#Home Assistant
My Local AI Model: 8 GB of VRAM, 9 Billion Parameters, Zero Insecurity
How far can you go with a local 9-billion-parameter AI model and just 8 GB of VRAM? Tests, reasoning, RAG, Home Assistant, quantization, and a few surprises.
Two Blinds, AES and Six Relays Later...
How refusing to spend €99 on a gateway dragged me into 433 MHz, SDR, rolling codes and encryption... only to end up pressing buttons with relays.
Zigbee Without (Too Much) Complication
When I started deploying my first Zigbee devices, I didn't really know much about how the network connecting them actually worked. And it worked. Over time, however, I discovered a whole series of small details I hadn't paid much attention to at first: the role of routers, the importance of coordinator placement, interference with Wi-Fi, channel selection, and the fact that not all Zigbee devices participate in the network in the same way. Nothing catastrophic. I didn't have to tear open any walls or throw everything away and start again. But knowing these things from the beginning can help you make a few smarter choices along the way. That's essentially the purpose of this article: to bring together the things I would have found useful to know before getting started, without giving the impression that you need to master Zigbee before connecting your first device. And if you've already started without knowing any of this? Don't panic. There's a good chance you'll be able to improve things later.
Are There Really That Many Planes Flying Over My House?
At first, I simply wanted to know whether my impression matched reality. A few searches later, an ADS-B station was tracking the planes flying over the house. And since they were there anyway, I might as well try to measure the noise they produce. One thing led to another: local tracking, a database and a homemade sound level meter.
Our Home Automation Project
The story of yet another project — one that would eventually help give birth to this very website. More than just technical documentation, it's the story of a process where one thing leads to another, every answer raises new questions, and boundaries have an annoying tendency to disappear.
A Smart Meter, a P1 Port and a Few Misadventures
What should have been a routine meter replacement turned into a first exploration of the P1 port, local access to energy data and the possibilities offered by a few connected devices. With, naturally, a couple of misadventures along the way — and a certain Home Assistant eventually making an appearance.