> Home Assistant already knows which bins (trash cans, for the international readers) are due for collection. [...] What it can’t tell me is whether I’ve actually done anything about it.
My first gut reaction to this was: Have you tried using a vision-language model?
I used to have an elaborate Home Assistant setup with tons of zigbee sensors here and there telling me if front door is not closed properly, if the rice cooker is left on (via current monitoring), if the garage door is left open (with a magnetic contact sensor), if window is left open, if the soil is dry, etc. I had to keep changing batteries of all these things and manage flaky Zigbee connections in the past.
More recently, I've found the absolute most reliable, ~zero-maintainence solution to be an LLM. Home Assistant already has an LLM plugin, you can wire it up to a local LLM if you want, and you can just feed it an image and ask "Is this garage door open or closed" and I found that to be much better for my sanity than changing batteries every 6 months and dealing with flaky sensors sending me false alerts.
I even found it useful for "Did the cat vomit on the floor" (if so notify me and pause the cleaning robot schedule) and "Do any plants look like they need attention"
For TFA's use case, if you already have a security camera facing front, you can just feed it that image and ask "Are the garbage bins out"
Also, if you're worried about cameras sending home images to the cloud, there are non-cloud options. (I use Unifi cameras and Home Assistant gets a RTSP stream over LAN.)
Honestly if I could figure out how to fix my problems in this area it would be worth my time, do you have any suggestions?
I don't have a problem with short or long term memory, in certain contexts. I can hold entire problem definitions and codebases in my head while working, but I often set down my keys on the way to pick up my water bottle and get to my car only to have no idea where they are. I can remember details of specifications, language features, video game mechanics, etc. for years, but often can't remember someone's name.
There's a whole cottage industry of social media telling me this is ADHD but I don't know if that's real or just for clicks, and if I can improve these issues.
> Honestly if I could figure out how to fix my problems in this area it would be worth my time, do you have any suggestions?
Many, having unfortunately been all the way at the worst-version of that – and figured out the way back.
No guarantees I can help, obviously, but this rhymes with the types of intermittency I dealt with (if you start going into rooms and forgetting what you went in for, that really sucks and is not “normal” - despite being common.)
Give a way to reach you?
If you’re motivated, you can probably optimize.
qurren · · focus · HN ↗
My first gut reaction to this was: Have you tried using a vision-language model?
I used to have an elaborate Home Assistant setup with tons of zigbee sensors here and there telling me if front door is not closed properly, if the rice cooker is left on (via current monitoring), if the garage door is left open (with a magnetic contact sensor), if window is left open, if the soil is dry, etc. I had to keep changing batteries of all these things and manage flaky Zigbee connections in the past.
More recently, I've found the absolute most reliable, ~zero-maintainence solution to be an LLM. Home Assistant already has an LLM plugin, you can wire it up to a local LLM if you want, and you can just feed it an image and ask "Is this garage door open or closed" and I found that to be much better for my sanity than changing batteries every 6 months and dealing with flaky sensors sending me false alerts.
I even found it useful for "Did the cat vomit on the floor" (if so notify me and pause the cleaning robot schedule) and "Do any plants look like they need attention"
For TFA's use case, if you already have a security camera facing front, you can just feed it that image and ask "Are the garbage bins out"
Also, if you're worried about cameras sending home images to the cloud, there are non-cloud options. (I use Unifi cameras and Home Assistant gets a RTSP stream over LAN.)
DANmode · · focus · HN ↗
why are so few hacking their cognitive abilities (basic short-term memory)?
zhivota · · focus · HN ↗
I don't have a problem with short or long term memory, in certain contexts. I can hold entire problem definitions and codebases in my head while working, but I often set down my keys on the way to pick up my water bottle and get to my car only to have no idea where they are. I can remember details of specifications, language features, video game mechanics, etc. for years, but often can't remember someone's name.
There's a whole cottage industry of social media telling me this is ADHD but I don't know if that's real or just for clicks, and if I can improve these issues.
DANmode · · focus · HN ↗
Many, having unfortunately been all the way at the worst-version of that – and figured out the way back.
No guarantees I can help, obviously, but this rhymes with the types of intermittency I dealt with (if you start going into rooms and forgetting what you went in for, that really sucks and is not “normal” - despite being common.)
Give a way to reach you? If you’re motivated, you can probably optimize.