Hacks for Smart Homes

Gordon Meyer, author of Smart Home Hacks, in this OnLAMP article covers the basics of automating your home with MisterHouse, an open source, home automation application for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

Of all the grand promises from futurists -- the flying car and personal robotic assistants -- home automation is one of the few technologies that you can enjoyably, and relatively inexpensively, implement today. In fact, if you're at all technically inclined and enjoy tinkering, it's a fun hobby that you can enjoy and everyone else in your household can benefit from. To get started, you'll need a computer, some X10-based lighting and appliance control modules, and home automation software that you program to manage it all.

Posted by Tom on November 12, 2004