Blog Archives

Home automation tips for new construction projects

A few months back, reader Billy wrote: We’re building a new house, and what better way to get in when you have all the walls open to begin with. I was wondering if you had any recommendations? Maybe you could

Posted by Matt Chiste
November 15

The Echo Dot is another winner from Amazon!

Wow. You guys know about my love of Amazon’s Echo, my forays into developing Alexa skills, the thrill of trying out the ISY-994i integration the first time, and even the warnings about the placement of the Echo. The Amazon Echo

Posted by Matt Chiste
April 23

Tivo Bolt’s skip feature is awesome

Hi, my name’s Matt and I loath commercials. Care to join my Commercial Hater’s Anonymous group (CHA!)? Then check out the Tivo Bolt. I’ve been a Tivo guy for years now, but recently upgraded to the Tivo Bolt – and

Posted by Matt Chiste
April 15

Wall-mounting a photo frame powered with custom-made USB cable

Table-top photo frames based on Android are great and all, and I’ve already covered a wall-mounted frame which is powered through existing low-voltage lines, but I wanted to replace that old photo frame with my new Lenovo Tablet for not

Posted by Matt Chiste
March 30

Setting up a family-friendly photo frame with online sharing

For Christmas last year I wanted to get a digital photo frame for some family members that would allow us to share pictures between us and have the pictures automatically update over time. I had already wired up a wall-mounted

Posted by Matt Chiste
March 26

Installing a wall-mounted projector

The family room now has in-wall speakers powered by an HDMI audio extractor and small amplifier, and now it’s time to set up the video component: an Epson PowerLite Projector. I liked this particular projector because it’s capable of 1080p

Posted by Matt Chiste
March 10

Power in-wall speakers with an HDMI audio extractor and cheap amplifier

Remember those in-wall speakers we mounted a while back? Well, now we’re going to need to power those things, and all we have for the source audio is the HDMI output coming from our HDMI matrix. So, we need two

Posted by Matt Chiste
February 27
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