I've recently made great strides in my quest to have my entire world on remote control. One acquisition made to reach this goal was the purchase of several Inteon devices a few months back. Or rather, I was granted the devices as a gift to honor the day of my birth. The best way to think of them is that they're basically like the clappers you've seen on TV and may actually own. (My friend matt has one hooked up to a black light for an instant night club-like feel.) These devices communicate through a system I have yet to fully comprehend. It seems they use the circuitry in the walls, perhaps using tiny fluctuations on power to broadcast their signals. Facts to support this are that a) it is suggested they not be used in the presence of halogen lights, (suggesting they may interfere with more fickle devices) and b) devices that use RF signals to communicate are also available, to cover areas that are on separate circuits.

That may seem to make it fairly obvious to some. Of course it does stand to reason that if they need RF signals to bridge between circuits they must be communicating that way... But why then does my surge protector not inhibit their communication?

Regardless, that's a rather moot point as they do indeed seem to work and thats fine by me.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes... In adherence with my mother's wishes that I carry a phone with me whilst I drive, I had to unearth an old friend: My N-Gage QD. Having really only be a novelty at first, my automated lighting has taken on a whole new importance for me with the magic that is Salling Clicker. I had tried the software in the past, but hadn't seen any features so impressive as to make me buy it. It offers control of your nearby mac via your bluetooth-enabled phone. After a quick installation, I noted the feature that first turned me on to this latest feature: Media Remotes. While in the past I remembered it having some ability to interact with the system volume and even move the cursor in one of four directions, it now seemed to offer so much more. While the iTunes controller is fabulous and worth buying the software alone, I found the software interacted with another of my more recent acquisitions: EyeTV; and in so doing, solved a problem of mine.

For you see, my computer and entertainment system are on opposite sides of the room, and subsequently facing each-other. Over by the television lies the cable TV line, my xbox and 'box 360, along with the TV now solely for the xbox duo. By installing the EyeTV 250, my goal was to bring television to my computer screen, and in so doing enable myself to record various television shows. But, since the EyeTV device, with it's internalized IR sensor is behind me, what I'm watching is in front of me. Most vexing. But, by using the N-Gage and its bluetooth connection, it doesn't matter which way I'm facing!

Now to one of my favorite parts: Lighting. By installing some simple scripts on my phone, I can control the Indigo software on my computer, which intern activates a strange Insteon device labeled the Powerlink mark 2, and sends those fairies through the electrical lines and to the various "clapper" devices and thus controls the lights in my room! huzzah! It really is most impressive...

And look at that... it didn't seem to mark "huzzah!" as a spelling error... curious...