Hacking Sonos — Medium

I didn’t like having to turn my speakers off when I left my apartment. I had already figured out how to turn all my lights off with IFTTT so why not make this work with Sonos. Using a Raspberry Pi and a Sonos command-line interface I hooked up a very basic home REST API where I could detect my phone leaving a location using a geofence.

Raspberry Pi model B plugged into an Airport router via Eithernet. This puppy is always on and has a port mapped to the outside world for external access.

Now when I leave it makes a request to my home and the music turns off.

Hacking Sonos — Medium.

Torture

Glen L. Carle in the Boston Globe: Torture is Wrong:

I had direct experience in every aspect of interrogation and intelligence in the so-called “war on terror.” From producing intelligence through interrogation to assessing it to seeing policies made from it, I was there. Let me be clear about what I learned: Torture undermines all sound principles of good interrogation, intelligence collection, and assessment. It does not work, it is unnecessary, it is illegal, it betrays our ideals and our nation’s laws. There is no practical, legal, moral, or utilitarian argument in favor of torture. We don’t need it, and it betrays who we seek to be. No fine-tuning of the law is necessary to justify it — ever.

via Flutterby™! : Torture 2014-10-08 08:48:39.160743-07.

Waiting for Soylent

Posting date: October 9

Order placed May 18, 2015. They warn three months delivery time – bananas.

soylent1

Two months later, they warn of an additional 2-3 months.

soylent2

Two months later, they say it will be sent within three weeks:

soylent3

Today is three weeks later, and I don’t have my Soylent, but after waiting so long I have no real expectation of ever consuming the product. Which means what, exactly? That I have learned what I came to learn.

The Silicon Valley hype cycle comes with a fierce blast of disinformation. If you don’t try out high-hype things for yourself, you can’t know the truth.

I feel bad for the people at Soylent. They must be stressed beyond belief. I wonder what’s happening inside their bubble.