6 ms·

Agreed. I'll add to that a healthy application of the Principle of Least Astonishment. If you have a light, there should be an obvious light switch nearby tha

by luma 5y ago

Agreed. I'll add to that a healthy application of the Principle of Least Astonishment. If you have a light, there should be an obvious light switch nearby that turns the light on and off, and does so even if your home automation system is offline for whatever reason. "Smart" devices should, wherever possible, function as dumb devices if for whatever reason they can't be smart. There are a whole lot of devices that simply become bricks.

mikepurvis 5y ago
"An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience."
- wlesieutre 5y ago
  I know it’s a joke but if the failure mode is “brakes don’t work” on an escalator full of people, it is much worse than stairs
  - mikepurvis 5y ago
    Very true— I would definitely imagine that escalator brakes are a thing that fail closed in the absence of power, but clearly there are failure modes (probably a rare confluence of multiple concurrent failures) where this kind of thing can happen, such as that incident in Rome in 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1SjQfwLieU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1SjQfwLieU
    - wlesieutre 5y ago
      Another in China in 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADb57ysvCbU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADb57ysvCbU https://coconuts.co/hongkong/news/engineer-gets-2-months-in-jail-following-escalator-incident/ https://coconuts.co/hongkong/news/engineer-gets-2-months-in-... (misleading URL, actually suspended sentence) Rather that than an falling elevator, but it still doesn't look fun
khimaros 5y ago
Rhasspy is an easy to use open source, fully offline, suite for this with wake word detection and integration with home assistant.
- rkeene2 5y ago
  I've never understood the desire to control systems by speaking to them in code words. Speaking monopolizes a shared channel, requires diverting your conversation, and is really slow. For practically anything that involves using code words to tell the computer what to do there are better input methods, like physical switches, or purely automated. This is slightly off-topic, but in your opinion what are some of the reasons people prefer to use voice input with code words over the other options ?
  - zentiggr 5y ago
    If I'm curled up comfortably with my SO, and don't want to take ten minutes of unwinding, doing whatever, then tucking back up together...
    - rkeene2 5y ago
      It seems like in that case a remote control could be placed nearby -- are you also using voice activated code words to control the television ?
      - 8note 5y ago
        Unless your SO is sitting on the remote
      - Semaphor 5y ago
        > are you also using voice activated code words to control the television ? I happen to have backed a Kickstarter that will hopefully enable me to do just that ;)
        5y ago

by luma 5y ago

mikepurvis 5y ago

"An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience."

wlesieutre 5y ago
I know it’s a joke but if the failure mode is “brakes don’t work” on an escalator full of people, it is much worse than stairs
- mikepurvis 5y ago
  Very true— I would definitely imagine that escalator brakes are a thing that fail closed in the absence of power, but clearly there are failure modes (probably a rare confluence of multiple concurrent failures) where this kind of thing can happen, such as that incident in Rome in 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1SjQfwLieU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1SjQfwLieU
  - wlesieutre 5y ago
    Another in China in 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADb57ysvCbU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADb57ysvCbU https://coconuts.co/hongkong/news/engineer-gets-2-months-in-jail-following-escalator-incident/ https://coconuts.co/hongkong/news/engineer-gets-2-months-in-... (misleading URL, actually suspended sentence) Rather that than an falling elevator, but it still doesn't look fun

khimaros 5y ago

Rhasspy is an easy to use open source, fully offline, suite for this with wake word detection and integration with home assistant.

rkeene2 5y ago
I've never understood the desire to control systems by speaking to them in code words. Speaking monopolizes a shared channel, requires diverting your conversation, and is really slow. For practically anything that involves using code words to tell the computer what to do there are better input methods, like physical switches, or purely automated. This is slightly off-topic, but in your opinion what are some of the reasons people prefer to use voice input with code words over the other options ?
- zentiggr 5y ago
  If I'm curled up comfortably with my SO, and don't want to take ten minutes of unwinding, doing whatever, then tucking back up together...
  - rkeene2 5y ago
    It seems like in that case a remote control could be placed nearby -- are you also using voice activated code words to control the television ?
    - 8note 5y ago
      Unless your SO is sitting on the remote
    - Semaphor 5y ago
      > are you also using voice activated code words to control the television ? I happen to have backed a Kickstarter that will hopefully enable me to do just that ;)
      - 5y ago