IocTober Day 13 - Visitor announcement This one is a little hard to illustrate. If you have a home (or office) voice assistant, such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, or even a cheap chromecast dongle attached to a TV or stereo, why not have it announce your visitors? At Accelerando we are all usually in the upstairs office or the lab, and visitors who arrive at reception can go unnoticed.

IocTober Day 12 - Dog bark eliminator Here’s twist on the cat-squirter project from Day 3. This time it listens with a microphone and squirts scented liquid for use in dog training. My friend Ali asked for this one because her dog often stands at the top of the stairs and barks to be let into the bedroom. Ali and new husband Alex want to explain to Fido that This Is Not On.

IocTober Day 11 - Mini camera Did I just hear a truck back up in the loading dock? Is there somebody waiting at reception? How long until the washing machine is finished? Just what ARE those kids getting up to in the back yard? Is the new kitten scratching at the door? Is there a creep lurking outside my apartment? How often do you want to keep an eye on something outside of your visual range?

IocTober Day 10 - Lovers’ secret message buttons “HoneyBunny, can you bring home some milk?” “I miss you Pumpkin, I can’t wait to [CENSORED]” Working couples often like to send each other subtle messages during the day. Personally I keep my phone on silent during most of the work day and check my text messages at idle times, sometimes never. This can lead to missed connections. This little gadget sits on your desk and does nothing other than unobtrusively show pushbuttons with coloured lights.

IocTober Day 9 - Network intrusion detector Many people worry that their IoT devices will be a security risk, particularly cameras. This is a real concern, because many devices are awful. We spend a lot of time at Accelerando evaluating devices and rejecting the awful ones, but even the ones we approve have been subject to “zero day” flaws. We recommend that you don’t keep your IoT devices on the same network as your important data, and we also recommend use of intrusion detection.

IocTober Day 8 - Tea Timer and Reminder Those of us who like tea (particularly my university-student son, Jack) know the frustration of filling the teapot and then forgetting to come back, or pouring a tea, returning to concentration and then finding it cold and hour later. So what can we do here? How about a battery powered sensor that sits atop a teacup or teapot and chirps gently when it reaches drinking temperature?

IocTober Day 7 - Bathroom occupancy display If you’ve worked in a small office with single restrooms, you know the frustration of going to the bathroom only to find it occupied. If you’ve attended a party in someone else’s home you’ve stood outside the bathroom door wondering “Is it occupied? Should I knock?!”. Cyclists looking for an unoccupied shower before work are also often frustrated. My own office has two levels, and the bathroom is right at the back of the lower level, so it is impossible to tell if it is occupied until you have walked some distance.