Getting notified when my laundry is done using the WeMo Insight switch and IFTTT

While I normally would remember to switch my clothes from the washer to the dryer, I would accidentally forget my clothes in the dryer. Buying some new smart dryer is out of the question, especially since I am an apartment renter and the dryer is included. So I wanted to find other some home automation method in order to alert me when the dryer is done. This is what I came up with:

What you will need

• WeMo Insight Switch
• An IFTTT account

Cracking open some WD Elements to use the hard drive within

Unfortunately my 3TB Seagate Barracuda (Z1F0DS2F), which I bought in May 2012, died on me randomly. My NAS immediately reports when hard drives start getting bad sectors and should be replaced. But this hard drive died on the spot! I had no opportunity to recover my data. The moment I would try to mount the drive, it would just disappear on me. I had lost my data. Luckily it wasn't data that can't be replaced, but it still sucked.

Upgrading the AirPort Card in my Macbook Pro 15" (Early 2013) from 802.11n to 802.11ac

The Macbook Pro 15" (Early 2013), which is similar to the Mid-2012 version, was released with 802.11n Wi-Fi AirPort card. I have the AirPort Extreme (6th Gen) router at home. When I had an iMac, before I sold it, it would connect at 1300Mbps through 802.11ac. But with my Macbook Pro, it would only connect at the 450Mbps limit of 802.11n. The late-2013 Macbook Pro released by Apple included 802.11ac AirPort cards, which a teardown from iFixit revealed, was also the same size and connection type as the early-2013 version. So this meant that you could upgrade the AirPort card in the early-2013, as well as mid-2012 Macbook Pros.