on or off based on airborne combustion levels. That’s hard to do right now. Home Automation and the Internet of Things But a number of small startups are tackling this problem with innovative gadgets that interact with legacy electric appliances like washing machines and dryers. Some feature cameras, optical sensors, outlet switches, and mechanical activators together with a WiFi connection and logic that’s designed to make it easier to let the dryer signal you (over the Internet) when it’s done or even let you control the dryer from a website.… Read the restIs US air quality ever as bad as in Shanghai? (photos)
Yet another evening of bad Los Angeles air quality We won’t bore our readers by pointing out that last night [January 29, 2014] was yet another “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” bad air quality day in Los Angeles. (Sensitive Groups includes those athletically inclined.) You can read about the trials and tribulations of our air purifiers from previous days this week and this month. “Lower your standards!” We had a comment exchange on a social media site with someone in Shanghai regarding China’s consideration of spraying water from skyscrapers. China hopes this can bring PM2.5 down to 35 micrograms per cubic meter. We point out this is at the US 24-hour average but still way above the US annual average exposure limit (but below where it has sometimes been in Los Angeles recently). We previously discussed this new technology, and whether it should be applied in the U.S. “Lower (weaken) your standards!”… Read the restDr. Beak From Rome and the Black Plague, or why having a surgical mask might be handy
This 1656 woodcut (see photo) depicts the plague doctor “Dr. Beak from Rome” (“Doktor Schnabel von Rom”). His bird mask was stuffed with straw, which served as a crude air filter. Medieval artists alternated lampooned him (as here) and later celebrated him as scientific and practical methods of plague control slowly proved themselves over the more superstitious practices of that era. When we got into this we were thinking about how smart homes (and smarter air purification) could reduce dust buildup in our more dusty urban areas (like urban California, Europe, and Asia). While it was obvious there was a lot of dust buildup on furniture, we didn’t realize just how badly air quality fluctuated from day-to-day here. Bird Flu or just poor air quality Earlier this week one of our staff members saw someone walking the streets of Los Angeles with a surgical mask on. He appeared to be from a part of Asia that had experience with bird flu, and wearing surgical masks on the street is more culturally accept there than here.… Read the restDust sensors, the latest CES vacuum cleaners, and the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things comes to vacuum cleaners at CES The Internet of Things was big at CES this year so we went looking for appliance manufacturers that had incorporated a dust sensor (and Internet connection!) into their appliances. We’re apparently a little ahead bit of the pack on this, as most exhibitors in this space weren’t quite thinking along these lines yet. (There were “smart vent hoods” that might, or might not, incorporate a dust sensor. These allow restaurants to save energy, and we might do a future post on them [updated: link].) One company that was thinking along these lines was Moneual, that makes a robotic vacuum competitor to the iRobot Roomba that we review below. The exhibit heavily touted that the Moneual was “a hybrid” dry and mop robotic vacuum. This is a brilliant marketing move, and it makes sense that the same robot vacuum should be able to also mop.… Read the restRecent Posts
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