This 1:38-scale diecast car model finally arrived from South Korea. At the time I ordered, I only saw black available, but it seems white and metallic grey are also available now. Total cost from the US is $30-40. There have been a handful of 1:18 scale models appearing, but the sellers are asking $500-700, which seems wild to me.
Before Gemini for Home, I would have a routine that I named "Go to Cinema Mode." After Gemini for Home, the word "mode" seems to have broken something and Gemini would tell me that no such mode could be found. I reworked the automation in the updated app (it adjusts three sets of lights and turns the smart TV on) and called it "It's TV Time." This had worked for the past nine months, however Gemini for Home is now confused because of recent news that the "TVtime" website/service was recently shuttered. I say "hey Google, it's TV Time" and it gives me the history of the TVtime site, when it was closed down, and what replacement users recommend. So I say things like "perform the automation 'it's TV time.'" and it continues with things like "since TVtime is no longer availables, some people continue tracking their TV watching habits using websites such as..." How can we convince Gemini to prioritize our home automation prompts? This is in addition to significant delays in triggering integration APIs compared with years past and other frustrations... every time I face another one of these frustrations, I start watching youtube videos about self-hosting HomeAssistant. :/
Ordinarily I buy from my local MicroCenter, but neither MicroCenter nor Best Buy sell the H2D Laser Combo directly. So I took advantage of the sale last week to upgrade, bought a bunch of accessories and filament... UPS seems to do fine with the accessories, but FedEx just straight wrecked the printer combo. This is not a new experience for me, in my 20 years in northeast Ohio the Grove City -> Twinsburg -> My address path has smashed dozens of items. I try as much as possible to buy from places that ship UPS, but I didn't get an option on the H2D. I opened a support ticket asking how long til I can get a new printer shipped, and if an alternate shipper could be found. :/
The Ioniq Guy posted about this today but I paid the $12.99 and am not disappointed. These dashboard-y type things are things that Hyundai should offer in some advanced settings menu… but I’m always thankful for good software developers giving us better tools, especially with a clean UI!
I have 12 Nest Audio, 4 Nest Hub, 1 Nest Hub Max, 4 Home Minis, the Nest Thermostat, 4 Nest Protects (that I just swapped out for FirstAlert SC5s because of sensor expiration,) 6 Yale x Nest door locks, 9 Nest Cameras. I've been paying the "Aware Plus" or whatever plan for the better part of a decade now. I use three 20" Chromebase touchscreen devices as management dashboards and monitors. And for the past nine months, "Gemini for Home, your helpful smart assistant" has made everything largely useless as voice response devices. Almost everything I do now I have to do through apps - Choose a speaker set and song in Spotify directly, go to the Home app and tap lights on and off, etc. The response rate, quality, and efficiency is absolute garbage for my Google Home that was carefully built in one ecosystem for my - and my disabled kid's - comfort and convenience at great personal expense. I have left hundreds and hundreds of feedback notes. Nothing is ever followed up on. I have upgraded and segmented my network, Wifi 6E mesh with ethernet backhaul on a 2.5gbit fiber line (the connectivity is never an issue). I have offered to Google to do preview beta, I have offered to provide direct feedback to QA, etc. Nobody at Google that cares or is able to help me help them help me is connected to the product marketing and sales arm that has killed their entire line in the name of "winning at AI." It's wild. At some point, I'm just going to switch to something new and eat the lesson. Never again, Google.
