Home automation newbie questions

[GS <GS@xxxxxx>]

I've been googling home automation today and came across X-10,
eventually leading to this newsgroup. I've always been interested in
home automation, ultimately wanting to be able to use my PC to remotely
turn lights etc. on and off. Now that my semi rural area finally has
reliable high speed internet and I can start/stop my pc's remotely with
WOL it appears that this could soon be a reality.

But since it's best to start out with "baby steps", this is what I want
to do first:

We've recently moved our teenage son to a bedroom in the basement. This
means he is now 2 stories below our bedroom. Being a typical teenage boy
he doesnt alway turn the lights out and computer/tv/stereo off when he
is supposed to, I already have internet access restrictions via my
router, but I want to be able to turn off the power to certain outlets
at a set time (or whenever I want) without going to the junction box and
shutting off the basement breaker (which would also shut off my
freezers). At this point I don't care if I can do it with a pc or not.
   Ideally it would be timed for something like 10pm, but manually would
be fine too.

What do I need to get started? Do I need to replace all the outlets that
I want to control with x10 units? For this first step I am looking at
about 6-9 outlets, as well as ceiling light fixtures.

I also have a pump in my basement that supplies water to the house, and
I always turn it off when leaving the house for the weekend etc. This
involves going to the pump itself and turning off a light-switch located
on the wall beside it. Ideally I'd like to have the switch located by
the main door so I can just turn it on/off as I'm leaving/arriving, but
having the ability to do it remotely would be real cool for letting
neighbors come over and water plants etc. I'm assuming x10 technology
would also work very well here too.

Should I start replacing all my plugs/switches etc with x-10 enabled ones?

thanks!