lookin to get started, have an idea of what I wanna do...

[ufo.master@xxxxxxxxx]

So I'm moving into an apartment, and I wanna get some automation
going.

I wanna be able to do simple stuff like dim lights and stuff through
the web or with voice recognition. I'm ready to learn to program in
Pearl or something of the sort (thinking of MisterHouse here) to do
some more complex stuff like voice commands like "dim the lights to
50%" or "Play some music: Jack Johnson" or something of the sort. I'm
also thinking of using a web cam as a motion detector/security cam but
I know there is freeware software that will allow me to do that.
However it would be cool to combine motion detection with Automation.

I was thinking of buying a Firecracker kit from X10 with a few lamp &
appliance modules and using MisterHouse as the software, seems very
powerful as far as customization, I mean anything is possible if you
can code it, right? but perhaps someone can guide me to a better idea.
I'm trying to stay under 300$ on this. I think the key is the voice
commands to control lights and music.