Home Hacking Projects for Geeks

A better title for this might be "Introduction to X10 Technologies," because that's all it was. That being said, I learned many interesting things about X10, from an end user's perspective. Frankly, before I bought this book, I didn't even know that X10 was a protocol, and not a product. (You've seen all those X10 camera links on the web.) But, to pretend that you'll get many ideas from these cookie-cutter projects, or to pretend that this is a book "for geeks" is to seriuosly mislabel this book.As I said earlier, the book on it's own merits, isn't bad. The projects are step-by-step recipes for doing things like hooking up X10 controls to light switches, motion detectors, and radios, and managing them using (downloadable, no programming knowledge is required or expected) scripts and applications in both Microsoft Windows and Linux. It's geared for the casual technophile: if you're comfortable in a conventional home electronics store, then there aren't any projects in this book that would be out of your reach.

Home hacking projects for geeks is a very dated review of x10 technology and Perl scripting language. The interfaces the author uses to connect two televisions won't work on most modern televisions without significant acrobatics. And every home automation technique that the author has used can be accomplished with much less expense and modern technology with HDMI cameras to boot!

I have read through this book once already and plan to try most of the projects within. I have been very happy both with the projects themselves and the instructions. A must have for any geek or people who like to tinker with things

GOOD!

Although i probably want never do most of the projects it was interesting. I need seven more words to post this. I think this is them.

Home Hacking Projects for Geeks is a really fun book to read which also provides instructions on how to perform some very interesting home improvements. This book reminded me a little bit of O'Reilly's other book "Smart Home Hacks", only the hacks in this book are not all specifically smart-home related. In any case, some of the hacks in the other book mentioned are also found in this book. "Home Hacking Projects", however, does contain some fun projects I haven't seen anywhere else.Some of the more interesting projects in this book include how to remotely monitor your pet, creating time shifted radio, and how to make your home talk. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that examples are provided for both a Linux and Windows environment. Additionally, configuration information is provided for your router, if the completed project is to be accessible from outside your home network.While there are some projects included in this book that you might find elsewhere, this book does an excellent job of providing clear and detailed instructions, including wiring diagrams (if applicable), screen shots of configuration information, and a lot of other things that make the successful completion of these projects much more likely. You'll have a blast automating your home with this book.

I thought this was an amusing book that described a collection of neat ideas. Most of them are not too technically sophisticated so that you could have come up with the design yourself if you are a technical person, using web resources, but the value was in the idea itself and the way it is suggested.

A great deal of the projects in this book are basically various forms of X10 module automation. The projects include how to automate a light with motion sensing, how to remotely monitor your pet, creating a whole house audio or time shifted audio, a keyless entry system, and intrusion detection and deterrence. For each project the items are detailed, the software described in detail, information is included on where to locate them, assembly instructions, scripts, and everything else you need to complete it. Only basic skills are needed for each project. Each project includes information on estimated cost, time and difficulty ratings so you can easily decide which ones you will tackle and which ones you may not want to. Home Hacking Projects for Geeks is recommended to anyone wanting to have a little fun with home electronics.