Home Automation - Is your house smart?

For many years I've wanted to automate things around my house. A long time ago (almost 10 years ago!) I use to use MisterHouse. This was a great application and although I didn't have much in looks, it made my imagination run wild. I was using a few X10 components and though it worked, it was somewhat disappointing in it's performance.

Now, I am planning on embark on a HA project once again. This time, I would like to use something which offers a lot more than Mr House. I've been waiting to see how that project matured and how much development was put in... Though I must admit it's a complex project, I certainly look forward to start it. (If my wife lets me.)

This time, I am going to use LinuxMCE and if you ever go on YouTube, look it up. The demo is quite impressive so it's worth it to look at users' environments. This video/demo I liked above was using a much older version of LinuxMCE. It's capabilities are quite impressive.

Now one thing that is good about HA is that you don't have to invest tons to get started. I'm going to start with a module or two and control a light or two. Once I've got it going, I'll hopefully convince my wife to let me invest in one module a month. (One security camera here, one light module there, another VOIP phone here...)

In short - HA is something that has been available for a while and doesn't take a lot to get started. When are you going to start?

A free case for your iPhone 4.

It's great that Apple admitted that the iPhone 4 has a problem with the antenna design. It's a pity that they try to persuade everyone that it's not a big deal and then try to show how others have the same problem. I thought Apple was bigger than that.

Even if other companies Berries, Droids and Minis have this problem too, why couldn't they have been a little more intelligent and said "It's a problem. We can fix the issue for most people by giving them a bumper or a case from other companies, but we can't properly fix it without making a significant change to the phone and we're not going to recall it since we're too heavily invested and most people love the phone the way it is."

Instead they create a webpage dedicated to showing others have issues too.

That's like Toyota saying, "Our cars accelerate by accident, but Ford Explorers tires blow up! And Volvos are not as safe as they claim."

I was asked if the antennagate issue is going to scare me away from the iPhone 4. The truth is... no. I'm going to buy one and I'm going to use it like I would usually use it. IF I see the problem during my daily use, and a case, bumper or Antennaid doesn't fix the problem, then I'll return my iPhone and will go with something else. Maybe a new Droid.

-P

iPhone 4 - UK Carriers comparisons

I decided to get an iPhone 4 and in the UK we are lucky to have 3 carriers (at least for now) to choose from.

I decided I was going to find a better way to digest the pricing structure on these and so I started a Google spreadsheet and as carriers have come out with pricing, I started putting their pricing in there.

What have I found? Well, not all pricing is equal. Some are selling the iPhones cheaper. Remember that Apple isn't going to sell the iPhone 3G anymore, only the 8G 3GS and the new iPhone 4 in 16G and 32G.

Also please note that I haven't included all the carrier disclaimers or additional pricing for add-ons, bolt-ons, screw-ons.

I also only did the pricing on 24 month contracts instead of 18 month. I am planning on doing that too. I'm not sure about doing the Pay-As-You-Go plans. If you think I should, let me know!

-P

Visio and Linux or what I call "Want SVG, use PDF"

I tend to get Visio diagrams from people every once in a while. Most of the time it's the vsd type, not even the xvsd (or xml based) version. Even if I had the xvsd, I'm not sure what exactly I could do with it.

Visio does have the capabilities of exporting to SVG (at least the latest release does) but I find that they don't import properly into Inkscape. It's strange but they seem to display properly elsewhere.

The answer to this issue? Another intermediate step -- use PDF. Visio can also export to PDF directly. (Or maybe you need a plugin?)

This PDF renders correctly and when you import it into Inkscape it shows up correctly too.

Now to test another file type... Visio can export into Autocad format!!!

I just recently discovered that you can convert DWG to SVG. I haven't tried the Cad2SVG tool yet, but I'm hopeful it will also provide an SVG that's usable in Inkscape.

By the way, if you're wondering why I'm so eager to go with SVG? It's simple -- it looks good and you can zoom without losing detail (very handy with an iPhone!) And if you don't believe that there's a lot of SVG out there, check out http://svg.startpagina.nl/.

-P

IPhone OS 3.5?

The iPhone OS 3.0 came out and I managed to upgrade within 30 minutes of the release. I'm happy with the extra functionality, but there's some stuff I wish would have been included.

So what are the things that should be included in the next release?

How about RSS feed subscription and updates? I don't want to sync with iTunes just to get podcast updates! I want to be able to download them by just clicking on "Refresh" in the podcast window instead of having to go to the "iTunes Store."

How about uploading your pictures to Flickr or Picassa from the photo app?

Anything else you can think of?

Yes, I know you can buy separate apps for these but it would be nice if it were all included.

I guess someone has to make a living by making things people want or need?

-P

Tablets and iPhone

I want an iPhone. Why? Because of the geek factor and the fact that there's a lot of potential in the little guy, however I am going to wait until the 2nd rev. I know a lot of new stuff can and will come via firmware, but I am pretty sure that the hardware is going to improve too. Also wouldn't it be neat if you could get attachments or other hardware to interface with it?

I know that Motorola, Nokia and pals have products that they want to compete with the iPhone, but I haven't seen any that I would consider... yet. That said, I think that Apple has done something that the cell phone industry needed. Opening their eyes to their true potential (revenue, technological, etc) and at the same time making the customers aware that there's much more to be expected in the future.

Now what does this have to do with tablets? Well, I think some interesting things are going to happen in this space. Rumors abound about Apple's "iTablet", "iText", iGuessAgain which would incorporate some of the iPhone's technology. Dell has finally entered the tablet market with a multitouch screen, and I'm sure there's going to be more to follow! Anyway, the whole point is that I'm excited that this technology is finally starting to come around. This coupled with Microsoft's Surface computing table and... well, what's a geek to do?

Buy...

-P