My hardware. My rules.
Sovereign systems, self-hosted services, and Linux. Taking control of my own hardware, keeping my data private, and choosing what I depend on.
A little corner of the internet
Hey, I’m Dave.
I tinker.
With servers, smarter homes, AI, and the occasional perfectly good thing that probably didn’t need changing.
⌂ home lab
☼ solar
what if…?
>_ linux
✳ AI
↳ curiosity is usually how it starts.
One small tweak. Famous last words.
01 / The interests
A few rabbit holes.
Different projects. Same curiosity.
A home with some sense
Home Assistant, useful automations, and dashboards that make everyday things a little easier.
Following the sunshine
Solar, batteries, and finding better times to use energy. Especially when the sun is doing the work.
AI beyond the chat box
Exploring what happens when an assistant gets useful tools and a few real jobs to help with.
02 / On the workbench
Things I’ve been tinkering with.
A look at the projects, not a polished highlight reel.
Project / 01Home automation
Making the house use sunshine.
Using the hot-water tank as a thermal battery alongside the home battery—storing spare sunshine as both hot water and electricity.
The idea behind it
The home battery stores electricity. The hot-water tank stores heat. With Home Assistant helping coordinate the two, spare solar can heat water for later instead of letting that energy go to waste. Two different kinds of storage, working together to make more use of the sunshine.
Project / 02Hardware + design
A dashboard that feels at home.
A Raspberry Pi touchscreen, a useful home dashboard, and a custom enclosure to bring it all together.
The idea behind it
A panel should be useful at a glance and fit the space it lives in. This brings together interface design, Linux, and the physical details of a printed enclosure.
Project / 03AI + tools
An assistant that can lend a hand.
Putting Hermes Agent to work with real tools, everyday workflows, and plenty of testing along the way.
The idea behind it
There’s a difference between describing a task and helping get it done. I’m exploring that gap, including where access should be limited and when a human should stay in the loop.
Project / 04You are here
My own corner of the internet.
A personal website, a reason to learn Cloudflare, and somewhere for the things that don’t belong in a group chat forever.
The idea behind it
Start small. Make a fast, simple page about the things I enjoy, then give the projects more room as there’s something worth sharing.
03 / The person
Not everything
needs a dashboard.
I’m Dave. I work in IT and security, and apparently that isn’t quite enough time spent around computers.
Outside of work, I’m usually tinkering with a server, making the house a little smarter, or seeing what I can get an AI assistant to do. I like understanding how things work—and having a say in how my own tech runs.
This is a place for the things I build, the things I learn, and whatever else becomes an Ellison thing.
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