I didn’t ponder it when setting the cameras up, but after writing these posts I was planning to do just that when I’m back at home.

Yeah and it’s not clear where Perplexity pulled that part from.

Intriguing question, I was curious if there were actually options, so asked Perplexity (ai search that provides sources, see link at bottom). Unfortunately, nothing terribly definitive other than Italy, possibly.

While truly anonymous genetic testing is challenging, there are some options outside the US that aim to provide more privacy-focused services:

• In Canada, the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act prohibits anyone from collecting, using, or disclosing genetic test results without written consent. This gives Canadians more control over their genetic information
• Some European companies offer more privacy-oriented testing options. For example, DANTE Labs in Italy emphasizes data protection and allows customers to delete their data at any time
• In the UK, Genomics England runs the 100,000 Genomes Project with strict privacy controls. While not a consumer service, it demonstrates stronger privacy practices.
• Australian company myDNA focuses on pharmacogenomics testing with an emphasis on data privacy and security.
• Swiss company Gene By Gene offers DNA testing with data storage in Switzerland, known for strong privacy laws. However, it’s important to note that no genetic test can be truly anonymous, as DNA is inherently identifiable. To maximize privacy:
• Use a pseudonym and temporary email when ordering
• Pay with a prepaid card
• Avoid linking results to other accounts or sharing on social media
• Carefully read privacy policies and opt out of research/data sharing where possible

Ultimately, genetic privacy requires careful consideration of the risks and benefits, regardless of the testing company’s location.

Source

Yep, Reolink cams can be fully local only and still work fine.

Yep, but the method is separate from HA. Could do it two ways, I use Pi-hole so that it’s still able to contact the NTP server (could also set the time server to something local through the desktop app, I believe) but block all other external traffic, or you can block external access through your router firewall. I noticed the time would occasionally be inaccurate if I had blocked all internet access.

Either way you can use a VPN or other tunnel service to access while you’re away from home. I use WG-tunnel on my phone to auto connect to VPN when I disconnect from my home network, it’s quite handy.

I have the Reolink doorbell, among a couple other Reolink cams. It integrates very nicely with HA. I have it set up for essentially what you’re looking for, audio/video feed, notifications with an image attached when the bell is rung (also motion detection notification from another cam, but could do the doorbell too), and the ability to have it play quick reply messages, including custom ones.

I believe you can have the two way audio in HA as well, but I haven’t explored it. The Reolink app has this functionality if I really need it, but haven’t come across an instance where I needed to use it.

You should be able to do all this with just the Reolink integration.

Seems to be the latter.

A mall that’s only random clothes, shoes, and jewellery stores surrounded by an ocean of parking lot is very unattractive.

As you say, a mall with actually useful stores, like grocery, pharmacy, perhaps a restaurant or two (not chain fast food), etc, with residential units on top or very close to constitutes more of a community than a mall and is very likely to be sustainable versus the former.

Too bad the TV broadcasts rarely show when anyone runs on to the field.

Nice, I have much the same setup in my house!

I visited the recently Passive House certified student residence buildings at the University of Victoria, and the heat recovery there is quite interesting. Passive House requires a very low heating load, so they recover all the heat they can from the commercial kitchen (the presence of which is rare in a Passive House because of high ventilation requirements) processes such as ventilation hoods and refrigeration systems and put it into the DHW system.

They had to get a bit creative with the design, but it’s really not that complicated. More just not doing things the way they’ve always been done.

I think there’s a lot of opportunity for reducing wasted energy in many buildings. Even the term “waste heat” is indicative that energy is typically exhausted when it could be used for space or water heating. Obviously mechanical modifications would be needed, sometimes extensive, but it’s a good option for reducing energy use.

“Ground, it’s Fred. Off to work. Request taxi to the road.”

“Fred, Ground, roger. Taxi bravo three, left on Juliet, cross runway 34 right, right on foxtrot to the gate. I’ll let security know you’re on the way. Have a good day.”

It starts early in the design process. But at that stage, it would be best to pause installation, have a mechanical engineer do the mechanical design (including equipment selection) based on an energy model and install the recommended equipment.

I work in building science. It’s obscene how little actual design and quality control goes into residential homes.

The typical design is just one step above being illegal, and people are often scared off of doing anything more than that by the threat of increased cost. However, they don’t realize that they pay for it either way; either on their mortgage, or on utilities. Only one of those you can actually own in the end.

I was going to also post the direct AMA link, but the OP is a nice concise summary of many of the key discussions, provided without having to go to that site. I’d recommend reading that instead and follow links as you see fit.

Sorry, four of the power to ethernet plugs. You put one near your router to essentially supply internet to your house’s electrical circuits, then distribute the others where you need them, such as office, living room if you want to connect a TV or console, etc.

I had a set of four for getting ethernet around the few places I rented. There was maybe the odd quality decrease when there was a lot of electrical load, but they worked great otherwise.

Politicians can’t get their back pats if there’s no one to pat their backs.

Yeah, I use a hop spider and whirlfloc with the whirlpool arm to limit the solids transferred and it works quite well.

You should be able to get a bit more volume if you transfer using the pump instead of the spigot. Not a whole lot but makes a difference on the lower volume brews. You can even tilt it a bit toward the pump inlet to get the last little bit out.