For years, I have been interested in both home computers, home automation technology and how they can work together. X10 (which has been available for over 25 years) and other home automation technologies have made it realistic to automate homes to some extent for quite some time, but lower costs for advanced computing technologies and network bandwidth have recently made it much more attractive to the do-it-yourselfer.
I began development of this site after coming to the realization that it is difficult to find concise answers to many home automation questions without spending an extraordinary amount of time searching the web. This became apparent as I was researching the best ways to network my PCs to share my cable modem (in 1999). It seemed that all of the information I needed was available on the web, but it was quite fragmented and often next to useless. So, I managed to extract useful bits of information from various sources and managed to put it all together and accomplish what I wanted.
The goal of this site is to provide the average user with answers to many home automation questions, as well as to provide an open forum to discuss various topics and ask questions. Please feel free to browse around, and please don't hesitate to post a question or observation on our message board.
Bill Tews
Webmaster - The Home Automation Zone