Russell Kasem
@russellkasem.bsky.social
Electrical Engineer, PC Gamer, Car Detailing Hobbiest, Carolina Crown alumnus, AtlantaCV alumnus.
I’ll be posting a mixture of home improvement projects, car detailing, a little bit of computer/gaming stuff, and drumcorps. Maybe some weather stuff too.
I’ll be posting a mixture of home improvement projects, car detailing, a little bit of computer/gaming stuff, and drumcorps. Maybe some weather stuff too.
Voting complete!
November 4, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Voting complete!
Ultimate desk setup in progress. Uline solid wood desktop and some standing desk legs from a previous desk. Custom LED strips integrated into Home Assistant.
October 20, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Ultimate desk setup in progress. Uline solid wood desktop and some standing desk legs from a previous desk. Custom LED strips integrated into Home Assistant.
Getting more and more comfortable cutting hole in my house. Decided to add supplemental recessed lighting to the home office. Phillips Hue 6” slim lights all tied to #HomeAssistant via an SLZB-06 Zigbee coordinator.
August 30, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Getting more and more comfortable cutting hole in my house. Decided to add supplemental recessed lighting to the home office. Phillips Hue 6” slim lights all tied to #HomeAssistant via an SLZB-06 Zigbee coordinator.
We already have a Ubiquiti system at the house. That was the first thing I did when we moved in. I do have a dedicated IoT network. It may be worth looking into it.
July 15, 2025 at 4:44 PM
We already have a Ubiquiti system at the house. That was the first thing I did when we moved in. I do have a dedicated IoT network. It may be worth looking into it.
Beyond that, I've started getting more elaborate with my automations and YAML coding. I love this stuff. I can tinker to my hearts delight.
June 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Beyond that, I've started getting more elaborate with my automations and YAML coding. I love this stuff. I can tinker to my hearts delight.
What the heck was Apple thinking with #iOS26? I understand this is Beta 1 and a lot is going to change before a final public release, but this UI direction is awful.
June 12, 2025 at 11:33 PM
What the heck was Apple thinking with #iOS26? I understand this is Beta 1 and a lot is going to change before a final public release, but this UI direction is awful.
Home Assistant Update!
Been going down the rabbit hole on how to custom build cards and program various automations. Testing the patience of my wife who’s had to endure a barrage of dashboard revisions and custom notifications!
All in, the setup has a steep learning curve, but it is so nice.
Been going down the rabbit hole on how to custom build cards and program various automations. Testing the patience of my wife who’s had to endure a barrage of dashboard revisions and custom notifications!
All in, the setup has a steep learning curve, but it is so nice.
May 17, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Home Assistant Update!
Been going down the rabbit hole on how to custom build cards and program various automations. Testing the patience of my wife who’s had to endure a barrage of dashboard revisions and custom notifications!
All in, the setup has a steep learning curve, but it is so nice.
Been going down the rabbit hole on how to custom build cards and program various automations. Testing the patience of my wife who’s had to endure a barrage of dashboard revisions and custom notifications!
All in, the setup has a steep learning curve, but it is so nice.
Lawn Update!
It’s green and the battle with the neighbors begins!
It’s green and the battle with the neighbors begins!
May 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Lawn Update!
It’s green and the battle with the neighbors begins!
It’s green and the battle with the neighbors begins!
Home Assistant Update:
Everything I finally setup and programmed. I have all the lighting setup and even eliminated the Hue Bridge completely by using the Zigbee Home Automation add-in and Zigbee dongle.
Everything I finally setup and programmed. I have all the lighting setup and even eliminated the Hue Bridge completely by using the Zigbee Home Automation add-in and Zigbee dongle.
May 8, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Home Assistant Update:
Everything I finally setup and programmed. I have all the lighting setup and even eliminated the Hue Bridge completely by using the Zigbee Home Automation add-in and Zigbee dongle.
Everything I finally setup and programmed. I have all the lighting setup and even eliminated the Hue Bridge completely by using the Zigbee Home Automation add-in and Zigbee dongle.
Lawn Update!
Upgraded our mower to the most powerful Ego push option. It’s a beast. The lawn is growing like crazy. Threw down a light coating of Andersons DGL to darken and promote thickening.
Upgraded our mower to the most powerful Ego push option. It’s a beast. The lawn is growing like crazy. Threw down a light coating of Andersons DGL to darken and promote thickening.
April 29, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Lawn Update!
Upgraded our mower to the most powerful Ego push option. It’s a beast. The lawn is growing like crazy. Threw down a light coating of Andersons DGL to darken and promote thickening.
Upgraded our mower to the most powerful Ego push option. It’s a beast. The lawn is growing like crazy. Threw down a light coating of Andersons DGL to darken and promote thickening.
The quest for the perfect lawn continues! I’ve been mowing 2-3 times a week to promote horizontal growth and to fill in areas. So far so good. In the next two weeks it’ll be time to throw some Iron and fast release nitrogen into the soil.
April 27, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The quest for the perfect lawn continues! I’ve been mowing 2-3 times a week to promote horizontal growth and to fill in areas. So far so good. In the next two weeks it’ll be time to throw some Iron and fast release nitrogen into the soil.
Up at the buttcrack of dawn to take my Engineering license exam. Attempt 2.
April 23, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Up at the buttcrack of dawn to take my Engineering license exam. Attempt 2.
Lawn Progress!
Cut it down to 1”. Fertilizer is kicking and it’s really getting thick.
Cut it down to 1”. Fertilizer is kicking and it’s really getting thick.
April 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Lawn Progress!
Cut it down to 1”. Fertilizer is kicking and it’s really getting thick.
Cut it down to 1”. Fertilizer is kicking and it’s really getting thick.
We have a Daikin Fit system installed, typical split system, with a Daikin One Touch Thermostat. Found a nifty community integration that works with it.
Next step is it figure out how to make these dashboards good looking.
Next step is it figure out how to make these dashboards good looking.
April 13, 2025 at 8:58 PM
We have a Daikin Fit system installed, typical split system, with a Daikin One Touch Thermostat. Found a nifty community integration that works with it.
Next step is it figure out how to make these dashboards good looking.
Next step is it figure out how to make these dashboards good looking.
Beyond green grass, car detailing and home networking, I’m also addicted to IoT. So, naturally, it’s time to figure out #HomeAssistant. Home Assistant Green arrives this week, then it’s time to wrangle all our Phillips Hue, Ubiquiti, and IoT stuff into one place.
April 7, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Beyond green grass, car detailing and home networking, I’m also addicted to IoT. So, naturally, it’s time to figure out #HomeAssistant. Home Assistant Green arrives this week, then it’s time to wrangle all our Phillips Hue, Ubiquiti, and IoT stuff into one place.
Lawn progress. Trying to keep it at 1” this season. Last year it was maintained at 3” and we moved in too late in the season to change it. We’ll see how it responds.
April 6, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Lawn progress. Trying to keep it at 1” this season. Last year it was maintained at 3” and we moved in too late in the season to change it. We’ll see how it responds.
More home projects this week.
1. Re-routed our AT&T fiber connection to a central closet.
2. Broke and fixed the ceiling, from crawling in the attic to re-route the fiber connection.
3. Installed Ubiquiti G4 Pro Doorbell.
1. Re-routed our AT&T fiber connection to a central closet.
2. Broke and fixed the ceiling, from crawling in the attic to re-route the fiber connection.
3. Installed Ubiquiti G4 Pro Doorbell.
March 7, 2025 at 1:34 AM
More home projects this week.
1. Re-routed our AT&T fiber connection to a central closet.
2. Broke and fixed the ceiling, from crawling in the attic to re-route the fiber connection.
3. Installed Ubiquiti G4 Pro Doorbell.
1. Re-routed our AT&T fiber connection to a central closet.
2. Broke and fixed the ceiling, from crawling in the attic to re-route the fiber connection.
3. Installed Ubiquiti G4 Pro Doorbell.
Moved all the networking to a central closet instead of a guest room closet. AT&T came out and removed the external ONT and ran fiber directly to the gateway using an SFP module to interface. Latency is better, speeds are improved. (Chefs kiss)
March 3, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Moved all the networking to a central closet instead of a guest room closet. AT&T came out and removed the external ONT and ran fiber directly to the gateway using an SFP module to interface. Latency is better, speeds are improved. (Chefs kiss)
Spent some time today after work cleaning up the network closet since it still needs to be used as a closet. I also swapped the Cloud Gateway Ultra for a Cloud Gateway Max, just in time for #ubiquiti to announce even faster gateways. (Shrugs)
February 26, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Spent some time today after work cleaning up the network closet since it still needs to be used as a closet. I also swapped the Cloud Gateway Ultra for a Cloud Gateway Max, just in time for #ubiquiti to announce even faster gateways. (Shrugs)
That WiFi speed though….
February 22, 2025 at 9:10 PM
That WiFi speed though….
This weekends installment of “I’m bored so I’ll find a project to finish around the house” is brought to you by #Uniquiti. I finally ditched the traditional router/switch/Wifi all-in-one I’ve been accustom to for years and upgraded to a full Ubiquiti setup. UCG Ultra, Enterprise switch and WiFi 6E!
February 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
This weekends installment of “I’m bored so I’ll find a project to finish around the house” is brought to you by #Uniquiti. I finally ditched the traditional router/switch/Wifi all-in-one I’ve been accustom to for years and upgraded to a full Ubiquiti setup. UCG Ultra, Enterprise switch and WiFi 6E!
Project complete. Now I have a space to properly clean and ceramic coat our cars!
February 20, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Project complete. Now I have a space to properly clean and ceramic coat our cars!
I don’t know why I’m so excited over an air conditioner. This thing is so quiet compared to the Trane unit we removed, also 1/4 the physical size. #daikin
February 19, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I don’t know why I’m so excited over an air conditioner. This thing is so quiet compared to the Trane unit we removed, also 1/4 the physical size. #daikin
Progress picture of the garage lighting upgrade. Should be able to detail our cars long into the night or during times of bad weather!
February 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Progress picture of the garage lighting upgrade. Should be able to detail our cars long into the night or during times of bad weather!