NOTICE: Large moosehead wall lights have finally been invented.
360 Modern is a real estate firm in the Pacific Northwest U.S. that specializes in modern homes. Beautiful stuff.
Handy way to skip all the intro crap on DVDs that is usually forced on you when you throw a disc in your player. Apparently the chapters on DVDs that you can't skip (FBI warnings, copyright stuff, etc.) are flagged, on the disc, as UOP, or User Operation Prohibited. This site lists some of the techniques you can try to skip the ennui.
This colour coordinated bookshelf looks cool, but you might have a hard time finding a particular title.
For chewie edge lovers or corner brownie fans - it's the Edge Brownie Pan. All edges, all the time. Via BoingBoing
Puzzle carpet.
This to That is a handy site that will tell you what adhesive to use when attempting to glue various objects together.
Super creative bathroom tiles.
Skinny house in Brazil.
Apparently there are many LED lightbulbs available already. Via TreeHugger
WiiRoomba. YouTube of a guy controlling his Roomba with a Wii remote.
Hardcore Lost fans have a party and repackage the snacks and beer as Dharma Initiative rations. Make your own with the PDFs that they've so generously shared.
Here's a nice set of home improvement videos with the energetic and snappy Eric Stromer.
Faucet Fountain turns your regular faucet into a drinking fountain.
Kids and the Home Office. Here's a list of tips for the parent that works from home.
Save the Internet.
Great Pac-Man bathroom tile work.
Crazy toaster from the future TODAY!
Here is a nice napkin folding howto site with clean pictures and straightforward instructions. I think the shirt's my favourite.
DIY T-Shirt Rack via Instructables.
360 Modern is a real estate firm in the Pacific Northwest U.S. that specializes in modern homes. Beautiful stuff.
Handy way to skip all the intro crap on DVDs that is usually forced on you when you throw a disc in your player. Apparently the chapters on DVDs that you can't skip (FBI warnings, copyright stuff, etc.) are flagged, on the disc, as UOP, or User Operation Prohibited. This site lists some of the techniques you can try to skip the ennui.
This colour coordinated bookshelf looks cool, but you might have a hard time finding a particular title.
For chewie edge lovers or corner brownie fans - it's the Edge Brownie Pan. All edges, all the time. Via BoingBoing
Puzzle carpet.
This to That is a handy site that will tell you what adhesive to use when attempting to glue various objects together.
Super creative bathroom tiles.
Skinny house in Brazil.
Apparently there are many LED lightbulbs available already. Via TreeHugger
WiiRoomba. YouTube of a guy controlling his Roomba with a Wii remote.
Hardcore Lost fans have a party and repackage the snacks and beer as Dharma Initiative rations. Make your own with the PDFs that they've so generously shared.
Here's a nice set of home improvement videos with the energetic and snappy Eric Stromer.
Faucet Fountain turns your regular faucet into a drinking fountain.
Kids and the Home Office. Here's a list of tips for the parent that works from home.
Save the Internet.
Great Pac-Man bathroom tile work.
Crazy toaster from the future TODAY!
Here is a nice napkin folding howto site with clean pictures and straightforward instructions. I think the shirt's my favourite.
DIY T-Shirt Rack via Instructables.
Taking Better Real Estate Photos
The New York Times real estate section has an interesting article entitled "Making Every Pixel Count", which is about the importance of properly photographing your home for online real estate sites.From the article:
When selling properties online, agents and Web designers say that the pictures buyers see of houses and apartments for sale are often the first ? and sometimes the only ? chance for a seller to make a good impression. Less-than-flattering pictures can turn buyers off and lead to lonely open houses.
So why is this so important? Well, some stats, from the piece:
Eighty percent of people across the country who bought a new home last year used the Internet while house hunting, and they rated photographs as the most useful tool in their search, according to a survey of buyers and sellers by the National Association of Realtors. The survey also found that 24 percent of home buyers got their first glimpses of their new homes on the Web, up from a mere 2 percent in 1997.
And let's face it, this number is probably going to continue to tend upward. If you've ever searched for a house or apartment online, you've probably been surprised and/or frustrated at the lack of pictures some listers provide. As many people will tell you, all the details in the world are still taken with a grain of salt when pictures aren't provided. Unless listers are trying to hide something, why not give web searchers what they want?
And although the mere act of posting pictures is crucial to attracting web-savvy prospects nowadays, the variance in the quality of the pictures can change the buyer's impression drastically. Be sure to see the audio slideshow that accompanies the article for examples of this.
Via 37Signals
Another Internet Friendly Thermostat
Many people now realize the energy/cost saving benefits of programmable thermostats vs. their old fashioned static counterparts. The fact that we can program one temperature for while we're at home and another for the time we spend at work is great, but there's just something about being able to monitor and take control of things remotely that so many of us are drawn to - and this is probably why we're seeing more remotely controllable thermostats hitting the market. This thermostat, from Proliphix offers 366 day programming as well as email alarm alerts. From the site:The IP Thermostat is compatible with most HVAC systems, so whether you have a gas or oil furnace or boiler, hydronic heating or central air conditioning, you'll be able to integrate this single-stage heat and cool thermostat into your existing heating system. Thermostats can be configured to send alerts in the event of required maintenance or low temperature alarms. Use this system to turn on the heat or air conditioning in your vacation home or receive an email notification if the thermostat has detected a danger of freezing pipes. You'll appreciate the IP Thermostat's flexible temperature scheduling options. With 366-day programming, you'll be able to determine four temperature periods per day, with vacation and special day schedules available as well.
Previous remotely controllable thermostat entries.
Via UberGizmo
Internet Controllable Thermostat
Proliphix produces an internet connected programmable thermostat that uses your LAN as its power supply with the aid of an (additional) ethernet power adapter. The thermostat's configuration/monitoring webpage is accessible from within your home network as well as from the internet. The company also offers wall mountable and paintable sensors to increase whole-house temperature accuracy. From the site: Proliphix offers indoor temperature sensors, which can be mounted away from the thermostat so that temperature inside a home or small business can be averaged across multiple rooms to avoid hot or cold spots and wasted energy. With an optional Proliphix outdoor temperature sensor connected to a networked thermostat, the heating/cooling system can be controlled more precisely to efficiently and more comfortably overcome the indoor to outdoor temperature difference. The web browser configuration tool is simple to use and allows users to easily configure heating or cooling programs to maximize comfort and minimize energy use.
Smarthome sells the Proliphix NT20e, which is the same unit but with 2 additional remote temperature sensors, for use in monitoring different zones within your home or even the outdoor temperature.
Categories: heating thermostat internet energy efficiency hvac automation cool
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Email
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Email
Possibly the World's Most Connected House
This is quite possibly the most wired, monitored, internet enabled home ever. Obviously privacy isn't too much of a concern with 9 webcams (some with nice pan and tilt action) and endless stats available openly and publicly over the net, including real time data on water usage, electricity usage, gas usage, doorbell rings, incoming phone calls with caller ID (and playable messages), alarm status, fridge door status, toilet flush count, washer/dryer monitor, temperature, rainfall, wind speed/direction and on and on. The amount of available data from so many different sources is staggering and must have taken a serious amount of time and a herculean effort to complete.
via Metafilter
GE Monogram Collection Mean Looking Walk in Wine Vault
GE, through their Monogram Collection, offer this monster of a wine cooler that comes complete with a wine inventory system familiar with 20,000 wines (which will come in handy as the vault stores over a thousand bottles), optional internet action that allows you to browse your wines from work (maybe while you preheat your oven over the net as well), as well as a handy touchscreen and bar code scanner. Price tag: $35,000.
A few features, from the site:
via Kitchen Contraptions
Nice Howto on Setting up your own Personal Web Server
Lifehacker has a nice howto on setting up your own personal web server, giving you the ability to do things like stream mp3s from your personal collection to work, set up a web based shared calendar for your family or give yourself quick access to your personal files from anywhere you've got net access. The system is password protected of course, but it is built on a windows box, so beware and be patched.
Use Existing Cabling to Extend your Home WiFi Network with AuraGrid
Eliminate any dead spots in your home's wifi network with this product that harnesses the already-in-place coax cable running through your home. From Smarthome:Use one of the included extension units to connect your router to the AuraGrid, and wire the additional extensions into the cable entry point of the rooms to be connected. Each comes with an antenna: Rooms that are equipped with an AuraGrid antenna will enjoy maximum wireless signal strength as well as data throughput without interrupting cable TV/Internet services.
Great idea.
via engadget
Skype Releases Version 2.0 With Video
Skype, the incredibly user friendly VOIP client, just added video capabilities to it's software package. Skype is one of the best internet apps out there because, besides looking good and being intuitive, as many have said before: it just plain works. The sound quality is great, and stands up flawlessly when compared to a regular POTS system. Sticking it to the phone company is always nice, too.
via Digg
Internet and Telephone Controlled Oven with Refrigeration
According to the TMIO (Tonight's Menu Internet Ovens) website, the Connect Io Intelligent Oven allows you to begin cooking your food remotely, via either a telephone or internet connection. The idea is that you prepare your food ahead of time and place it in the oven, which keeps the food refrigerated until the cooking process is initiated remotely. Throughout the process, the display on your web browser exactly matches the display on the oven itself, in real time. Program, command, and control your Connect Io oven remotely through your cell phone from anywhere in the world. No matter where you are, send commands over the Internet from your computer through a standard web browser.
Anywhere in the world? Sure, this might be handy to use from work or even to monitor your food from the pc in the other room, but who are they marketing to with 'from anywhere in the world'?
Recent stuff from HouseHacker:
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