First version of PiDoorbell - built in 2012 on the first RaspberryPi
Before the Ring doorbell, there was the PiDoorbell, which I invented and open sourced in 2012/2013.
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Setting up for my first talk at PyCon USA 2013. I had a network failure on stage at this talk due to poor connectivity in that room. I didn’t have a hotspot that could relay comms to/from Twilio. My talks at PyCon AU went off without a hitch since I was able to borrow a hotspot. Of course, Twilio didn’t support ANZ, so, I revamped my code to post on Twitter instead when I got to Hobart.
PiDoorbell photo on my iPhone (circa 2013). That’s me ringing my doorbell in my San Jose house. I had installed all of the hardware in a hole above the door. Spiders and earwigs got in and, somehow, some water as well and shorted something. Also, I got a ton of photos/notifications from squirrels running around and/or a leaf stirring/falling. I dismantled it after 2 months.
OSCON 2013
I did a talk on PiDoorbell at OSCON which was so packed (100% men attendees) that breathing got a bit difficult (ventilation was awful). Anyway, the talk went very well, network held up and the live demo was successful.
PyCon 2014 Hands-on Workshop Prep at my house. I shipped all the hardware for 30 students to Canada after we configured every single Rpi. Fortunately, Canadian customs was pretty cool and didn’t fuss. The workshop was the first of it’s kind and was reviewed highly by the attendees.