Posts tagged: hobbies

Ben Houston • 8 Minutes Read • January 14, 2026

As a software engineer, I'm used to having full visibility and control over the systems I manage. But my HVAC was operating like a black box running legacy code I couldn't touch. Here's how I reverse-engineered it and ended up giving my Ecobee direct, full-stack control.

Tags: hobbies

Ben Houston • 8 Minutes Read • March 27, 2025

After building a high-performance home network with 3Gbps fiber, 10G switching, and NVMe storage, I've learned valuable lessons about infrastructure planning, connection types, and future-proofing that could save you time and money.

Tags: hobbies