#Internet of Things

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Brave Little Toaster

Picks and Shovels is a new, standalone technothriller starring Marty Hench, my two-fisted, hard-fighting, tech-scam-busting forensic accountant. You can pre-order it on my latest Kickstarter, which features a brilliant audiobook read by Wil Wheaton.

The AI bubble is the new crypto bubble: you can tell because the same people are behind it, and they're doing the same thing with AI as they did with crypto – trying desperately to find a use case to cram it into, despite the yawning indifference and outright hostility of the users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/09/autocomplete-worshippers/#the-real-ai-was-the-corporations-that-we-fought-along-the-way

This week on the excellent Trashfuture podcast, the regulars – joined by 404 Media's Jason Koebler – have a hilarious – as in, I was wheezing with laughter! – riff on this year's CES, where companies are demoing home appliances with LLMs built in:

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hgi6c-179b908

Why would you need a chatbot in your dishwasher? As it turns out, there's a credulous, Poe's-law-grade Forbes article that lays out the (incredibly stupid) case for this (incredibly stupid) idea:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2024/03/29/generative-ai-is-coming-to-your-home-appliances/

As the Trashfuturians mapped out this new apex of the AI hype cycle, I found myself thinking of a short story I wrote 15 years ago, satirizing the "Internet of Things" hype we were mired in. It's called "The Brave Little Toaster", and it was published in MIT Tech Review's TRSF anthology in 2011:

http://bestsf.net/trsf-the-best-new-science-fiction-technology-review-2011/

The story was meant to poke fun at the preposterous IoT hype of the day, and I recall thinking that creating a world of talking appliance was the height of Philip K Dickist absurdism. Little did I dream that a decade and a half later, the story would be even more relevant, thanks to AI pump-and-dumpers who sweatily jammed chatbots into kitchen appliances.

So I figured I'd republish The Brave Little Toaster; it's been reprinted here and there since (there's a high school English textbook that included it, along with a bunch of pretty fun exercises for students), and I podcasted it back in the day:

https://ia803103.us.archive.org/35/items/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_212/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_212_Brave_Little_Toaster.mp3

A word about the title of this story. It should sound familiar – I nicked it from a brilliant story by Tom Disch that was made into a very weird cartoon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8C_JaT8Lvg

My story is one of several I wrote by stealing the titles of other stories and riffing on them; they were very successful, winning several awards, getting widely translated and reprinted, and so on:

https://locusmag.com/2012/05/cory-doctorow-a-prose-by-any-other-name/

All right, on to the story!

One day, Mister Toussaint came home to find an extra 300 euros' worth of groceries on his doorstep. So he called up Miz Rousseau, the grocer, and said, "Why have you sent me all this food? My fridge is already full of delicious things. I don't need this stuff and besides, I can't pay for it."

But Miz Rousseau told him that he had ordered the food. His refrigerator had sent in the list, and she had the signed order to prove it.

Furious, Mister Toussaint confronted his refrigerator. It was mysteriously empty, even though it had been full that morning. Or rather, it was almost empty: there was a single pouch of energy drink sitting on a shelf in the back. He'd gotten it from an enthusiastically smiling young woman on the metro platform the day before. She'd been giving them to everyone.

"Why did you throw away all my food?" he demanded. The refrigerator hummed smugly at him.

"It was spoiled," it said.

#

But the food hadn't been spoiled. Mister Toussaint pored over his refrigerator's diagnostics and logfiles, and soon enough, he had the answer. It was the energy beverage, of course.

"Row, row, row your boat," it sang. "Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, I'm offgassing ethelyne." Mister Toussaint sniffed the pouch suspiciously.

"No you're not," he said. The label said that the drink was called LOONY GOONY and it promised ONE TRILLION TIMES MORE POWERFUL THAN ESPRESSO!!!!!ONE11! Mister Toussaint began to suspect that the pouch was some kind of stupid Internet of Things prank. He hated those.

He chucked the pouch in the rubbish can and put his new groceries away.

#

The next day, Mister Toussaint came home and discovered that the overflowing rubbish was still sitting in its little bag under the sink. The can had not cycled it through the trapdoor to the chute that ran to the big collection-point at ground level, 104 storeys below.

"Why haven't you emptied yourself?" he demanded. The trashcan told him that toxic substances had to be manually sorted. "What toxic substances?"

So he took out everything in the bin, one piece at a time. You've probably guessed what the trouble was.

"Excuse me if I'm chattery, I do not mean to nattery, but I'm a mercury battery!" LOONY GOONY's singing voice really got on Mister Toussaint's nerves.

"No you're not," Mister Toussaint said.

#

Mister Toussaint tried the microwave. Even the cleverest squeezy-pouch couldn't survive a good nuking. But the microwave wouldn't switch on. "I'm no drink and I'm no meal," LOONY GOONY sang. "I'm a ferrous lump of steel!"

The dishwasher wouldn't wash it ("I don't mean to annoy or chafe, but I'm simply not dishwasher safe!"). The toilet wouldn't flush it ("I don't belong in the bog, because down there I'm sure to clog!"). The windows wouldn't retract their safety screen to let it drop, but that wasn't much of a surprise.

"I hate you," Mister Toussaint said to LOONY GOONY, and he stuck it in his coat pocket. He'd throw it out in a trash-can on the way to work.

#

They arrested Mister Toussaint at the 678th Street station. They were waiting for him on the platform, and they cuffed him just as soon as he stepped off the train. The entire station had been evacuated and the police wore full biohazard containment gear. They'd even shrinkwrapped their machine-guns.

"You'd better wear a breather and you'd better wear a hat, I'm a vial of terrible deadly hazmat," LOONY GOONY sang.

When they released Mister Toussaint the next day, they made him take LOONY GOONY home with him. There were lots more people with LOONY GOONYs to process.

#

Mister Toussaint paid the rush-rush fee that the storage depot charged to send over his container. They forklifted it out of the giant warehouse under the desert and zipped it straight to the cargo-bay in Mister Toussaint's building. He put on old, stupid clothes and clipped some lights to his glasses and started sorting.

Most of the things in container were stupid. He'd been throwing away stupid stuff all his life, because the smart stuff was just so much easier. But then his grandpa had died and they'd cleaned out his little room at the pensioner's ward and he'd just shoved it all in the container and sent it out the desert.

From time to time, he'd thought of the eight cubic meters of stupidity he'd inherited and sighed a put-upon sigh. He'd loved Grandpa, but he wished the old man had used some of the ample spare time from the tail end of his life to replace his junk with stuff that could more gracefully reintegrate with the materials stream.

How inconsiderate!

#

The house chattered enthusiastically at the toaster when he plugged it in, but the toaster said nothing back. It couldn't. It was stupid. Its bread-slots were crusted over with carbon residue and it dribbled crumbs from the ill-fitting tray beneath it. It had been designed and built by cavemen who hadn't ever considered the advantages of networked environments.

It was stupid, but it was brave. It would do anything Mister Toussaint asked it to do.

"It's getting hot and sticky and I'm not playing any games, you'd better get me out before I burst into flames!" LOONY GOONY sang loudly, but the toaster ignored it.

"I don't mean to endanger your abode, but if you don't let me out, I'm going to explode!" The smart appliances chattered nervously at one another, but the brave little toaster said nothing as Mister Toussaint depressed its lever again.

"You'd better get out and save your ass, before I start leaking poison gas!" LOONY GOONY's voice was panicky. Mister Toussaint smiled and depressed the lever.

Just as he did, he thought to check in with the flat's diagnostics. Just in time, too! Its quorum-sensors were redlining as it listened in on the appliances' consternation. Mister Toussaint unplugged the fridge and the microwave and the dishwasher.

The cooker and trash-can were hard-wired, but they didn't represent a quorum.

#

The fire department took away the melted toaster and used their axes to knock huge, vindictive holes in Mister Toussaint's walls. "Just looking for embers," they claimed. But he knew that they were pissed off because there was simply no good excuse for sticking a pouch of independently powered computation and sensors and transmitters into an antique toaster and pushing down the lever until oily, toxic smoke filled the whole 104th floor.

Mister Toussaint's neighbors weren't happy about it either.

But Mister Toussaint didn't mind. It had all been worth it, just to hear LOONY GOONY beg and weep for its life as its edges curled up and blackened.

He argued mightily, but the firefighters refused to let him keep the toaster.

#

If you enjoyed that and would like to read more of my fiction, may I suggest that you pre-order my next novel as a print book, ebook or audiobook, via the Kickstarter I launched yesterday?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/picks-and-shovels-marty-hench-at-the-dawn-of-enshittification?ref=created_projects

Check out my Kickstarter to pre-order copies of my next novel, Picks and Shovels!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/08/sirius-cybernetics-corporation/#chatterbox

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[victusinveritas]

[bluesky-out-of-context]

[jensorensen]

Big Fryer is Watching

This cartoon refers to a study by a British consumer rights group called Which? (that's their name), that examined unnecessary data harvesting by "smart" devices, including air fryers. Certain brands wanted permission to record audio on users' phones and track precise location, and one brand connected its app to trackers from Facebook and Tiktok. None of this digital access is actually necessary for the fryer to function.

Receive my weekly newsletter and keep this work sustainable by joining the Sorensen Subscription Service! Also on Patreon.

[global-twilight]

[ralfmaximus]

"I just figured out how to disable the wifi in our new oven" is not something I ever expected to type, but here we are.

[dragonatthedinnertable]

We were covering IoT in my Ethical Hacking class today, and the teacher mentioned this off-hand.

[still-trans-gwender]

I think it's funny and cool when this happens online

Person 1: Wouldn't it be wacky if (enter wacky situation here) happened?

Person 2: Actually (enter wacky situation here) actually did happen.

Person 1: Wait really!?

[techit-rp]

IoT Security Challenges in India: Protecting Smart Homes & Connected Devices

IoT is transforming the way people live by making their homes smart with devices such as security cameras, smart locks, and voice assistants. In India, IoT technology is adopted at a pace that cyber threats are rising rapidly. With weak security protocols, outdated software, and unawareness, Indian households are vulnerable to cyberattacks. In this blog, we will explore the major IoT security challenges in India and how individuals can safeguard their smart homes and connected devices. If you are looking to strengthen your understanding of cybersecurity, enrolling in a cyber security course can be a game-changer.

The IoT Boom in India

India is witnessing the highest adoption of IoT across homes and businesses. From smart TVs to intelligent thermostats, IoT is revolutionizing life. This booming technology, however, offers a large target size for hackers too who exploit the vulnerability of devices to gain unauthorized access to data.

Fundamental Drivers of IoT Adoption in India:

Increased internet penetration with low-priced data plans

Government initiatives such as Smart Cities Mission and Digital India

Increasing adoption of smart home devices as they become increasingly affordable

Growing application of industrial IoT in health, agriculture, and manufacturing

Chief IoT Security Challenges in India

Poor Authentication & Default Passwords

Most IoT devices have a factory-set password that the user ignores or fails to change. Hackers exploit these default credentials to take over the devices, entry private networks, and crack sensitive information.

Lack of Security Updates & Patches

Most smart devices have limited or no firmware updates, which makes them vulnerable to cyber threats. Many Indian consumers do not check for security updates, leaving their devices susceptible to known exploits.

Data Privacy Concerns

Smart devices collect vast amounts of personal data, from voice recordings to daily routines. Without stringent data protection policies, this information can be misused or leaked by malicious actors.

Botnet Attacks & DDoS Threats

Cybercriminals hijack unprotected IoT devices to form botnets, which are used to launch massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. These attacks can cripple networks and cause disruptions to online services.

Unsecured Wi-Fi Networks

Many Indian households rely on poorly secured Wi-Fi connections, providing an easy entry point for hackers. Without encryption or strong passwords, attackers can intercept sensitive information and compromise connected devices.

Absence of Specific Cybersecurity Legislation for IoT

India has advanced in data protection with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, but there is no dedicated IoT security framework. The absence of it leaves the manufacturer to choose cost over security and sell devices which are not so well protected in the market.

How to Secure Smart Homes & Connected Devices

Change Default Credentials

Always change the default usernames and passwords of the IoT after installation. Use strong, unique passwords and implement multi-factor authentication wherever possible.

Update Firmware Periodically

Scan for software and security updates on all smart devices, and install them as soon as they are available. In case your device can no longer get any updates, consider replacing it with a newer version that is at least as secure.

Secure Your Wi-Fi Network

Use a robust Wi-Fi password, and make sure WPA3 encryption is turned on. Limit remote access to your router, and make an IoT-specific network so that those devices can't contaminate your primary network.

Firewall & Security Solutions The use of firewalls and network security solutions monitors traffic and can block malicious activity on IoT networks. 5. Limit Data Sharing & Permissions

Assess permission for smart appliances and reduce or limit the devices from accessing unsecured personal information. De-activate unused add-ons, remote access in devices.

Cyber Security Courses

IoT-based cyber-attacks are minimized if awareness against the threat builds. To boost that awareness further, take time out to become a certified graduate of cyber security by signing for courses in areas like best security practices, principles of ethical hacking, and defending digital systems.

Road Ahead to Improving Indian IoT Security:

The Indian government, device manufacturers, and consumers must take proactive steps to mitigate IoT security risks. Stronger security standards, public awareness, and robust cybersecurity laws are the need of the hour to secure the future of IoT in India.

Conclusion

IoT devices offer incredible convenience but also introduce significant security risks. Protecting smart homes and connected devices requires a combination of best practices, awareness, and robust cybersecurity measures. By staying informed and adopting the right security strategies, individuals can ensure a safer IoT experience.

If you’re passionate about cybersecurity and want to build expertise in protecting digital systems, consider taking a cyber security course to gain hands-on knowledge and skills in ethical hacking, network security, and data protection.

[theredditblog]

theredditblog

Iam paulalice working for theredditblog as PR consultant.With more than 6 year’s experience in PR and Digital Industry,helping teams to achieve goals by streamlining the process.

[jadagul]

I got one of the newer Roombas on sale, one of the ones with wifi controls.  And I’d basically accommodated the idea that it was going to go on my wifi, even though that makes me uncomfortable.

And then I went to set it up today and it wants me to make an account, and it registered to me that “go on the wifi” means that it’s going on the internet, and talking to a server outside of my house.  I had sort of had a mental model that my phone would be talking directly to the roomba, not that it was going through some sort of service external to my apartment.  

And that realization broke my psychological accommodation and now I’m seriously considering controlling it just from the physical interface, even though that’s really impoverished.  And I’m pretty sure this is silly, but I’m really uncomfortable with (1) making accounts and (2) connecting devices to the internet.

Remember, kids, “internet of things” is an abbreviation; it’s short for “internet of things that shouldn’t be on the internet.”

[techniktagebuch]

Februar 2023, Herbst 2024, Januar 2025

Abenteuer mit Home Assistant Green

Angefixt hat mich unsere Balkonsolaranlage vor zwei Jahren. Die kam mit einem Shelly PM, um Ertrag und Einspeisung zu messen. Das ließ sich dann – eingebunden in das hausinterne WLAN – jederzeit in der App des Herstellers Shelly auf dem Handy ansehen. Neben Zählern und schaltbaren Steckdosen stellt Shelly auch Temperatur- und Feuchtigkeitssensoren her. Eine sehr praktische Sache, um den Überblick darüber zu haben, wie es mit der Luftfeuchtigkeit im Bad nach dem Duschen oder mit der Temperatur im Keller aussieht. Auch das lässt sich in der App von Shelly jederzeit anschauen.

Schon spannend, jederzeit derartige Daten im Blick zu haben. Der nächste Schritt war dann ein über eine schaltbare Steckdose in Betrieb nehmbarer kleiner Batteriespeicher (eigentlich für den Outdoor-Einsatz), um von diesem aus Handys etc. über Nacht Solar laden zu können. Mit der App sind einfache Automatisierungen möglich – immer von 13 bis 14 Uhr laden, beispielsweise. Das funktioniert gut, aber hinterließ bei mir den Wunsch, das doch etwas intelligenter verschalten zu wollen.

Gleichzeitig ist der Blick auf die Daten in der App prima, aber um damit etwas anfangen zu können, etwa für Vergleiche, ist eine Handy-App ein bisschen mühsam zu bedienen.

Im letzten Herbst bin ich dann auf „Home Assistant“ gestoßen. Das ist ein Open-Source-Softwarepaket, das einen Hub für Heimautomatisierung und „Internet of Things“ darstellt. Und das erstaunlich viel kann, fast beliebig erweiterbar ist und so weiter. Ich hatte mir das Paket – das einen Server im Haus-Netz aufsetzt – für meinen Windows-Rechner heruntergeladen, etwas damit herumgespielt, festgestellt, dass auch mein Internetradio und der Nokia-Stick für den Fernseher gefunden werden, und dann beiseite gelegt. Erstens, weil es doch alles etwas komplizierter ist, und zweitens, weil ich meinen Rechner nicht 24/7 laufen lassen wollte.

Die Überlegung, das Paket statt dessen auf einem Raspberry Pi laufen zu lassen, den ich eher 24/7 in Betrieb lassen würde, scheiterte dann daran, dass die bei mir herumliegenden Raspis nicht leistungsstark genug waren. Statt dessen bin ich darauf gestoßen, dass es passgenau Hardware gibt – namentlich „Home Assistant Green“. Das ist der oben abgebildete kleine Computer, der nichts anderes kann und macht, als Home Assistant laufen zu lassen. 

Die Installation ist denkbar einfach: Ethernet und Strom anschalten, den Rechner ins Netz hängen und dann – nach etwas Installationswartezeit – unter „homeassistant.local:8123“ aus dem lokalen Netz auf die Weboberfläche von Home Assistant zuzugreifen. Dort können die verschiedenen „smarten“ Geräte eingebunden werden, zum Teil über spezialisierte Plugins und Add-ons. Was da an Daten zusammenkommt, ist dann teilweise erschreckend – auch die Bewegungssensoren meiner iOS-Geräte lassen sich einbinden, und schon habe ich mein ganz persönliches Bewegungsprofil …

Daten aus den Geräten können auf vielfältige Weise dargestellt werden – von schlichten Zahlen bis hin zu grafisch komplexeren Dingen (auch Grafana ließe sich als Add-on einbinden, das habe ich aber noch nicht ausprobiert). Zu allem, was einen Verlauf hat, gibt es automatische Verlaufsdiagramme. Und für häufige Anwendungsfälle (etwa den Energiefluss Netz/PV/Verbraucher) gibt es vorgefertige Übersichten und „Karten“. Sehr viel geht dabei in der Browser-Benutzeroberfläche; darunter liegen Konfigurationsskripte, die im Prinzip auch direkt verändert werden können.

Mit dem Zugriff auf die Skripte lässt sich allerdings auch viel Unsinn anstellen. Beispielsweise hatte ich etwas unvorsichtig eine Konfigurationsdatei verändert (letztlich, um das SSH-Modul zu aktivieren), was dann zur Folge hatte, dass „Home Assistant Green“ gar nicht mehr starten wollte. Zum Glück hat das Gerät für solche Fälle auch USB-Schnittstellen und einen HDMI-Ausgang. Damit landet man dann allerdings zunächst einmal nicht im unterliegenden Linux-System, sondern in einer Command Line, in der nur ein sehr eingeschränktes Befehlsset vorhanden ist. Gefunden habe ich dann zum Glück das Kommando „login“, das eine Shell für das Betriebssystem öffnet. Da konnte ich die vermurkste Konfigurationsdatei dann löschen und die Hardware wieder starten. (Also: nicht blauäugig mit Konfigurationsdateien herumprobieren, ohne zu wissen, was man tut …).

Abgesehen davon wirkt „Home Assistant“ jedoch recht robust. Dienste lassen sich einzeln neu starten, Fehler werden als fehlende Werte dargestellt, und die Anleitungen sind offensiv verlinkt und meist sogar halbwegs verständlich.

Nächster Schritt war für mich dann der Erwerb eines IR-Sensors zum Auslesen meines Stromzählers (bitShake SMR auf Tamota-Basis über MQTT …). Der lässt sich am Stromzähler befestigen, liest die dortige SML-Schnittstelle aus und gibt dann den aktuellen Stromverbrauch ins Hausnetz. Um die Werte nutzen zu können, musste ich zum einen die MQTT-Integration des Home Assistant in Betrieb nehmen (da war die Anleitung eher wenig hilfreich; letztlich musste an drei Stellen ein Nutzer/Passwort eingetragen werden) und zweitens herausfinden, wie Helfer-Templates funktionieren – die Daten kommen einheitslos an, und erst wenn ihnen über ein solches Template die Einheit „kWh“ und das Subsystem „Energy“ zugewiesen wird, können die Energie-Dashboards damit etwas anfangen. So richtig viel allerdings noch nicht: ohne PIN für den Zähler wird nur der kumulierte Verbrauchs- bzw. Einspeisewerte in kWh zurückgegeben, der sich entsprechend langsam ändert. Zeitlich höher aufgelöste Werte brauchen eine PIN, die ich hoffentlich vom lokalen Netzbetreiber bekomme. Erst dann ergibt das Energieflussdiagramm wirklich Sinn …

Das andere, was ich mit etwas Herumprobieren hingekriegt habe, was aber nur indirekt mit dem Home Assistant zu tun hat, ist das Einrichten einer dynamischen DNS-Zuweisung (mit Herumgebastle an den Router-Einstellungen). Das ermöglicht es, auf die Home-Assistant-Oberfläche auch von außerhalb des lokalen Netzes zuzugreifen, also z.B. unterwegs mit dem Handy, ohne zusätzliche Cloudlösungen nutzen zu müssen, die es ansonsten auch gibt. Meine dynamische DNS wollte ewig nicht funktionieren – bis ich herausgefunden habe, dass die Umleitung halt wirklich nur funktioniert, wenn ich von außen (z.B. aus dem LTE-Netz) darauf zugreife. Auch das klappt jetzt also. 

Noch nicht wirklich reingefuchst habe ich mich in die Automatisierung. Das kommt dann als nächstes Vorhaben. Dafür gibt es bei Home Assistant eine eigene kleine Programmiersprache, die Sensoren mit Aktionen verknüpfen kann (wenn Zustand X, dann schalte Gerät Y ein – also z.B. meinen Batteriespeicher immer dann, wenn die Balkonsolar-PV optimal ist. Nur: was heißt das genau?). Und vielleicht fallen mir dann auch noch Anwendungsfälle für weitere schaltbare Steckdosen ein. Und dann bräuchte ich dringend noch … 

… was ich sagen will: wer möchte, kann tief in die Mischung aus digitaler und dinglicher Welt eintauchen. Bisher scheue ich allerdings noch vor dem ganz großen Schritt hin zu smarten Heizkörperthermostaten, Rollläden, Toastern usw. zurück. Weil eigentlich gar kein Bedarf dafür da ist. 

(Till Westermayer, zuerst veröffentlicht hier: blog.till-westermayer.de/index.php/2025/01/25/abenteuer-mit-home-assistant-green/)

[slacktivist]

I Found A Cool Interactive Guide to Learn About Bird Anatomy

All About Bird Anatomy - The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (allaboutbirds.org)

While I'm trying to relearn art, I've mixed in my interest of animals and anatomy by learning to draw skeletons, muscles, feathers and yadayadayadayada. Keeping on track with my pigeon drawing journey. I found this cool interactive website by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It's not a pigeon, but a generic bird. Besides the HUGELY OVERPRICED bird lectures (open science ftw), this entire site is super cool and has loads of cool shit about birds. TIL that there are special names for the different feathers on a bird and all parts are as cute as you imagine.

[walkawaytall]

I do despise the Internet of Things with my entire being.

Except the part of my being that agreed to outsource cleaning my floors and scooping the litter box to robots. That part of me is very okay with it.