Misterhouse - a Home Driven by Perl Scripts

An anonymous submitter copies from the website: "MisterHouse is an open source home automation program. It's fun, it's free, and it's entirely geeky. Written in Perl, it fires events based on time, web, socket, voice, and serial data. It currently runs on Windows 95/98/NT/2k/XP and on most Unix based platforms, including Linux and Mac OSX. It can talk, it can check your messages, control the lights, program your VCR, and what is best - it understands spoken commands. It can even track your car by interfacing to a TNC. And there are 600 users and 209 authors contributing to this project. Cool, eh?"

Comments

slash

[Anonymous Coward]

This may be the first time that we can slashdot a house!

Re:slash

[InsaneCreator]

NOT the first time, actually: Hemos's house got slashdotted once.

Very similar to MIT's Project Oxygen

[Jerk City Troll]

MIT's Project Oxygen is a very similar concept. It's meant to create intelligent environments that respond to your routines and commands as well. Naturally, Oxygen seems to be far more complete, but less likely to fall into the hands of just about anyone. Check out their site, it's a great read.

Re:Very similar to MIT's Project Oxygen

[unicron]

I bet you live in one of those homes where every knock on the door is followed by "we have a warrant".

It would be cool, but..

[Anonymous Coward]

...none of it will work properly when Perl 6 comes out.

Re:It would be cool, but..

[chromatic]

You know how to disable every installation of a previous version of software? That could be very handy.

A sign of the apocalypse

[Call Me Black Cloud]

209 Perl programmers coding scripts to run my house. Who would be insane enough to run that code? All thoughts about the maintainability of Perl aside I find I require my house to do very little text processing.

Re:A sign of the apocalypse

[Jason1729]

But now you can have your house pre-sort your snail mail to remove spam.

Jason
ProfQuotes

Re:A sign of the apocalypse

[Anonymous Coward]

Not me, my house is full of hash!

Re:A sign of the apocalypse

[Anonymous Coward]

Perl can thank decades of sloppy programmers for its bad rap as far as readability and maintainability. The language itself can be as clean as you want it to be, unless you have a manic hatred for sigils. Perl is also superior at more than just text processing, you know. IPC and databasing (DBI/CGI) are also extremely powerful and easy to do in Perl. As for running the code, well, it depends how you look at group projects...do more people just add to the disaster, or do they catch each other's mistakes? Perl folks (those who love Perl and spend a lot of time developing Perl apps) are generally pretty clever...

Re:A sign of the apocalypse

[thynk]

Who would be insane enough to run that code?

I for one would. In fact I've been a happy Mr. House user for a few years. I use perhaps 5% of what it's capable of. How I missed this posting today is beyond me, since I plug misterhouse on a fairly regualr basis here on /. In fact, I got the url for the /. article from the Mr. House mailing list.

While the documentation is mostly trying to read Bruce's Perl code (still makes my head hurt) the support from the mailing list is excellent (read - after 2 years they still put up with my novice questions).

The biggest draw towards Mr. House is the wide range of supported hardware, you're NOT locked into just X10 (tho it's the cheapest). New hardware just requires a new control module.

If you're looking for something to monitor and control your house, this is the first place I'd check. You can get the basics up and running in about 30 mintues. To use it all, well... it takes longer because there isn't a really good GUI to generate good code.

In addition to the flexibility of the hardware, there is a wide range of ways to control the software. You can use the web server, Send IMs from nearly every protocal, telnet, use the gui on remote machine. There are probably more ways to talk to it, but those are the ones that come to mind.

Count me as one of the VERY happy 600+ Mr. House users.

/.'d already...

[stagmeister]

... will he still be able to unlock the door when he gets home from work?

Re:/.'d already...

[Neuropol]

It should be an option for Slashdot to offer to mirror sites for stories like this for a period of 24 hours or some thing.

Re:/.'d already...

[arivanov]

Nope, but not for the reason you have been thinking of.

Mister House (which itself is OK) is usually used to drive X10 hardware which excuse me for the engineering language is a crock of shit. Low bandwidth (several bits per second) shared bus over power line. Once you got past 4-5 peripherals and it has just started to look really usefull you start getting gremlins. Lights coming on and off by themselves, central heating going haywire and so on. Most importantly it starts taking up to 10 seconds for some of the sensors to respond to a poll. So your garage lamp gets turned on 10 seconds after your IR sensor reacts.

No thanks.

Do not smoke this shit (have friends who do though). Once I am done with all the current house work I will wire some of the stuff but it will be using good ole cat5 for the sensors on dedicated wiring. And good ole cat5 to the relays once again on dedicated wiring. And some use for some good ole serial boards that will otherwise byte the bullet. Possibly once again driven by a heavily modified mister house but no X10.

Re:/.'d already...

[Blaine Hilton]

I wonder what type of security X10 devices have. Do they have any ability to block DDOS attacks, or /.ing?

Re:/.'d already...

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

I've been thinking about building a small Z80 based device, with a z8530 serial chip doing rs485. Maybe with as many as 4 simple bus slots composed of 20 or 40 pin headers (like IDE uses) to make it simple to build 'peripheals' out of perfboard.

Say, 32k of ram, maybe 128k of eeprom, and you could hook up 20 or 30 of these things, one daisy chained to the next. Could even use cat5, and reserve a pair for power. For peripheals, they would be simple relays and sensors... switches, thermistors, etc.

Overkill?

Re:/.'d already...

[kfhickel]

You just need to get higher quality modules, and do a little background work. I've got more than 40 devices with no problems, although I haven't gone the heating/cooling control route (yet).

Re:/.'d already...

[Dausha]

As I recall, the server you're looking at is not the server that actually runs his house. Misterhouse first came to my attention in a Perl Journal back in 2000.

Re:/.'d already...

[Smidge204]

I don't understand why making a computer the primary control for everything in the house has such appeal. Especially things like lighting and heating.

Most occupancy sensors have a built in set of contacts (optionally two sets sometimes) specifically for switching lights. If you want to monitor or override the sensor with a central computer, that's perfectly doable... but there's no sense in sending a signal half way across the house, prosessing it, and sending a signal all the way back when the sensor itself is perfectly capable of dealing with it directly.

Same thing with heating. If you're going to need a thermostat for each room/zone anyway, why not let it control the heating directly and have the central computer step in only as a secondary control? No lag, more robust (since otherwise the computer presents a single point of failure) and probably more modular.

A simple stand-alone controller to open and close window shades (for example) can be built for a few bucks each, and you'ld probably only need one per room, if that many. What would it take? Photo cell of some kind, relay, power supply, small PIC or other microcontroller package, and a motor. No big deal!

Running a dedicated wire is still a good idea regardless. *maybe* using one or two X10 devices for things that might not lend themselves to hardwiring, or something you might not have around long enough to warrent dedicated controls. (Holiday lights maybe? I dunno...)
=Smidge=

Re:/.'d already...

[Whatever Fits]

Actually, it may use X10 commonly as that is the cheapest/most common way of controlling your house, but if you read the lists you find that many people use these cool Weeder digital I/O boards, alarm systems, I-Buttons, and all sorts of other home control systems that are countless it seems. I'm working on doing that myself, now that I'm a homeowner, but money is tight, now that I'm a homeowner.

Also if it doesn't support it today, it will as soon as you write the interface for it, which is usually quite simple. Most of these control devices have some sort of serial connection which makes it very easy to code for.

I've been using MisterHouse for quite some time now and am actually a contributing author. Me and 208 other people! ;)

Re:/.'d already...

[Jonny Ringo]

Will you daughter get sucked in to the tv as well and sporadically hear her creapy voice echo through the house?

Re:/.'d already...

[Anonymous Coward]

"I don't understand why making a computer the primary control for everything in the house has such appeal. Especially things like lighting and heating."

Note that word you use there--"I". You are not me. You're requirements do not match everyone else's. You are unique. You are an individual. So am I. Consider consideration, thinking that maybe others may have other needs or wants.

To address what you said...for the novelty. To have everything in one location. To heavily reduce programming and system maintenance time (if you write good code and test it well). To remove themselves from single vendor solutions or changes in model. To reduce wiring costs and associated costs (labor) (and reduction in structure strength reduction that typically comes with it). To reduce rewiring by using existing wiring.

The argument is similar to the "one robust server" versus "many cheap, redundant, separate lesser servers" argument.

[switching lights, 'occupancy' sensors]
Not all houses are small. Not all houses are contiguous units. I, for example, have 1 computer that goes over a WiFi access point to control devices in a barn--RS-485 to ethernet and back translation devices on either end.

btw, not everyone wants to pay $60 per highest end consumer thermostat for a room by room zoned house, when a single epia and $5 dallas semiconductor sensors will do the job for less.

Occupancy sensors do not have the capacity to switch off when you want to turn off the front door light from the master bedroom, much less be able to be viewed and checked online.

btw, if you don't have the use for it, that's fine. Don't buy it or use the project.

[window shades]
You're kidding me, right? PICs have their place. For me, it wasn't worth the time and trouble, not to mention design, maintenance, production.

In the farmhouse I'm in, there is 1 room with 1 window. The average number of windows per room is 3. It's on a hill. I automate blind movements to save on heating and cooling costs. In fact, I use 2 blinds--one for light (semitransparent), one outside that is a thick sound absorbing material I rigged up. iow, I also automate blind movements based on SOUND as well as time and light because the area around me is no longer a farm but next to a busy pikeway (thank suburban creep and all the young jackasses that blast their bass).

The great thing with central computing is the extensibility--the front living room got a couple plasmas for a media room. The code required simply was to rig the IR receiver (RS-232 serial) to receive a code (from a Palm pilot) and all the shades drop. Took me 1 minute to think about it, and 2 minutes to drop the code in. Try that with your pic. The room has 4 windows and a door--with your picks, it would have taken you 5 minutes per outlet just to remove the PIC units for reprogramming. A few weeks waiting for the IR sensors. Blah blah blah.

Re:/.'d already...

[Smidge204]

Hence the term "Secondary controller"

I am not opposed to the idea that a computer be allowed to control basic energy/comfort systems aroudn the home. I can see great advantage in that.

Why buy a top of the line thermostat? A $10 (if that) bi-metallic strip + contact type is all you need. With the computer as a secondary controller, it makes sense. The thermostat would maintain the temperature in the room at a preset temp unless the computer tells it not to. (I believe these types of thermostats have both high and low temp contacts, after all...)

An occupancy sensor may not be able to turn your porch light on from your bedroom, but a photo cell will turn it on if it gets dark. The computer can override the sensor to either turn the light off at night or on during the day.

Both types of devices can be connected to a computer to make it aware of it's state, and thus monitorable from the internet (if you're that paranoid about it)

Same thing with the window shades. Default behavior with central control override if required. Since you've already gone through the trouble of motorizing them, it seems like an awfully small step to make a system that's just as flexable and much more reliable.

The barn is a perfect example. If something goes wrong with the wireless link, it's completely dead.

The point is to avoid single point-of-failure types of situations. Each part of the house can operate semi-independently while still having more complete control from a single point.

And regarding the "many cheap, redundant, separate lesser servers" comment... that seems to be Google's take on it, and they seem to be doing pretty well. On the flip side, even robust server setups are built with redundancy.

And you said it yourself, everyone has their own needs... but personally speaking I've never understood why people go out of their way to make a solution much more complicated than the problem really calls for.
=Smidge=

Re:/.'d already...

[phurley]

Check out the Ocelot and/or the Leopard from www.appdig.com

Re:/.'d already...

[shokk]

What the hell are you talking about? I've got a home full of X10 equipment and various other automation and Misterhouse is stable enough that it meets the Spouse Approval Factor. Simple enough even the kids have been raised wondering why their friends' homes don't also talk and do things by themselves. And for stability, my house has been up for 245 days and counting.

Misterhouse does not need to be modified at all in order to do serial board relays. Just try reading past the first few paragraphs to know what you are talking about and you'll see that it's already been done, and done well. It's much more than just X10.

Re:/.'d already...

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Dipshit:

Why are you a dipshit?

Thanks.

I dunno...

[TopShelf]

HOMEOWNER: Open the patio door, Misterhouse.

MISTERHOUSE: I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that...

Yikes!

Re:I dunno...

[Faust7]

HOMEOWNER: All right, Misterhouse... I'll go in through the emergency chimney.

Re:I dunno...

[gordyf]

The... emergency chimney? Like, in case a fire just happens to spring up under the carefully-placed emergency chimney? :)

Great for lazy crominals...

[jocks]

Simply shout "Shut the curtains, switch off the lights, disable the alarm and unlock the front door" through the letter box.

Re:Great for lazy crominals...

[sharkey]

Simply shout...

"ispell crominals"
.
.
.
Damn!

Hardware

[Apreche]

That's just great. But one thing... What kind of hardware do I need to connect my computer to all the devices in my house? Does it support wireless? I would assume that the site would have the answers I'm looking for, but it's a bit /.ed.

Software does me no good if I don't have the hardware to make it work.

Re:Hardware

[Computer!]

I had the same question. Now, I know that X10 devices can be attached to nearly anything, and assigned a two-part code, ie 'A4'. Can someone point us to a site that explains X-10 from the ground up, including X-10 to Computer interface?

Radio Shack just didn't have the answers.

Thanks.

Re:Hardware

[codezion]

Hardware List (taken from FAQ:

(Google Cache)

6.8 What sort of hardware do you have in your house?

This is what is currently (04/2001) in Bruce's house (see mh/docs/mh.* 'List of supported hardware interfaces' for more info):

- Mh running on a dual 600 PIII Win 2K box great for quick mh debugging :)

- SB Live Value sound card (supports simultaneous sound sources)

- PCI ByteRunner 8 port serial card

- PCI phone modem for callerid logging and announcements

- Linux box for hosting misterhouse.net

- 5 other networked computers for mp3 client/servers, shoutcast server, games, writing, and work from home

- Radio Shack PA amp with a PA speaker in each room

- Wiring closet with 3 DIO weeder cards and 2 analog cards

- 16 relay card from jameco for PA speaker switch

- Home brew motor/relays for up/down control of 9 Window quilt curtains

- RF sensor in the mailbox across the steet

- WX200 weather station from Radio Shack

- Relays controling garage door and furnace heat and fan

- Digital input sensors on doors and garage door

- A few iButtons for testing

- X10 IR commander and CM17 for sending IR signals

- X10 CM11 with X10 consoles in each room for control

- X10 motion sensors, light, and appliance modules

- Matrix-orbital LCD keypad for local output and control

- WAP cell phone for remote queries and control

- A ham radio TNC for tracking 2 GPS APRS equipped cars

- NetGear router with mh monitored SYSLOG data for tracking internet traffic

- MSVoice VR via a Andrea Desktop Array microphone

Re:Hardware

[mt2mb4me]

Well they make units called X10 units (same standard as the cameras in thoes annoiying pop up ads) and what it does is transmit singals whough your electrical house current. The last time I looked at it though (which it has been a while) you were limited to 16 deviced on a channel. to interface with your ccomputer, there is a device that plugs into the wall, and connect also to your serial connection on your PC, (as of 1999) then you have to replace your plugs and switches with X10 plugs and switches, along with, if wanted, motos for curtians, and door locks. when i looks at it 4 years ago, I got the comptuer interface, one "lamp" plug, one "utility" plug, one keychain remote and one "universal" remote. And i also bought a box lot of dimmer switches @ $9.99US.

Re:Hardware

[kawika]

For basic control, you can get X-10 powerline control stuff at x10.com, or worthdist.com, or even your local Radio Shack. The computer-to-powerline interfaces run $10-$50, the most common one is the CM11a. There are also computer-to-wireless interfaces like the MR26 that let you receive keypad presses. The wireless keypads can also control devices directly.

There are plug-in modules to control lamps and appliances, they generally run $5-$15 each. You can also buy wire-in switches and outlets that can be controlled by X-10 signals, cost is $10-$70 each. So you probably don't want to replace every switch in your house.

There's a lot of activity on the comp.home.automation group if you want to learn more.

Re:Hardware

[jpsst34]

What would make you think Radio Shack would have answers? Has their slogan misled you? You know, the one often misheard as "You've got questions. We've got answers."

Turns out that's not really the slogan, it's just being misinterpreted through slight of tongue on their part and your subconscious saying, "They didn't just say that!" But they really did just say that.

The slogan is actually, "You've got questions. We've got Assholes."

Re:Hardware

[kfhickel]

http://www.homeautomationforum.com/index.html
htt p://www.x10ideas.com/

Re:Hardware

[PerlGuru]

And just for kicks, here, is RadioShack's home automation section on the online catalog.

I have equipped my parents home with an X10 based system and all of there light switch modules and appliance outlets (all the in-wall variety) came from Radio Shack with only computer interface and software comming from online. It's been four years and no problems yet.

Re:Hardware

[Enraged_jawa]

Can someone point us to a site that explains X-10 from the ground up, including X-10 to Computer interface?

Try http://www.x10.com/support/technical_support.htm and look at the documents under the In-Depth Information section.

As far as Misterhouse itself, I have been using it for about 2 years now, and I really like it. It is very easy to customize (perl) and I let it announce things like the chance of rain, Weather alerts, new email, anouncement of iridium flares, and also you can give it commands via email.(like to turn on the AC or the lights before leaving work). It will process the commands, then email you back the conformation. It is fully modular and you decide which scipts you want it to load when it runs. You do not have to use all of them. I also use it with a hacked qnx 3com Audrey running a program called MrAudrey for a remote touch pad display. If you subscrbe to the Mrhouse mailing list, Bruce Winter will send out an update notification every month listing bug fixes, updates, and new perl script modules. The only problem I am having is getting it to work with my WX918 weather station, but all in all I am a very happy user. It runs under both windows XP and linux, and best of all it is free.

Re:Hardware

[Tingler]

Here is a link that might help:

http://www.x10pro.com/pro/catalog/x10plc.html

Re:Hardware

[thynk]

I had the same question. Now, I know that X10 devices can be attached to nearly anything, and assigned a two-part code, ie 'A4'. Can someone point us to a site that explains X-10 from the ground up, including X-10 to Computer interface?
Radio Shack just didn't have the answers.

From my experience the new Radio Shack Motto "You've got questions, we've got blank stares."

The first part of the two-part code is the house code, the second part is the Module or device code. You get 16 device codes per house code. In your example of 'A4' - That is house code A and device 4, in my house that's my living room lamp.

There isn't a lot more to know about the basics of X10, until you run into problems - generally caused by an appliance sending "noise" back over the powerlines. This is the cause of *most* X10 problems (aside from the 10% DOA rate of their hardware). Keeping noise off the powerlines is probably the most time consuming and costly part of using X10. I'll give you a quick run down on how this interfaces with your computer.

You can get Mr. House running with as few as two X10 devices - a TM751 Transceiver Module (or a RR501 - super model - recommended) and a CM17 - firecracker RS232 to RF converter. Both can generally be had for around $10-15 on ebay.

The TM751 picks up signals from the CM17 (or the remote) and sends those over the powerlines to other modules (when you put them on). It also acts as a Appliance module (device 1 for your house code).

Now that provides a nice one way data stream - from the computer to the devices. But if you use the CM11 (or repackaged variants) you get two way communications. The CM11 is able to read the data that flows over the power lines (the ones the TM751 sends). With this and Mr. House you can program Macros or scripts to run when certian buttons are pressed. For example - A16 ON on the key pad triggers the script on Mr. House that says "Good morning Master", turns on my coffee pot and the bathroom light. A16 OFF triggers the script that says "Goodnight Master" and turns off all the lights.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of how X10 works (in the ideal world) and how you can interface it to your computer with a program like Mr. House. If not, please just respond and I'll be happy to share what I can.

Re:Hardware

[plover]

Now that's just mean. The Radio Shacks near my home are staffed by nice people.

Anyway, their real slogan is "You've got questions? We've got blank stares."

Re:Hardware

[x10rocks]

Greetings, My name is Rommel and I work for X10.com. The best way to get information regarding X10 hardware is to chat with someone online. Just visit any of our product pages (http://www.x10.com/automation/x10_ck11a_d.htm) and click on the blue button "Got Questions?" to chat with a live representative. Best Regards, Rommel

Re:Hardware

[Computer!]

Extremely helpful. Thanks so much.

Seems to be using X10

[implex]

I managed to get a quick peek and one thing I saw mentioned X10. The infamous pop under guys.

However I have some X10 at home and the bundled software does have a lot of configuration limitations. This could well extend the usability and configuration options.

Re:Seems to be using X10

[Anonymous Coward]

Just to clarify: X10 is a standard. It's not inherently evil. It only seems that way because of the company that is also called X10 (the one that does the pop-ups, etc.).

Re:Seems to be using X10

[Montag2k]

There is one company that sells cheap X10 technology that does the infamous pop under ads. Unfortunately, I think that the company is x10.com or something like that.

X10 itself is just a technology and there are several other companies that make X10 stuff besides the annoying pop-under folks. Check out smarthome for some products that aren't advertised by annoying popunders.

Montag

Re:Seems to be using X10

[bill_mcgonigle]

Is anyone working on a similarly simple protocol which runs over 802.11b? The whole powerline idea seems antiquated now that I have a proper network covering my house. Are there even any affordable ($10) 802.11b components yet that someone could use to build such switches?

Re:Seems to be using X10

[Balthisar]

X10 (x10.com) *is* the company that invented X10. Yes, at x10.com you can get authentic X10 modules, that use the X10 protocol. They've been around as long as I can remember, but I'm only 31. They used to advertise on the backs of my Commodore magazines back then. At SmartHome.com, you can get a lot of X10 compatible stuff; a lot of it is better than what is available right from X10.

Re:Seems to be using X10

[jgordon7]

Well the powerline is used because any device you want to control is probably connected via powerline, so why make it more complicated. You also do not need much BW, however the X10 protocol could use an update to allow for more reliablity. But going 802.11b would make it difficult to make small devices, signal inside a wall would be a problem. And 802.11b would add a lot of expense if each device you wanted to control (every light in the house) needed an 802.11b interface.

Re:Seems to be using X10

[bill_mcgonigle]

Is is not still true that you have to install some sort of linkage across the bus bars in your electrical service panel so the devices on the two split 120 phases can signal each other? I always saw that as a barrier to entry for 90% of the population.

Someone earlier was mentioning $50 units for lamp modules, which is why I asked if there was a $10 802.11 component (so a $50 target could still be easily had). I'd pay $10 extra for the 802.11 variety.

Re:Seems to be using X10

[Jogar the Barbarian]

Popups? What popups?

Ohh, I remember now. Those little advertisements that appear when people are using legacy (MSIE) browsers instead of Mozilla/FIrebird/Netscape 7.

=)

Re:Seems to be using X10

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for speaking up for us~! My name is Rommel and I work for x10.

Re:Seems to be using X10

[Anonymous Coward]

If you need a little reminder, go here and click reload a few times.

Re:Seems to be using X10

[Anonymous Coward]

TOOL!

Coffee, Security

[schnarff]

Now if only we can get a coffee machine that's compatible with this, I'll be set. :-)

Of course, the other thing to worry about here is security -- I sure would hate to get 0wn3d by some idiot who then had the power to play with my lights, change my channels, etc. I know the easy crack here is to say "then just don't run it on Windoze!", but I won't take that road because RedHat, etc. are almost as vulnerable if improperly configured.

Re:Coffee, Security

[cybermace5]

Then configure it properly. At least with Linux you have the option.

Re:Coffee, Security

[MrChuck]

Dude, for 10 years, I've reached over, hit "8 ON" and heard the coffee machine click on. By the time I get my ass out of bed, the coffee is ready. Why is this hard for you? My GirlF took about 3 minutes to embrace the concept (of course she used Irix for 6 years before having to touch windows, so she adopts to this quickly).

I tried having the Sparcstation catch when a motion detector in the bedroom was live after 7AM, but getting up at a proper 10 to old coffee ended that. I know a guy with a pressure mat in front of his bathroom through. Step on it first after sunrise/before noon an the "morning macros" start. That took about 3 minutes of shell script plus cron to touch/rm a file.

What I need is a little Chitty Chitty bang bang type train to get the coffee served, milked and sugared and trolley'd over to me.

When is Mr Roger's train hitting EBay?

Tried MisterHouse

[Your_Mom]

I've tried MisterHouse (a year ago, take this with a large helping of NaCl), and I was not that impressed by it. It has all these "Gee Whiz" features, and there are some neat things, but you need to run it on a dedicated box, with a lot of horsepower. I would much rather have a smaller, more compact version with less features.

If you have the computing power to use it though, try it, it's fun :)

Re:Tried MisterHouse

[JaredOfEuropa]

It looks like an interesting project, and going by the FAQ you don't need that beefy a machine to run it, especially when it's dormant. This could happily co-exist on my existing house server (doing web, firewall, mail, etc. etc).

I don't need it to tell me "Notice, the sun is bright at 32 percent, and it is cold outside at 24 degrees, so I am opening the curtains at 8:07 AM", though. Especially not at 8:07.

I've been waiting for something like this for a bit, something that integrates controls, small LCDs, scripting, remote control and such features into one package. Maybe I'll give it a go. I've always wanted to fit each radiator with a solenoid valve and put a temperature sensor in each room. That way I can *finally* have each room at the right temperature and choose to heat only certain parts of the house depending on the time of day.

Re:Tried MisterHouse

[kfhickel]

I looked at MisterHouse, and it's cool, but for me, it was more of a kit than a solution.

I have to deal with cranky perl code (and C, C++ and Java) all day at work, I don't want to have to do it to get my lights to work.

I run HomeSeer (windows only) http://www.homeseer.com and it was much easier to set up out of the box, but you do have to pay for it.
-Kelly

Re:Tried MisterHouse

[Anonymous Coward]

it is cold outside at 24 degrees

That's pretty warm in Australia mate. Don't forget, the rest of the world isn't using te antiquated system that America uses. I have brains and intelligence. I'm Australian.

Re:Tried MisterHouse

[Chanc_Gorkon]

I like all the features, but I would rather use a StrongARM based box that uses less power. I already have a few machines running non stop. I don't need to use MORE power just because I am too lazy to get up and hit the switch!

Re:Tried MisterHouse

[MrChuck]

I suppose if you use windows, you might need a beefy machine. you need a beefy machine to run notepad.

Mr House is running on my MP3 server/mail server/ internal DNS server/web server.
It handles around 5000 messages/day, streams MP3s and generally just runs.

It's a K5@233 with 48MB of RAM. It cost me $200 a long time ago. It will never die. It's sole purpose was to spit files to the net from a large disk for the other machines. The NeXT didn't cut it (IDE was cheaper :).

Why not the dual CPU 1u under it? Cause the K5 has ISA for the 16 port serial card ($100) and the LCD text console ($80) I have. (and it's quieter than a 1U).

And it's BORED.

I'm likely gonna move it to the soekris (133MHz 486 that's got two wireless and two ethernets) and get serial via the terminal server. (you DO have a terminal server, right? No? geek-wannabe.)

The code and configs kinda of want a big cleaning, like BigBrother did. Big Sister long wanted "redo" of BB4. Lots of script components, but it means that when an event happens (motion in garage), I can kick off a script of my own writing without huge API pain.

-=-= -=-=
X10:
not reliable, not ideal. I have a couple lamp modules from 1985 that are fine (replaced a triac in one with one that wasn't crap - that was $3 and 10 minutes of my life).

I don't use x10.com stuff generally (cept for the $4 firecracker).

X10 is a protocol. Developed in the late 70s. It runs over power.

False lights? It's either a neighbor or noise. I had the problem once and put a filter on at the entry of power and never had a bump since.

If you can't make X10 work ok for you, then you're not tall enough. Boot your machine into windows and take the blue pill, hop over to disney.com and note the challenging and cutting edge filmography going on there.

That said, I'd never let it (or any computer) control my heat, or doors without failsafe in place. (heat will alway be between 50 and 75, x10 or computer can control between those. Nobody dies. Basic industrial control rules.

Shoot at X10 as you will, but for the price, I can control 25 lights in my house without ripping into walls, etc. The nearest competition is Lutron's RF stuff ($200 per light switch - but it's reliable RF).

The fantasy? An outlet that spoke IPv6 over SLIP over RS-485 which could provide control and feedback with strong authentication. For $5/outlet. Let me know when that's available.

-=-= -=-=
So MisterHouse controls/watches the X10.

It talks to my weeder technology boxes, it talks to my 1-wire stuff, it spews out stuff for my 3com audrey.

It doesn't talk at me nor I to it.

At night, I hit a button, based on that it's got an idea where I am. It looks at the alarm and might note that a door is open and beep at me. it can't control the alarm, that's stupid. It can WATCH the sensors though. I hit the button, it gives me 10 minutes and shuts off all the lights that aren't in the bedroom.

Plans? catch the weather (nobody on the www uses a standard form, bastards, it's all pretty and unparseable). If it's gonna be warm, don't bother turning the heat up at 8AM unless it's really chilly inside. (thermometer that has a "vacation" mode that can be twiddled by a computer).

Main uses? I hit a "watching a movie" button and the lights set, the TV/DVD/VCR go on. Motion outside will turn up the lights (someone coming in late).

• It logs motion on the front porch and the doorbell.
  When did UPS come? Oh, someone rang at 3:30. It was raining then, yell at them for leaving a box out in the rain without a signature.
• The audrey shows the weather and headlines in the AM in the kitchen.
• The temp in a couple rooms is logged (and outside).
• The fact that the furnace is on or not it logged.
• I can log in (via my phone or a web browser), AUTHENTICATE and view th

Re:Tried MisterHouse

[Your_Mom]

Wow, aren't you cocky? geek-wannabe my ass. I'll go toe-to-toe with you any day.

Like I said, I haven't used it in a year or so. I dunno if its changed. I'm running it on a K5 266 with 48M RAM (You running an IBM Aptiva too?) MP3, SMB, NFS, DNS, Mail, along with a smattering of other crazy stuff. Misterhouse CHUGGED. Horribly. It sucked. Right now I'm running heyu with some CGI to do most of my work that I want. I use SMS to control most of the gadgets when I'm sans Internet connection.

So, unless it's really improved in a year I still think its far from perfect. Really nice program, fun to have, but unless you got some nice stuff under the hood, be prepared for some chugging.

Now excuse my, I need to grab another beer.

Re:Tried MisterHouse

[shokk]

Dedicated box? My single 700MHz Misterhouse system is my Apache webserver, Samba fileserver, MP3 repository, Obsequium server, DNS server, NTP server, mySQL server, POP server, IMAP server, etc, etc, etc. Because of all the spare cycles the thing has, I am running Folding@Home on it!

You do not need anything dedicated, folks.

Electric Dreams...

[dreadpiratemark]

Hmm, why can I not help but think about Electric Dreams, that campy 80's movie about a computer 'gone bad' that takes over a guy's house when both the computer & the guy fall for the girl upstairs.

I'll also preempt the inevitable pron references by saying, yes, there were also movies listed on Amazon that have the same name. Simply pointing that out does not make for a creative reply!

Re:Electric Dreams...

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds more like Dean Koontz's Demon Seed.

Re:Electric Dreams...

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you know there were porno movies by the same name listed on Amazon? - Eliza

Funny +5

Wow! Feel the awsome power of the Slashdot Effect

[nordicfrost]

I've never quite seen the SE kick in before I started viewing stories from the "mystrious future". But on this site, I could clearly notice when the Slashdot posting header went from red to green. Wow.

The FSW Life Cycle

[3rd_Floo]

1. Start a project
2. Succeed in making a good project
3. Get noticed by /.
4. Loose your bandwith allocation for the next year
5. Go under because the bandwith nazi creditors are after your free project.

Looks like they are midway between 3 and 4... huummm =P

Re:The FSW Life Cycle

[Anonymous Coward]

L-O-S-E. Learn to fucking spell, idiot.

Re:The FSW Life Cycle

[Anonymous Coward]

6. Profit?

Site ./ - Yahoo groups messages

[implex]

This may be of value for more information as the site is ./d
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MisterHouse/messages

Misterhouse links

[Seth Finklestein]

I've dug deep into my extensive bookmarks library to find some links that might be appropriate to this story.

Scott Crevier's Home Interface
Home Automation.org
Perl AUtomation System (PAUS)
UK Rocketman
BottleRocket

Thank you.

Perl House?

[dotpl]

hmm... does the choice of language has anything to do with the last name of Larry Wall?

Like HAL?

[eenglish_ca]

Well if it runs the house anything like HAL ran the space ship in 2001 then you can count me out. I don't want my house trying to murder me and spy on me all the time through big red cameras. Just staring and then speaking in that boomy voice.

I named my wall "Larry"

[celloloop]

Course listing at the local Home Depot:

7:30 Kitchen and Bathroom Tile installation
8:30 Decorator Paint techniques
9:00 Perl syntax for home automation

Name your house's components:
my($Wall) = "Larry";

Mirroring

[schnarff]

Probably a bad idea, but...

I was able to snag a copy of the Features page before the Slashdotting began (damn near got first post, too, but I actually wanted to *read* a bit before I posted). I've put a copy on my web server.

Oh, and I believe this is the Google Cache, but it's barely even responding. We couldn't have Slashdotted Google, could we?

Re:Mirroring

[vericgar]

No, Google isn't slashdotted. What you linked to was a cached of the frameset (IMHO frames suck), which Google cache doesn't seem to handle very well. (View Page Source is your friend)

The google cache of the pages in the frames however, are here (toc.html) and here (intro.html).

/karma whore

Re:Mirroring

[schnarff]

I didn't think we'd Slashdotted Google, but I could think of no other cause immediately. Glad to know what it was.

Re:Mirroring

[kalidasa]

Don't worry, it would take the combined power of the entire Imperial Star Fleet to Slashdot Google. But only one Rebel scum can Google Slashdot.

Bluetooth

[Pendersempai]

Imagine this technology combined with a simple Bluetooth ID that you can carry in your wallet:

• Lights turn on as you enter a room and turn off as you leave it
• The music you play on your networked audio system follows you from room to room
• The movie you're playing pauses automatically when you go to the bathroom
• The heat is turned down when you leave the house
• Your rooms of your house, in general, snap to attention at your presence and stand at ease when you've passed

Re:Bluetooth

[paiute]

Didn't someone living near Seattle build a big ass mansion with all this in it? How'd that work out for him?

Re:Bluetooth

[PerryMason]

* snap to attention at your presence and stand at ease when you've passed

And they'd have Genuine People Personalities? It'd be a door's pleasure to open for you, and their satisfaction to close again with the knowledge of a job well done?

I'm not too sure if its all a good idea. Don't forget that history has shown the marketing division who came up with GPP to be a bunch of mindless jerks who were first up against the wall when the revolution came.

Re:Bluetooth

[user32.ExitWindowsEx]

I think his name was Bill and he owned a software company of some sort.

Re:Bluetooth

[JaredOfEuropa]

"Lights turn on as you enter a room and turn off as you leave it"

...leaving your guests sitting in the dark, muttering.

Of course most people who implement this in their own homes are not the types who entertain often ;-)

Re:Bluetooth

[TotallyUseless]

you mean something like this?

Re:Bluetooth

[EpsCylonB]

Might make you a bit lazy though, imagine getting used to it and then staying around a friends house. You would wonder why the telly doesn't come on when you enter the living room.

Re:Bluetooth

[surprise_audit]

All of which are just fine if you're the single occupant of the room (or even house), but when there are multiple other occupants, there'd better be some very good conflict resolution software in the loop.

Sure, it's easy enough to count the folks in any given room and make the decision to turn the lights off when the last person leaves, but what if I like the lights bright and my wife doesn't? If I'm in the room with the lights bright and she walks in, should it dim the lights? Pick some point between our two references? Same goes for TV channels/volume, room temp, etc.

And what about visitors? Imagine a SuperBowl party where the host leaves the room to take a leak and the TV shuts down... Guess you'd need to hand out IDs as visitors enter the house...

It would still be cool, though. :)

Re:Bluetooth

[Tokerat]

User configuration is of course they key here.

The controlling computer should have a configure menu (of course only activated when you walk up to it :-) which would allow you to decide things like how to mix specific settings between two people. Perhaps you could have a group of settings specific to you, your wife, and then one for the both of you, in each room.

Also, I would imagine panels in each room which would allow for overrides, perhaps a small touch-sensitive LCD screen, or even one of those PDA-looking remotes currently used for home theaters. That way your wife can keep the lights dim, say, until your presence is detected for more than 30 seconds, at which time the system decides you've joined her and corrects the enviroment. Or you can enter a room and change settings for that room, and press a "hold" button to leave the room that way indefinately, which cures your SuperBowl party problem. Once everyone else leaves for the night, just tap that hold button to return to normal scheduled/automated settings. Hell, my thermostat does this now...

If I had one of these systems, I'd kind of be ticked if it wasn't 100% custom-configurable, so the whole Perl script control idea is just about how I'd like it to work.

Re:Bluetooth

[Blahbbs]

If you're geeky enough to get this all working, chances are you probably don't have anyone else around anyway.

/shudders at thought of previously mentioned naked geek walking around house with RFID taped to leg...

Re:Bluetooth

[Mr Smidge]

The movie you're playing pauses automatically when you go to the bathroom I'm sure that would piss off the other people watching it.. Solution? Add a 52" Plasma TV and surround sound system to the toilet.. Extra points for connecting the subwoofer directly to the seat. You also wouldn't have to worry about those scary movies making you shit yourself..

Re:Bluetooth

[bhsx]

lol, i just watched episode 2 yesterday! Great special effects brought to us by the BBC. Zaphod looks more like a he has a dead conjoined twin on his shoulder rather than an extra head.

Re:Bluetooth

[beebware]

Last I heard he was one of the richest people on the planet.. Just shows what automating your house can do for you!

Re:Bluetooth

[Obiwan Kenobi]

quote:
------------
Sure, it's easy enough to count the folks in any given room and make the decision to turn the lights off when the last person leaves, but what if I like the lights bright and my wife doesn't? If I'm in the room with the lights bright and she walks in, should it dim the lights? Pick some point between our two references? Same goes for TV channels/volume, room temp, etc.
------------

Here's a bit of code for you to clear it up:

if ($wife_in_room){
$wife->$gets_what_she_wants;
$p orn = 0;
}
elseif (!$wife_in_room){
$husband->$gets_what_wife_agree s_to;
if($husband->$wants_porn(yes)){
if($wife->$in_house() == true){
$porn = 0;
var $husband_in_trouble = 1;
}
else { must_ask_wife(); }
}

Dunno bout you, but that's certainly my household.php

Fewer brownouts due to airconditioners?

[bentfork]

The site says that it has speach capabilities. I really like this one:

Notice, the sun is bright at 32 percent, and it is cold outside at 24 degrees, so I am opening the curtains at 8:07 AM

Actions similar to this can save a lot of energy. Curtains are a super efficient way to control internal temperatures, if and when they are uses correctly. How many of you remembed to close your blinds before you went work? ;)

Now if there was only a script that would output this:

I noticed there were dirty dishes in the sink when you went to bed last night. They have been places in the dishwasher. [Insert spouse name here] will be pleased.

Re:Fewer brownouts due to airconditioners?

[cybermace5]

Ok. Let's get one thing straight here. I do NOT want my house handling kitchen knives and other pointy objects. "I noticed you and [insert spouse here] had a fight. They have been buried out in the yard. I am sure you will be pleased."

Re:Fewer brownouts due to airconditioners?

[gobblez]

i saw a movie something like that before. it was really good. kinda old, maybe made for TV like on USA Network or Lifetime. the house computer fell in love with the guy and tried to kill his wife and stuff. it had an arm that hung from rails on the cieling so it can travel around the house, and pick up stuff like knives. scary!

Re:Fewer brownouts due to airconditioners?

[Chanc_Gorkon]

It was Disney. The house's Hologram was played by Katey Sagal AKA Peg Bundy. The movie was Smart House.

Re:Fewer brownouts due to airconditioners?

[yardbird]

Does "they" refer to the knives or the spouse?

Re:Fewer brownouts due to airconditioners?

[cybermace5]

It should be obvious. See, the "quotes" denote where I am no longer speaking, and my representation of the house intelligence is.

Why just PERL?

[Maradine]

After all . . .

The house that PERL built:

. . . has more entrances than you know what to do with, and most of them lead to the same room anyway. Random geeks walk by and obfuscate your living room for fun.

The house that RUBY built:

. . . makes eating dinner confusing, as when you drop your spork (an instance of class spork, which multiply inherits from classes spoon and fork, two subclasses of class utensil, a subclass of . . .) your not really sure whose member method your picking it up with. Using the bathroom is right out.

The house that LUA built:

. . . swing at the large rat. You hit! The large rat disappears in a cloud of red mist. You have killed the large rat. The grid bug misses. The grid bug misses. You are jolted by the grid bug. There is a fountain here. Do you drink from it? (y/n) Your god is angry with you. Curse the day that all the nethack and angband developers integrated lua into their games. The grid bug misses . . .

Re:Why just PERL?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget "the house that C++ built".

The implicit funney in this one doesn't even need to elaborated upon.

Re:Why just PERL?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd laugh, but Ruby is a single inheritance language. ;-)

I suppose you could mix-in methods from Spoon and Fork after inheriting from Utensil.

Perl, Python, and Pike do allow for MI, so that's where you might want to worry about such things.

Re:Why just PERL?

[Maradine]

Awwwww, realy? That explains a hell of a lot. Glad I don't code for a living. And I owe someone five bucks. . .

Re:Why just PERL?

[deanj]

Well, if was the house that Java built, it'd take out the garbage for you, all automatically! :-D

Re:Why just PERL?

[glwtta]

What's "PERL"?

Re:Why just PERL?

[nhavar]

Unfortunately it would also fill up the garbage for you and empty it fifty times a day. The wind from the door constantly swinging open and closed would be a decent replacement for any fans in your home.

Re:Why just PERL?

[!Freeky2BGeeky]

Unless, of course, you upgraded to the newest JDK and then it would fill and empty the door while opening and closing the garbage all day.

Re:Why just PERL?

[Anonymous Coward]

(Translation: the language is called Perl, not PERL. It's not an acronym, though some people try to make it one.)

Re:Why just PERL?

[Anonymous Coward]

Translation: the language is called Perl, not PERL. It's not an acronym, though some people try to make it one.) Practical Extraction and Report Language.

Shut your ignorant ass up.

Re:Why just PERL?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, if I recall correctly, Perl started out not being an acronym, but one was eventually created to fill that perceived need.

Re:Why just PERL?

[TheSync]

The house that C++ built:

Your house inherits from the class of all houses, so you don't have to build much of it. Yet pointers still allow you to punch holes through your walls.

The house that C# built:

You can mess up your house and much as you want, then a garbage collector comes by to clean it up. Your house in controlled over the Internet with web services. Your rent goes to Bill Gates.

The house that Scheme built:

Your house is a mystery to everyone else. Your wife complains about all the parentheses around. Lambda.

Re:Google cache

[schnarff]

Dude, that's not cool! That link sent me to The Pimp House! If you're going to post a Google cache, do it right!

the future is not...

[Connie_Lingus]

I can't wait to make a network cluster of these things and call it MisterHouse's Neighborhood.

Re:the future is not...

[Anonymous Coward]

mod parent up!! I almost wet myself!

Connection refused..

[Quixote]

> misterhouse.net:8080 : Connection refused

Looks like we just brought the house down...

badum-bum.. thank you! I'll be here all week.

USE STRICT

[MondoMor]

If the first lines of code feature 'use strict', does that make the house a strict environment for the kids?

OMG LOL WTF

240 V Network, e.g. Europe?

[stere0]

Apparently, all the hardware supported by MisterHouse runs on 120V.

Having to use 240->120 and 120->240 transformers would be practically impossible. Does anyone know of hardware that would work on this side of the Atlantic?

Re:240 V Network, e.g. Europe?

[JaredOfEuropa]

MisterHouse seems to use controllers using the X10 protocol, which is widely available in 220V. Here for example.

Re:240 V Network, e.g. Europe?

[Anonymous Coward]

The voltage is the least of your problems--X10 is tightly married to 60Hz AC, transmitting in tiny bursts as the signal crosses zero. Europe AC is 50Hz.

Use a Mirror

[/dev/trash]

http://sourceforge.net/projects/misterhouse
or
h ttp://www.misterhouse.net:81/

sourceforge.net

[Lilferret]

http://misterhouse.sourceforge.net/ I've been following this site for a while now. The components used are x10 .. no not the camera http://www.smarthome.com/ You can get all the automated living stuff you want from sites like this. Lowes stores also cary a limited number of x10 lights and usually a thermostat or two.

Re:sourceforge.net

[jandrese]

Ugh, X10. I've used a fair bit of X10 stuff in my lifetime, and I'm quite convinced that they need to fire their current quality control people. Here's a list of the components and their reliability:

• Transciever modules, these are basically appliance modules with an antenna to recieve RF commands and a transmitter to relay them through the power lines. These are generally fairly reliable, although you need one for both phases of the power in your house, and they can act screwey (like not working when you plug in an extension cord). There is no way to make it not device 1 however, which is annoying since you need 2 of them in the house. The maximum power spec is rather low to boot.
• Appliance modules, simple on/off that accepts commands through the power line: pretty reliable, I've not had much trouble with these.
• Lamp modules, has circutry for dimming as well as on/off. Not designed to be used with anything but incandescent light bulbs: Completely unreliable. Lamps come on at random, the modules will stop responding to commands, etc... Usually it takes less than a week or two before the thing fails on me, and I've had a least half a dozen of these things over the years.
• Slimline switchs: The buttons wear out in about 2 months. Eats batteries like crazy.
• Regular big old white remotes: extremely reliable (havn't had a problem with one yet!), sips battery power (but it does need quite a few AAs). I've mounted these on the walls instead of the slimline switches
• Bottlerockets: Sometimes they don't like certain machines. I can't get it to work at all on a couple of my machines, but when they do work they're extremely reliable.
• Motion sensor: Failed within a month, lousy range.
• Replacement Wall Switch: About as reliable as a lamp module

To be fair, a lot of my X10 hardware has come from those free starter packs, but other than the lamp modules, that starter pack seems to include all of the reliable equipment. My opinion of X10 is that their stuff is good for demos, but not really ready for full time use.

Re:sourceforge.net

[Balthisar]

At the smarthome link, there are lots of third-party X10 compatible stuff. My favorite's the IR receiver that works with any programmable IR remote. Eliminates the need for the transceiver, but still works on one "phase" (in the USA there are two leads that are 240V to each other, but 120 to ground, but they're not really separate phases, otherwise you'd have about 210V to each other). Okay, the solution is a bridging capacitor, also available at Smarthome. Throw in across the "phases" in the circuit breaker box, and the X10 signal traverses them both. No need for a second anything.

Re:sourceforge.net

[kfhickel]

You're information is either a bit out of date, or you've just never seen the cooler stuff.

Yes, if you buy everything from x10.com, some of it's a bit cheap. However, if you buy quality, you get quality. Leviton makes a lot of x10 stuff, and it's very nice. You can also get an RF receiver that receives all house codes.

There's more x10 stuff out there than you think.....
-Kelly

Re:sourceforge.net

[deanj]

Having used this stuff quite a bit myself over the years, I'd say at least some of the problems have to do with the wiring in the house. The lamp modules always worked well for me, as did the motion sensor, and wall switches.

I have used them in environments with lousy wiring, and some modules exhibited what you're talking about.

Re:sourceforge.net

[Dausha]

. . . you need one for both phases of the power in your house . . .

This product seems able to handle your situation, and can be used for more than just the remotes.

Re:sourceforge.net

[tlianza]

I've used a fair bit of X10 stuff in my lifetime, and I'm quite convinced that they need to fire their current quality control people.

I'm assuming by "they" you mean X10 the company, and not X10 the communication language (standard?). They are not one in the same. You can build an entire "X10" system without purchasing anything from the company that calls itself X10. There are plenty of companies out there that make higher quality X10 components.

Re:sourceforge.net

[Chanc_Gorkon]

Thought that was going to be another one for the fuse box. That's pretty nice! :)

I was thinking, it would be neat to couple the phases via 2 computer interfaces and a couple networked machines? I don't know. X10 has been fascinating, but even I have had issues with modules. I had an appliance module that with 90 percent of appliances it would work great, but when I put it on my coffee pot, I noticed it would not shutoff completely (it's a dumb coffee pot....no microprocessor or anything). I noticed it when I almsot burnt my hand on the burning when I was cleaning it. I immeadeately took it off the system.

Re:sourceforge.net

[jgordon7]

Yes the problem with the coffee pot has something to do with the way the "local on" part of the module works. Because you can turn an appliance module on via cycling the power switch on the coffee pot. However if the coffee pot varies its resistance somehow during the turnoff stage the appliance module will think it needs to turn back on.

Had this problem with fish tank flourence light. There is a pretty easy hack to diasble the "local on" feature to solve this problem

Re:sourceforge.net

[threephaseboy]

(in the USA there are two leads that are 240V to each other, but 120 to ground, but they're not really separate phases, otherwise you'd have about 210V to each other).

They are seperate phases, 180 out of phase to each other.
Three phase power is 120 between each phase, yeilding 208V between each phase
120 * sqrt(3) = 208
sqrt(3)= ~1.73

Re:sourceforge.net

[LinuxHam]

* Transciever modules - you can easily link the two phases with a 220V dryer, and the transceiver included with ActiveHome lets you select 1 or 9 for the unit code. And I run one on an old metal 4-outlet Radio Shack power strip. Never thought it would work there, but it does.
* Lamp modules - I've bought a couple six packs of these from Smarthome and they most definitely last more than a week. Except on one outlet, come to think of it. Maybe that's your issue. I have 4 going on 2 1/2 years installed.
* Motion sensor - bad batch, I'm sure. Mine worked for over a year before i recoded MH to ignore their signals. They sit very nicely on the trim above a doorway and they do need some tweaking -- lean them forward or backward to get the coverage you want. I would regularly get over 20ft range and turn on lights in rooms when I was just passing a "T" at the end of the hall!

Word of the wise: if you process motion sensors for lights thru Misterhouse, either verify the request against "pre or post sunset" at the PC or just set the sensor to only trip in low light. Be careful, though, because setting it to trip only in low light will just move the transmitted code up by one during daylight hours!! I would walk into a bedroom during daylight hours, and the living room light would turn on behind me until I figured that one out. I moved the living room light up one, and recoded the motion sensor's "up one" code to just record a log entry of "Too bright out to turn on the bedroom light" on the Misterhouse box.

It can be rather creepy seeing a little green LED light up in the motion sensor when you're walking around during the daylight hours. You can almost hear it saying, "I see you!"

Re:sourceforge.net

[sharkey]

I've used a fair bit of X10 stuff in my lifetime, and I'm quite convinced that they need to fire their current quality control people.

Used in the same sentence. I thought I felt the world shudder.

Re:sourceforge.net

[theManInTheYellowHat]

I am using a good deal of the X-10 stuff in my house and from what I have seen it is true that you get what you pay for. If you want to have some fun and not spend a lot the Powerhouse line is cheap and the quality tolerable. If you want quality check out the Leviton Power-Line carrier line.

However I have found nothing "Completely unreliable"

I spent about $125 on eBay amd got a heap of switches, outles fobs remotes and transeivers. All of which are the low quality and all of which WOW the neighbors.
X-10 has been ready for prime time since the 70's when it was developed.

Re:sourceforge.net

[x10rocks]

I'm interested in any ideas you have to make our products better so that we can keep our quality control people.

Re:sourceforge.net

[shokk]

You should check out Misterhouse more closely. It is a lot more than X10. It's cool things like whole house audio relays, iButtons, thermostat control, occupancy counting...

Re:sourceforge.net

[Anonymous Coward]

Do Slashdotters ever actually read anything? You're supposed to bridge the phases in the house. There's a cheap way to do it and I believe it's described in the MisterHouse project. I know the guy personally from local MisterHouse demos and everything he has in his setup is very reliable, including the X10 hardware.

Re:sourceforge.net

[jandrese]

I wouldn't be surprised if the house had lousy wiring. It was about 30 years old and cheaply built at the time. It was also primarily a college residence, so the tenants had not done a very good job of keeping the place in shape.

Flash Powered House!!

[ayjay29]

You can also have a Flash-Powered house:

Here...

Re:Flash Powered House!!

[paiute]

]]You can also have a Flash-Powered house:

]]Here... [bbspot.com]

The whole house consists of one room, but with the power of Flash, Farrell never needs to leave that room. "I'm a little uncomfortable taking a leak the same place where I sleep and fry my eggs, but never having to walk more than 5 feet is pretty nice."

So...what? He sleeps in the toilet or pees into the range top or fries his eggs on his bed?

Ray Bradbury predicted this for 2026!

[Trurl's Machine]

In his classic and chilling short story, "There will come soft rains"

Re:Ray Bradbury predicted this for 2026!

[Thuktun]

IIRC, he used this short story as a chapter in the Martian Chronicles.

Honestly, this story always bugged me. An interactive house should react to the desires and demands of the occupants, not the other way around.

Its mirrored on SourceForge too...

[lethalp1mpslapper]

MisterHouse.sf.net

The project originator gave a presentation to our LUG, its pretty cool at what he has setup in his own house.

Hmm..

[PhoenixK7]

methinks they're not using mod_perl here, judging from the speed at which this is loading :)

So build it...

[knowledgepeacewi]

Sounds like a fun project for you to do....

Be sure to contribute code changes for your new project to MisterHouse, I'm sure he'd appreciate that.

Mrs. House?

[Amarok.Org]

It'd be a lot easier to program a Mrs. House. No automation needed.

YOU: "Mrs. House, turn on the TV."
MRS.HOUSE: "Turn it on yourself, ya lazy bum!"

serial input detects a change on a window sensor...

MRS.HOUSE: "I heard a noise... go see what it was!"

Misterhouse, my specs ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Someone asked what it can run on, I'm using it on my RH Linux 7.3 box on an AMD 400MHz with 256M RAM and a 30G drive (30% used). I've got 12 serial port in use (caller ID, weather station, CM11a, HCS II, dallas one wire network, etc. ). I need to put some more work into it but in a couple of weeks I'll be moving one of my Audrey's into the living room so we have a touch screen interface to MH from there. MH may not be a simple DIY project but it is extremely powerful. I have it turning things on and off as needed (such as printers attached to print servers, uses X10 to turn on and off the printer). I've got more than X10 but we don't want this message to get too long. Linux Home Automation
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ncherry/
http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/

Why Bluetooth?

[tomzyk]

Huh. Why BlueTooth? If you just want it to initiate events while you move around/through the house, just put one of those RFID tags in your pocket and put sensors in all of the doorways. (Supposedly the sensors can only pick up the tags within a few feet.) This way you don't have any hardware that you still might drop/misplace/etc...

Hell, just tape/glue/insert an RFID tag to your arm (like a nicotine patch or something) and you can walk around your house naked and still have everything working.

Re:Why Bluetooth?

[a1englishman]

I've worked on these systems in the past. They have one big, nasty problem:

How do you know for sure where someone is? A tag reading at a doorway only tells you someone was at the doorway. It doesn't tell you whether that person entered the room, passed by the room, or entered the doorway, and turned around. It's almost completely useless.

A more useful system utilizes Infra Red. One sensor per room, able to poll the room for tags. This allows the system to determine who or what is in the vicinity of the sensor.

The other RFID problem is that it doesn't work well in multistory buildings. Did that tag pass through the doorway on the 5th floor, or the 6th floor?

Only if you employed triangulation could a RFID system become reliable.

In that case...

[Faust7]

and what is best - it understands spoken commands.

I believe I'll be turning it off during sex.

Re:In that case...

[Anonymous Coward]

You: Oh, yes!!! More baby... more!!!
Misterhouse is secretly uploading photos of you and your lover and posting them to the internet via your webcam that Misterhouse co-opted.
use strict my ass... i won't be using it...

Re:In that case...

[snillfisk]

You do of course realize that you are reading slashdot?

I think that will be the last problem to cross anyones mind.

Re:In that case...

[moorg]

Sex? Never heard of it...

/me waits for next /. story

Re:In that case...

[u02sgb]

The same as the average slashdotter would do to their girlfriend?

Re:In that case...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ya, I'd do the same.

Me: MisterHouse, please shutdown for the evening. I won't be needing you.
MisterHouse: Are you sure? Is it that time of the year again already?

OT: bluetooth to lock computer when away

[phildog]

Has anyone come up with a way to get Win2K or XP to lock up automatically when your bluetooth cellphone (mine is a T68i) goes out of range?

I've heard of people doing this with macs (via some program called clicker and I'd love to do the same for my machine at work.

Re:Wow! Feel the awsome power of the Slashdot Effe

[tonysee]

Yeah, now for the rest of us who aren't subscribing, Slasdhot stories are 3 days and 20 minutes out of date, instead of just 3 days.

I just wish I could mod down the stupid notice that begs me to subscribe every time I come to the page.

X10 in general

[slasher999]

For those that don't know, X10 is the protocol behind a lot of the Home Automation hardware out there. I've been using a Windows based software solution for a few years now - HomeSeer - and it's fantastic. Runs on my wife's Windows 2000 workstation (that is always on). I've considered Mister House many times over the past few years, but never tried it out myself.

There are X10 solutions for use in Europe as well. Here's a jumping off point:

http://www.x-10europe.com/

Good luck!

Re:X10 in general

[thynk]

I used homeseer for 29 days until the free trial was over. Then about the same time I was thinking of shelling out the $$ for HomeSeer, A good friend pointed me to Mr. House.

The VR for homeseer (based on the MSAgent) seemed to work better than the VR for MR. House (based on MS VR V4). I understand you can run the Agent software on a remote machine to interface with the web page, but I've never had the time to try to get that one worked out.

here comes the inevitable

[Anonymous Coward]

imagine a beowulf cluster...

Re:here comes the inevitable

[scalis]

imagine a beowulf cluster...

That would be a suburb with one master key going to all the locks and random neigbours crashing in your house all the time...
Sounds like a blast!

Target audience

[Faust7]

209 Perl programmers coding scripts to run my house. Who would be insane enough to run that code?

Other Perl programmers, hence the advertisement on Slashdot. ;)

Well, its not going to make it any easy then?

[theundead]

.. if its going to record things, its not going to make it any easy to get birds home on weekends, is it? Or is there a work around?

Re:Well, its not going to make it any easy then?

[theundead]

And think about the new security threats? My house is leaking (informaiton). They hacked into my house, even into my closet!!! D'OH!!

It will even run the x10 camera.

[BlackListedCard]

Here is the link to the linux drivers for the x10 camera. X10 Camera under Linux Drivers I should let the Misterhouse team know.

Notice,

[Anonymous Coward]

Notice, there were 62822 web hits from 62821 clients in the last hour.

Home Automation through web services

[bomblaster]

A group of 5 students (including myslef) did the same thing around 2 years back during our third year in CS - October 2001 - for the Microsoft Asia Student .NET competition. Implemented the Home Automation service as an XML web service that could be consumed by external applications (after authentication of course :) ) to view home status information as well as trigger actions on home devices remotely.
The devices were controlled by a software gateway on a central home computer thru Wi-Fi and the specifications for communication between the gateway and the home device were encapsulated in an XML driver.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2001/n ov01/11-14asia.asp
http://it.asia1.com.sg/newsdaily/news003_20011030. html

Re:Home Automation through web services

[Dynedain]

And a group of architecture students (including myself) did it to a computer lab around 2 years ago using Mister House. (Lot of other research into 3D viz technology and expiremental construction materials and techniques)

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~arch507

Why zone your heat using MisterHouse?

[og_sh0x]

You really don't need MisterHouse to do that. That's an unnecessary level of complexity. What you want to do is "zone" your house using programmable thermostats hooked directly up to a water pump controlling that zone. Set your daily program once on each thermostat, and forget about it. A good programmable thermostat is about $20 at Menards. Unless you want to program your thermostat over the Internet while you're away, that's all you need.

Re:Why zone your heat using MisterHouse?

[JaredOfEuropa]

"You really don't need MisterHouse to do that. That's an unnecessary level of complexity."

Dammit, you are not going to talk me out of buying cool little LCD panels and other assorted hardware and fiddling with this for weeks on end to get it going.

Re:Why zone your heat using MisterHouse?

[Anonymous Coward]

For maximum configurability without dedicating a whole PC, try an Allen-Bradley SLC 500 series PLC.

Huh...

[knowledgepeacewi]

Europe? never heard of it....

Is that like one of those imaginary places in the Dr. Suess books, where everyone destroyed everything before they became smart and moved to America?

Re:Huh...

[Larsing]

If the smart people moved to America, why are they now destroying it (and the rest of the world with it)..?

Re:Huh...

[Noel]

'cause the smart people had kids, and they're running the country!

Shoulda Seen This Coming...

[Mister Transistor]

I wanted to find out more about Mr. House, so I got a fresh cup from Mr. Coffee, and sat down at Mr. Computer. It wasn't working, so I checked Mr. Radar - it was jammed - yes, with Raspberry!

Only one person would have enough nerve to give me the Raspberry:

Lonestar!

(With Apologies to Mel Brooks)

Misterhouse and alternatives

[peel]

MisterHouse has been around for a while now and mainly relies on X10 modules. It works fairly well but as one other poster noted it really does need a dedicated box with a bit of muscle or it's a bit slow and frustrating to use. I came across it while looking for X10 software for linux, which it runs on as well as OSX and most versions of Windows. There are many similar products out there for Windows, Mac and even a few simple ones for linux. The most popular/commercial product was a piece of software for the ActiveHome module that came as part of IBM's Home Director kit (I can't remember what the old version was now it comes with HomeVoice). In all my years of using X10 I'd still have to say XTension for the Mac was one of the coolest products out there as it let you create a floorplan pretty easily and it ran well on an old 75Mhz PPC. Lately I've just been using Heyu which is a simple command line interface for linux that supports macros. Anything I want to do I can set a cron job to do automagically or start an ssh session and do from work or wherever. Sure there's no voice control, but personally I always felt a little weird even using speech recognition on the Mac, it could never quite understand "Who's your daddy?" -peel

condominiums

[b17bmbr]

imgine a condominium complex. a beowolf cluster!!

Everything but...

[Code-Ex]

Does it control the kitchen sink too?

master control

[JDizzy]

This reminds me of the "master control" program in Tron, but I don't know why. I might have to try it as a phone sentry for those anoying telemarketers who keep calling.

Wardriving

[saintjab]

Won't this lead to just another form of 'wardriving'; maybe something like 'housedriving'. Seriously, the implications of someone being able to jump frequency to your home is very scary. I would be a little nervous implementing this in my own home. At least without a tinfoil helmet.

To your arm..

[fireboy1919]

IIRC someone invented a system of attaching watches to people's arms so that they could go anywhere and still tell time.

I believe they called the device a "strap." Yes, I'm sure that's it. It is a slight improvement over gluing things to your arms, especially when attempting take showers.

Perhaps that would be a better approach, if you can find such newfangled technologies.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA...

[Anonymous Coward]

In Soviet Russia, Perl House automates you!

Finally

[azav]

Now I can put to use those 6 spare Macs I have lying around the house.

But what will they do when I'm not home?

Re:Finally

[j1r3]

play solitaire ?

Obfuscation Run Awry

[JojoLinkyBob]

Well I ran:

perl -e 's;;join"\n",map{unpack"B*",$_}map{unpack"u",$_}qw :&?(3^_H+^ &@HB`@(*` +&@)"`@(*` &?.#X^(+X &`I"`@$2` &@HB`@"B` &?(3^_A#^:;e;y;1;#;;s;$;\n;;y +;0;.;;'

on my house, and now it won't let me in! That's the last time I download from the obfuscated home automation script section.

Misterhouse

[hoyhoy42]

I got to tour Misterhouse whilst I worked in Rochester, Minnesota. I've honestly never seen so many serial cables plugged into one linux machine in my entire life.

Re:Legal cannabis could kill thousands

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you! Another completely useless moderator that can eat the shit out of my asshole. How is the parent "Off Topic"? He was completely on topic because he was responding to a very humorous joke above regarding the original article. Once again, we are shown that the modertors on Slashdot are complete dildos.

Note: to anyone doing metamoderation, please rate the moderation above as Unfair. That moderator should NEVER get mod points again.

Stupid jackoff.

You get what you pay for...

[Boiler99]

Something to remember...

Depending on how tightly you integrate home automation, and how *removeable* you make it, the resale value of your home will drop. Nobody wants to buy a house that isn't under their control and requires intricate knowledge to work and troubleshoot.

As a second tip...I work professionally in industrial automation, and have designed and worked on control systems for years. This control hardware is unreliable at best...remember, it is your house after all, and you DO get what you pay for when it comes to this kind of hardware! Using this to automate a few lights and such won't hurt you one bit, but as the scope increases, so will the problems. Obviously you don't want to spend an arm and a leg on it, but maybe that should say something about whether you really want to take the plunge or not ;)

You'd want to do this with *real* automation hardware if you were going to do your whole house, with backup redundancy and a switch that "turns everything back to manual mode". It's not a problem really, you'd just have to wire all your switches back to a main panel and control every light/outlet with a relay. You'd be doing that anyway with a whole-house automation system, so building in a backup would be part of the game.

Anyway I'm just saying, before you spend many hours putting in X-10, that crappy PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) he uses, or something like AutomationDirect offers, consider the consequences!

Links to real (and also expensive) automation hardware:

Allen Bradley (used by most major amusement parks and many large companies)

Siemens (the standard in most of Europe)

Re:You get what you pay for...

[Anonymous Coward]

You are absolutely correct! One of the things many of us do is to leave at least one manual method so we can bypass any automation. Most of the stuff we automate are convience items such as getting email, news, comics, Tivo, certain lights that we want to go on at a certain time. I know there are a few users who have automated HVAC (a critical system) and have left the manual devices (thermostats set to a higher or lower value) in place to catch failures which do occur. Even things as simple as a sprinkler system must be made to fail closed, have some kind of timer function (I prefer hardware) to catch continous flow and a manual off. Even though I love to automate I wouldn't put that much trust in a system that can't be bypassed. Most of the stuff we do is monitoring (such as comparitive electrical monitoring) with some automation.
---
Linux Home Automation
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ncherry/
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/

Re:You get what you pay for...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can agree that you get what you pay for.

Yet for what I've paid for my home automation system using MisterHouse, I can't get anywhere near it with "real" automation software.
My System is made up of the following components...

3 - 10.4" color touch screen displays with audio capability

16 - individual light switches with remote control

3 - video cameras

1 - 600 MHz PIII box running RH7.3

And handles these requirements

Control all devices from touchpads, or 802.11 devices.

View Cameras in near-real time (less than 1/2 sec lag)

Store MP3s on server, and playback via web interface.

Have internal shoutcast for "radio"

Have a ReplayTV server for additional storage

Act as VoiceMail/IVRS/Call Direction

Pull chosen content down for later review (get_strips)

Control PVRs (Stop/Play/etc)

Web Browse from touchpads, to pull movie times, etc...

(IN PROGRESS) Control Stereo equipment (mostly Sony gear)

(IN PROGRESS) Use existing home alarm to get door sensor and motion sensor information.
(IE. If it's night, and the lights are off, and the front door opens, then turn on the front doorway, lower stairs lights, etc...)
(IE #2, if the upstairs alarm panel is armed and it's night, turn off any light we forgot to turn off.)

and more...

What hardware/software I used was the

AOL/Gateway Connected Touchpads for the displays (bought new for $700)

the switches are X-10 "Decora" like switches

the video cameras are X-10 cameras (looking at the driveway, the pool, the dog-run)

the voice mail system is a PCI modem supported by VOCP

the video server is DVArchive

The audio streaming is done with Icecast

I'm still working on the S-Link and Alarm integration, but...

The whole budget for everything was $1,021.16 (I went over budget when I had to replace my modem.)

Re:You get what you pay for...

[Boiler99]

You're absolutely right, you'll never be able to afford real automation to do what you did. I was more referring to the people who think this is a good idea to open/lock doors, control AC/heat without manual intervention, etc., installing water valves and other things that are done in a professional home automation setting.

It's just something that deserves care, but for controlling lights/video/MP3's this is a perfect solution.

Re:You get what you pay for...

[Anonymous Coward]

The SPA and pool controls come next, along with the Heating/Cooling controls, but I got to get my CFO (Spouse) to approve the "upgrades"...

As for the door locks, I'm just too paranoid to trust anything but a lock & key for home, thus if you hack my home, the worst thing you can do is annoy me with the lights, TVs, or music.

Agreed, that it is a very decent $0 cost software solution, although I personally don't use the TTS part of it.

Does this mean...

[identity0]

..that when you lose something in your house, you can regexp for it? ;)

Re:Does this mean...

[faxafloi]

perl -e '/keys/ && print && last for @rooms'

Aye...

[Yo Grark]

"Aye, it can talk, it can check your messages, control the lights, program your VCR, and what is best - it understands spoken commands."

But it can't take a slashdotting.

Yo Grark
Canadian Bred with American Buttering.

BITCH PLEASE

[Anonymous Coward]

I've not done a code review on the programs,
but if they got remotely competent people participating,
you can simply shove that APOCALYPSE UP YERAZZZ

Linux Drivers for the X10 Video Camera - Get It!

[BlackListedCard]

Here is the link to the linux drivers for the x10 camera. Linux Drivers for the X10 Camera I even have the stream of the camera as a java applet so people can see the output from their browser. I had the x10 scripts going so everyone from the Internet could turn off and on the camera at will. I had trouble getting sleep at night. The relay would keep clicking off and on! I should let the Misterhouse team know. I wish I could get more people testing the driver.

You forgot that spammer!

[Anonymous Coward]

He got the physical manifestation of this uncontrollable force of nature!

Quantum perl modules

[Anonymous Coward]

If you use any of the quantum computing modules will your cat survive when you leave?

My wife is gonna kill me...

[scottcha 4]

When I try to set this up.

I guess I'll have to get a bumper sticker that says "My wife said she'll leave me if I automate our house...I'm sure going to miss her."

Re:My wife is gonna kill me...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's worse than that...

Your wife will start asking you for "features"... :)

What did you call your Windows?

[Anonymous Coward]

We want to know!

Re:Legal cannabis could kill thousands

[spike2131]

Uh, this is a thread about perl scripts running your home. How how exactly does that relate to a British study of the health effects of cannibis?

Just because the previous punchline referenced hash, doens't make a link to "smoking hash is bad for you" relavant. It was certainly off topic the the scope of the overall discussion; in the scope of the previous comment it was still quite the non-sequiter.

So chill.

Nothing written in Perl is cool

[Cranx]

Now, if it were done in Ruby, that would be cool. Perl is a guy who talks to himself and showers once a month at the shelter. Ruby is Ziyi Zhang.

Perl rectifying itself?

[beef3k]

Seeing that my apartment's state of affairs is generally comparable to the syntax of Perl, maybe this thing can help me keep it clean. Or maybe not.

hehehe... funny

[Jerk City Troll]

I find it really amusing when a troll trolls a troll.

What will the computer say?

[The Tyro]

Did you see the speech output? My favorite quote:

"Notice, there were 668 web hits from 74 clients in the last day."

Heh... wonder what the speech output for today will be...

"My mind is going... Dave..."

It's Tom Swift and the Automatic House

[carcosa30]

Remember that old book?

But somehow when it happens I don't care.

I've noticed that when many new technologies appear on the scene, they're somehow old hat. Like the mine-defusing (and god knows what else) robots they used in Afghanistan. Somehow they seem passe to me before they even appear...

two year user here

[LinuxHam]

not sure why this is suddenly news.. and yes, the cheap x10 gear is exactly that. My ActiveHome controller was making the rest of the network flaky. Commands suddenly stopped executing, and when I disconnected it from the wall, all of a sudden the lamp modules would start executing all of the commands that had been building up! Lights turning off and on for a few minutes.. quite a sight to see. I also used to reboot my cablemodem every 30 mins during the early days because the performance would degrade to the point of uselessness in that time frame. I had planned to run a job to reboot the cm whenever ping times rose above a certain limit, but Comcast fixed the problem before I needed to automate that function.

I've also been waiting for some usable code to receive button presses from my MR26A wireless receiver. Until then, my Misterhouse is one-way only.. turning on lights, either at sunset or when I'm scheduled to arrive so long as that time is between sunset and 8pm. The light in the kitchen also blinks at sunset on trash night, which is when our condo rules state we can put the trash out. I've also bought a ham radio specifically for the purpose of using the car tracking features, but I still have to pick up the PIC-E from TAPR and wire it all up.

I was just cracking my knuckles and about to dig back in to MH, too, because it already offers a tv schedule browser in grid format with "click here to record" functionality. TivoWeb lets you search the tv schedule but not browse it in grid format. I will code MH to schedule a recording on the Tivo over the LAN whenever I select a show to record from the MH grid. I have thought about getting an Audrey for that purpose in the living room.

And I, too, dream about walking through the house and have the lights and tv react appropriately. This is where the "$sleeping" variable has helped greatly -- by not having lights turn on automatically when my wife came to bed after I was asleep. No matter which light she requested to turn on, the farthest one away would turn on at 10-20% bright so as to not wake me up if the system knew/thought I was still asleep. The days of, "its okay, Alfred, I'm awake" are still a ways off, though :) Read or watch "Demon Seed" to see why we call the system "Alfred". Its more personable than "Proteus".

Oh, and something most everyone seemed to miss here, is that MH natively supports VoiceXML which means it integrates with Tell Me @ 800-555-TELL. Yes, you can call an 800 # and interact, by voice, with your home automation system totally free of charge, using text instead of voice (on the server end) and therefore significantly less horsepower. I run mine on a Pentium 75 with 48MB RAM and a thinned down RH71 or RH72 on a 1.2GB disk.

Mister House...

[The_Sock]

Reporter: Mister House, How did you like that Slashdotting?

MisterHouse: *thinking*......

No Sir, I didn't like it.

Homeland Security

[Microship]

And, since Perl is the "duct tape of the Internet," there is the added benefit of protecting against terrorist attack.

In a SMALL box...

[matt_martin]

Got this set up on a Zaurus a few weeks ago. Wouldn't call it snappy response, but it works!

Somehow, using a PDA appeals to the low power "green" conscience a little better than having to leave a real box on 24/7 just to watch the lights turn on and off.

Homer's theme song

[thelenm]

Homer Simpson could do well selling this thing. "Mister House, that's my name, that name again is Mister House!"

Re:Legal cannabis could kill thousands

[Anonymous Coward]

Shows you what you know about computers shit for brains. "hash" was CLEARLY a reference to Perl. Geezus! I hate fucking clueless folks!!! Get the fuck off Slashdot if you don't know anything about coding.

FORGET MR. HOUSE...

[Anonymous Coward]

WHEN CAN I GET MR. FUSION?

Cannot.. fight urge ... to .. feed... troll...

[tomzyk]

Wow. If you REALLY need an explanation:

tape: use a product such as masking tape, Scotch tape, duct tape, etc...
glue: you know, the sticky stuff on the back of a sticker (hence the reference to the nicotine patch)
insert: surgically implant the tag under your skin

jackass

Zone heating/cooling

[Frank of Earth]

Would be cool to do [no pun]. I have duct'd heat and AC and no zone. Using some automatic duct dampners, a few 1-wire temperature sensors and a program to tie it all together, you could effectivelly setup each room in your house with a specific comfort level.

I was going to do this for my own house, but the automatic duct dampners were not cheap and I don't trust my computer programming when it comes to controlling heat and ac ;-)

"Why is the electric bill so high in January, honey?"

"Oh slight bug converting C to F and the AC was on in the guest room for 4 days straight."

Re:Zone heating/cooling

[pair-a-noyd]

I tried this.
When I am not in a room, it sits there getting hot, when I enter the room it takes too long to cool down. Besides, this is scheme works best when you keep all the doors closed. I leave all the doors open so my dog can go where ever he wants to.

I ended up deciding that this was not so cool after all. I prefer a remote control so that I can open and close ducts from anywhere.

Say I am laying on the couch watching TV and decide it's time for bed. I just hit a button on the remote about 10 minutes before I get up to open up and cool down the bedroom. This works better, closing and opening vents manually (so to speak).

In the end you will discover that automation is not always the best thing.

Besides, automation makes people lazy, and next thing that follows lazy is fat.. I know about that..

Re:Legal cannabis could kill thousands

[eodmightier]

Jesus man chill out.. Not everyone is as smart as you, just come to grips with it. I'm sure your smart enough to deal with it and not freak out. Also did you lose your password? Your posting under AC.

Other Not so OTT CGI's ... Bluelava

[sgtwilko]

There are other not so over the top CGI's like BlueLava http://www.sgtwilko.f9.co.uk/bluelava

Simple effective and has a web/WAP interface.

I wonder what happens when you say

[KenSeymour]

Open the patio door HAL.

Re:I wonder what happens when you say

[pair-a-noyd]

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

It's so simple now

[SpiffyMarc]

That's like, so much easier then the way he does it in Minority Report! You are still subject to 'gremlins' in the system, though...

"I'm home"
*garage door opens*

Can it act as a puppet?

[laugau]

I am the Griffith's house, bring me a toolshed for I am hungry!!!

6. Profit!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

right?

Run it on a Palm!

[Cutie Pi]

I can envision this software running on a Linux-based Sharp Zaurus with 802.11b networking. A hardwired computer could intercept the signals and do whatever is needed. Controlling your house from the palm of your hand sounds really cool.

HomeSeer

[Anonymous Coward]

HomeSeer is (IMHO) better and more developed than Mr.House.... great active BBS too... worth a look if ya run Win32........... i know i know

Demon Seed

[meehawl]

I guess nobody creating this beast has ever seen Demon Seed . Possibly the scariest movie *ever* about home automation.

Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver) is an Artificial Intelligence researcher, contracted by the US Department of Defense. He has arrived at a truly intelligent computer--Proteus. Understandably, everyone is excited about the possibilities of an artificially intelligent superbrain. Everyone, except possibly Harris' wife, who he's on the outs with ostensibly because of his obsession with his work. ... Demon Seed seems to take place in an unspecified future. A place where, among the normal accoutrements of the typical family home is an elaborate, computer controlled home "envirosystem" that does everything from letting you in the front door to making your food and regulating heating systems beneath the floors.

Redundant!

[inicom]

This has been mentioned before, and has been around quite awhile (in internet time)!

Is this really such a good Idea? =-)

[Anonymous Coward]

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0075931

Can it control fans/monitor temperature?

[Anonymous Coward]

Can it

control fans

monitor temperature

control fans based on temperature/time/humidity

turn on/off air conditioners based on temp/time

control dehumidifiers

turn on/off sump pumps based on alarms

turn on/off water heaters based on temperature/time

monitor all of the above items by measuring rpm, amperage, device temperature, or other measurement devices that can signal an overload/short circuit/stall, and issue an alarm if a problem occurs for unattended operation?

The above are uses that I could use it for, and others could use it for in order to save large amounts of money due to energy savings. I'm sure all the other uses are great, but this is what I would look for, and since I am no programmer, I couldn't do this myself.

OMNI

[bobbozzo]

There was a short story in OMNI mag years ago about a house which murdered it's owner via hypothermia using the A/C. The owner was going to sell the house and move, and the house became jealous.

802.11b (Re:Seems to be using X10)

[MrChuck]

Two problems:
802.x is ethernet. So now you want the device (switch, dimmer, etc) to have an IP stack. And speak wireless. From inside a ground metal box (aka Faraday cage).

Wireless could work. Wired would be a nice option too (talk to these over a chain of twisted pair ala RS485). Without the AC in the way, I could talk faster. A redesign (x11? :), might bring it out of the 70's and itno the capabilities of chips we have now. (faster, reliable, two way on an ASIC)

But it needs to cost less than $2 in volume.

Re: linking different phases, basically a capacitor will do what you want. Do it pretty for $5. It works.

Dangit all,

[Anonymous Coward]

the toilet's crashed again.

House gone wild

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a friend who programmed his X10 house a couple of years back but lost the software that interfaces from his PC to the system so now he can't change any settings. He's got some sort of problems in the controller box too, so the lights in the dining room go on and off every 1/2 hour or so and the radio upstairs goes on randomly when you hit other switches in the house.

The amusing thing is that he hasn't bothered to fix this thing and it's been doing this for years. Hey, it scares the heck out of burglars, mothers in law, and the like...

X10 controlling bazillions of xmas lights!

[Anonymous Coward]

This was posted on Slashdot back at Xmas time when this guys web site (and xmas lights) probably got melted down by the Slashdot-Effect, but this seemed like a pretty cool use of X10 technology that allowed one to view and control bazillions of Xmas Lights - check it out at: http://www.komar.org/xmas/ 'Ya gotta wonder what his neighbors thought of it ..

X10 controlling bazillions of Xmas lights

[Anonymous Coward]

This was posted on Slashdot back at Xmas time
when this guy's web site (and xmas lights) probably
got melted down by the Slashdot-Effect, but this
seemed like a pretty cool use of X10 technology
that allowed one to view and control bazillions
of Xmas Lights - check it out at:

http://www.komar.org/xmas/

'Ya gotta wonder what his neighbors thought of it ..

MisterTeleZapper ...

[texasgeek]

One of the features I find interesting is the ability to have you incoming phone calls announced by this system, thus in a sense making this a techno geek's way of screening phone calls.. a call comes in, your house announces who it is, answer if you wish, ignore otherwise...(i.e. mother in law, long distance promotional salesppl, donate to my charity, take my survey...blah...all the annoying type of calls :) one of the less expensive ways of doing this is with the NetCallerID device, available recently at http://www.dfwmetrotechs.com for around $15 inluding shipping & handling, Among some of the code contributions in the MisterHouse archive is a little perl job that seemlessly integrates the data that little device sends, both Caller ID and Caller ID on Call Waiting data is passed over a serial link. Maybe next they might invent a way to screen out the unwelcome guests at the door :)

clickable [Re:Use a Mirror]

[clarkie.mg]

http://sourceforge.net/projects/misterhouse/

http://www.misterhouse.net:81/