Home & Consumer Tech
Smart home, consumer electronics, and everyday tech
228 episodes · Page 8 of 10
#2660: The Craft Cider Revival and the Art of Keeving
From Normandy's keeved ciders to Asturian sidra that argues with you — a global tour of craft cider's real hotspots.
#2659: The Accidental Invention That Predates the Wheel
Mead predates the wheel. Here's how to brew it at home — and why it's making a comeback.
#2658: The Legal Definition of Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway isn't just smaller Broadway—it's a different legal, economic, and artistic universe defined by seat counts.
#2646: When Your Door Won't Open: The Failure-Mode Philosophy of Smart Locks
Z-Wave vs Zigbee vs Wi-Fi for smart locks. What's reliable enough to trust with your front door?
#2629: The ADHD Archaeologist of Scent
How a frankincense obsession led to discovering perfume oils — a 4,000-year-old tradition that's being rediscovered today.
#2626: The Trust Problem in Bedroom Automation
Smart glass vs smart curtains for circadian health — what works in a rental bedroom without owning the walls?
#2608: Can You Wire Your House Like a Hotel?
Can you wire your house like a hotel? Here's what KNX costs, how it works, and how to connect it to Home Assistant.
#2600: Circadian Lighting Gradients in Home Assistant
How to build a smooth, override-friendly circadian lighting system using Adaptive Lighting in Home Assistant.
#2597: Voice Control for Renters: $25 Per Room, No Wall Damage
Distributed voice control on a budget with wake words, centralized processing, and zero wall damage — perfect for rentals.
#2595: Baby-Proofing a Small Rental: Survival Strategies
Practical strategies for surviving the mobile baby phase in a small Jerusalem apartment without losing your security deposit.
#2580: When Laws Regulate Appearances
Why do open container laws exist, and do they actually reduce antisocial behavior?
#2573: What's Actually Inside a Hotel Smart Room System
Hotels don't use Alexa or smart bulbs. Here's the industrial-grade tech running behind those sleek wall panels.
#2566: Why Your RGBW Bulbs Get Dim in Color Mode
Cheap bulbs aren't the whole story — physics limits how bright color LEDs can get. Here's what to buy instead.
#2555: How to Bluff Your Way Through Buying Red Wine
Body, tannins, and terroir — the cheat codes that make you sound like you know wine without reading a book.
#2542: The Best Permanent Markers That Actually Last
From ink chemistry to top brands: which markers hold up on plastic, metal, and in the sun.
#2537: Why Your Home Battery Shrinks Without Degrading
Your battery isn't degrading as fast as you think—software, temperature, and inverter limits are the real thieves.
#2399: When Permanent Means Surviving 400°C
Why do industrial markers like the Edding 780 outperform art store Sharpies? It’s all about chemistry, adhesion, and surviving harsh conditions.
#2365: Building a Custom Home Alarm Panel with ESP32
Discover how to build a tactile, local-control alarm panel for Home Assistant using ESP32, Omron buttons, and Zigbee sensors.
#2326: Voice Control Simplified: Home Assistant’s Local Stack
Discover how to build a reliable, vendor-agnostic voice control system for Home Assistant without relying on Amazon or Google.
#2299: The Open-Source vs. Commercial Tension in Self-Hosted Media
Dive into the world of self-hosted media managers: Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby. Why do millions choose to run their own servers?
#2275: From Catalogs to TikTok: The Psychology of Remote Shopping
Explore how remote shopping, from mail-order catalogs to TikTok Shop, taps into the same psychological impulses across eras.
#2273: The Curious Case of Kitchen Unitaskers
From banana slicers to motorized ice cream cones, we rank the most absurd single-use kitchen gadgets and explore their weird charm.
#2269: Ungrounded: The Hidden Danger in Your Israeli Socket
Why does your imported vacuum feel dangerous? We trace the fault path from a Europlug to a potential shock, explaining which appliances need ground...
#2245: Whiteboard Markers: The Tool Everyone Ignores
Why marker quality matters more than the board itself, and what separates a tool that sparks ideas from one that kills them mid-thought.