Mac Toys
12 Cool Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment
Chapter One
Control Your Lights
and Appliances
Lights that go on and off, dim and brighten, all by themselves.
Appliances that respond to the time of day and the presence or lack of
daylight. Coffee makers that turn themselves on and off. You still can't
order an "Earl Grey" (as Star Trek's Captain Picard does), but you can have
your house obey voice commands.
This is the automated house, and your Mac is in control of it. Amazing as it
sounds, the automated house isn't that difficult to create. It doesn't require
ripping up anything in your house-there are no new wires. It just requires
some simple, inexpensive modules plugged into your power outlets and
some software on your Mac. For less than the cost of Microsoft Office, you
can automate an entire home. This chapter looks at the scope of what's
possible. How is any of this possible? Read on.
Home Automation and X10
Most of the home automation projects described in this chapter revolve
around a technology called X10. You can find automation products that use
infrared and radio frequency technologies, but they don't have low cost, ease
of ... read full excerpt from Mac Toys: 12 Cool Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment ebook
