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    Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself?

    1901 points l2silver | 13 comments | 27 Apr 23 15:04 UTC | HN request time: 1.441s | source | bottom

    Maybe you've created your own AR program for wearables that shows the definition of a word when you highlight it IRL, or you've built a personal calendar app for your family to display on a monitor in the kitchen. Whatever it is, I'd love to hear it.
    1. glapworth ◴[28 Apr 23 06:51 UTC] No.35738280[source]▶
    We recently remodelled our kitchen and dining area, and I wanted some art piece on the wall but couldn’t decide what. For months the wall was a little bare and we were having a lot of dinner guests. I realised our WiFi password was too complicated to keep reading out to family and friends so I built a QR code in Lego that automatically connects you to our guest WiFi. It looks good, and it’s Lego so it was a fun project with the kids. It took about 4 hours to build. The only problem was having enough 1x1 tiles to put on a 37x37 matrix.
    replies(4): >>35739017 #>>35739201 #>>35739518 #>>35756142 #
    2. edelans ◴[28 Apr 23 08:55 UTC] No.35739017[source]▶
    Thanks for sharing this, sounds like a cool activity to do with kids (and I didn't expect to find one on this thread!), will definitely steal that.
    3. ra ◴[28 Apr 23 09:29 UTC] No.35739201[source]▶
    Today I learned you can generate a QR that connects to WiFi.
    replies(3): >>35745139 #>>35749768 #>>35750601 #
    4. dylanowen ◴[28 Apr 23 10:26 UTC] No.35739518[source]▶
    Does this work for iOS yet? Last time I was trying out wifi qr codes only android handled them correctly.
    replies(1): >>35739570 #
    5. glapworth ◴[28 Apr 23 10:34 UTC] No.35739570[source]▶
    Yes, it works for both Android and iOS.
    replies(1): >>35739838 #
    6. dylanowen ◴[28 Apr 23 11:12 UTC] No.35739838{3}[source]▶
    Sweet! Now to make some qr art. My last iteration was an NFC sticker behind a painting but people have a hard time with that one.
    7. bombcar ◴[28 Apr 23 18:21 UTC] No.35745139[source]▶
    https://www.qr-code-generator.com/solutions/wifi-qr-code/ can build one, this is cool.
    8. nashashmi ◴[29 Apr 23 03:33 UTC] No.35749768[source]▶
    Android has this feature for a long time. Share the QR code even with iPhone users. And it will add them to the wifi
    replies(1): >>35749929 #
    9. crote ◴[29 Apr 23 04:05 UTC] No.35749929{3}[source]▶
    The best part is that you can generate the QR code from your phone. It's a button in the wifi settings. Really easy way to share it from one phone to another.
    replies(1): >>35754298 #
    10. Shorel ◴[29 Apr 23 06:39 UTC] No.35750601[source]▶
    You can also read the QR code from your Linux laptop.

    Install zbar-tools and use zbarcam from the command line. It will read the QR code using the webcam, and now you have the Wi-Fi credentials.

    Or any other data in the QR code.

    11. nashashmi ◴[29 Apr 23 16:18 UTC] No.35754298{4}[source]▶
    Is it on the iPhone too?
    replies(1): >>35761114 #
    12. toyg ◴[29 Apr 23 19:16 UTC] No.35756142[source]▶
    I solved that problem with an NFC sticker in the hallway. Anybody with a recent (2-3yo) phone can just tap the sticker and get online.
    13. ◴[30 Apr 23 09:58 UTC] No.35761114{5}[source]▶