Month: October 2021

What is Key 2.0? Key 2.0 (or Key20 for short) is a Bluetooth IoT Door Lock controller. It turns a conventional electric door lock into a smart door lock that can be opened using a smartphone without the need for a physical key. Thus, Key20 is the modern version of a physical key, or, as the name suggests, the key version 2.0 for the Internet of Things (IoT) era. Key20 consists of two parts: Key20 door lock controller device, which is physically connected to the electric door lock and wirelessly via BLE to the mobile app. Key20 mobile app implementing the user interface to unlock the door and communicating with the door lock controller through BLE. [ Mobile Phone w/ ] [ Key20 App ] | | Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Connection | |—[ Key20 Door Lock Controller ]—[ Electric Door Lock ]—| | [ Device ] | | | | | | | |———————-(Voltage Source)———————–| ( 12 VAC ) The following image shows the Key20 door lock controller device and the Key20 app running on a smartphone. You can get a quick impression on how Key20 works watching the following video: Key 2.0 Video The main features of Key20 are: Using state-of-the-art security mechanisms (Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange (ECDH), HMAC) to protect against attacks. Open-source software and hardware, including an open implementation of the security mechanisms. No security by obscurity! Source code for the app and door lock controller as well as Eagle files (schematic and board layout)… Read more

It’s hard to believe it’s been over six months since I started using Ghost as my blogging platform of choice. At first, I was thrilled with its simplicity and ease of use. The minimalistic design and user-friendly interface made it a breeze to create and publish blog posts. However, as time went on, I began to notice that the shine was wearing off. Specifically, I found myself growing increasingly frustrated with Ghost’s blog editing functionality. At first, it was the little things. The inability to easily format text, the lack of a decent spell-checker, and the clunky image upload process. But as I continued to use Ghost, these minor annoyances snowballed into major headaches. I found myself spending more and more time wrestling with the editor, trying to get my posts to look the way I wanted them to. One of the biggest issues I have is with the title editing feature. It’s surprisingly finicky, and I often find myself having to re-enter the title multiple times before it sticks. And don’t even get me started on the auto-save feature, which seems to have a mind of its own. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve accidentally overwritten a post because the auto-save kicked in at the wrong moment. But the real deal-breaker for me is the lack of a decent WYSIWYG editor. I’m not a coder, and I shouldn’t have to be one to create a decent-looking blog post. The fact that I have to switch back and… Read more