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[dave w]

Digital Equipment Corp PDP 11 and PDP 15 with a whopping 5K of CORE memory. Like Brian H's Heathkit, you had to toggle in the starting address of the punched tape loader for the boot strap.

First DEC hard drive I saw was as large as a livingroom hassock and checking nitrogen pressure was a "performance" check.

Fun days, I remember playing a game called "Hamarumbi" on a mechanical Teletype input terminal.

First personal computer was an Atari 400.....do I hear you guys laughing? Stop it!

And yes for those wondering,  I still have a few original teeth and some hair left. 

[Knightrider]

Hey!  I had the CoCoII with the 64k EXTENDED color BASIC!!!  My kids cell phone can do about 200 times what that puppy did, but the CoCo was way more phun.

[HA Dave]

Dave, I thought you said you've been using computers since 1981....... I think we are dating ourselves somewhat.

I love those old memories. But my real passion is with the possible... or should I say with trying to figure out what might be possible. I still get excited when I think about what might be... right around the corner. One good, new idea could allow a hundred useful changes. One new product... could spawn a hundred new ideas. It's never ending.

[Knightrider]

I love those old memories. But my real passion is with the possible... or should I say with trying to figure out what might be possible. I still get excited when I think about what might be... right around the corner. One good, new idea could allow a hundred useful changes. One new product... could spawn a hundred new ideas. It's never ending.

Those words are truly phophetic to an extent.  The best I've heard since I've joined this community.

The next time I read a rant on X10 being an outdated and obsolete technology, I'll be sure to point to this one post. 

Dave was just telling me the other night how he felt "old", but it's this kind of attitude that will keep us all "young".  Perhaps the title to this thread should be adopted as our mission as X10'ers -- Keep Trying New Stuff.  (words to live by)

I'm tired of the guys that want to go out and invest the price of a small property in Aspen and then have trouble making it work.  X10 has been a great passion of mine for the last 20 or so years, and I've never been afraid to Keep Trying New Stuff and expanding the possibilities of the technology.

Instead of looking to the past, let us all remember to look to the future of X10 and encourage the programmers and engineers (whether it be the home brew writers (-Bill- (of WGJohns.com), Tuicemen and other) or the guys that build new toys (Jeff Volp, Puck, (myself to an small extent)) or the guys that test it all out till they break it (Brian H, Tom J, BigJohn), this is where the future of X10 lies. 

Let's never lose our optimism, or our ability to dream of new forms of automation.  Keep up the good work my friends, and never be afraid to
Keep Trying New Stuff!!!!!!

[Tuicemen]

I can't believe the number of users running out dated software!
I can understand reverting to an earlier version if a bug is found that compromises your setup!
But report that!
No wonder developers give up on projects!
If you continue to run software that is a version or more be hide the latest release, shame on you!
You'll always be waiting for the future to happen!
Come on People Get Your Software up Todate
 

[Noam]

Speaking of which (sort of), Firefox 4 was released today!

[dave w]

I was even lucky enough as a child. to visit the Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland.
I really think that right now Home Automation is at a cusp. I believe we are at the edge of a breakthrough. I don't think there has ever been a better time to jump into Automation with both feet.

Yeah, the Monsanto house was very cool. There was also Xanadu, a "home of the future" in Kissimmee FL, made by spraying urethane foam over large balloons. Never understood why that construction technique never caught on. Their "ultrasonic cleaning closet of the future" was just a closet with some flashing lights in the ceiling. 

I know this is heresy and my apologies to Bill. Had I known BVC was on the way, I would not have abandoned AHP in 2006. But Dave X10, you might download and try a trial version of HomeSeer. It will interface to powerline through your CM15A. Use your spare CM15A because Homeseer does not control the transceive function.

[Tuicemen]

Ah yes HomeSeer!
Had they not refused to add support for the CM15A when I first asked I may not have become a programer!
 

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

I know this is heresy and my apologies to Bill. Had I known BVC was on the way, I would not have abandoned AHP in 2006. But Dave X10, you might download and try a trial version of HomeSeer. It will interface to powerline through your CM15A. Use your spare CM15A because Homeseer does not control the transceive function.

I try not to take offense.  I'm fully aware that there are many options out there for both HA and VR.  I'm also fully aware that my development cycle is (as someone once put it) "glacial".  BVC is what it is, and was never meant to be a total HA solution.  However, it fills a price / performance gap between AHP and more expensive HA programs and translates nicely between them.  Anyone who wants can try it out for free.  So far, I've tried to fill a "niche" and avoid direct competition or reinventing the wheel when there is a reasonably priced and supported program out there that does the same thing.  Should I change that attitude?  Should I be more aggressive?   

[Tuicemen]

Should I change that attitude?  Should I be more aggressive?
Yes! Please! 
I think everyone would benifit!
The big guys are too smug!
Like the old big three automakers.
Only once they started to lose market share big time did things start to move.
Problem was they sat arround to long and the others surpassed them!