Under-Cabinet LED Lighting Project

This is somewhat outside the scope of this blog, but if you love tech stuff, you probably love LEDs. I love LEDs. I recently completed the installation of LED light strips in my kitchen to improve counter lighting and for ambiance, wanted to share what I used and a few things I learned.

Materials

• LED Light Strips - 3100K, double density (link)
• Power Supply (link)
• Wire (link)
• LED Strip Connectors (link)
• Dimming Switch (link)
• Conduit/Raceway (link)

Installation

The installation is relatively simple and there are a lot of DIY guides out there already. I won't rehash all of that information. However, there are some things worth mentioning that I had to learn the hard way. Double density strips are absolutely the way to go; it is far better lighting for when you're cooking and LEDs can be dimmed for ambiance as needed. With the double density LED strips, the "suggested items" on Amazon will lead you astray. Many of the connectors and adapters will not work. The LED strip connectors linked above are not available on Amazon, but shipped very quickly directly from HitLights (whom I was very pleased with after having purchased several items and talking with their customer service extensively via email).

Result

New home, very similar installation. I doubled up on the double density LED lights on the bottom and added lights above, so I used a larger (100W) transformer to support it. I also had the luxury of a pre-wired wall switch for control, so I used a Lutron magnetic dimmable switch.

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First home:

Apple Didn't Know About NSA's DROPOUTJEEP →

Apple has declined to have any knowledge of the newest NSA leak regarding the DROPOUTJEEP program. I am inclined to believe them for one main reason - they aren't stupid. At the rate the leaks are coming, it is obvious we're not finished. Neither the NSA nor Apple knows how much more will be leaked, so for them to deny knowledge now would guarantee their demise should the truth come out any differently.

Apple's official statement:

Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. We care deeply about our customers’ privacy and security. Our team is continuously working to make our products even more secure, and we make it easy for customers to keep their software up to date with the latest advancements. Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them.

Misplaced Negative Reviews

Apple has a tradition where they release a 12 Days of Gifts app then each day around Christmas they give people a free version of some paid content - apps, music, books, or videos.  You'd think people would be grateful.

Many people are grateful, presumably. However, there is an increasing number of people that are leaving one star reviews on apps, movies, etc. if the free content of the day isn't an app they personally wanted. Angry people leaving one star on a children's game because they don't play it sounds absurd, but sadly, is a reality. 

Marco Arment on Apple's Increasingly Ignored Software Products →

Apple is so close to knocking it out of the park with several of their software products, but I agree with Marco's comments. iPhoto is a great example; it is the near the top of the list of reasons to own a Mac, but it isn't perfect and hasn't seen a meaningful update in a while. 

Apple seems to be faced with an interesting dilemma - these software products seem like unfinished versions of how Apple envisions this type of product to look on their platform. They seem unfinished because they're "good enough" (generally speaking) and don't make headlines or money to warrant being any better. That's acceptable from a lot of companies, but it is very un-Apple-like.

Tweetbot 3: The Single Best iPhone App Today →

If you're a Twitter user, you need to be using Tweetbot 3.0. It isn't just the best Twitter client, which it is by a long shot, it is my favorite iPhone app period. The iPad version is still on 2.0 with the pre-iOS 7 design, and even that is a league above most other Twitter clients. When I did a trial switch to Android, the lack of Tweetbot was among my top complaints, I found myself not wanting to use Twitter anywhere near as much without it.

It is usually $4.99, but it is on sale for $2.99 right now. It is a simple gift idea for the holidays that I cannot recommend highly enough. I have no affiliation, I'm making no money on this. It is simply that good of an app that I felt compelled to spread the word.