I haven't done a lot of research on it, but
I am currently using an appliance module to
control a CFL. I am using an extension cord
and actually have 2 lamps on this module,
the CFL and a regular incandescent bulb. I
think having the regular bulb in there helps
with the flicker and local control issues.
I believe I read somewhere a quick and dirty
work around is to use a nightlight plugged
into the module along with the CFL. This
should help the flicker, but I think you
probably lose the local control.
I also would like to see the module you
described built. Perhaps some of the
electronics experts and modifiers can come
up with instructions to do this?