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Welcome to the world of tomorrow - smart devices


Onyx2

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I got my free Google hub last weekend and after some brief fucking around, it's mainly become the living room equivalent of what Alexa is to my office; a  lovely Spotify speaker that can answer silly questions. Although the shopping list stuff and the ability to sync up to PodCast Addict make it slightly better. 

Also, make sure you use the that handy mute switch when you aren't using it. It's pretty good at easing my fears of them secretly listening into every boring conversation in the house.

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I hope this is the best place for this (as to me this is the cutting edge of technology)

The Logitech Spotlight Presentation Remote that lets you zoom, focus et al on PowerPoint, does it need software downloads?

I'm getting conflicting information from Google and this place is always my fallback.

How I ever ended up in an IT department I'll never know.

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7 hours ago, Tommy! said:

The Logitech Spotlight Presentation Remote that lets you zoom, focus et al on PowerPoint, does it need software downloads?

I've never heard of it. From the Amazon product Q&A:

Q: Can I use the Spotlight without Presentation software?

A: Yes, you’ll be able to navigate your slides and move the cursor. Functionality is plug & play: You can move the cursor and click on links or videos. However, in order to use the advanced Spotlight highlights you need to install the Logitech App.

I would say for zoom you need software. 

 

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Two and a half years on and I have even more smart devices in my home: doorbell, thermostat, 4 minis, 1 max, smart sockets. Google knows literally everything about my family now.

But I have a niche scenario I can't work out that should have a really simple solution: I want an action to happen based on the temperature reported by my Nest thermostat. Specifically I want a smart plug to turn on and off based on the temperature inside the house.

I can get it to change based on the external temp, but inside seems massively complex. Nest used to integrate with IFTTT, but they parted ways. Every time I Google it (learning yet more about me) I found increasingly more expensive solutions.

Anyone else fixed this very first world problem?

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Not really on topic for this thread, but I was hoping one of you technology people can help me.

 

Do you know any alternative phrases for the process or ripping or copying all the images from a website?

 

I used to use a site many years ago that was full of galleries ripped from other pages or you could paste a URL and it would get all the pictures for you. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the site, but know it was partially named after the process. Thanks!

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Don't know whether to ask this hear, or start another thread. My chromebook finally died this morning after about 6 years' service. I'm hunting for a new one, but also pondering whether I'd be able to get my paws on a Windows laptop to try and install steam for some other gaming activity. I have a budget, however, of only £300. I'm not looking for bleeding edge technology. 

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On 27/01/2021 at 4:54 PM, KRS said:

Not really on topic for this thread, but I was hoping one of you technology people can help me.

 

Do you know any alternative phrases for the process or ripping or copying all the images from a website?

 

I used to use a site many years ago that was full of galleries ripped from other pages or you could paste a URL and it would get all the pictures for you. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the site, but know it was partially named after the process. Thanks!

The technology is called scraping. Don't know of any current tools but I'm sure there's millions out there.

@jazzygeofferz £300 is the perfect budget to get a laptop which will just about run Steam, providing what you run on Steam isn't too taxing. The laptop will be competent but not exciting so as long as you want it for browsing, Office, casual games and basic stuff. 

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I generally use my chromebook for YouTube and watching streaming services, which is why I've been getting along just fine with a chromebook. I've seen a laptop with 4gb of ram and a 500tb hard drive which looks tempting, but almost everything is out of stock at the moment. Mind you I do need to try and sort out the desktop pc my work donated to me. I was going to try and hook it up to my TV. 

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I'm looking at getting a smart light bulb (which I never thought I'd buy) but am aware that WiFi isn't particularly safe as people can use it to then hack into other devices. I've seen some now that can connect by Bluetooth. Would there be security issues connecting this way?

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Bluetooth is more secure due to the requirement for physical proximity. However, what you should really be doing is setting up a separate Guest network up on your router for all your smart devices to run off that Wi-Fi, and then keep all your personal devices on your main network. 

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