1. The Universe of Things. A got me a set of Philips Hue bulbs for Christmas. It’s the first step in automating our house, so it turns on lights when we walk into a room and turns down the heat when we’re not home. There are a bunch of controllers out there you can buy, but the best one we’ve found is OpenHab. It’s an open-source platform, meaning that it doesn’t rely on any proprietary technology — it will let us make things talk to other things, even if the manufacturers decide to stop making them compatible. Of course,  it’s also about the most user-unfriendly interface ever.  And yes, I eagerly await the day when our robot overlords rule the earth. Continue reading “The Monday Review” →