#smart-home
80 episodes · Page 3 of 4
#1770: The Smart Home Tax Is Bankrupting Enthusiasts
Home Assistant's flexibility has become a liability. We explore the usability crisis and the fragile architecture of modern enthusiast smart homes.
#1654: Home Lab Security: Locking Down Your Smart Home
Learn how to prevent a single compromised container from taking over your entire home network and smart devices.
#1243: How to Hack a Smart Home for the Sabbath
How do you navigate a smart home when you can't flip a switch? Explore the engineering behind making modern technology Shabbat-compliant.
#1073: Beyond YAML: Building the Agentic Smart Home
Stop wrestling with YAML. Discover how MCP and local AI agents are transforming Home Assistant into a truly intelligent, aware partner.
#1071: Beyond the Kill Switch: Advanced Router VPN Routing
Stop breaking your smart home. Learn how to use domain-based split routing and WireGuard to gain surgical control over your network.
#960: Why Your $2,000 Smart TV Lags Like a Budget Phone
Why does a $2,000 TV struggle with basic menus? Discover the hidden "Smart TV Tax" and why your display's brain is often stuck in the past.
#934: Open Source Meets Closed Garden: Linux on a Samsung TV
Connect Ubuntu to a Samsung TV wirelessly and learn pro tips for baby-proofing your cable setup in any living room.
#802: Bluetooth Reimagined: Audio and Tracking in Home Assistant
Is Bluetooth the secret weapon for your smart home? Discover how to master persistent audio and low-cost asset tracking with Home Assistant.
#784: The Hidden Cost of Labeling Fever
Stop feeding your power-hungry tools a diet of alkalines. Learn how to switch your whole home to sustainable, high-performance rechargeables.
#762: The Decoupled Smart Home Trade-Off
Tired of your smart home crashing? Discover why moving your home's "brain" to the cloud might be the ultimate reliability hack for your setup.
#759: Why Your Labels Fail: The Physics of Adhesion
Tired of peeling labels? Discover why consumer tapes fail and how industrial-grade solutions can bulletproof your home inventory system.
#758: When Your Camera Stops Being Dumb
Turn passive cameras into active observers. Learn how Frigate and YOLO models use AI to revolutionize home security and object detection.
#731: The EQ Lasagna Problem: A Signal Processing Hierarchy
Stop layering filters on top of filters. Learn the technically correct way to sync your home audio without creating a muddy "EQ lasagna."
#725: Finding a Speaker That Loves Voices
Stop listening to podcasts through tinny speakers. Learn how to choose hardware optimized for the human voice and clear, room-filling audio.
#723: Domesticating Your Home Security: How to Kill the Cloud
Learn how to "domesticate" consumer security cameras by severing their cloud ties while keeping the high-quality hardware you love.
#656: When Open Hobbyists Meet Industry Standards
Herman and Corn dive into the shifting landscape of smart home protocols and why Ethernet coordinators are the future of home automation.
#649: The Ultimate Dashboard: DIY Information Radiators
Tired of expensive subscriptions and messy DIY screens? Discover the middle ground for the perfect home office information radiator.
#644: From USB to Bare Metal: Why GPIO Changes Everything
Discover how to use GPIO pins and breadboards to bridge the gap between software and the physical world in your smart home projects.
#594: Digital Dust: Can NFC Tags Survive for Decades?
Explore the science of NFC longevity, from EEPROM bitrot to physical durability, and learn how to future-proof your home inventory system.
#577: The Shadow City: Why Sewers Are Civilization's Last Frontier
Explore the hidden world of urban infrastructure, from Victorian brickwork to AI-powered robots and the battle against the "fatberg."
#461: DIY vs. Pro: Is Your Smart Home Actually Secure?
Explore whether DIY smart home setups can truly replace professional security systems in this deep dive into hardware, reliability, and redundancy.
#455: When Your Neighbor's Fire Is Your Fire
From smart sensors to the "tipping" trick for extinguishers, Herman and Corn break down how to survive a fire in a modern apartment building.
#454: When 1950s Wiring Meets 2026 Life
Tired of the power tripping when you make toast? Herman and Corn explain the "16-amp ceiling" and how to modernize Israeli apartment wiring.
#449: Why Your Tape Fails: The Physics of Structural Bonding
Discover how the industrial-grade science behind the Burj Khalifa can help you mount heavy gear without losing your security deposit.