Smart Home Hacks (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: gordon home, air cleaner, control your home, Front Door, Advanced Techniques, Nobody Home (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

So much of what is commonplace today was once considered impossible, or at least wishful thinking. Laser beams in the operating room, cars with built-in guidance systems, cell phones with email access. There's just no getting around the fact that technology always has, and always will be, very cool.

But technology isn't only cool; it's also very smart. That's why one of the hottest technological trends nowadays is the creation of smart homes.

At an increasing rate, people are turning their homes into state-of-the-art machines, complete with more switches, sensors, and actuators than you can shake a stick at. Whether you want to equip your home with motion detectors for added security, install computer-controlled lights for optimum convenience, or even mount an in-home web cam or two purely for entertainment, the world is now your oyster. Ah, but like anything highly technical, creating a smart home is typically easier said than done.

Thankfully, "Smart Home Hacks" takes the guesswork out of the process. Through a seemingly unending array of valuable tips, tools, and techniques, "Smart Home Hacks" explains in clear detail how to use Mac, Windows, or Linux to achieve the automated home of your dreams. In no time, you'll learn how to turn a loose collection of sensors and switches into a well-automated and well-functioning home no matter what your technical level may be.

"Smart Home Hacks" covers a litany of stand-alone and integrated smart home solutions designed to enhance safety, comfort, and convenience in new and existing homes. Kitchens, bedrooms, home offices, living rooms, and even bathrooms are all candidates for smart automation and therefore are all addressed in"Smart Home Hacks,"

Intelligently written by engineering guru and George Jetson wannabe, Gordon Meyer, "Smart Home Hacks" leaves no stone unturned. From what to purchase to how to use your remote control, it's the ultimate guide to understanding and implementing complete or partial home automation.

About the Author

With over 20 years of experience using and programming personal computers, Gordon Meyer is currently an engineering manager for Apple Computer, Inc. He specializes in onscreen help and documentation management tools, and holds three pending patents related to Internet-based help systems. Gordon is a true George Jetson wannabe. His home in Santa Clara, California is Mac OS X-based and equipped with motion detectors, computer-controlled lights, weather monitors, and web cams. Most people find this simultaneously frightening and cool, which pleases him to no end.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (October 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596007221
• ISBN-13: 978-0596007225
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,293 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The O'Reilly Hacks Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All about X10, March 15, 2005

By	ueberhund "ueberhund" (Salt Lake City, UT United States) - See all my reviews

Technical people are always looking for ways that technology can improve and enrich their lives. Smart homes-or home automation-has always seemed like something more from science fiction than science fact. However, after reading this book, the truth is that creating a smart home is easier and far less technical than most people think. This book provides the reader with 100 tips or things that can be done (some quite easy, some might take longer to complete) to automate your home.

Contrary to what you might think, much of what you can do with home automation doesn't require your home to be re-wired. Instead, much of what you might want to accomplish (like having your computer automatically turning on or off lights in the house while you're on vacation) can be done very easily through X10 modules. X10 modules are relatively inexpensive components which can send signals over power lines. Once you understand X10, many of the more straightforward hacks in this book make a lot of sense.

Other projects you'll find in this book include a home monitoring system, a smart sprinkling system, sending messages of what's happening at home to a cell phone or pager, and even controlling your home from a web browser. While some of these projects may sound a bit Orwellian, they are actually very interesting and can make your home a safer place to live. Instead of becoming a victim when a toilet or washing machine overflows, you can put preemptive measures in place to be alerted before a problem occurs.

This is a very interesting book and a must read if you've ever considered home automation. Not only will this book step you through some projects, but it will give you some excellent ideas for the future. I enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book isn't a step by step how to ... & that's good too., December 19, 2004

By	Neil Cherry "Linxu HA - http://home.comcast.n... (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author covers HA from the prospective of the MAC, OSX, XTension HA software and mostly X10 but don't hold that against him as it's not the goal of the book. I treated this book as more of an idea book and almost all the ideas are portable to other scriptable/extendable software. It's for those of us who have a little imagination, some programming experience and the willingness to put a little effort into programming. It is in no way a recipe book where you follow the directions step by step to build a project. I really like the book and I really find it perfect for bathroom reading (you can read a section pretty quick to get your ideas). :-)

And I forgive the author for not cover Linux better. :-)

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Occasional gem, but disappoints overall, February 5, 2006

By	Paul Boswell "Paul" (Palm Springs, CA) - See all my reviews

"Smart Home Hacks" provides a basic introduction to X10-based home automation, a technology that's been around since the 1970s. For the most part, the book just scratches the surface of the subject and often goes off on unrelated tangents, such as an example of how to build a robot lawnmower. What's missing is a more comprehensive overview of X10-compatible modules and the different ways they might be used to solve home automation problems. For example, irrigation is a very practical application that's ideal for a computer, and there are X10-based models, such as the Rain8 made by WGL designs. But the author chooses to ignore irrigation because of a perceived flooding hazard, even though the Rain8 has an internal limiter that shuts off the water even if no X10 "off" signal is received. Many pages are devoted to computer automation systems sending text-base messages, but no mention is made of voice-based solutions which are much more practical and cost-effective. The newer software applications that are available are impressive but it's amazing how primitive the available hardware is. The book fails to mention one of the biggest obstacles to X10 deployment: the need for a "neutral" (white) wire in household wiring. Since most light switches are wired with a simple 2-wire loop-back for economic reasons, it would require expensive re-wiring to use X10 switches. And, unless I missed it, it fails to discuss the problem of X10 signals not being passed to the "other side" of typical 2-phase house wiring. Only a passing mention is made to the new INSTEON technology that improves upon the old X10 protocol. So, although the book appears to be "current" it reads like it was written five years ago. "Smart Home Hacks" works best as sort of an idea cookbook. You'll find yourself bouncing around from one "recipe" to another but often finding most cool ideas can't be cooked up because of various obstacles (cost, permits, electronic expertise, obscure hardware, and so on).