And yet people let Amazon and Walmart stock their fridge.

 

From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Cameron Crum
Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2026 11:05 AM
To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT - business idea

 

Put an out of band management device or power relay...something that works off 
cellular to powercyle your router. The issue with allowing someone access to 
your house unattended is theft/damage or accusation of theft/damage. It sucks 
but it is the world we live in. I'm sure the people who do this would need to 
be bonded and insured probably making the cost prohibitive therby making the 
profit on the service to low for any real business to succeed. Do you really 
want just anyone in your house, espcially if it is something like an internet 
outage where they know cameras and such will be offline. 

 

On Wed, Apr 8, 2026 at 2:01 PM David Hannum via AF <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

Most phone apps are either/or . . . .

 

On Wed, Apr 8, 2026 at 2:58 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

Doesn’t that phone app require Internet though?  Or is it cellular?

 

From: AF <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf 
Of David Hannum via AF
Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2026 1:50 PM
To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Cc: David Hannum <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] OT - business idea

 

Newer door locks have a phone app so you just have then holler at the camera 
when they arrive and you hit the button on your phone and the door unlocks for 
them.

Actually, when I grew up, way out in the country, nobody even locked their 
doors.   I'd go over to the neighbors and just walk in and feed the fish and 
change which lights were on in the house so it looked like somebody was home!

 

 

On Wed, Apr 8, 2026 at 2:05 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected] 
<mailto:[email protected]> > wrote:

In the olden days, when we went away on vacation or for the winter, we left a 
key with a neighbor.  Now everyone assumes they have their smart home devices, 
their cameras, their robot lawnmowers and snowblowers and vacuum cleaners and 
pet feeders.  But what happens if there’s a storm or power outage and maybe 
someone just needs to power cycle the modem or router?  Or reset a circuit 
breaker or GFCI?  Without Internet, all those smart devices are offline.

 

Seems like we need a service that you pay monthly and give them a key, and if 
necessary they will send a human out to your house.  Actually so many people 
have a door lock where you just punch in a combination, you might not have to 
give them a key.

 

This seems to go with rent-a-human type services to close the door on Waymo 
robotaxis, or help your food delivery robot cross a street.

 

I’m old enough to remember when you’d pay a neighbor kid to take in your 
newspapers, mow your lawn, feed your fish.  But of course there are no 
newspapers any more.  And nobody pays kids to mow lawns any more.  Do most kids 
never have a part time job until they graduate from high school (or college)?  
That seems like an abrupt transition.  Especially if all the jobs are remote 
now.  Who is your mentor, ChatGPT?

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