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As for Joysticks, I just haven't found any IR or RF versions worth a damn. I have a 15ft analog joystick cable and a 15ft USB extention cable runnig into a hub which allows for a whole bucketload of high quality game devices. I also use Joystick-to-mouse translation software so that I can use a joystick to control the cursor. This is much slower but it is easy on the RSI :)

What you want is this, reviewed here. Nothing is too much cooler than a 1G Tacticle Transducer.

Wiring is fairly cheap... You can get speedCable for about a buck a foot... that includes 2 cat5e, 2 rg6, and 2 fiber all in one bundle..
OR you can go for the 2 cat5e, 2 rg6 for about $.70/foot. The distribution panel will run you about a grand. SO... for a typical 3BR house, you should be able to get all the parts for about 3-5k.
The cable I am talking about can be found here
So, before you can the idea of a whole house distribution system and network, do lots of research. It's cheaper than you think.

You'll want to check out some of the various 'home automation' sites, like smarthome.com. They have all sorts of ways to pipe audio (and video) around your house using existing AC or phone wiring, or wireless. FM is a really brute-force nasty way to send audio, and the frequency response is terrible; on top of the already less-than-adequate fidelity of MP3's, I think you'd be unhappy with the results.

Here's a starter at smarthome, the Leapfrog Home Network System, which uses phone lines for A/V transmission.

Have fun!
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I've found a number of good X-10 and home automation resources at HomeToys.com. The prices for X-10, video/audio distribution, and DIY security are usually better at SmartHome.com than at X10.com (and they don't tend to send you so much spam!). The best prices I've found for X-10 stuff (they also have security and video surveillance equip) are at Worthington Distribution. I've had good Web and phone interactions with them. They know what they're talking about when you need technical help, both before and after they make a sale (I can't say as much for X10.com or SmartHome.com).

There are lots of 'do it all' remotes out there. Sure, a Palm, a wince device or even a laptop can do this, but there are lots of remotes that you can point a remote at and they'll record what it says and assign it to button X as well. The problem with those is usually thnt to assign is not something you want to click once, or something like that.

The flash stuff in this market is really in the 'home automation' crowd. Check out SmartHome for some really good stuff, and at least an intro to the area.

There are some really neat devices out there which are remote controllable, using RF rather than IR (which means it works through walls, couches and so forth) and which output IR to your favourite devices. Snazzy!

Of course, once you start reading about this stuff a remote isn't enough - you want to be just chatting away to your house and having it tell you when the _important_ email arrives... :-)

Regards,

I can see it now. Neighbors dog in trash - fire the water cannon.

Smarthome's catalog is full of neat stuff like this. I've never actually bought any of it, but it makes for nifty browsing.

How reliable is Firecracker? Does it make sure that the device did recieve the command? Or does it just send out a commmand and hope that the device got it?

It looks like firecracker only transmits. It does not do any status monitoring, or anything else that requires it to recieve. I opened the Firecracker module's case and looked inside (hey, for $6US I just got it as something to play around with) and it looks like all it is is a simple transmiter that conects to the serial port.

If you need somthing that can can do status monitoring, or for anything else where it would have to be able to transmit and recieve, you may want to look at their Active Home kit or IBM's Home Directer kit, or something simular.

Can you extend the Firecracker device from the serial port, say 25' or so, to maybe get better transmission quality by mounting high on the wall or more centered in covering space?

You can try it and see if it works, just be sure that you don't make the cable too long or the serial signals will degrade.

How about temperaturing monitor with X10?

I haven't seen anything like that for X10 that will do what you want to use it for. You may just want to look at system monitoring kits that interface with the computer and allow remote monitoring.

Is there OEM or aftermarket X10 hardware?

Yes, check out www.smarthome.com. I've seen some good deals on X10 and other home automation hardware over there.

There are two X-10 solutions for the Mac.

1) Mousehouse www.mousehouse.net or www.smarthome.com to get the hardware & software from IBM.

2) XTension from www.shed.com or www.bzzzzzz.com for software & hardware.

Both have CM11a or Lynx X-10 versions and free demos. XTension is $89.95 with a mac cable, Mousehouse is $69.95 plus $10 for a mac cable.

The XTension website has some great tutorials about X-10 and your Mac.

you lived in a house that could have its x10 units controled buy a person in a seperate house next door? and this was accomplished by the X10 signal traveling through the wire on the pole? i find this very hard to believe, in fact it should be impossible.

It is infact possible, everyone served by your transformer can see your X(-)10 and you can see theirs. If you have problems with things turning on and off (esp. a round times like 6:00 or 7:15) , you can get a "line cleanser" from a place like SmartHome. I know Leviton makes one, and there are others. Some security systems use X10 as well, and can cause things to turn on and off seemingly at random.

This isn't a big sale... X10.com seems to always have one of their intro kits on sale for next to nothing. And once you order, they spam you daily with their new offers. Check out Smarthome for some similarly great deals, a better interface, less spam, and more honest promotions. Another good place is Worthington.

Check out this thread at AnandTech for some more opinions! Some people said that the Firecracker is not really home automation, but rather like a remote control... You need ActiveHome or something to get real automation (timers, etc.).

Of course, you may want to buy from Smarthome after you get the intro kit from X10.

-Dodja

The homebrew solution we had at the ISP I used to sysadmin for was all X-10 based. One password-capable phone responder with keypad for ~$85, and several of the lamp modules for under $10 each. Worked for power-cycling the terminal server and modem banks via phone or in person.

www.smarthome.com is a good place to start.