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Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
171–180 of 264 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
I FFT incoming sound buffers, and if the 2KHz band is the highest for a suitable number of consecutive frames, then I send the email and stop listening for a few minutes to avoid double notifications. 2KHz is the frequency of my machine's beep. Just triggering on overall noise level alone would notify me each time the machine goes into spin, but using the FFT allows it to be more discerning. (I'll try to publish the…
I'd appreciate seeing your code for this - I've intended to write a similar app for listening to an old alarm system I have.
I've now put it on GitHub: https://github.com/martin-stone/AndroidAudioNotifier
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hacked together an Android app specifically for the purpose, so it doesn't really answer the original question about generally available projects. (I haven't got round to releasing the code as it's rather bespoke, but could do if you're interested.)
this would be very interesting!
Code is now on GitHub here: https://github.com/martin-stone/AndroidAudioNotifier
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#174Q: are there any uses for old Core 2 desktops without onboard GPU that consume ~200W when idle? I'm wondering if I should just trash my old desktop, especially if it'll be cheaper in the long term to get something more power-efficient.
You could always use it as a stylish space heater..
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#175In an attempt to be more present with one another away from our phooes, my partner and I have (ironically) started using old phones as single-app devices.
For example: we have a "spotiphone" which is an old iPhone with a shattered camera that has only Spotify installed that we use in our bedroom to control music/podcasts. Similar thing for where my partner meditates (but it's an old iPod touch).
Our real phones are usually left by the door when we come home.
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#176Not very creative: I use my older phone to read books in the hot tub. This way, if I drop it, I don't loose my fancy new expensive phone.
Be very careful when using a phone with wet hands. It can make unexpected presses when droplets get on the phone and, say, make an unexpected emergency call.
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#177Old phones make for rather good CCTV/surveillance cameras. Anything made in the past 4-6 years will have great picture quality (during the day, mostly), Internet connectivity, alarm features, motion sensing, even object recognition.
What software do you use to turn a phone into a surveillance camera?
Snowden's Haven app: https://www.rt.com/news/414026-edward-snowden-privacy-app-ha...
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
What software do you use to turn a phone into a surveillance camera?
Snowden's Haven app: https://www.rt.com/news/414026-edward-snowden-privacy-app-ha...
Ah, thanks. I tried this on an old Android phone but it was unusable. Perhaps I'll have better luck with it when my Apple hardware ages out.
Re: Ask HN: What are some interesting projects to reuse your old devices?
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
What software do you use?
I hacked together an Android app specifically for the purpose, so it doesn't really answer the original question about generally available projects. (I haven't got round to releasing the code as it's rather bespoke, but could do if you're interested.)
Thanks for sharing the code.
Perhaps someone (with more patience than I for Android/Kotlin development) can tweak it so that is can listen for knocking on a door to trigger some sort of alert (email/txt/broadcast an intent).
Triggering an intent would be very helpful as then it could then be acted upon by Tasker or Automagic4Android.