My regular readers know that I have implemented an extensive home automation system that allows full control and automation of everything from doors to lights to fireplaces to full multi-zone temperature management and includes various tracking and reporting functionality. One of the items that I’ve been tracking for years is the level of ink in …
I’ve been wanting to replace my 17” Macbook with a new laptop running Linux for quite some time now. I replaced my Macbook Air with a Dell XPS 13 running Ubuntu a few months ago, and that’s been working GREAT! Unfortunately, Dell doesn’t make a 17” XPS model, so after a bit of research, I …
Ubuntu 13.04 on the Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition Read More »
Over the past six or seven years, I’ve managed to build-up quite a repertoire of Apple hardware products. As OS/X progresses, unfortunately, some of my older hardware just isn’t able to perform with the latest OS in a way that makes the machine useful. This, most recently, was an issue with one of my Mac …
Most of my computer time is spent on my Mac inside the gorgeous OS/X GUI using the tools that are necessary for me to run my business. Many of my side projects, however, take me back to my beloved Bash Shell which I can use on my Mac, where it gets plenty of use, but …
Have you ever wished you could create a list of all of the email addresses that you have communicated with over the years? Perhaps you’re building an email distribution list or need to notify everyone that you’re changing your address. Whatever the reason, the task is very simple if you are using an email client …
If you tinker with technology then chances are you already know what the “Internet of Things” is all about. If you don’t know, then my question to you is, where have you been!? For those of you not in the know, here’s a quick primer. “The Internet of Things is a network of Internet-enabled objects, …
In my first post, in this three-part series, I wrote about how I physically interfaced my Ademco Alarm Panel to my Home Automation computer. In this article, I will show you how to capture the data stream that comes through that interface, how to parse it and then how to make use of it in …
In my last post I wrote about interfacing my Ademco alarm panel into my Home Automation (HA) network. Since I completed the installation I have had an on again and off again problem with the Mac receiving output from the AD2USB unit. The problem manifested itself via the Serial Bridge software (more on that later) …
I have gone through many iterations in the applications that drive my Home Automation (HA) system but so far I have held firm to the underlying Insteon technology that powers it. A long-standing goal for moving to the next level has been to interface my Ademco Alarm panel into my HA system so I can …
I have an extensive home automation implementation that I have built over the years based, for the most part, on Insteon technology. I recently decided that I wanted to integrate my Ademco security system into my setup so I could take advantage of its vast array of sensors. I have been using an ISY-99i controller …
