Nimrod

I have a Shelly Dimmer2 flashed with Tasmota. It has two 'switch' inputs. I have the shelly installed behind a two-gang switch box with the two inputs connected to two different switches. But currently, if I flip either switch, the same light is flipped (the one connected to the output of the Shelly Dimmer)

I thought I could disconnect one of the switch inputs, and use it to send an MQTT message to a different light in my HA config. Effectively using one Shelly device to convert two 'dumb' switches into smart ones.

I have dug through the docs at Tasmota, and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Am I using the wrong keywords?

I recently installed Debian 12 using Xfce on my SUPER old chromebook to extend its life. Everything has been really nice so far. But I use the chromebook for browsing 90% of the time, so I like to have everything as easily operated as possible, and I am used to being able to navigate forward and back in the browser using two finger swipe gestures.
After some googling, I saw that the support for this just got added in Wayland environments. That implies that it already existed in X11 environments? After a while, I found that if you hold 'alt' you can use the swipe gestures. It defeats the purpose of gestures if you have to use both hands, so I was hoping there was a way to get this functionality back.

(Mozilla Firefox version = 115.6.0esr)

Background: I'm not "new" to linux, but this is my first year daily driving it. I have been running Mint on my main PC for a little over a year, and I love it.

My super old chromebook (Acer c720) has reached end of life. It is no longer supported by Google, and will not receive updates. I've toyed with dual-booting it to Linux in the past with Bodhi, but eventually it broke, and I ended up reverting to ChromeOS. That was years ago, and my patience/knowledge has grown, and I'm committed to switching.

So the other day I went ahead and pulled the trigger. I removed the write-protect screw from the Chromebook's motherboard, and installed Debian 12. I really just chose Debian because I already had a flash drive with the ISO on it for a different project (rooting my Dreame vacuum). It also runs GNOME by default, and I had never used that, so I thought it would be worth a try.
Turns out, I didn't mind GNOME, and I really loved the three-finger swipe to switch workspaces. BUT... The function keys on the chromebook that are used for changing the screen's brightness don't work. So I dove down the rabbit hole of trying to get those to work. Found 'xbacklight' and gave it a go. didn't work, and I struggled with it for a few hours until I discovered that xbacklight doesn't work with Wayland... So I attempted to disable wayland, and also made some other changes that lead to my Chromebook not completing its boot up... whoops. Every challenge is an opportunity, so I figured - why not explore some other distros, and see if I can't find one that fits my needs a bit better?

Now the request: The hardware of this machine is OLD, so I am hoping to put something super light on it, but still be able to have a few features:

1. Trackpad gestures (swapping workspaces, navigating firefox).
2. Window snapping (left and right panes at least)
3. I don't care too much about how it looks, but I need to be able to map the function keys to volume and brightness.

I have been lurking on Lemmy for long enough to have watched all the memes/conversations about different desktop managers (GNOME/Xfce/etc) but I never really understood what the deal was, but now I am coming face to face with that decision, and I'd love some "professional" input!

Edit: the only "real" activities I will use this for is web browsing, terminal stuffs for my servers/other machines/homeassistant, and some note taking. So default programs can be SUPER minimum.

I want to get my partner a replacement for an aging chromebook. I was thinking it would be easiest to just grab another super budget chromebook and call it a day. But the more I read about google and chrome, the less I want to do with them.

So my goal is to snag a cheap ($300ish?) laptop that I can slap Linux on (probably mint, but I’m open to suggestions).

The main caveat is the size- needs to be small. Current chromebook is 11.5” I think. I’d like to keep it under 13”. The main use (95% will be web browsing/streaming/email/bullshit) but I’d like it to have enough juice to play Minecraft on my local server.

I’ve looked around a bit, but my god there is a lot of options. I’d love it if there was just a recommendation that was proven to work. I’m busy enough tinkering with all the other tech, and I’d like to just set this one up and forget it.

Currently I’ve got 12 can lights in my living room, entry, and kitchen. Three different sections, all controlled by an inovelli red switch.

All of the existing can lights are just LED chips with an E27 adapter. They are all locked in a specific color temp (4000k is my fav).

After using the adaptive lighting integration, I am convinced I want my whole house to have the ability to change brightness and color temp. I’d like to do this as cheaply as possible.

One option is smart bulbs. That’s 12 bulbs, plus the dumb can light bulb cover things. What is the cheapest bulb for this? This solution doesn’t take advantage of the very fancy inovelli switch either.

Any way to leverage the nice switches, and have “dumb lights” that can be controlled via the switch? I know this sounds impossible, because there is no data going to the bulbs that would allow changing the color temp, but I just can’t stand the idea of buying 12 smart bulbs.

Got some friends together to help us roll some sushi. Here are some of the prettier attempts!

Based mostly on the serious eats recipe. We added siracha to the Mayo, and smashed avacado to the toasted bun.

I also don’t think the marinade needs to go on the tofu much before grilling. Just a quick rub to get the color for grilling. Then I spread a layer of the marinade on the bun.

Portland pub bun. Game changer.

I’ve finally configured my garden and landscaping on drip irrigation, but I’m using some dumb valves hooked up to my house hose spigot.

I would absolutely love a smart valve that I can have better control of the schedule, or respond to sensors.

After some looking around, it seems like “Rachio” is the only integration I can find for something like this. It’s a bit pricy ($99 per valve), and it looks like it needs a wifi hub to work. Has anyone used this integration successfully?

Is there any other options? There seem to be lots of “Bluetooth” controllers available in the big box stores, but I’m guessing they will need an app or something?