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Erin Lawrence returns to HGG692 with IFA Berlin robotics, DJI cameras, ECOVACS robot vacuums, AI TVs, Mazda CX-70, GM Super Cruise, smart lighting and the question of whether smarter gadgets are becoming too complicated.

Phil Hawthorne joins me to talk Home Assistant AI automation, the upcoming 2026.10 release, Tesla Full Self-Driving, smarter energy monitoring, climate zones and a 3D-printed presence-sensor planter. We also discover why my Home Assistant Container installation had fallen several releases behind.

Gavin Campbell is back, and this one turns into a tour of what happens when Home Assistant stops being a dashboard and starts becoming the operating system for the house. We talk through Gavin’s first Tesla, garage-door automation, water and leak monitoring, ESPHome projects, lawn and soil sensors, emergency power, camera systems and the growing role AI can play in making sense of all that home data.

Do kids need a full smartphone just to stay in touch? Mike Wieger joins me for HGG689 with a different answer: push-to-talk-over-cellular radios built around simple family communication. We also dig into practical off-site backups with Unraid, TrueNAS, ZFS and Tailscale, Apollo and Moonlight for using one gaming PC from almost anywhere, and Frigate 0.18 for a much easier local-camera and NVR setup. For a broader setup walkthrough, see the complete guide to Frigate and Home Assistant. Chapters / Timestamps Guest Context Mike Wieger returns to Home Gadget Geeks with three practical technology topics aimed at parents, gamers and homelab

Jay Franze joins HGG688 to discuss concert photography gear, Nikon cameras, RAW workflows, redundant backups, AI photo editing, mastering and spatial audio.

Seth Johnson from HomeTech.fm joins Jim Collison to talk about programmable pixel lights, holiday displays and the hardware behind thousands of individually addressable LEDs. They cover HolidayCoro, QuinLED, WLED, Xlights, Home Assistant and why electrical calculations still need more than a confident AI answer.

Phil Hawthorne joins Jim to explore Home Assistant Blueprints, area-based automations, ESPHome Bluetooth proxies, e-ink dashboards, AI integration and the Open Home Foundation.

T.J. Huddleston joins me to talk pollinator gardens, smart irrigation, a solar-powered shed, and using Hermes to build safer Home Assistant tools.

Christian Johnson joins Jim Collison for Home Gadget Geeks 684 to talk about passkeys, Bitwarden, Vaultwarden, managed container hosting through Maple Grove Partners and the guardrails needed when AI agents begin doing real operational work.

Jim revisits the LEPRO permanent outdoor lights after six months, then walks through two OpenClaw projects in depth: a DIY Home Assistant Storm Guard for EcoFlow and BLUETTI batteries — tested during a real severe-weather event — and an Amazon Affiliate Manager for TheAverageGuy.tv. He shares what he has learned about AI agent authority, batch size, observable state, gold-standard workflows and conversational memory, along with notes on AI costs, hardware and adapting the OpenClaw series for Medium.

Erin Lawrence joins HGG682 to compare Ring 4K cameras, robot mowers, coffee gear, travel cameras, smart lighting and review workflows.

Mike Wieger joins me for HGG681 — AI at work in a regulated M&A environment, OpenClaw and Hermes at home, new fiber internet, mountain e-bikes, and a real update on MeshCore and Meshtastic in the Omaha/Lincoln mesh community.

Jim Collison and Gavin Campbell compare OpenClaw, Hermes, Home Assistant agents, local LLMs, Docker isolation, and safe approval workflows for home-lab automation.

Jim Collison and Marv Bee discuss AI in managed services, including virtual agents, automation, memory across conversations and where human experience still matters. They also cover soundbar buying advice, RingConn health and sleep tracking, USB-C cable testers, surge protectors and practical power gear for everyday tech setups.

What happens when technology troubleshooting meets backyard cooking, meal planning, and a growing obsession with grills? This week, Mark Robson returns to Home Gadget Geeks for a relaxed conversation that blends home tech, networking stories, pellet grills, Blackstone cooking, pizza ovens, and the routines that make outdoor cooking such an addictive hobby. From fixing a broken cable that disrupted a mesh network to experimenting with dry brining, reverse searing, and maple syrup in savory dishes, this episode covers the overlap between gadgets, workflow, and food culture. If you enjoy cooking, grilling, home labs, or simply building better systems around hobbies,