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An Automated Cat Litter Box With DRM
HughPickens.com writes: Jorge Lopez had always wanted an automatic cat litter box, and finally found one called the CatGenie, a fully automated self-washing litter box connected to water, electricity and the sewer that cleans itself with water and soap. "It's the Rolls Royce of cat litter boxes, a hefty device that scoops, cleans, and disposes of the waste all on it's own. It's completely automated, even senses when a cat poops and cleans up afterwards." But there's trouble in paradise. "Life with the CatGenie was great, but not quite perfect," writes Lopez, after discovering that CatGenie uses a smart cartridge that is only available from the manufacturer. "I found that the "Smart" in SmartCartridge is that it has an RFID chip inside of it to keep track of how much solution it has, and once it runs out, well, you can't refill. I honestly did not believe this and tore one of the cartridges apart, and there it was, looking back at me, a tiny chip holding up it's little metal finger." Fortunately there are some amazing people helping the CatGenie community who have released products like the custom firmware CatGenious and CartridgeGenius, which allows you to use whatever solution you want. "The cost savings is great, but isn't the biggest driver for me, it's mainly the principle that I don't own the device I paid for, and I'm really tired of having cat litter everything in my home."
DRM-laden toilets?
v1.0: Uses proprietary toilet paper and won't allow you to flush any TP that doesn't have the manufacturer-specific RFID tag in it.
v2.0: You may only eat and drink foods specified by the manufacturer, which also contain microscopid RFID tags, which are biologically inert and pass harmlessly through your digestive tract and into your feces and urine. Detection of any other waste substances will result in Failure to Flush.
v3.0: All RoboToiliet users must have an RFID tag implanted in their ass; others may not use the toilet. RoboToilet must be connected to AC mains power and a broadband internet connection 24/7/365, or Failure to Flush will not occur because end-user authentication will not be possible. Naturally there is an annual subscription fee, with complimentary membership in the RoboToilet Owners Club.
I'll leave it up to you to decide what the 'owners club' is all about.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
And to think week ago I thought that both Keurig DRM defenders vs hackers were making petty efforts over petty territories.
"The cost savings is great, but isn't the biggest driver for me, it's mainly the principle that I don't own the device I paid for, and I'm really tired of having cat litter everything in my home."
So exercise your rights as a consumer to research beforehand and not buy it. Or return it. Or modify it, as you have. Or, for god sakes, ask your vet or friends with cats or reddit for advice on having cat litter everywhere (I believe the most common solution is a covered box with fairly high side.) You can also teach your cat to pee/crap in the toilet, believe it or not. There are little "litter box" inserts that reportedly make it pretty easy; the cat goes "oh, another litter box" and uses it for a week or two, and then you remove the insert, and if the cat notices, they go *shrug* and still use it. No more litter, no more stink.
But for god sakes....I was around on Slashdot when the fist inkjet printer companies started chipping their cartridges. I also learned about Gillette in...either middle school or high school. That was a century ago, if not more. The "handle is free, the blades are disposable and we have a very healthy profit margin on them" model is quite, quite old. Why are people surprised? Especially if you read Slashdot, why didn't you do research on it?
Your robotic, do-everything catbox would've cost substantially more if the company were not figuring on a continuing revenue stream. In fact, it might have cost so much that nobody would've bought it.
Please help metamoderate.
...But I am tired of this shit!
The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
Would you take a real Rolls Royce to an unauthorized dealer for repairs?
Seems a bit silly to me to go this expense and suddenly get stingy on the cartridges.
The thing only costs $200, Their cartridges cost $25 for a 120 use cartridge. At 2 uses/day that's 6 cartridges/year -- so you're paying 75% of the cost of the unit in a year just for the cartridges.
I think if Rolls Royce dealers charged $150K each year for required maintenance on a $200K Rolls Royce, there'd be few people getting service at the dealer.
There are other options in this market, not all of which require proprietary consumables. We've been using the LitterRobot which, while more expensive (~$300), requires no further financial commitment to the manufacturer. You just need to buy normal cat litter and periodically replace a normal garbage bag in the base.
...But turned away because not only was the machine expensive, but the hack was another $100. I highly recommend the Litter Robot (~$370). I've had one for a few years, and it works off of standard kitchen trash bags. I have two cats and I tend to it once every 7-10 days- I refill the litter and swap out the bags, and maybe do a thorough cleaning twice a year. No BS consumables.
Another model, Litter Maid (~$120), uses custom plastic trays. It's cheaper, but it doesn't work as well as the Litter Robot. After a few months you'll find yourself tending to it every other day. The cost of the plastic trays added up over the course of a year, but it's a non-DRM receptacle, so you can hack a cheaper 'solution' at home with a small amount of craftiness. If you do go with Litter Maid, go for the cheaper one- it actually works better than the 'Elite' model.
But really, go for the Litter Robot. I've had mine for two or three years and I love it.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
How hard is it for people to learn this ultra-simple rule. Sorry to be the grammar nazi, but every time I see this it drives my parser up the wall.
all on it's own.
Aaarrggh!!!!
It's completely automated
Correct. "it's" is a contraction of "it is".
a tiny chip holding up it's little metal finger
Aaaarrrgghh!!!! Doesn't make sense: "...holding up it is little metal finger".
And to address the article itself, who even needs cat litter and all that nastiness in a house? Just let your damn cat out! They will never, ever soil in the house given a choice.
Comprehension fail. The machine washes the granules itself, and in the process consumes sanitiser in the DRM laden cartridge.
The thing only costs $200, Their cartridges cost $25 for a 120 use cartridge. At 2 uses/day that's 6 cartridges/year -- so you're paying 75% of the cost of the unit in a year just for the cartridges.
I think if Rolls Royce dealers charged $150K each year for required maintenance on a $200K Rolls Royce, there'd be few people getting service at the dealer.
I assume you gave up your ink-jet printer for a color lasar?
I gave up the inkjet printer years ago - I used to use an inkjet printer for photo prints until I realized that Walgreens makes better prints than my inkjet printer can at less cost. So for at least the last 5 years, I've had a black and white laser printer. I have no real need for a color printer at home, though if I did, I'd get a color laser.
We used to have an automated litter box. We called it "The Scatapult". Every so often it would launch the shit into the air rather than into the bag. Not recommended,
We used to have an automated litter box. We called it "The Scatapult". Every so often it would launch the shit into the air rather than into the bag. Not recommended,
If Douglas Adams were alive, he'd put that in a book. That is so Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
My 10 month old Irish setter does the same exact thing. The only downside is that her breath is not really kissably-sweet afterwards.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Great, you just made the automated cat litter box sad.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
This is all courtesy of US' DMCA law.
DRM Ink and toner cartridges
DRM Keurig 2.0 coffee makers
It's only going to get worse without push back.
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
Man, what a ripoff. There were ZERO baby pics at the link.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
"CatGenie can't run without SaniSolution, like a car can't run without petrol." is often heard. But that's a flawed analogy and an insult to most people's intellect because it's the laws of physics that prevent a car from running without petrol, but it's a flaky business model that prevents CatGenie from running without SaniSolution.
But a better car analogy would be: "CatGenie can't run without SaniSolution, like a car can't run without Esso."
So if you want to use BP, Shell, or Total in your car - no can do.
I own a product called a Flash Powermop. Here in the UK, Flash is a manufacturer of cleaning products. It's just a mop with replacable heads and a squirter in the handle that can deposit cleaning fluid when a button is pressed.
It doesn't have DRM - it has old-fashioned mechanical limitations. The cleaning fluid comes in an official Flash powermop cartridge. Much old an ancient inkjet printer, the cartridge has only one port, and it's mechanically designed to only dock with the corresponding port on the mop. They really made it solid too, so you can't force it open to refill an empty cartridge. It's basically a rubbery window - the mop has two hollow needles that pierce it. One to let air in, one to get fluid out.
So I cut a hole in the top of the bottle and silicone-sealed the screwtop from a soft drink bottle over it. Now I have a refill board, and an everlasting cartridge. I enough people do this, I'll expect the Powermop 2 to come with a chip in the bottle that records how much has been dispensed.
On a related note, he notes that the cat litter sticks to his cats paws, and he really dislikes finding cat litter particles on his kitchen counters, tables, chopping boards, etc.
Ewww... Why don't people train their cats properly. It's not hard. My cats do not enter the kitchen, and all tables are also off limits. Teach them the rules when they are kittens. Afterwards, maybe once every year or two, you'll need to remind them that the rules haven't changed.
How to train? You just let them understand that there is a really odd law of nature: going in the kitchen or hopping on a table causes them to get wet. Squirt gun, pans of water set back from the table edge, whatever. Don't yell or anything - you don't want them to associate the water with you, but with the location they tried to go. Easy, and well worth it...
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.