With Scrypted / Thingino up and stable, the next goal is to replace my janky garage door sensor with a camera-based sensor. With some luck, I can extend this to every camera in the house cheaper and more accurately than Frigate, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

1. What I have:

   • Wyze Cam v3
   • Scrypted
   • Thingino
   • HomeKit
   • RPI 4 that isn't melting

2. What I need:

   • A way to detect when the garage door is open or closed
   • A way to update MQTT with the state of the garage door
   • A way to update MQTT with the state of the car

So far: I've vibe coded up a script to use OVNIF Snapshot protocol to take a snapshot of the camera every 60 seconds.

• Wyze integrates and resells IoT cameras and devices for low capital cost, and has been under investor pressure to generate more monthly recurring revenue (missing source)
• In addition, your data goes to the Wyze Cloud Infra on AWS where mistakes have happened.
  • I'm not judging, but I am if you are walking around naked (or worse) in from of a wyze product.
• I'm not opposed to regularly paying Wyze for continuing to identify and bring promising solutions to the US from Shenzhen, BUT
  • I'm already paying Apple and Google - do I really need to pay wyze?
• Scrypted and Frigate started as open source Private IoT Camera management software - streaming on the local lan via ovnif
• They both work with the Wyze API, but Wyze recently change their firmware to force

NAT AT THE ROUTER FOOL (didn't work... why?)​

https://github.com/themactep/thingino-firmware/wiki/Ingenic-USB-Cloner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqStXVXOPWg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm4wze_HY78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJgadXkdwzw - Flashing Wyze CAm v3

Getting more private from Wyze:

• Battery Cam Protocol
• Non-Recent Cameras

Outstanding Details​

• Outstanding documentation Items
• Add more details about the network architecture
• Include diagrams and screenshots of the setup

This post will evolve to cover the basics of setting up a private home network between multiple locations using wireshark and ensuring that traffic follows the right path.

All routers are currently ubiquity, although they may be replaced with other more private brands should their be any issues with phone-home discovered.

Outstanding Details​

• Outstanding documentation Items
• Add more details about the network architecture
• Include diagrams and screenshots of the setup

School-issued Chromebooks present unique challenges for parents trying to manage screen time and content access at home. In this post, I'll share how I tackled a persistent problem: a school Chromebook that bypassed our home network controls and allowed unrestricted video streaming despite our best efforts.

The Problem: School Devices with Their Own Rules​

Many schools now provide Chromebooks for students to use both in class and at home. While these devices offer valuable educational benefits, they come with an unexpected challenge for parents trying to maintain healthy digital boundaries at home.

School-issued Chromebooks are typically configured with enterprise management tools that enforce the school's policies - including their internet filtering system. Products like Lightspeed filter proxy initial connection requests through school servers, effectively bypassing any local DNS or content filtering you might have configured on your home network.

To complicate matters further, tech-savvy students quickly discover proxy websites and workarounds that circumvent even the school's filtering systems. In our household, this meant homework time was regularly derailed by YouTube videos, despite our network-level content restrictions that worked perfectly on other devices.

Respect to the makers and tinkers working to make Technology free and private.

The focus of this stack are for the class of IT worker with less time to understand the beauty of the low-level implementation than the smart-home-function they would like to accomplish. Over the course of 2022, the goal is to publish blueprints of “How I did that?” with the goal to incorporate a “Hey Jimmy” home assistant.

For the Electricians and hobbyists that are looking to differentiate themselves in the market, we offer training and support on how to choose, configure, install and support smart home technology.