It was many moons ago, and I was living in a warehouse in Vancouver, British Columbia. The alarm clock that I owned had a power outlet attached to it and power would be supplied to the outlet when the alarm went off. I almost miss that alarm clock. Almost.

The set up was something like the following:

1. a multi-plug extension chord was plugged into the clocks power outlet
2. a lamp was connected to the extension chord
3. a record player was connect to the extension chord
4. a record of Grieg's Peer Gynt was on the record player

When the alarm went off, the lights came on, and Morning began playing on the record player.....

[jump forward about 20 years]

A few things to note about the devices connected to my home network:

1. The media playing computer connected to my stereo is running MuttonChop (which has a web API)
2. There are lights in my home that are controlled over the network thanks to GLMR
3. The Ruby Web Alarm Project makes it fairly simple to run commands at a specific time.

Add all of these things together, and I can now set an alarm that, at a specific time, will fade on the lights and fade into Morning Mood on the stereo. Ahhhhh, now that's the good stuff (and a great way to wake up)!

When I talk about making things web accessible, this is what I'm talking about; an open API that will allow just about any device with a web browser to behave as a remote control, and will also allow anyone with a bit of programming experience to write an application that will turn on the lights, or play a favorite tune, or do something else that suites the needs of the user.

Now, I need to find a way to automate the brewing of coffee in the morning...