Re: discussion groups?

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 05 Jun 2006 06:07:31 GMT, "Paul Fielding" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote in message  <DSPgg.241763$WI1.153342@pd7tw2no>:

>I've been out of the game for some time and upon my return see that the
>traffic here seems to have reduced *substantially*.  Is there a new &
>improved place that most of the general HA discussion has moved to?
>
>Paul
>

This group was dominated for years by discussion of X-10 problems. Now that
most of X-10's deficiencies are well documented and available through
Google, that traffic (or at least interest in responding to those questions)
has dropped.

With the advent of other accessibly-priced lighting protocols, traffic for
those protocols has migrated to their respective fora -- as it should.

Programming and interface issues have also moved to the respective hardware
(Omni, Elk, Adicon etc) and software (Homeseer, Charmed Quark, Mr House
etc.) discussion areas.

Between industrial automation (the realm of PLC's, SCADA, BACnet and so on)
and proprietary high-end home automation and home theatre (Crestron, AMX
etc) with custom programming, there's not much that can't be done that most
folks *want* to do. Jist a matter of $ and time.

Some folks will of course continue to pontificate about things they have
never actually used or touched -- Plus ça change, ...

Interest in homebrew hardware has with a exceptions continued its long
decline parallel to that of DIY electronics and most traditional home act
ivies (woodworking, sewing, music-making). There will always be a few folks
prone to try to build a gizmo from copper pennies and beach sand, but we are
a dying generation.

What this newsgroup *could* be good at is discussion of new directions and
strategies. But much of the forward-looking, innovative discussion in
newsgroups began moving away 'bout the time most government industry and
academics left in the early 1990's.

What I lament is any semblance of innovation in the arena of
self-directed/adaptive/smart/heuristic/AI-based/expert HA systems. Most
everything one sees here is binary (event-driven) logic drifting towards
push-button control of the push-buttons on AV doodads. Actual environmental
measurement and monitoring in current conventional HA is
simplistic/primitive and responses mechanistic/deterministic. There's much
more to be done. My list of references of actual innovative 'intelligent'
homes  (*not* =  houses with lotsa X-10 and video cameras) is outdated.
Fresh URL's anyone ? Anything of actually of interest on the HA web ring?
Academic efforts? Enviro experiments that worked?

Mis dos céntimos .. Marc

Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org