linux smart homes for dummies (2006)

[...]... 345 Using the CD with Linux 345 What You’ll Find 346 If You Have Problems (Of the CD Kind) 350 Index 351 xvii xviii Linux Smart Homes For Dummies Introduction W elcome to Linux Smart Homes For Dummies To own and operate a Linux smart home means to control and monitor devices and information around your home by using a standard personal computer, Linux, and its vast array... designed so that you can easily find just the information you need — you don’t have to read whatever doesn’t pertain to your task at hand You also don’t have to read the Technical Stuff paragraphs, which parse out über-techie tidbits (which you might or might not be interested in) 3 4 Linux Smart Homes For Dummies How This Book Is Organized Linux Smart Homes For Dummies is split into seven parts You don’t... discuss Linux smart homes, please visit the Linux HA (that’s HA as in home automation and not ha ha) Web site: www.linuxha.com/FD There, you can find the latest software, links to various software sites, and the support forums for this book and Linux home automation If you need to contact the author, send e-mail to linuxha@linuxha.com Part I Bringing the Future Home M In this part aking your home a smart. .. Chapter ᮣ Exploring X10 and what it can do with Linux software ᮣ Watching your Linux MythTV system or a Linux video player on TV ᮣ Hearing and controlling your Linux MP3 player remotely ᮣ Getting online weather information on your Linux computer ᮣ Exploring storm warning alerts for your cell phone, pager, or e-mail ᮣ Using a Linux smart phone system for your home or business H ome automation offers... all the open source software needed for the chapters in the book along with custom scripts provided, so you don’t have to type in the 5 6 Linux Smart Homes For Dummies scripts from the various chapters If you’re wondering about system requirements necessary to use the CD and run the software contained on it, check out the appendix Icons Used in This Book What’s a For Dummies book without icons pointing... 25 Software for ActiveHome, HomeDirector, and Firecracker devices 26 Software for X10 Firecracker devices (CM17A) 29 Home networking 31 xii Linux Smart Homes For Dummies Digital video recorder and media center 32 Motion detection 33 Remote control .33 Smart telephone system 33 Weather 34 Webcams, home security, and videoconferencing... describe everything from the perspective of Linux If you’re a Windows user, you’re really out of luck with this book (but you can check out Smart Homes For Dummies, 2nd Edition, by Danny Briere and Pat Hurley, from Wiley) To use this book, I expect that you ߜ Know a little bit about the Linux OS, the distribution you have installed and the version of the Linux kernel that is installed and running There... MisterHouse interfaces 263 So what can MisterHouse do? 263 Installing MisterHouse .265 Logging in as root .266 The installation 266 xv xvi Linux Smart Homes For Dummies Preparing MisterHouse for Setup .268 Setting Up MisterHouse .272 Starting MisterHouse 272 Modifying the parameters 274 Restarting MisterHouse 275 Using MisterHouse... the Wires 129 Chapter 8: Having Fun with a Webcam 141 Chapter 9: Setting Up a Smart Phone System .157 Part IV: Keeping a Linux Eye on the Sky 185 Chapter 10: Letting Linux Watch the Weather For You 187 Chapter 11: Getting Online Weather Information .199 Chapter 12: Staying Comfortable with Thermostat Controls 211 Part V: X10-ding Your Environment with Home Automation... your home ߜ Build a better answering machine with a software Private Branch eXchange 2 Linux Smart Homes For Dummies ߜ Monitor the weather with your own weather station and software to collect and display local and Internet weather predictions ߜ Control lights and appliances with X10 and X10 wireless modules from Linux ߜ Use MisterHouse, the home automation server It can control and monitor a number . w0 h0" alt="" Linux ® Smart Homes FOR DUMmIES ‰ by Neil Cherry 01_598236 ffirs.qxp 6/27/06 7:46 PM Page iii 01_598236 ffirs.qxp 6/27/06 7:46 PM Page ii Linux ® Smart Homes FOR DUMmIES ‰ 01_598236. i 01_598236 ffirs.qxp 6/27/06 7:46 PM Page ii Linux ® Smart Homes FOR DUMmIES ‰ by Neil Cherry 01_598236 ffirs.qxp 6/27/06 7:46 PM Page iii Linux ® Smart Homes For Dummies ® Published by Wiley Publishing,. several other Linux books. He was the technical editor for the following books: KDE Bible, The Samba Book, UNIX Weekend Crash Course, Red Hat Linux 9 For Dummies, Solaris 9 For Dummies, Fedora Linux 2 For