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Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

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Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#341

Post by beervirus »

tzs wrote: post #314
beervirus wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I only put the actual temperature sensor inside. Ran some thin wires out to the pi under the door gasket.

I too have an RPi logging fridge/freezer temperature, but wirelessly. I use this wireless fridge/freezer thermometer [1]. The units that go in the fridge and freezer communicate with the display unit via 433 MHz RF. I have an RTL-SDR [2] on the RPi. I run rtl_433 [3] on the RPi. rtl_433 understands the protocols of a large number of wireless sensors, including the ones used by those AcuRite sensors. I've got it confi…

Yikes. All unencrypted I assume?

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#342

Post by pvaldes »

horsawlarway wrote: post #313
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds suspicious. By any chance, were they making ongoing revenue from you using the device? I am not justifying that kind of harassment. It's out of line, whether they're making money from you using it or not. But it's more understandable if they want you to keep using it so that they keep getting paid.

My best understanding is that if patients use insurance to pay for the device/visits, payment to the Drs office is predicated on the patient following the prescribed treatment. In our case, we actually bought the cpap out of pocket. But because this is unusual (It cost us about 800 dollars) the doctor we went to pays a company that does treatment monitoring. This company is paid based on the number of patients that a…

Looks a lot like an octo telematics device spying your activity when you drive your own car.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#343

Post by genewitch »

antoinealb wrote: post #126
em-bee wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

our freezer does that, every time after you open it, it somehow reduces the pressure (maybe it tries to suck out the warm air) making the door hard to open.

I think it is simply that cooling a gas will reduce its pressure if you maintain constant volume (Ideal gas law). So when you open the door you warmup the air inside, and when it cools down once to door is locked, the pressure is lower, locking the door. Then small leaks will equalize the pressure.

My side by side actually runs some pump that is not the compressor when you close the door. It runs for about 5 seconds, after which the doors are quite difficult to open. Air does not change temperature that fast without being forced to, so the idea that within 10 seconds it's harder to open because of a natural vacuum seems suspect.

Maybe 5 minutes after?

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#344

Post by caymanjim »

xenocyon wrote: post #264
caymanjim wrote: post #140

I have a semi-related anecdote about surprises from devices. I use a CPAP. After a year, I went back to the doctor for a followup, and was asked to bring the SD card so they could review the data it collects. The device records the times and duration of use, various settings, and some metrics on breathing (apnea events, etc). I knew it recorded this stuff on an SD card. I brought the card to the appointment, but the…

I have a CPAP machine. Your doctor is telling the truth. If insurance is involved (even if it's a high-deductible plan and you haven't hit the deductible), they typically require the data verifying usage. You're directing blame at the doctor, but it's the insurance company making the rules, not the doctor.

I didn't direct any blame at anyone, although I do think the equipment provider was negligent in not explicitly making me aware of the modem. And there was no insurance involvement. I paid cash for the doctor and I paid cash for the CPAP. I could have reported it to my insurer so that it would have come off my deductible, but I didn't (mostly because I'm lazy, but also in large part because I only have insurance for something like cancer that would bankrupt me). I told my new doctor I didn't want a modem in the replacement CPAP and told her why, and was surprised that she really didn't seem to get it.

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#345

Post by genewitch »

greenshackle2 wrote: post #298
TeMPOraL wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it powered off AAs? Rechargeable batteries have lower voltage than non-rechargeable ones[0], so maybe the module is a bit oversensitive when trying to guess the battery is about to die. -- [0] - With batteries I have around the house, it's 1.5V nominal voltage for typical non-rechargeable AA, vs. 1.2V for rechargeables.

However the voltage on alkaline batteries drops pretty linearly from 1.5v to 1.0v, while rechargeables maintain close to 1.2V for most of their discharge, then drops off quickly: https://www.boat-project.com/tutorials/aa_batteries.htm That's why rechargeables work in most devices, since alkalines are 1.2v or below for a good chunk of their useful life anyway, most devices are designed to work fine with 1.2v. If a dev…

Aren't all the lithium batteries of the sort you're talking about labelled as 3v? A lithium cell would need a buck circuit to do 1.5v

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#346

Post by 29083011397778 »

teekert wrote: post #2

It should also have an arm on the door to slap your hand when you open it for the 41st time in a day. I mean, that's insane, you deserve a slap. Btw, this reminds me a bit of my parent's Renault that would tell me every damn time I started it to follow traffic regulations. I wish I could slap that car and it would feel it. And then there's my father-in-law's Mazda, which has a GPS system that sometimes finds him 200…

> my father-in-law's Mazda... the touch screen doesn't work while driving

Sounds like it's an older model, and I can tell you from personal experience Mazda, at least, has learned from their mistakes (regarding touchscreens). I know the 2020 models, and I believe much earlier, have all gone back to physical, tactile buttons. Real buttons, not Volkswagon's stupid, stupid capacitive buttons. Watching Jason Camisa dunk on VW's UX was an exercise in vindication for having avoided that horseshit [0].

They are clicky, settings are remembered, and it does what you tell it to do. Frankly, that's all it took for me to insist our new car be a Mazda. And while I apologize for the rant, finding a new car that doesn't tell you to use a touchsceen at 110km/h is far harder than it should be - and what a sad state of affairs that is.

[0] https://youtu.be/XGbPHp6QfkQ

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#347

Post by bmn__ »

mook wrote: post #244
PrivateButts wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was told about the cellular connection by my respiratory therapist. Mine even has an app that has achievements for proper and continuous usage. It also goes into pretty good detail about what you're screwing up if you aren't getting good mask seal. Even got a call from my therapist after two weeks following up with me about the data he received. AFAIK this is what home medical equipment seems to be moving too. My d…

> I'd be very interested in learning what it's collecting, and maybe someone living in a area with laws allowing users to request their data should follow up with them. Depending on the model, OSCAR might support your machine: https://www.sleepfiles.com/OSCAR/ — it's been on HN before I believe.

> it's been on HN before

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22685537

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#348

Post by [deleted] »

chuckee wrote: post #296
mcguire wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are your qualifications for fiddling with medical equipment?

Firstly, the device was apparently made to be adjusted. A single set of settings is not comfortable for all users, and the manufacturer recognized this. Secondly, that's the wrong question entirely. People have a right to decide their own medical treatment (or refuse it entirely), and that right must not be circumvented with legal or technical means.

[deleted]

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#349

Post by genewitch »

beervirus wrote: post #341
tzs wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too have an RPi logging fridge/freezer temperature, but wirelessly. I use this wireless fridge/freezer thermometer [1]. The units that go in the fridge and freezer communicate with the display unit via 433 MHz RF. I have an RTL-SDR [2] on the RPi. I run rtl_433 [3] on the RPi. rtl_433 understands the protocols of a large number of wireless sensors, including the ones used by those AcuRite sensors. I've got it confi…

Yikes. All unencrypted I assume?

It's in an ISM band, I can't remember the rules, I think encryption is allowed (like, WPA) but for thermometers and stuff why bother? 99% of 433mhz (and 800/900 mhz) stuff is unidirectional (sensor to sensee), so where's the harm in some 100mW transmitter?

Re: Our fridge just emailed us to say we opened its door too many times

#350

Post by nescioquid »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #323
matheusmoreira wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> maximizing insurance based revenue That seems to be the state of US healthcare unfortunately. What used to be an ethical doctor-pactient relationship has turned into a doctor-insurance-patient monstrosity. Doctors actually have limited autonomy. They can't always do what's best for the patient, only what the insurance company agrees with.

The patient and doctor are free to negotiate a deal that avoids third parties such as the insurance company. The patient chooses to hire an insurance company (better labeled a "managed care organization") to manage their care, because they do not know what they are buying, or how much it should cost. >They can't always do what's best for the patient, only what the insurance company agrees with. Because that is what t…

>> They can't always do what's best for the patient, only what the insurance company agrees with.

> Because that is what the patient can afford.

What is the point of paying for insurance, then? Nothing legitimizes for-profit insurance companies having any role or prerogative in health care, other than the status quo.

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