Cocodapuf

There could be money involved...

Look, I'll be honest with you, I've never built a dehumidifier (I'm sure you're shocked). I don't know what exact components tend to be used. What I do know is that I have a fairly new dehumidifier and we have another one from probably the early 80s. Somehow they both work. Again, I'm not sure what components were used in the older model, but given the age I'd be very surprised if the electronics it uses would be more expensive to manufacture than the newer one.

Really, I think the idea I'm trying to get across is just that you can always aim lower. Sometimes the goal isn't achieving perfect precision, but rather achieving something good enough. Take toasters for example, most toasters don't have a timer at all. They have a little piece of metal almost touching a contact. When you turn the toaster on, that metal heats up and it bends until it touches that contact, ding toast is done. And when you turn the little dial from light to dark it just moves that piece of metal slightly further from the contact. My point is, it's not exact, it won't be the same on every toaster, and it will probably shift over time. It's a low tech solution for something that could absolutely be done in a more modern, more precise, and still inexpensive way (a simple timer). But it's cheaper and simpler to just do it the old way, and for many applications, that's fine.

Hell, I'm certain there are dehumidifiers on the market that don't have any kind of humidity sensor at all. Even simpler...

Honestly, having any of these vulnerable devices on your network is exposing your whole network, assuming the network is connected to the web.

Your best off using either a separate network for your smart devices with its own router, or setting up a vlan to keep your smart appliances and actual computers separate.

Now you're getting it!

It's likely that the cheapest way to design and build a dehumidifier these days will already include a microcontroller interpreting results from a digital hygrometer because these components are cheap and easier to work with than purely electronic/electromechanical designs with no microcontroller.

Well this part is definitely not true. A microcontroller and Wi-Fi chip are definitely more expensive than a wire, a variable resistor and a knob, which is all a purely electro-mechanical system would need in addition to the hydrometer.

The fancy digital version wouldn't be a lot more expensive, but it certainly wouldn't be the cheapest way to go.

That said, I think you're right that most companies will opt to go the fancy digital route to try to sell a "smart" product with more features. But then I expect there will also always be companies that manufacture simpler, cheaper products as well.

Well it's a **de-**humidifier. You need to lug water from it. For the dehumidifier in my basement, we have it hooked up to a hose that takes the water right down the drain.

But I do take your point, it is pretty funny.

but a microcontroller with WiFi like the ESP8266 or ESP32-C3 costs less than an accurate hygrometer chip

Ok, two things.

First, the cost of the Wi-Fi chip is clearly not the issue here. The real expense/concern is the effort and software mechanisms needed to secure that network connection. Connecting to the Internet is easy, securing that connected device is hard.

Secondly, at some point you still need the hygrometer, there's no way around that. Either your dehumidifier is tracking humidity, or your home automation system needs to track humidity. And you can't like... get that data from the web somehow, you need a local sensor, and it will generally only make sense to have it in the same room as the dehumidifier (meaning not necessarily where other smart home components are set up).

Eh, it's not the worst rule.

And blocked... What a douche.

A family that may not exist once the Nazis have carte blanche.

That word "may" is the weak point of the argument. In contrast, a family will not exist if they don't eat.

The fact is money is like oxygen it's how we sustain our lives. You may be familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, basic needs (the kind that money provides) are at the very base of the pyramid, the most important level. This Nazi takeover falls under the very next category, "safety and security" and it also effects some other tiers up top as well. So to be clear, I'm recognizing the importance of this issue, it's extremely important without a doubt. But the basic needs are still the basic needs.

With that in mind, I absolutely defend and support the strategy of participating in activism on the weekend and then going back to work on Monday. That is nothing but rational.

If you go home after one day then you achieve nothing.

This is just naive. Building something important takes time. You know that expression, Rome wasn't built in a day? Well that's barely even a metaphor here; if you want to build a new United States, a more functional, less corrupt US without all the fascism and corporate control, well that takes time. And again, in that time it takes to make those changes, you need to continue living, continue filling those basic needs.

I went to the no kings protest and honestly I think it was quite successful. It was a show of force, a demonstration of pure numbers. It was a good step, and more will be achieved.

Believe it or not, I have. Nothing to do with No Kings though

Hah. Yeah, I'm certain of it. It's pretty clear.

Showed up for one day, and then went back to work the next day

You'll find that many of those people still have a family to feed.

I see that you're still doing something useful though, whining on the Internet. So good on you.

Have you done any organizing for activist events? Because that would be useful.

I'm really happy to see a lot of the films on that list. I'm thrilled that Her and Adaptation made the cut. Eternal sunshine is in the top 10, right where it belongs. I'm pleasantly surprised that children of men made the cut, (I liked it a lot, but I didn't think it was groundbreaking or anything). Also great to see the dark knight made the list, it's easy to lump all superhero films together, but it really wasn't just another superhero film.

I'm also not at all surprised to see There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men in the top ten. But I have to be honest, I know they're critically acclaimed and much loved, but I just didn't like either of them. They were both grim and gritty, and that's part of the point I guess, but it made the films so unpleasant to watch. And with no country for old men, I truly never understood what the film was trying to say.