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" The &amp;quot;home of the future,&amp;quot; like fusion energy and the next good Ben Affleck movie, has always been just over the horizon. Well, today&amp;#039;s robots aren&amp;#039;t yet scrambling eggs or walking the dog, but any couch potato armed with a PC and a hundred bucks or so can direct his lights to dim, his music to play, and his security system to turn on and off by using a single remote control. The technology to do such things is contained in easy-to-install kits that provide the necessary hardware--from timers to wireless gadgetry--and software. These all-in-one systems enable the homeowner to quickly automate any electrical process using a computer and a computer-activated remote control. PICK A PACKAGE A dizzying number of companies offer home-automation systems: HomeSeer Technologies (www.homeseer.com), Custom Solutions (www.csi3.com/homevis2.htm), Smarthome (www.smarthome.com) and Sylvania (www.unicalusa.com/sylvania) are among the companies that sell packages. These range from simple remote-control devices to complex kits that include motion sensors, video surveillance equipment and thermostats. Two technologies power all of these solutions: X10, a communications protocol that allows appliances to talk to one another over standard electrical lines, and radio frequency (RF), which is used for remote-control devices. The name X10 refers to a company (www.x10.com) as well as to the protocol. Its engineers invented the technology more than 20 years ago and X10&amp;#039;s ActiveHome Pro, which we&amp;#039;ve chosen as an example, is one of the most popular and well-designed home-automation packages on the market. At a price of $100, it is somewhat less costly than most of its competitors. Nearly all home-automation kits work the same way. The package includes a number of adapters (or &amp;quot;modules&amp;quot;), one of which functions as a transceiver. The X10 modules are wallet-size white boxes that plug directly into the AC wall outlet being used by a target appliance. Included in our kit were two types of lamp modules and an appliance module, along with a key-chain remote, PalmPad remote, wireless switch and a motion sensor. While the appliance module simply turns a device on and off, the lamp module allows for mood lighting: You can dim a previously undimmable bedside lamp. The user downloads the software to integrate all these elements from the company Web site. You need to work with the computer only during installation and to adjust settings later. Once the system is in place, your PC doesn&amp;#039;t even need to be turned on: The key-chain and PalmPad remotes are in control. Like any suite of electronics, X10&amp;#039;s home-automation kit (shown here) can be quirky. Here are some setup tips. 1--Remove the batteries from the ActiveHome Pro interface unit during installation. The software doesn&amp;#039;t like batteries--and you can add batteries later when everything is up and running. 2--Click on Tools, select &amp;quot;hardware configuration&amp;quot; and make sure that the &amp;quot;transceived house codes&amp;quot; is set to &amp;quot;auto.&amp;quot; This allows the software to configure the hardware signals automatically. 3--Remember not only to save your work, but to return to the Tools menu and click on &amp;quot;download timers and macros.&amp;quot; This ensures that your settings will work when the PC is turned off.  PLUG IN, TURN ON Once you install the software, it&amp;#039;s easy to assign an appliance to each module while sitting at the computer. Onscreen, the modules are represented by icons that the user can label. Organizing them is simply a matter of dragging each one into a window that corresponds to a particular room (office, kitchen, boudoir--whatever you choose). The lamp icon, for example, can be placed in the office, while an appliance module (for the coffeemaker) goes in the kitchen. An interface unit, attached to the PC via a USB cable, communicates with the modules through the home&amp;#039;s electrical wiring. The next step is to plug the modules into the wall outlets and begin testing the remote. Within minutes, it becomes tempting to swear off all switch toggling in favor of feverish clicking: Look, the bedside lamp turned on and off--cool! The homeowner is not limited to gadgets that plug into sockets; the screw-in lamp module lets you control an overhead lamp. First, insert the light bulb into the module, then screw the module into the ceiling socket. TIMERS AND MACROS The real power of the X10 and similar home-automation kits is revealed once the homeowner has set up a basic system and begins experimenting with macros, or series of linked commands. These make it possible to assign multiple actions to a single button on the remote control. You also can arrange for a macro to execute on a schedule that you determine. For example, a homeowner could have the front-porch lights activate when dusk falls, then dim to 25 percent brightness an hour later, and finally turn off at midnight--but if motion is detected, the lights could be set to turn on again, perhaps along with a clock-radio alarm. Alternatively, a nightcap macro could be created that dims the lights, throws on some Barry White and starts up the hot tub, all with the push of a button. Whether this amounts to a parlor trick or real convenience is a matter of perspective. The bottom line: The technology may not be quite worthy of George Jetson yet, but it&amp;#039;s getting there. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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