> I VPN in to my home network, ssh into the pi using Terminus on my iphone, and 'aplay' the wav file
Once, when I was working away from home, someone unplugged the phone at home so I couldn't phone in. After becoming very frustrated, I SSH'd into my home server, and from there into the Mac Mini we used as a media station. Then:
- checked they were watching something using `ps`.
- killed that process so I had their attention.
- `say 'this is dad, I'm inside the computer.'`
- `say 'I want to phone you but you have unplugged the phone.'`
When I was younger I worked at a retail store and I remember being thrilled to discover I could telnet into a cash register and echo text directly to the attached receipt printer.[0] I became a small time hero at one point when I used this power to alert our sister store that their phones weren't accepting calls during the middle of the holiday season.
[0] Also interesting is the time I discovered that sending a special escape code to the printer caused the cash drawer to open, but that's a tale for another thread.
Haha this reminded me of the time I lost my phone. I suspected it was left at work so I ssh'd into my Mac at work, started recording audio, dialed up my phone and voilá. It was there and I had peace of mind until tomorrow.
Turning on FaceTime remotely to see what’s in front of the computer has saved me a few times, and made me wish that my screen was angled differently many more.
A few weeks ago I realized on my phone I can, from anywhere, say "Ok google, broadcast" and then say a message. That message gets played back on the Google Home devices.
My kids weren't replying to text messages about being ready to go to an appointment that we were pressed for time on, and I was on the way home, so I did that to tell them to get ready. A few seconds later I get a text from my wife: "How'd you do that?!?"
Once, when I was working away from home, someone unplugged the phone at home so I couldn't phone in. After becoming very frustrated, I SSH'd into my home server, and from there into the Mac Mini we used as a media station. Then:
- checked they were watching something using `ps`.
- killed that process so I had their attention.
- `say 'this is dad, I'm inside the computer.'`
- `say 'I want to phone you but you have unplugged the phone.'`
- `say 'plug it back in'`
Worked :)