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The main reason I use it is just this one service by itself: https://ifttt.com/applets/1952...

That one automatically puts in your Google calendar the expected delivery date of every product ordered.

I consume about 8 RSS feeds everyday.

My favorite is using various RSS feeds to display instant notifications on my phones lock screen via IFTTT
weather warnings, currency exchange, local news etc.

I wish RSS was supported more. Sadness.

You can also connect the Dishwasher to IFTTT to Trigger actions on a number of events.

not plugging your fucking toaster into the internet so it cat tweet out whenever your toast is done.

I don't know whether you're talking about a toaster that tweets cat pictures or a toaster that tweets to cats when the toast is done, but either way I agree that it's a step too far (though I don't see the relevance to the topic at hand).

Back on topic, everyone knows you should use IFTTT to connect your toaster to the IoT, that way you can log your toasting activity to a Google Spreadsheet, active your Nest thermostat, initiate your coffee brewing, and share your #toastselfie across 72 social networking sites simultaneously. As you're no doubt aware, enabling people to do so is a vital service to the community, because it allows rampant narcissists to self-identify so that the rest of us can cull those relationships.

For those of you geeks who see an abrevation they've never heard of and that is presented as some super high-tech thing that you should know (I know, I've had the same problem):

IFTTT (if this then that) is a commercial web service (free as in beer, but they want all your data, like Google or Facebook) that hooks together a slew of popular other services using API calls and probably a little scraping aswell to automate tasks and data migration using a neat and shiny web-based click-ui. Think Apples Automator on OS X, but for all those shiny Web SaaS thingies hippsters get a hard-on about these days.

The wannabees like to throw around "IFTTT" because it sounds really nerdy, geeky and high-tech and they get all giddy when their Linux admin looks really confused having never heard the word. But don't worry, they just use it to send smilies on facebook whenever they've taken a picture in instagram and stuff like that. Your Perl & Python scripts are just as indespensible as always - so no trouble here.

Glad I could help.

https://ifttt.com/ Check it out.

Although not via FB directly, I've been doing that for the past few years with IFTTT. Works for me, and there's a couple of recipes that do exactly that; YMMV though.

Waste of electricity? I'd argue the opposite. Modern home automation technologies are largely very power efficient and can be used to set up power-saving routines that are only possible by having a greater awareness of the user's proximity and other environmental factors.

The issue right now is that there are several competing "standards" out there, such as X10, Insteon, and Z-wave, the latter two of which are wireless protocols that are more power efficient than wifi, while making some concessions that largely don't matter for what they're being used to do, while the first one sends small signals over your existing electrical lines. Besides those, Bluetooth Low Energy is increasingly being used to recognize the proximity of the user to other devices (e.g. unlock the door as I approach), and cellular signals coupled with wifi allow the phone to detect when it has crossed virtual geofences that can act as triggers to disable devices you accidentally left turned on at home (e.g. turn off my entertainment center that I accidentally left on when I had to rush out the door).

And I'm just talking about stuff that's doable right now with relatively cheap components. IfThisThenThat (ifttt.com) acts as some awesome glue to make various components such as your phone, your Belkin WeeMo devices, your Phillips Hue lights, or other such accessories play nice with each other. But others don't even need that glue, such as the Canary security device, which is designed to disrupt the home security market (side note: it's in the middle of it's Indiegogo funding, so you can get in for a cheaper price than retail still, despite the fact that it's almost been funded 10x over at this point).

As for the contents of your fridge, I agree that it doesn't matter if you know what they are, but imagine if your fridge could use less electricity by directing cooler air to specific compartments where it knew you had food that needed those temperatures? Many condiments don't actually need to be refrigerated, so it might direct less cool air at them, while directing more of it at the vegetables that you want to keep crisp. I'm a bachelor who hates going grocery shopping and eats out a lot, so I have a near-empty fridge and a freezer that's been empty for a few weeks now, yet it never even occurred to me until I was writing this post that I could have changed the settings of my fridge to save a decent amount of energy.

And turning off lights at the press of a button on your phone is overrated, as you said, but what about doing it automatically? We're not too far away from stuff like Star Trek's ubiquitous, "Computer, lights!" becoming a reality here, not to mention the automated proximity based signals that I mentioned earlier. You can already hack stuff like that together for yourself on the cheap, and there are more and more devices being aimed at end users that are doing things along these lines.

And the Nest? Come on, don't tell me you think that it wastes electricity compared to the majority of alternatives available out there. It knows when you're home or gone, can be set remotely from afar, and has loads of other smart features built into it.

We're in the future now, and as we have more devices collecting more data in the home, we can be putting it to work in being less wasteful with what we have while also providing us with a more home that is as responsive as we expect our software to be. It's a win-win, and it doesn't involve being able to see a list of everything in my fridge at any moment. :P

Unfortunately, I can't remember how to edit a post. Excuse my ignorance, I don't post often.

Anyways, check this IFTTT.com recipe out: http://ifttt.com/recipes/46081 - it searches a gmail account, and sends results as SMS messages to your mobile number.

So, you set it to search for From:yourworkaddress or Subject:FreezeTemp or what have you, and poof! Whenever your freezer is getting toasty, you get SMS messages.

I'd recommend a two-pronged approach, if you're looking for something user friendly and not requiring building an intermediate server.

First, check out the unbridled awesomeness that is If This Then That: http://ifttt.com/ It allows you to create simple (or complex) triggers based on all manner of inputs with all manner of outputs. Email, SMS, Social Networking, etc. I use it with a "private"(read: used only for this, and nothing actually private is tweeted) twitter account to pass data about. I originally used SMS, but I moved to twitter later as it's remarkably convenient and can be adapted easily to a number of different devices, whereas SMS is limited to phones (for the most part).

Then, on your sexy Android phone - I'm using a Note, personally, it's the closest I can get to a tablet but still be able to comfortably put it in a pocket - use Tasker to intercept and act.

Really, though, the first thing I'd do in your shoes is seriously investigate IFTTT. It's very easy to use and flat out awesome.

This site is not a mashup but an automation tool for the non-programmer folks on the web. To an extent I always knew that most web 2.0 users could be easily automated using simple scripts but I didn't suspect it was that easy.