Home Automation DIY

There were quite a few visions of the household of the future if we turn to the Hollywood flicks. Take for example The 5th Element or Minority Report or, well.. The Jetsons.

Here’s how Microsoft et al. envision our homes in the not-so-distant future.

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This is Part 2 of The Ultimate List of Home Automation Software for iPhone.

UPDATE: This list has moved to a new place, please go there for the most up-to-date information.

For your convenience the short link to this post is http://tinyurl.com/iphonehas2 (as in iPhone Home Automation Software, Part 2).

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

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Recently I discovered an unusual application for X10/Insteon-enabled lights. It turns out they could help your little kids eat better and faster. Now, let me explain.

We have a two-year-old and I would think all parents know that feeding your kid at this age could be quite a challenging activity. So we have to invent ways to distract (or rather entertain) kids while they eat, be it books, toys or songs.

Here’s what happened a few days ago… (continue reading this article and leave comments here…)

Don’t get me wrong, the Wii is lots of fun! But if you will ever get tired of doing Pilates or playing a fake guitar on your Wii console, you can find a new and exciting application for it by following this DIY automation project from Wii Hacks blog.

All you’ll need is a few INSTEON-enabled lights in your home, and a ControlLinc connected to a LAMPbox. For a more advanced set-up you can throw in a Proliphix thermostat, a few AXIS IP cameras and a control system from Aurora Multimedia to drive your TV, DVR, DVD, etc.

See the demo video of this project after the jump.

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Just a couple of weeks ago I have enrolled in a SmartAC program offered by my local utility company – PG&E. What this program is about? It’s about saving energy.

This Saturday morning I had a couple of PG&E guys at my place retrofitting my old (but still pretty decent) 4-wire Lux TX1500E thermostat to a new, 5-wire, Honeywell UtilityPRO. (continue reading this article and leave comments here…)