Internet of Desks: How I Connected My Standing Desk to the Internet

If you’ve got an IKEA Bekant sit&#x2F;stand desk and are interested in this sort of thing then Megadesk[1] and Megadesk Companion[2] will allow it to connect to Home Assistant for automation (and also adds memory states).<p>(This post emphatically not endorsed by my employer.)<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gcormier&#x2F;megadesk">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gcormier&#x2F;megadesk</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gcormier&#x2F;megadesk_companion">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;gcormier&#x2F;megadesk_companion</a>

GET requests should be idempotent - browsers will call them without explicitly asking to, if bookmarked etc. Reminds me of the old story here<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;rombulow&#x2F;status&#x2F;990684453734203392" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;rombulow&#x2F;status&#x2F;990684453734203392</a><p>Maybe consider changing setting the height to a POST request

Warning, inane tangential commentary: I love the author&#x27;s &quot;But why?&quot; article. However, I have a worry: So many &quot;But why?&quot; questions in the software world apply to IoT projects, and IoT is playing a central role in the rise of global dystopian surveillance and data-brokering. Sometimes it feels like we&#x27;re getting too much practice at making this stuff. As though we should be answering &quot;But why?&quot; for more minimal or freedom-promoting projects, like unconnected solar-powered desktops or very dumb sensors and timers for decidedly not-smart homes. I dunno. Just a thought.

What is the board with a kajillion holes in it behind the esp32 called?<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;kn100.me&#x2F;posts&#x2F;desksniffer&#x2F;pbfront.webp" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;kn100.me&#x2F;posts&#x2F;desksniffer&#x2F;pbfront.webp</a><p>It looks like it could come in handy for many esp32 projects.<p>p.s. In case the author comes across this comment - Absolutely superb write-up, your writing style reveals your curious and positive attitude, it&#x27;s totally inspiring! I wish I could easily subscribe to future publications, like the emails I get from Ken Shirriff of <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;righto.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;righto.com</a>. Also, your C++ is clear and easy to read, good job. Cheers.<p>Edit: @Klathmon, thanks for the info, that was very fast :)

And here&#x27;s me thinking I was clever for converting my crank-driven standing desk to an electric one by using a power drill and a 12mm hex bit

If anyone wants the functionality without the hardware tinkering - there&#x27;s a nice MITM controller up on tindie. I use it, it works.

The Uplift desk has an ethernet controller port on the motor. Now I wanna try this.

tip for the author:<p>I2C supports multi-master designs.<p>In practice, it is similar to how a firearm allows one to shoot at themselves in the foot.<p>Electrically it seems like a low speed bus should be the ultimate in reliability. Sadly, I2C peripherals are implemented with high speed digital logic and sometimes no filtering (or present but not enabled)! They might react on nanosecond glitches of the I2C clock line or very high frequency noise that is hard to see.<p>It boggles my mind that I2C is implemented so horribly but continues to be used… for decades.<p>And don’t get me started on the hung bus problem…

Love it. Imagining the scenarios of exposing this to public internet without security walls.

Haha I don’t want to take anything away from a dope hack: quite the contrary this is mad hackerish and I love it.<p>But it’s a hallmark of the times that I was immediately like, I bet someone is looking at how hard it would be to break into this.<p>All the great old-school IoT stuff (webcams of the coffee pot, all that stuff) was such a more fun time. We could have nice things back then.