New Technology

NoCoPilot wrote:

All I know is the thermostat was dark until I connected it to the furnace wires.  At that point it leaped into life without me having to turn any switches.

And when I was installing it the instructions said to turn off the furnace, with a switch or at the breaker, to avoid shorting out the furnace wires.  I assumed that meant they carried a small DC voltage.

The heater uses a 24V supply. This is what the thermostat switches. They want you to kill this line only in case you short out the wires while hooking up the thermostat. It's just a precaution. I never do that. I'm just careful. Hell, I work on live 110 and 220.

NoCoPilot wrote:

Doesnt look too bad.

Yes, but

Quote :

It should be noted that doing this will void the warranty on your device. If you are having issues with the display battery you should call the tech support line and they will help you. Doing this risk damaging the device and making it to where they will not replace it if it is still under warranty.

Look at all the empty space in that thing. There's plenty of room for replaceable batteries.

Warranty is two years.

The lithium ion battery is rated for 7-10 years, and are kept continuously recharged by the furnace wires.  Hopefully it'll last even longer, since it never fully discharges (which is the most stress on a battery).

According to user comments on the Nest Community pages, here are the specs on the battery:

Quote :

It looks like a lithium-ion, 3.7 volts, 2.1 Wh (568 mAh) battery. very similar to some cell phone batteries.

However nobody on the forum could provide a source for replacement batteries (outside of Nest themselves of course).  This indicates to me that nobody has actually had a battery fail yet.

NoCoPilot wrote:

However nobody on the forum could provide a source for replacement batteries (outside of Nest themselves of course).  This indicates to me that nobody has actually had a battery fail yet.

Do you really think that's the only reason why there are not yet third-party suppliers?

NoCoPilot wrote:

It looks like a lithium-ion, 3.7 volts, 2.1 Wh (568 mAh) battery. very similar to some cell phone batteries.

You can buy a rechargeable Li-Ion AA cell , 3.7V, 800mAh, for $3.49 ($9.72 on Amazon).
I wonder what Nest gets for their batteries.

I'm bailing on this discussion. It's gone too far down a road that makes no sense to me. Who cares if the battery is replaceable or not? I don't. You don't. Why are we here?

Yesterday I ordered a new universal remote.

My old Logitech programmable remote keeps losing its programming. It gets stuck in some weird mode where it only shows two of its three screens -- Devices, and Activities, but not Channels (the one I really need). I've tried replacing batteries, I've tried reprogramming it, I've tried throwing it against the wall. I'm done with it.

The new one is a touch screen programmable which will control up to fifteen devices. Top of the line. Hopefully an improvement. Will report back when it arrives.

My old "universal" remote still would not control everything -- I could use it for changing channels, controlling volume (usually...) and for turning everything on or off, but I had to keep the DVD remote out for playing movies, and the TV remote out for going to TV apps (like Pandora), and the Apple remote for controlling Apple TV. I'm hopeful that my chair side "basket o' remotes" can be reduced.

I wasn't looking for one, but today I ran across a new keyboard for my computer that I just had to have.

It's solar powered. No batteries.

It's Bluetooth. No wires.

And it has a full numeric keypad and several special-function keys (including a forward-going delete key) that my old Apple wireless keyboard didn't have.

Having a keyboard you like is a big deal for someone who uses a computer a lot.

My old keyboard is wired (no batteries!). It has all the keys you expect, including a full numeric keyboard. It also has a set of editing keys (up, down, left, right, end, home, delete, page up, page down, toggle insert).

The 12 function keys are programmable, which is great if you have a repeating set of keystrokes you use often. When I was programming, I saved a bunch of time with those.

For coolness, in the upper right corner of the keyboard it has a video control panel with a  volume control knob, a mute button, and a full set of control keys (forward, backward, stop, play/pause).

Above the function keys, there are dedicated keys for opening your mail program (no matter which one you use), and a couple of other dedicated keys. It also has keys for browser commands: back, forward, stop, refresh, and home (they work with whatever browser you have installed).

I am going to be really disappointed when I buy a new computer if I can't plug this keyboard into it.

My dad had one like that.

He could barely use half the keys.

I don't use all the keys on a regular basis, but many are handy. I use the mute button a lot.

You can't imagine the keyboard that was on my type setter. Scary bastard.

Damned computer came up with a really scary message when I turned it on this morning. It wouldn't boot because it didn't recognize any hard drives. Booted okay the second time, though. It's getting really close to that time.

Predestinations of an untimely demise, I suspect.

About eleven years is probably not untimely.

As hard as I try, I can't convince myself that I don't need the kind of computer that has always been necessary. I can easily make do with something much less. There's something in my character that can't seem to accept that, however. Computers have always been tools for me, and I have never liked buying second-rate tools. For example, when I made my living as a mechanic, I wouldn't buy Craftsman tools even though they were really cheap, because they were shit quality. With computers today, I have a problem with the lack of expansion capability, even though I may not ever need it. I find a box that looks just fine, but then find out there are no free slots and I reject it out of hand. And I will never buy a computer that I cannot work on myself. That is a 100% deal breaker.

Maybe a therapist could help. You could learn to use the computer as a tool to do a job -- instead of being the job itself.

That's the thing - it's no longer a tool for doing a job. It's a toy.

Having a computer that can be repaired at home and that can be configured to suit additional purposes does not make the computer a job. Just the opposite.

In a nutshell you've just defined the difference between Apple and Microsoft.

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

This has nothing to do with Microsoft or Apple. This has to do with the fucking hardware, which is nearly identical in both cases.

Look deep inside yourself, Luke. In your heart you know I'm right.

I am your father.

NoCoPilot wrote:

In a nutshell you've just defined the difference between Apple and Microsoft.

Could you please clearly explain exactly what this means in relation to my posts?

Apple = tool
Microsoft = toy

NoCo = tool.

Howard = toy

That's what she said.

But seriously, can you explain, "In a nutshell you've just defined the difference between Apple and Microsoft."?

In my experience -- admittedly only 37 years using computers -- Microsoft/DOS/IBM computers allow you to, and therefore require you to, customize everything.  You spend months getting everything set up the way you want, and then when something changes you need to do it all over again.  Think "Windows color schemes."

Apple OTOH is much less flexible.  They require that you adjust your working style to fit the computer, rather than vice versa.  Therefore, once you learn the basics, you spend 99% of your time doing stuff with the computer instead of setting it up (1% figuring out Apple's admittedly arcane menuing systems).

At work we had both Mac and Dell computers.  We spent 99% of our troubleshooting on the Dells, because users had screwed something up or tried to add something that was incompatible.  The Apples we just delivered, when somebody ordered a new one -- and never heard from them again.

All the high-end researchers (big salary guys) used Apple exclusively.

Listen, some guys like English sports cars. They're fun to work on. They never get to DRIVE them but they're fun to work on.