Posts

Syncing a GitHub Fork with the Upstream Repo

GitHub provides some documentation on how to keep your fork in sync with the original (i.e. “upstream”) repo that you forked from. This is essential if you are working on some changes for a long time and the original repo is getting updated with other pull requests in the meantime. There are a couple rules…

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Using Emojis in SharePoint Classic Web Part Titles

I recently helped a client create a COVID-19 page on their intranet, which is still using on-premises SharePoint 2013. To add some visual flair to the page, I used emojis in the web part titles. It’s funny, I haven’t done a lot of work on SharePoint Classic pages in years, and back then emojis were…

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Fix Aeotec Water Sensor Not Working with Home Assistant

Update 2022-05-12: This was originally posted when the legacy Z-Wave integration was in use. Using Z-Wave JS I believe you will need to enable the parameter 121 setting for “On Trigger: Send Binary Sensor Report” is toggled on as shown in the next screenshot. The original article follows the screenshot: I picked up a couple…

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Use an Image for a Person Entity in Home Assistant

Update 2021-03-16: You can now use the UI to upload a picture for a person entity, which is much faster and easier than following my original instructions below. See https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/person/#customizing-the-picture-for-a-person. I recently started using the person component in Home Assistant, but I did not see an obvious way to associate a photo with the person…

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Setting Up Git and Working with GitHub in Windows

Like most of the web industry, I use Git for version control, and so far I’ve mainly worked with GitHub remotes, so that’s what I’m set up for now. This post will cover how I install and configure Git to work smoothly in Windows. Disclaimer: I don’t do much web development in Windows these days,…

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Issues Adding GE 12730 Z-Wave Fan Controller to Home Assistant

I recently moved to HassIO for my Home Assistant instance and migrated off a Raspberry Pi 3B to an Intel NUC. As part of that process I decided to rebuild my Z-Wave network from scratch. I had built much of the network without using a secure network key, so this was a good opportunity to…

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You Can’t Set Up an Old iPhone without a SIM Card

I recently needed to wipe and start fresh with an old iPhone 5 to use as a WiFi-only device (essentially like an iPod Touch) but it did not have a SIM card in it anymore and would not let me finish the initial setup without one. This article provides a few suggestions for getting around…

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Fix Onkyo App and Home Assistant Not Connecting to Onkyo Receiver

The other day I noticed that my Onkyo Receiver was not showing up in Home Assistant, nor was the Onkyo Remote app on my phone able to connect to it. After some searching I came across this post suggesting a solution. The fix is to edit the receiver’s name in its Network Settings and remove…

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