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July 28, 2006

X10 Sentinels and Promos

The weeks seem to be ending up at Friday sooner than usual. I guess time flies when you’re…working hard. The Sentinel Site has really come together. Not only have we included camera comparisons (X10 Sentinel vs. Sanyo VCC-9000, Sony EVI-D70, and a few others) but we have added Multiple Camera Systems for those that need extra surveillance. I also got the chance to have an extended demo of the Sentinel. It’s pretty nifty to be able to move a camera around with a remote control just like your typical TV remote.

Thankfully the weather has cooled down a bit. Don’t get me wrong I love sunshine, but when you are pushing 100 degrees in our area – it can be pretty miserable. Town homes were not designed for hot weather. Heat rises, and well, as you can imagine my bedroom being upstairs made it pretty unbearable. Even with the MiniTimer set to turn on the upstairs fans around dusk, the thermostat was still nearly off the scale.

Our Community Director Mike is running a pretty interesting contest. He is taking video submissions from anyone who creates an X10 Promo. There is a weekly $500 dollar shopping spree awarded to the video with the highest votes. If you want to see what X10 looks like inside see his intro video at the X10 Community Site. Its actually a pretty funny video and everyone in it works for X10.

July 21, 2006

Seattle Sentinels -- I mean Mariners!

Let me tell you! It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks. Our hard work on the X10Sentinel site is finally coming around. Check it out http://www.x10sentinel.com. Tonight I will go to my first Mariners game of the season – in 90 degree Seattle sunshine. That sounds odd in my head – 90 degrees Seattle? Starbucks, I mean Howard Schultz, finally took his incapable hands off of the Supersonics. He really should stick to coffee. Why – well they have barely made the playoffs in the past 5 years. He let Wally Walker continue to made horrible personnel moves – i.e. drafting another 7 foot underdeveloped monster. But this one has some potential – wait I think we’ve been saying that for 3 years in a row now. Most fans are now afraid that the Ok. City buyers of the Sonics will be taking them to their city. I really don’t see it happening – but if there were a person to do it – it would be this guy. If you remember he was the one who gathered up the New Orleans Hornets, gave them a home and gave them crowded seats night after night. When the aftermath of Katrina had been put aside and the Hornets returned – he promised the NBA would return to his city. Yikes!

July 17, 2006

Opening Pandora's Music Box

So what do you think of the satellite radio craze? I personally am not impressed. I believe the future of radio, along with many things, is the internet. They made a nice connection when they made the satellite receivers adapt to home and automobile, but still isn’t something I’m too interested in. Why? Well I have been introduced to Pandora, the music genome project. Basically Pandora is a website that takes your favorite artists and music styles and creates radio stations around them. For example, I like Elliott smith but due to his passing won’t be getting any new music from him any time soon. So I put his name into Pandora and I get a radios station filled with songs by him and tons of artists similar to his style. In the past months I’ve discovered several artists that I’m thrilled with, which is surprising since a few people I know consider me a music snob (but I think I just really like talented musicians only).
So you’re probably thinking, “He sits at his computer a lot!” Well no, you see I got a Lola Music System a few months ago and have been discovering its many uses since. The lola sends the audio, and video if I want, from my computer to my home stereo. So I just logon and walk away, letting Pandora and Lola do the rest. Sirius, blah, I’ve got Pandora.

July 05, 2006

Trying to catch some Z's...

I mentioned before that my bedroom fan is controlled by X10 Remote. After last night I’m scheming a new way to help me get some quality sleep. It was the 4th of July so as you would imagine there was quite a bit of racket going on all night, that’s ok. I will say that just about every other day a two dog choir has frequent practice outside my bedroom window at random times during the night, well that's not ok. It’s been way too hot this summer to sleep with the window closed so I need it open for the majority of the night. But here’s what I’m thinking – actuators. If that is an unfamiliar word to you don’t feel bad, but they are very useful. We wouldn’t be able to unlock and lock our car doors remotely without them. Scary thought I know - Actually putting the key in the lock! They are small mechanical arms that push and pull accordingly after receiving a signal.

So if I could get one that could open and then shut the window it would be perfect. I could put my MiniTimer to even more use. At 10pm before I go to bed the window opens and the fan kicks on. The room will have cooled down by the time I’m ready for sleeping. At 4 or 5 am, when I am most easily pulled from slumber, the MiniTimer would tell the actuator to slide the window shut. Now I’ve got a cool room without the distraction of those annoying dogs. Don’t me wrong I am a dog person, always have been, I just like sleep a lot too. Well I’m off to learn more about actuators…

July 03, 2006

A trip to the ballpark with X10...

The 4th of July is tomorrow and X10 celebrated with a trip to a Tacoma Rainiers game last Saturday. In case you are not familiar, the Rainiers are part of the farm system for the Seattle Mariners. Having lived in Tacoma Washington all of my life I have been a fan of the Rainiers ever since they were the Tacoma Tigers. It was a nice change of pace from working hard on the X10 Sentinel website, to soaking up the amazing weather. I have to say that this summer has been outstanding as far as sunshine goes. It was also nice to be with the X10 team and not have to worry about websites.

So how was the game? It was great, the Rainiers currently have several players on their roster that have each had substantial time spent in the major leagues – and others that will at some point make it their permanent home. Mike Morse, Gregg Dobbs, and Shin Soo Choo have all seen time with Seattle. The highlight of the game would have to be the inside the park homerun by Choo. Now that’s something you don’t see everyday. Choo plays right field for the Rainiers which is a position that Ichiro will hold as long as he in an M’s uniform.

Overall it was a good time. Now its back to work!