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More Firecracker Kits For Free

Posted by Hemos on from the get-more dept.

On Monday, we had a story about X10 offering up copies of Firecracker, their home automation kit for 5.90$, the cost of shipping. A bunch of you did get some, but they called to say that after a while, the server crashed. They've updated the page, and have more availible but only for the next twenty-four hours. If you look at the page the bottom right side has the links for the Linux material with it-much fun to be had.

2 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Anyone got spammed yet? by Tackhead · · Score: 4
    Looks like their ordering system is up - at least until the Slashdot Effect takes 'em back down again. Three neat things I've noticed:
    1. The part number for the $5.90 offer now refers to Slashdot, not ZDNet :)
    2. The order server may be a new box - www2.x10.com. (I forget where the orders were processed on Monday. Maybe they did a really quick server upgrade to handle the higher load.)
    3. Linux support for the Firecracker is now mentioned on the home page. Sweet.

    On the spam front - note that the conditions associated with the offer explicitly include a term that says that by ordering the kit, you consent to being placed on a mailing list. There's no radio button to opt-out of this, so it's a sure bet that any e-mail address you provide will get lots of mail.

    I suppose that it's technically not spam, since you agreed to be placed on the list as a condition of purchase, and the conditions of purchase were disclosed on the home page. Whether it meets the clinical definition of spam or not, anyone ordering should strongly consider the use of an expendable e-mail drop.

    So the cost isn't $5.90 - it's $5.90 and giving x10.com the right to send mail to the address you supplied when ordering the kit. IMHO that's still (and especially if you use an expendable e-mail drop for your e-commerce transactions :) a pretty good bang for the buck, especially if you're new to X10. As a previous /. poster said - "The first hit is free".

  2. Linux Software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4

    The new firecracker appears to have potential. They are giving it away for two reasons...the first is they expect you to buy more modules...that has already been mentioned...then they will tempt you with the "upgrade" model..this one has memory and a timer and you don't have to leave your pc on all the time.....I think they fail to realize Linux users leave ours on all the time anyway. I already use mine to make sure I turn lights off when at work and never come home to a dark front porch...linux does a nifty job of calculating sunrise and sunset based on my city and turning the light on and off at the right times. Cron is a very flexible scheduler. Software for the firecracker is moving along as quickly as the hardware is being sold..links below:

    Bottlerocket command line interface: http://mlug.missouri.edu/~tymm/

    WebX10 Web based Gui:
    http://members.tripod.com/~famewolf/webx10/

    TCL Based Gui:
    http://www.crl.com./~wrigley/chris/pages/RocketL auncher.html