Always looking on the bright side of life
This post describes how to use Homebridge and Home Assistant to extend Apple HomeKit to enable it to support complex automations using motion sensors and switches. These automations create powerful solutions to address security and safety problems in the home. Continue reading “Using Smart Lighting and Motion Sensors to improve safety and security”
If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know that I’ve been trying to automate the Skype Solution for the Elderly that I’ve been building for my elderly mother who has Alzheimers. I want to be able to call her from my own home using Skype and a Mini PC installed in her house will automatically answer the call and switch my mother’s television to the correct HDMI input so that she can see and hear me. Continue reading “Home Assistant and Harmony Hub – the ultimate Skype Solution for the Elderly?”
I recently wrote a post about a trial to automate the Skype Solution for the Elderly that I was building. My aim was to find a solution that enabled a person to make a Skype call to an elderly relative and remotely control their television to play the audio and display the video. The trial was very successful and worked brilliantly for me with my mother who has Alzheimers. However, Continue reading “Automating Skype for the Elderly using Harmony Hub and IFTTT”
I’ve just been forced to replace a 5 ½ year old 40″ Samsung LED Smart TV as it had decided not to work any longer. Should I upgrade to Ultra HD 4K? I hadn’t planned on upgrading it yet, as I had expected it to provide a few more years of excellent service. Even though the picture seemed to be as good as it was on the day that I first owned it, it wouldn’t boot up! Continue reading “Is now the time to upgrade your television to Ultra HD 4K?”
The LifeGray blog is now registered on Bloglovin. Continue reading “Follow LifeGray on Bloglovin”
This post discusses a potential solution that provides Skype for the elderly and anyone else who wishes to maintain their independence once they start to lose their mobility. For this group of people it is vital that they engage with their family and friends wherever they are in the world. Continue reading “Skype for the Elderly | Solving the Problem”
I’ve been gradually adding smart technology to our home over the last few years. This has been driven mainly by a desire to improve the comfort and security of its occupants. However, I’ve also managed to reduce the gas and electricity bills in the process. This is my first post describing the smart home technologies I have implemented so far and focuses on Smart Heating Control. Continue reading “My Smart Home – Smart Heating Control”
Have you fallen into the trap of allowing your insurance company to auto renew your policies? I did and I ended up paying hundreds of pounds more a year to insure our house and two cars. Like many others I liked the fact that the hassle of checking the market had been removed and I was confident I was being looked after. How wrong can you be! Continue reading “Turn off Insurance Auto-Renewal Now!”
I recently switched my broadband supplier from Sky Fibre to BT Infinity 1. I now get 51Mbps downloads coming into the house and 10Mbps upstream. As BT streams its premium TV channels over the internet, I decided to do everything possible to make sure the maximum download speed is available to every device in the house. I would also like to be well positioned to take advantage of 4K (Ultra HD) broadcasts when I upgrade my television equipment. Continue reading “Using Powerline Networking to Optimise Home Broadband and WiFi Performance”
I was recently asked to help solve a problem of printing web browser-based email from an iPad when I stumbled over what must be a common problem for a lot people. That is keeping emails, contacts and calendars in sync between Windows, iOS and Android devices. I was also surprised to find that Microsoft Outlook provided a really elegant solution to the problem of accessing Apple iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts on a Samsung Galaxy S6 running Android 6.0.1. Continue reading “Syncing iCloud Mail, Calendar and Contacts on Android using Outlook”