Hearth - a room thermostat for Daikin, Amana, and Goodman

For years, we had a Nest and loved it. Then we put in a new HVAC system from Amana. And, the system itself … it’s amazing and we love it too … the catch is, the system vendor locks you into using their own app for the thermostat. The Skyport app. And, well, put bluntly … it sucks. Not just as a thermostat app, but it lacks the ability to add additional sensors and set up room following, among many other things. ...

October 13, 2026 · 3 min · Alex Laird

amazon-orders for Python

amazon-orders is an unofficial library that provides a Python API (and CLI) for Amazon order history, line items, and transactions. Note: This package works by parsing data from Amazon’s consumer-facing website. A periodic build validates functionality to ensure its stability, but as Amazon provides no official API to use, older versions of this package may break at any time, so it’s recommended that you use the latest version. ...

January 31, 2024 · 3 min · Alex Laird

java-ngrok - a Java wrapper for ngrok

java-ngrok is a Java wrapper for ngrok that manages its own binary, making ngrok available via a convenient Java API. ngrok is a reverse proxy that opens secure tunnels from public URLs to localhost. It’s perfect for rapid development (test webhooks, demo local websites, enable SSH access), establishing ingress to external networks and devices, building production APIs (traffic policies, OAuth, load balancing), and more. And it’s made even more powerful with native Java integration through the java-ngrok client. ...

August 27, 2021 · 3 min · Alex Laird

hookee - command line webhooks, on demand

hookee is a utility that provides command line webhooks, on demand! Dump useful request data to the console, process requests and responses, customize response data, and configure hookee and its routes further in any number of ways through custom plugins. Installation hookee is available on PyPI and can be installed using pip: pip install hookee or conda: ...

September 12, 2020 · 2 min · Alex Laird

pyngrok - a Python wrapper for ngrok

pyngrok is a Python wrapper for ngrok that manages its own binary, making ngrok available via a convenient Python API and the command line. ngrok is a reverse proxy that opens secure tunnels from public URLs to localhost. It’s perfect for rapid development (test webhooks, demo local websites, enable SSH access), establishing ingress to external networks and devices, building production APIs (traffic policies, OAuth, load balancing), and more. And it’s made even more powerful with native Python integration through the pyngrok client. ...

January 21, 2019 · 3 min · Alex Laird

Twilio-Powered Air Quality Texting Service

With wildfire season upon us, use this handy texting tool to find out what the air quality is in your area. Simply text your zip code to (415) 212-4229 for air quality updates. You can also add “map” to the text to be sent an image of your region. This service isn’t just useful for individuals with limited access to smartphones or the Internet. It also alleviates the load put on air quality sites like AirNow, which are often overloaded and unavailable during wildfire season due to the spike in traffic. Texting this number instead is a great way to get the same information without bogging down those sites, helping them to stay up for others who need to access them. ...

November 15, 2018 · 1 min · Alex Laird

Alex and Jess Are Raising Our Future

“Talk is cheap.” That’s what we say. And, to a degree, it’s true. But bear this in mind: all action is precipitated by talk. People will often try to silence your voice expressly for that reason — because they know it will lead to action. In the age where hating on millennials is trendy, dismissing the value of social media is equally in vogue — there’s a correlation there, but that’s another post for another time. But like any form of communication, it has its pros and cons, and you get out of it what you put into it. ...

July 26, 2017 · 2 min · Alex Laird

Django Dropzone Uploader

Ever been on a trip and, upon return, needed a quick and easy way for all your friends to send you their pictures and videos without burning CDs, sending massive emails, or using third-party services? Or, maybe a better question, ever wondered how to construct a basic Django application with Amazon’s web services, for instance S3? Look no further. Below is the basic code for a drag-and-drop Django web application that allows users to upload files directly to an Amazon S3 bucket. ...

November 21, 2014 · 3 min · Alex Laird

DD-WRT NAT Loopback Issue

NAT loopback is what your router performs when you try to access your external IP address from within your LAN. For instance, say your router forwards port 80 to a web server on your LAN. From an outside network, you could simply visit your external IP address from a browser to access the web server. Internally, if NAT loopback is disabled or blocked, you would not be able to access this the same way. ...

April 23, 2013 · 3 min · Alex Laird

DD-WRT Guest Wireless

If you’ve done any amount of work with routers, you know that it doesn’t take long to start craving consistency. And more advanced functionality that the cheap home interfaces simply don’t grant you. This is the point where you usually break down and start researching things like Tomato, OpenWrt, and DD-WRT, just to name a few of the more popular alternatives. These alternate firmwares don’t just provide a consistent administrative experience across all compatible models and brands, they also turn a cheap home router into a flexible and competitive enterprise router. ...

March 23, 2013 · 6 min · Alex Laird