Home • ThinkDifferentStore • MacBoards • Advertising • RSS Syndication • Newsletter • Contact

MouseHouse 2.0 Software for Mac

Home automation is the use of technology to make your home or office secure, energy-efficient, convenient, and fun. MouseHouse makes it easy to control your house and schedule events from the convenience of your Macintosh.

Imagine your house working around the clock to make sure that it is energy efficient, that it is safe and secure, and that it makes your everyday tasks more convenient.  With MouseHouse you can tell your home to:

• Wake me up at 6:00am by turning on the TV to channel 7. Before I wake up make sure the coffee is brewing and the kitchen lights are on.

• When I leave home for a long weekend, be sure to lock the front gate, turn down the furnace to 62ˇF, feed the fish twice a day, turn the porch light on 30 minutes after sunset, and randomly turn indoor lights on every hour to make the house look lived-in.

• When I am home, make sure you notify me when someone approaches the front door and make sure I don't leave any lights on that aren't needed.

• I come every weekday at 5:30pm, make sure that when I arrive that the furnace is set to 70ˇF, the hot tub is on, and the CD player is playing my favorite music. If I am running late, I will call home from my cellular and tell you to wait until I call again.

While this system is somewhat advanced, it is very easy and very affordable to get started.  You can even get started simple, and grow into it by adding components over time.  Read on to see what you need to get started.

How Does It Work?
Using the standard X-10 protocol, MouseHouse allows you to control any electrical appliance in your home or office. You can create an icon list of appliances, turn lights and appliances on and off, define a weekly schedule of events, and build sets of commands that can be operated with a single click. X-10  is an inexpensive, safe, reliable, and easy-to-use method of controlling electrical appliances using the existing 110-volt wiring in your home or office. By sending transparent signals over the wiring to inexpensive modules attached to your appliances, you can control your home.

MouseHouse works by sending commands to either the ActiveHome or CP290 computer interface that is plugged into the modem or printer port on your Macintosh. Scheduled events take place even when your Macintosh is turned off.  You an easily begin to control your lights, appliances, furnace, air conditioner, security system, pool/spa, outdoor lighting, irrigation, audio/video system, windows and curtains, and so on.

Home automation has developed an enormous following that has yielded a wide array of modules including lamp and appliance control, thermostats, alarm systems, infrared remote control, telephone access, response from environmental conditions, voice recognition, and more.

The minimum requirements to get started with Home Automation are:
• MouseHouse Software
• ActiveHome Computer Interface & Cables
• One lamp module
• One remote appliance module
• One handheld IR/RF remote

The MouseHouse Starter Kit includes all of the equipment above for $200.

MouseHouse includes support for the ActiveHome interface and the CP290:
• ActiveHome unit can be programmed and disconnected from your Mac.
• ActiveHome unit can be programmed to trigger macros when commands are issued from anywhere in the house.
• True sunrise/sunset scheduling.
• USB support optional
• Resizable Window Size.
• Activity Log.
• Now distributed electronically.
• Includes 500 home related color icons.
• Pick sunrise/sunset from a list of U.S. cities.
• Hundreds of Interface enhancements.
• MacOS 8.5 compatibility.

For more information, visit:
http://www.mousehouse.net/

Xtension 3.2.3 Home Automation Software

The powerful and flexible Xtension home automation software is a product of Sandhill Engineering in Florida.

It includes everything from voice control of lights and home theater, to security alarms, webcams, internet control, cell phone text messaging, weather and now seamless remote control and monitor via the Web.

The free lite version will demonstrate all of the features of version 3.2.3 and works with the Activehome/CM11.

Version 3.2.3 now supports the LynX-Port for hybrid hard-wired and X-10 systems.

XTension's features include:
• Uses AppleScript as it's scripting language
• Fully scriptable, attachable and recordable
• Control any other scriptable application from within XTension
• Go far beyond simple 'if-then-else' programming
• Database of up to 1024 units
• Separate ON and OFF scripts for each unit
• Control multiple units as a single group
• Flexible scheduled events
• Low RAM usage < 512K
• Simulates preset dim for any lamp modules
• Supports older Black & White Macs, including the Mac Plus and SE
• Load and save 'Snapshot' files. These files can save and restore the current state of the database
• Unlimited number of scheduled events
• Saves AppleScript script contexts
• The 'execute script' event can now execute any script file
• Scripts can be executed as text files, compiled scripts, or script applications
• Zoom boxes!
• New verbs for processing lists of items.
'unit type' - returns list of unit names by :
'all, real, dimmable, analog, discrete'
'all of list' - returns list of 'verbs', 'globals' or 'groups'
'all of group' - returns list of unit members of a specified group.
• Clone Unit ! - Select a unit and 'clone' it.
• New verb for getting lists of units of specified type.
• New parameter for the 'suspend event' verb.
'suspend event "Timer" for/until ...'
• New verbs for adding/deleting units in Groups.
• Full implementation of X-10 Preset Dim.
• Full implementation of X-10 Extended Commands.
• Sunrise/Sunset calculations
• Configurable logging of all events
• Simple, intuitive Mac interface
• Import PICTs to create graphic views of your home
• Customizable ON/OFF icons for each unit
• Drag and drop units between windows
• Reverse logic for normally-closed sensors
• Preset dim using common lamp modules
• Remote control and monitor from any networked Mac
• Export/Import of Plug-ins for common systems
• Pseudo units can now have values of +/- 32767
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Execute Text file as script
• Receive and process 'stacked' addresses.
• Add 'with no script' param to 'set value' verb.
• Add new variable 'target name'.
• Add new verbs to allow manual offset of suntimes.
• Change Control Panel to reflect last event time of selected unit.
• New 'hide window' verb as complement to 'front window'.
• Select color of log entry.
ie: write log "Greenhouse" color green
• Single click to toggle feature for Icons in Views.
• Drag-around reorder of units in a group.
• Place icons in views via script.
• Change PICT views via script

For more information, visit:
http://www.shed.com/

Charles W. Moore

.