Connect Your Fridge to Twitter

I'm a big fan of the Internet of Things and I'm following some objects on Twitter like @mytoaster. It's a simple toaster that tweet when he's toasting... It's stupid but so cool :)

So, after putting my cat on Twitter (@PepitoTheCat), I want my fridge!

This is a howto, to show you how easy it can be to connect your fridge to Twitter.

You only need a wireless device called Notifon and 10min of your time!
Of course, you can do this with an Arduino but I want something small, wireless, with a big battery life.

First, you need to keep the serial number (or Device ID) written below the device. You will need it later...

I used the magnetic switch that came with Notifon to trigger when the door is open/closed. You need to found the best place to put Notifon depending of your fridge. I put it inside so we don't see anything when the door is closed. Be sure it does not interfere with the closing!

When done, try to open and closed the door, you should see the blue LED blinking.

You don't want to spam all your followers each time you open the fridge... Go on twitter.com and create a new account.
Mine is @IOfridge

It's time to set up your tweets.

PushingBox is a Cloud dedicated to manage and send notifications. This is where you will associate your twitter account and set up the text to send.
Visite PushingBox.com and log in with your Google account.

Go on "MY SERVICES" page, clic on "Add a service" then select the Twitter service. Follow the instructions to associate your new twitter account to PushingBox.

When done, go on "MY SCENARIOS" page. In the form, enter the serial number (or Device ID) you wrote before and clic Add.

You now have two scenarios, one for the state "Open" and one for "Closed". Manage those scenarios and add an action. Select the service Twitter and define your text like "The fridge is open". Clic Submit and you're done!

Now, try to open and close your fridge, you should get a Tweet :)

Notifon is a cool device that can send tweets but also Push notifications on your phone, email and more.

Once you have it on your fridge you may want to add one on your garage door or front door.... Not for public tweets but as a cheap security system that alert you when you aren't at home.