A Review of Phillips Hue Lights

About two months ago I was talking with a friend about wireless lights, wanting Bluetooth or WiFi LED bulbs mostly just for the fun of it.  Most of it was just talk as we did not know anything like that currently existed, but thanks to the internet we found something pretty quickly.

We found a few items that would possibly fit the bill.  The LIFX, and the Phillips Hue are the ones that come to mind at the moment, but I know there were already a few more out there around the time of purchase of the Hue.  The LIFX at the time was only available online, as it was just completing its round on Kickstarter, and the Phillips Hue which was available at Apple.

Update: I think both of the bulbs are extremely expensive in terms of light bulbs, and more of a luxury even with the suggested life span of up to 25 years.  The LIFX goes for 99$, while a Hue bulb goes for 60$.  Now the Hue sounds cheaper, but remember you need a base station for it, which comes in a starter pack costing 200$ (3 bulbs included).  LIFX uses WiFi and Mesh to talk between the bulbs and does not have a base station, while Hue uses WiFi at the base station and ZigBee to talk to the bulbs. That about ends what I know about LIFX.  And as of today there are a few other companies coming out with smart bulbs (LG, Samsung) that I know about.

We decided to go with Hue, and purchased a starter pack. The base station like stated earlier uses Zigbee to talk to each of the bulbs, and each bulb from there can act as a repeater.  Initial setup was a piece of cake, we had about 6 to start with a grew to about 12 over a short period of time.  We use the Android apps to access the lights, and one PC has WinHue installed to access the lights.  The basic phillips app is OK, it does what it needs to do to access the lights, but no bells and whistles really.

To really see what these bulbs can do you have to purchase some of the other apps on Google Play/Itunes.  One app lets us play fireworks, another app turns it into a disco party, and another will set the lights on in random colors.  I use an app called LampShade that allows me to group the bulbs, and then set up alarms to turn on/off the lights at certain times.

Geo fencing is also enabled on a few of the apps but have not played with it to much at this point.  It would be easier then opening the app every time I get home to turn on the lights.

About a month into using the bulbs they all disconnected from the bridge, and would not reconnect unless we setup a lamp about 2 inches away from the base station and reconnected each bulb one at a time.  This took about 30 minutes, and we were back up and running.  Not exactly sure why that happened, and the other day I hit the on/off from the wall, so now the bedroom light does not register through the app anymore.  It will probably take a bit to get this one back running.

Our outside light that is also a Hue is also hit or miss, no rhyme or reason why some days the app will make it work, and other days it will not.  We moved the bridge away from the WiFi, and away from the cable boxes, speakers thinking maybe interference.   It does say that Zigbee works on the 2.4Ghz.  That helped a little, still iffy with the outside light.

Even with all it quirks, and price it still is a great light, and a good conversation point.  When you tell someone you have WiFi smart bulbs they take a second look and ask to say again.  One thing I am hoping for is having a light switch of sorts for those lazy days you don't want to pull out your phone.

In future posts, I will talk about other things we are planning to do with our Hue, how we are expanding, and possible "hacking" of the system.  Maybe incorporating other companies lights, ect.  Also I might try and pick up some of the other companies bulbs to try and compare them to the Hue.

Google Apps for Domains: For the Family

I was thinking of setting up a new email account, and possibly one for my oldest child, but have been trying to figure out which service to use.  I currently use Gmail for my mail, and figured that might be the best to use for children setting up with auto forward all incoming emails to mine.

I wanted to take it one step further and setup a domain for the family, and then use Google Apps for Domains.  Currently stuck at trying to figure out a good domain name and then seeing if its available.    I think  Goggle should have a "Google Apps for Families", it would probably be the same thing as domains.

Once I figure out if and what the domain will be I will write up how I went through setting up the domain, and the accounts if I make them for my children, still not sure on that just yet.  It is/was a part of another idea for that I am not sure that I am going to follow through with.

Email for Children

I have seen so many people who have setup email accounts for their children and then email that account everyday.  After the turn a certain age the provide the child with that memento and then the child can continue to use that email account.

As I am preparing to get back on Sea Duty I was thinking of setting up email accounts for my children that I could email them daily and it would be theirs.  I was trying to find out if there are any good children email accounts out there, or just go for a Gmail account for them.

I could just have them filtered through their mother's account,  but I want to at least consider all the options.  I have been trying to see if there is any sort of white list for Gmail or any of the other web based email systems.

I would like to be able to block all incoming emails except from certain folks, and do the same for outgoing emails.  Free email would be the best option, but I am not sure if that type of system exists.

On another note at what age do you think a child should have an email account?  How about what age should they have a phone number?

Makerspace SD: Looking for a Space

Makerspace San Diego has been having pretty regular meet-ups at the local Coffee shop for about 2 months now, and have a solid group of about six that are interested in taking it to the next level.  We are currently looking for a space in and around San Diego to call home.

With a small core of member present in the Makerspace it does not give us a lot of reserve to pay for an expensive place, but because we are living in San Diego I am not sure we will find something that would fit our projected price ranges.   Starting we are looking for something in the 500$ range, and will go from there.

If anyone knows a place, or has connections with people who could help a Makerspace start up in San Diego please get a hold of us.  We can be found on twitter @MakerSpaceSD, or on Facebook @ MakerSpaceSD.  

Everyone currently involved are pretty new at this, so as we start the Makerspace for San Diego we will be reaching out to others who have gone before us for guidance.  If anyone has questions please leave a comment.  

Reshaping Chalk

Over the weekend I was still unable to find the Crayola Chalk Maker so I had to improvise.  I purchased a box of 99 cent chalk from Target and decided to use a hammer, chalk and water and see what I could come up with.  While at Target I also picked up a silicone heart shape mold (probably for ice).  But perfect for two little girls to make chalk or crayons (maybe next).

So we went at it with the hammer as the girls got to choose the colors they wanted to crush.

This was the first batch and I was unsure of how to actually go about crushing the chalk and just adding water, in the next batch I mixed it in paper cups to get a good consistency and then poured it into the molds.   Above I just crushed and added to the mold, then added water, then added more chalk dust.   At the time I was also not sure how this would turn out below is what it looks like after 1 day (this way also takes alot longer then the Crayola Chalk Maker (20 minutes).  I have another batch drying in the garage, I bet if I put it in the oven it would have dried quicker, but then I would have to listen to the wife complain about chalk in the oven.

And below is what is currently sitting in the garage.  The ones above were not as solid as I would have liked but for a trial run not to bad.  I hope this second batch is better, and if not I can always fall back on the Crayola Chalk Maker.

Home-made pretzel bites

Another fun project that I did with my girls was to make soft pretzel bites.  I have made pretzels before but they came out not really looking like a pretzel so this time I opted for bite size pieces.  I basically followed Alton Brown's recipe for a soft pretzel, but cut them to bite size pieces before cooking them.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

I followed the directions and let the dough proof for about 2 hours, which got it to about double its size.  After that I rolled them into equal dough balls about 4.5 oz.  Not really a requirement just made them easier to deal with.   Each ball I then rolled out to a long rope and used a pizza cutter to make bite size pieces as shown below. 

Now with the oven preheated to 450, I setup a saucepan with the 10 cups of water and the 2/3 cups of baking soda for a the pretzels to have a boiling baking soda wash before the egg wash and salting.  You only need to put them in the wash for about 30 seconds.    After that add the egg wash  and salt and drop them in the oven for about 13 minutes or until they look great.

Just look at them sitting on the cooling rack, they were mighty tasty and I know that some of the neighbors thought they were great.  Sorry for the rest of them who did not get to try them, maybe next time.

Picked up a new project at Toys R Us today

I was out actually looking for the Crayola DIY chalk maker and could not find it at Target or Toys R Us but I did find a Maze Challenge for about 6$ at Toys R Us.  I have not had the chance to put it together with my daughters but it just like one of my previous posts that I wanted to build.

Its like the Operation game but on small scale and has a wand to move around the maze.  If you touch a side it beeps.  But the fun part is that we get to build it.  I think that even after we build the initial one I can reuse the parts to make something a little more challenging for my daughters.  Stay tuned as I provide updates to this projects probably over the weekend.