Home Domination-Home Automation Software (X10, CM11A, Video)

Like World Domination, But Without All The Hassle!

So you're the king of your castle, right? Ya, sure, whatever you say. Unless you've managed to hang onto that 1950's style of living, you may still be greeted by your wife and kids when you get home, but from that moment until bedtime, you're Mr. Fixit and a waiter. Or perhaps you're a single male. You've got the world by the &@(($, right? Let's face it, if you're single, pretty much any reasonably attractive woman has power over you. I'm not saying any of this is all bad, but wouldn't it be nice to feel like you're in control for a change? Or maybe you're one of those reasonably attractive women. Wouldn't you like to be able to control your house too and really impress those boy toys of yours? Or perhaps you're a control freak and you won't stop until you have control of everything, but you don't really want the hassle of taking over a country.

With Home Domination, you can take control of your house. Unfortunately though, it won't control your wife and kids, your girlfriends, or your boy toys. But you will have the power to annoy them if you feel so inclined! And you can do it from anywhere in the world that has Internet access, except in countries where they won't let you in because of your attempts to overthrow their government! And yes, there are plenty of serious, cool, and very useful reasons to use this program too.

So what is Home Domination? Home Domination is home automation software (a computer program) for Windows that consists of the basic package and optional add-on features. What can it control and how does it do it? Well, before you can control anything, you first need to install some X10 compatible devices in your home. Then you need a CM11A (or CM12U) X10 Computer Interface which connects to a serial port on your computer. What is X10? Click here for that answer. Do computers really eat cereal for breakfast? If you really need an answer to this question, here's a link for you: www.sesamestreet.com. If you're just wondering what a serial port is, that's one of those little doohickeys on the back of your computer where you can plug stuff into.

Let me warn you, this paragraph is rather techy, so if you are one of those people who are allergic to that type of information, you may want to skip to the next paragraph. Home Domination is a Windows program that runs on Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. The program controls lights and other devices by sending and receiving codes through a CM11A (or CM12U) Computer Interface that attaches to a serial port. Codes are frequently sent to the computer by motion sensors, and the devices controlled are usually wall switches, lamp modules, or appliance modules. With Home Domination, you can control the switches directly from the main control panel, or indirectly using Macros, or remotely from a network client.

I hope you're still with me. The translation of the above paragraph would read: "Home Domination will most likely run on your computer. You'll be able to mess with your lights or appliances (that are connected to X10 devices) by turning them on and off from the main control panel. If you're away from home, you can annoy anyone in the house from afar! And you can set up macros to annoy them automatically when a motion sensor is tripped.

The following picture is a snapshot of the main control panel. Click here or on the picture to find out what kind of power and might awaits you!

- Click here for information about the various product options.

In summary, Home Domination is some really fine home automation software (or x10 control software if you prefer that term) for Windows, that uses the CM11A controller, or CM12U in the UK. If you're a disgruntled ActiveHome user, then you should already have the equipment needed to communicate with Home Domination. Home Domination was created by a disgruntled ActiveHome user! Home Domination can be used for video surveillance using the remote network client and the video sources (including multiple X10 video cameras all sharing the same USB Video adapter). It can also be used to control low voltage wiring using the U401/421 USB I/O Interface, the ADLINK ACL-7122 144-CH Programmable Digital IO Board or possibly other I/O boards. You can create powerful macros that can be triggered by motions sensors or it can be triggered by time. It works with Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and likely the next generation of Windows too.