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Twitter Build Idle Technology

Laid Off From Job, Man Builds Tweeting Toilet 115

Posted by samzenpus from the because-I-can dept.
dcblogs writes With parts from an electric motor, a few household items, an open-source hardware board running Linux, and some coding, Thomas Ruecker, built a connected toilet that Tweets with each flush. The first reaction to the Twitter feed at @iotoilets may be a chuckle. But the idea behind this and what it illustrates is serious. It tracks water usage, offers a warning about the future of privacy in the Internet of Things, and may say something about the modern job hunt. Ruecker built his device on a recent long weekend after he was laid off as an open source evangelist at a technology firm undergoing "rightsizing," as he put it.
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Laid Off From Job, Man Builds Tweeting Toilet More

Laid Off From Job, Man Builds Tweeting Toilet

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  • obligatory (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2014 @12:30AM (#47877663)

    okay poop is coming out

  • Twitter motto: (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by JustOK ( 667959 )
      Just because you shouldn't doesn't mean you shouldn't

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 )

      Also it seems he cant bother to research things. It's been done over and over and over for the past 8 years. I think I saw a story to a "tweeting toilet" back in 2006 here on slashdot, and even then it's nothing special as others have done things like Myspace posting toilet before that.

      Tomorrow on Slashdot, Man figures out how to send an email, claims he invented email.

  • Job security and your title (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FireballX301 ( 766274 ) on Thursday September 11, 2014 @12:35AM (#47877677) Journal
    I think if the words 'Evangelist', 'Maven', or 'Prophet' are anywhere in your job title, you probably don't actually have a job, you just have people giving you money at regular intervals.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by BitZtream ( 692029 )

      Which is why he said right sizing instead of downsizing, just because you have that sort of position doesn't mean you aren't aware of it.

    • Re:Job security and your title (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2014 @01:27AM (#47877875)

      To give you some context though. Aside from the "fluffy" title, I had an official title of "senior project manager" and very tangible and down to earth tasks and responsibilities. Including project management of sizeable projects and customer relationship management. The title was awesome as an external ice breaker and also helpful internally to set the scene for that , sadly quite small part of furthering open source adoption and making the workplace more open source friendly.

      I should have known that this article would attract some crap though. *badumtsh*

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ruir ( 2709173 )
      Pity you are already a 5, interesting. You are indeed very polite, I would say, if you have a bullshit job, then what were you expecting?
    • i dont think you know very much about working or employment or jobs. 5yo girl?

  • Welcome to 2009 (Score:5, Informative)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Thursday September 11, 2014 @12:35AM (#47877679) Homepage

    Welcome to 2009 - http://gizmodo.com/5259381/twi... [gizmodo.com]

    • Re:Welcome to 2009 (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2014 @01:34AM (#47877903)

      The difference is, that I can measure the exact flush volume (accuracy is about 40ml) and report that.
      In the US most toilets only go full flush. Over here in ye olde Europe you can actually flush only a little bit or a bit more or just keep the button pressed until the cistern is empty.
      Yes, I was aware of that one, but there is more in this.

      • I worked in Germany for a few months and I actually really liked their toilets. I've always wanted to do a comparison of the real-world performance of our U.S. fixed-flush-volume toilets with the German (okay, European - I was working and didn't have much time to travel) toilets. They keep reducing the allowable flush volume in the U.S. to the point that adult-sized excrement and attendant tissue creates trouble and often requires consideration of the appropriate stages to flush (multiple flushes required),

        • We have toilets with multiple flush volumes in the US. They're not hard to find. YOU'RE ON THE INTERNET.
          • 'Multiple flush volumes' is completely different from the controllable flush volumes the European, or at least the German, toilets provide (you should look it up, YOU'RE ON THE INTERNET). Whenever any sort of fixed-volume flush is inadequate for the task, x*(flush volume) must be used to finish the job (no less than twice the volume), whereas with a controllable flush volume, if the task only requires 10% more volume to complete the job, then only 1.1*(flush volume) is used. I posit that even when compared
            • When deciding if fancier controllable flush volume toilets are better, you also need to factor in the additional cost of the mechanism and whether it needs more repairs or adjustments and the costs of those repairs and adjustments against the cost of the water wasted. It could be that old fashioned toilets are more efficient all things considered.
              • Controllable flush volume is not 'fancier' since it contains all the same elements as the fix-volume toilets. In fact, the controllable volume toilets are likely less sophisticated since there does not need to be any sort of mechanism to determine flush volume - just a simple spring-loaded valve.

        • I want to point out that the Wikipedia article on toilets [wikipedia.org] is outstanding and even includes an audio sample of a toilet flushing.

          Whatever did people do before the internet?

        • Maybe it's good to have a higher water to waste ratio in the sewer system. Having the sewers themselves back up would be a bad thing.
          • Higher water ratio requirements shouldn't preclude more efficient toilets as it may not be where the volume of water comes from. We still have washing of dishes in sinks, dishwashers, clothes washers, washing of hands, showers, baths, etc., contributing water to the waste system.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Bratch ( 664572 )
        Dual flush toilets are common here in the drought prone San Diego area. Press and release for low volume flush (yellow content), press and hold a few sesonds for complete flush (brown content). The flapper is heavy and closes faster, unless you hold it. I'm starting to see no flush urinals more now too.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by JazzXP ( 770338 )
      I was just thinking I read this about five years ago... good guess, haha

  • Obligatory? (Score:3)

    by nitehawk214 ( 222219 ) on Thursday September 11, 2014 @12:35AM (#47877683)

    Actually bad puns are never obligatory. I consider it a privilege. [penny-arcade.com]

  • And...he still overcomplicated it. (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Rather than a wire to the metal plunger arm, or one that he added brushing against another wire, he gutted a, most likely, $10 servo for a friggin analog pot.

    • Re:And...he still overcomplicated it. (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2014 @01:39AM (#47877917)

      No I did not. I wanted an exact measurement of the flush volume. This toilet has a variable flush volume, depending on how long you press the button.
      If I only wanted an event trigger it would have been indeed a simple contact.

      Also, yes, taking apart a servo felt so wrong, but there were several good reasons: It's waterproof housing, it was available *right* now, while all shops were closed for the long weekend, it's mechanically very stable and durable. I made sure to keep all parts that I removed in a little baggy, in case I need the servo again.

  • I want tweets like this (Score:3)

    by jasontheking ( 124650 ) on Thursday September 11, 2014 @12:44AM (#47877717)

    "oh god, I'm choking after that last fat bastard sat on my face, quick, gimme a flush, no ice, I don't care if the glass hasn't been cleaned"

  • So what's the differnece.... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Between this and the rest of Twitter? It's all about shit

  • What else can I say? Sometimes when I see people posting pictures of their food on facebook, I can't help wonder what it looks like when it comes out the other end. Perhaps you could tie it into the Yelp API for reviews.

  • Many people get laid off. If one of them develops a tweeting toilet, it does not deserve a Slashdot story.

  • Back in the 90s, I went to convention in Detroit. I met a fellow who had sensors in his hot tub connected to a webserver so he (and anyone else) could monitor the status of the tub. He also had sensors in a minifridge connected to his server. His website went offline several years ago.

  • Send resume to Japan (Score:3)

    by istartedi ( 132515 ) on Thursday September 11, 2014 @02:53AM (#47878127) Journal

    They'd totally be into this... unless they've already done it and you're violating their patents. In that case, hide resume from Japan.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

      The Japanese like comfort features. A basic, bog standard if you will, toilet has a heated seat, bidet, sound effects and remote flush. The more advanced ones have auto flush, auto cleaning, auto lid, a timer, thermostat, Bluetooth, MP3 player, led lighting, dryer and more.

  • Thomas Ruecker said he was flushed with the success of his project.

  • I built a Twitter-enabled litterbox months ago (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Scott Cutler ( 221581 ) on Thursday September 11, 2014 @04:18AM (#47878379)

    Check out the Twitter feed here [twitter.com].

    Not only does it report the weight of my cat's droppings, but it reports the duration and total cat weight. It also generates amusing facts about Nibbler's pooping habits.

    I have some basic build instructions [scottcutler.net] available. I use Bluetooth, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, load cells, and an external ADC.

  • The "laid off" part (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    We'd see more of this if people were given a basic salary just for existing (as is frequently suggested when discussing how automation takes away jobs). Just a lot more intricate and advanced projects. Some say people would just goof off, some say people would work just as before. Maybe it's somewhere in between, like this, and I don't know if it's good or bad.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Livius ( 318358 )

      We'd see more of this if people were given a basic salary just for existing

      That just doesn't work from a PR perspective. Many people's value system will reject any kind of overt entitlement.

      Call it a dividend, on the basis that a citizen is a kind of shareholder in the national economy. Which has the added benefit of being correct.

  • A tweeting toilet is the shit.

  • How long until somebody figures out where this toilet is, watches the pattern of timing of the tweets, and cleans out the place with a robbery when they determine him to be away due to a lack of flushing?

  • If you build a useful and clever thing you will go out of business like Palm, Nokia etc. If you build a stupid-ass thing you will make millions like Yo, GroupOn, Twitter etc. So by intentionally building a very dumb thing he is on the path to success.

  • The guy made his very own toilet tweet. If you don't want to announce to the world when you're going to the bathroom (and therefore when you're home, etc), then don't make your toilet tweet.

  • will be Faraday cages.

    And while I have your attention, maybe a tweeting toilet is intended as a commentary on Twitter in general as in everything that's on that site is worthless crap.

  • his unemployment is not a mystery.

  • "Successful toilet flush at 10:30:26 AM", "Failed toilet flush at 6:30:26 PM. Call a plumber IMMEDIATELY!"

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