Slashdot Mirror
The Internet: Your Next Remote Control
Makarand writes "According to this article on NewsFactor, a Hungarian company, Timothy Technologies, wants to turn the Internet into a pervasive Remote Control. This device, called
FlatStack, allows users to operate home appliances using the web. The FlatStack is an entire web server on a tiny circuit board which can be connected to the Internet and wired to the device needing remote control. Later versions of FlatStack will connect to appliances wirelessly. The FlatStack, with a variety of applications at home, can also be adapted in offices, factories and agricultural settings. It is expected to sell for around $75."
Cowboy Neal is my control.
unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
Am I the only one that's worried someone might crack their password and start doing their dishes? :(:(
This is already invented in Finland :-). See http://www.violasystems.com/index.php
Trusted Computing FAQ | Free Dawit Isaak!
...I have to worry about my TV exploding from the /. effect?
Note to M1-ers: a curt but otherwise insightful message is not "Flamebait" or "Troll".
If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail or How We Can Use The Internet For All Kinds of BS.
Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
If Hungarian startup Timothy Technologies has its way, the Internet is about to take a giant leap forward, off the pages of the user's Web browser and right into every home appliance, from toaster ovens to air conditioners. Well, perhaps not the entire Internet, per sé, but enough of it to turn an ordinary home of the present into a remote-controlled Smart Home of the future. With an innovative new device known as the FlatStack, a user can log on to a Web page and operate home appliances with commands issued through an ordinary Web browser, with point-and-click ease.
The FlatStack is a tiny circuit board with an embedded operating system that functions as a Web server. The device connects to the Internet and, in turn, can receive commands through an ordinary Web page. The user logs on to the Internet, opens the Web page and is presented with various options. For example, on a hot day, one can log on to the Web page, check the current temperature at home and turn on the air conditioner remotely, so that the area will be cool by the time the user arrives home. Likewise, the user can switch on a coffee maker, TV, lights or any other home appliance to which the FlatSstack device is connected.
Vast Universe of Uses
And while uses are nearly unlimited for consumers, the FlatStack is also applicable in industrial settings, including offices, factories and agricultural arenas. Wherever there is an electronically controlled device, the FlatStack can be used.
Still, the sophisticated technology that powers FlatStack will remain outside of the user's view, as in nearly all other embedded systems. "You, as a user, will never be able to see it," Meta Group vice president Steve Kleynhans told NewsFactor recently when commenting on similar Smart Home devices. "The only thing you'll ever see is the interface they [graft] onto it." For FlatStack users, this is good news, as the Web interface is particularly simple and easy to use.
Timothy Not Home Alone
Timothy Technologies, however, is not the only high-tech company with the vision of extending the power of computing to the home. At the recent Comdex trade show, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) chairman Bill Gates announced, "Today, the home environment is one where the PC is starting to play a bigger role."
To that end, a new class of computers equipped with the upcoming Microsoft XP Media Center Edition will be able to remotely control televisions, DVD players and display digital images. The new version of Windows XP will make its debut on PCs produced by Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) that carry a price tag of several thousand dollars. By contrast, the FlatStack offers similar remote capabilities and retails for somewhere between US$75 and $100, while offering a key benefit that the Microsoft/HP system does not.
Fitting into the palm of a hand, FlatStack can remain mostly unseen and does not take up space in the home. The Microsoft/HP system, on the other hand, is relatively large and obtrusive in comparison, though it does offer some bells and whistles not offered by FlatStack.
I don't think switching on the toaster when you're not at home is a very good idea. That's a fire waiting to happen.
But imagine if someone's robbing your house and you happen to switch on the lights or something from the web or turn on the music or the tv. If the robbers won't have a heart attack, your house will forever be free of any disturbances.
"Hey, that house looks good, look at that TV! Let's take it!"
"Are you crazy? Haven't you heard? it's the 'haunted' house!"
Join the elite! Post at score:2! Ghostwheel is online.
Posted by timothy on Saturday November 23, @12:33
/. and front page advertising.
a Hungarian company, Timothy Technologies
Draw your own conclusions about
Reason for eating out:
"Someone hacked into my fridge...."
I am unique, just like you, and you, and you...
Drive Me Insane I saw this link in someone's sig this week...
A rather cool site that has been setup so you can control a good number of devices and cams in this guy's home. Even his lawn sprinkler. He has had a remote control car with a video cam on it and soforth that you can drive around his house. Definately a must see.
-- AcquaCow
up 12 days, 22:30, 2 users, load averages: 993.20, 994.21, 994.56
*makes note to limit user processes...
using it on the air conditioner. that way you can tell your aircon to turn itself on when your 20 minutes away from your apartment. so when you do get home, temperature's already at a comfy level.
How about something that will interface with my palm pilot?
I carry the thing with me everywhere anyway.
Bluetooth anyone?
I mean, not to sound like a complete luddite here, but do we really need remote control, through the internet of washers, dryers, toasters, ovens, and the like? I don't want some asshole figuring out how to exploit this little ROM attached to my oven, somehow tricking it into going into 'self-clean' mode, thereby getting really hot, using lots of energy, and possibly burning down my house if I'm not there to catch it. I don't want my washing machine turning on, or changing settings in the middle of the wash cycle, and I sure as hell don't want someone screwing with my Air Conditioner settings, living in a desert and all. So, if the real intent is for this to be controlled, via the internet then this is a bad idea.
If it was made for local control, this might not be such a problem, since a central regulating computer could work with it. However, if it's using a web server, this screams 'inefficient' for that kind of use, and would be much better using something along the lines of UPSd or even some kind of peek-poke method, like we used for IO address manipulation. Otherwise, it wouldn't even work very well for home automation.
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
And everywhere the language went, it was a total loss...
If you've ever seen that commercial where the husband unplugs the fridge when his wife tells him she made her tuna casserole and then they go to Outback because of it...
Husband: "Hi honey, I'm going to be home around 5:00, what's for dinner?"
Wife: "My special meatloaf."
Husband: "Mmm. I can't wait!"
(husband goes to remote admin webpage and turns off the fridge)
What are the Microsoft bells and whistles? BSOD, the ability to tell Microsoft who raids the fridge in th middle of the night, also who watches the p0rn channels.
Looking for a job?
Want your resume written professionally?
DON'T USE TUNAREZ!!!
This isn't really new. Ever heard of siteplayer?
http://www.siteplayer.com/
alternatively, spend twelve bucks on a couple of timers to turn lights on and off when you're gone, about the only conceivable use that is actually worth something...
A friend of a friend invented a remote-control vibrator. I kid you not! It's wired to the PC and has a web interface so that people in long-distance relationships can intimately stimulate each other during telephone/IM sex.... His company will be selling the product on-line shortly.
Do we really want out houses to be computer controlled? What if someone writes a virus, or figures out a way to hack it?
...all the stuff is easily available. In fact, that was my first home Linux project. Parts list: Linux box running Apache X-10 master control module "Firecracker" module from X-10 (serial->RF master) "Firecracker" for Linux program. That's it, perhaps $75 if you spend too much.... Here's the real problem though.....running such a server (either purchased or built) is against your user service agreement for most broadband people. I can understand why the cable internet people wouldn't want some poor slob getting the slashdot effect. It would destroy service for all the others allong the cable modem route. But facts are facts and any server on your equipment is illegal, even if it's just to turn on/off your hot-tub before you get home from work. Of course, there are ways around that.....but that's another story.....
LonWorks was supposed to be the mainstream system for home control, with backing from some big companies. It never made it. It's become popular in some niche markets, like controlling lights, HVAC, and signs in railroad passenger cars, subways, and such. (The noise immunity is quite good, so it will work in subways.) It's used in industrial control. But it's gone nowhere in home automation.
.. for my ex-wife, I hope it's programmable.
if $ExWife in $Bathtub {
drop $HairDryer in $Bathtub;
power 1 $HairDryer;
sleep 120;
};
Trolling is a art,
"Hello? Hi Jim, how are you? Well, it's pretty bad here. The lights keep switching on and off and the coffee maker won't shut off. The washing machine keeps overflowing. Every time we turn the oven off, it comes on again. When we turn the thermostat up, it gets colder in here. Last month's electric bill was $15,000.00. We think the place is haunted and just decided that we're going to sell it to the first person to make an offer, no matter how low it is.
(Ding dong...)
"Jim, I've got to go. There's someone at the door."
Sigs are bad for your health.
that this is exactly what I was told, so many years ago, that Java was originally designed for. Obviously didn't work out, though.
Cogito ergo sum in Slashdot.
Not to be a skeptic, but I'm not sure it's even appropriate for most "home automation" applications: For most tasks like laundry and cooking, a human already needs to be there to do a lot of the prep work (carrying the clothes to the appliance, preparing the ingredients, etc.). If no one's in a room, then the lights should probably not be on anyway, so remote light-switches seem almost wretchedly excessive to me.
The only thing I think "home automation" is good for is directed climate control with a centralized appliance (i.e., furnace, but this would require a lot of manual override ability in the event that the automation mechanism failed), and home entertainment (centrally-located media store with streaming media to all viewing centers in the house).
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I always thought a house was fer livin' in. Seems if yer already livin' in it, remote activation of them thar lights an' things would be kinda superfluous....
moto411.com
I think people are affraid of the term web server because it combines two strong buzz words.
A pure and simple text web server is actually very easy to implement. It's an 'ask a question, get text back' protocol...
Unless they plan to stream out MPG feeds from your toasters, creating such a circuit might be just as simple as the circuitry in a fancy watch.
(It's not a novel concept either)
Me: Hey! Check this out!
***click***
---Flush---
***click click click***
---Flush flush flush---
My Wife (in the shower): That's it! I'm divorcing you!
----
The difficulty of a system is only comparable to the ingnorance of the end-user.
#SickNotWeak
NO! I have enough problems keeping my computers secure enough to sleep. No you want me to worry about some script kiddie turning on my wife's curling iron or turning on my oven? No way! I will keep my appliance OFF the internet! :)
Gorkman
Big whoop. Ubicom makes a damn fine embedded TCP/IP platform, and it's all on one chip, with built-in Ethernet using a software MAC. And it's $13.
> Later versions of FlatStack will connect to ...coming soon to your neighborhood. Watch blocks of yard lights flash in sequence! Listen to hundreds of stereos blasting!
> appliances wirelessly.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Not only X-10 but TINI from Dallas Semiconductors offers the integral web server w/JVM ($50US), JStamp w/JVM, and Basic Stamp/Javelin Stamp could all be used similarly and are compatible with X-10.
is nobody else worried what happens when one of those bratty kids misplaces the remote?
This is just what I need! What better way to change channels on my TV, that to connect the whole earth to a single network, and then use this network to change channel on my TV, which is set 9 feets away from me.
Why would I buy this version if the next version's gonna be easier to integrate with wireless?
Reminds me of Adam Osborne's Famous Blunder.
Well, assuming that home automation worked right, with minimal overhead, I could see use where an X-Term or some other controlling terminal is mounted near the equipment, like in a laundry room, so different specific controls could be set for different kinds of wash loads, but it seems that it would be a bit excessive.
The only other way that such a complex system could seemingly be useful is if voice control matured to a point where you would want a central computer listening to what you said when you're in the house, to let you begin to preheat the oven, or to lower the temperature on the freezer if you're coming home with a large supply of food to put in it, etc, but beyond that, I'm not really sure.
IBM had PL/1, with syntax worse than JOSS,
And everywhere the language went, it was a total loss...
I shudder to think of the senseless violence I would cause when my coffee pot BSOD'd.
AND THIS IS THE KICKER!!! Once people are using stuff like this, then cable companies must be forced to change their policies to allow servers. Think about it! If the middle-class masses all want to use this to control home security, lights, etc, then the cable company would have to allow a major desire of millions of people to be allowed. Well, not "forced" to, but it's a shot. So anything that needs servers running in the house over broadband gets a vote "yes" from me.
Well, assuming that home automation worked right, with minimal overhead, I could see use where an X-Term or some other controlling terminal is mounted near the equipment, like in a laundry room, so different specific controls could be set for different kinds of wash loads, but it seems that it would be a bit excessive.
Although I would certainly respect the hack, this is largely unnecessary as most (at least high-end) modern washers have these capabilities built-in. You might be able to convince me that connecting my Maytag to the (firewalled) Internet is useful because it can download new data (as it becomes available) on how to change its cycle behavior depending on different stains, but you would be hard-pressed to make me believe that remote control was the right design over an embedded solution for controlling the actual washer.
moto411.com
Christ. When someone makes something very useful, small, and in this case CHEAP, all you can do is relate "Well if its attached to the internet it MUST be insecure."
Get a fucking CLUE people.
Ok, if you are too inept to know how to secure anything right, yes i would worry about having this too. If i was you in that situation, id worry about most of the things normal people do through out the day.
[saracsm]
Oh my god with one small piece of metal a person can get access to my whole house, and another piece of metal gives them access to my car?? The horror! Wont someone think of the security?!
[/sarcasm]
Yes, give an idiot power and the idiots power can be exploited. By adding the internet in there, that still wont change anything.
Does this mean the world shouldnt have this ability? NO!
I for one would love to have remote access control and monitoring for my whole home.
I however would also make sure it was secure.
Just because you arnt security experts and so trust M$ to do all of your security work for you and their ineptness lets you down does not mean that is how everyone else would be as well.
Use some comon sense. If your oven is attached to the internet, and that gives it the possibility of starting a fire, well it sounds to me like one should build in safeguards that CANT be overwritten by the remote control to prevent that from happening.
An oven already wont get hot enough to simply burst into flames.. and if it can, that is far from a problem with how it is controlled.
I would also love for my car to be remotely monitored and controlled.
Imagine the 'bad-ass' points you would get by foiling a car thieft this way.
Do i worry that some script kiddie could break in and use this aginst me? Of course i do, thats why i think of all the ways one may go about doing that and add measures to stop it ahead of time.
Would i trust MS to make something like this secure? No.. Would i trust this guy? Depends, if i could look over his work I may be convinced to trust him. If i couldnt, no i would not.
Would this stop me from adding my own security in front of all these appliances? Never on your life.
When people come up with new abilitys and resources for doing things such as this, we also must come up with new ways to make sure they arnt abused incorrectly. The two come hand in hand.
But at the same time, one generally learns/discovers the way to do something before how to use it correctly. Security will come very shortly after, and just because something can be abused is no excuse to stop its existance or not continue learning.
A setback thermostat is really very nice and will pay for itself because you'll never leave or go to bed forgetting to back off on the setting. Ours kicks in before we get up in the morning (it even learns how long it takes for the furnace or A/C to do its job), cuts back for the day, back up for the evening, off at night.
:)
Cool (ha-ha), requires no thinking, and cheaper. Occam's Razor baby.
And you can even economize by one "l" in useful.
running a PUBLIC server is against the liscensing agreement, at least for my ISP.
If other people can access your server you have a problem...can anybody think of any servers that aren't public access.
SSH perhaps? X tunnelled through it? I think that would work, don't you? Nobody can access that service without username and password, or if you're really a security nut, a public key and passcode.
Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!
the dialog going something along the lines of "Honey! some guy in norway keeps using a java applet to burn my toast!"
Buy from http://smarthome.com instead though. They sell X10 compatible modules from other companies, usually cheaper than the equivalent X10 product, and you're not sending your money to X10.
Its a shame actually, as its the only thing that X10 does well. Those cams they advertise everywhere are crap.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
While that can't be done with this device which is a retrofit to existing hardware, the devices where this will be built in at the factory are on the way, complete with diagnostic modes to allow remote troubleshooting.
Tech Public Policy stuff
So where's the SSL and the firewall?
If you can't figure out why this needs to be protected with a password enabled-SSL link and a firewall built into the microserver, you're invited to hook your hot tub to one (and PLEASE point a webcam at it), hook it up to the Net, post the IPs for both the webcam and the hot tub here, and climb in for a nice, long, relaxing soak.
Request to /. editors, if anyone actually does this, PLEASE make sure the article goes up IMMEDIATELY.
If the designer didn't think of this, he should be the first one to try this.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Notification
It would be great to know when:
Your wash load is done.
Your washer has stopped, unbalanced load
The clothes in the dryer are ready. (repeat until clothes removed)
garage door is open
Refrigerator temperature high - door open
To a lesser extent:
Your toaster has popped
Garbage disposal has run for more than 1 minute
The food in the microwave is ready and has cooled for a while
Some appliances that would be nice to control are:
Thermostat, especially to know when somebody's home and when NOBODY is home
water heater on/off
Just the fridge door open could pay for the entire sensor (ever lost a fridge full of food?)
So notification is the real key here, not toasting bread through the internet.
As I right this, the front page of the EETimes is running a story about an on-chip ethernet controller that also contains a rudimentary web server that they're planning to embed in all sorts of appliances for remote monitoring. Apparently it's much cheaper than what is being discussed in this article and it seems this on chip solution can act as a 100mbps ethernet hub for other devices as well.