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:
- a multi-plug extension chord was plugged into the clocks power outlet
- a lamp was connected to the extension chord
- a record player was connect to the extension chord
- 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:
- The media playing computer connected to my stereo is running MuttonChop (which has a web API)
- There are lights in my home that are controlled over the network thanks to GLMR
- 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...