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It will send me an e-mail message to let me know that someone has come
to the front door of my house when I'm not at home, or allow me to see
when my kids have woken up or gotten home, from any Web browser on the
planet (with proper security and authentication, of course!). It keeps
the house "alive" when I'm on vacation, plus brews me a pot of coffee in
the morning before I get up, based on my regular schedule—and turns
it off if I forget! And should I wake early, it will automatically
switch the coffee pot on for me to start my cup brewing before I even
make it to the kitchen, without me having to touch a single button.
It keeps my fish tank lit, my kids out of the dark, and soon, will also
adjust my thermostat when I'm not home, and turn off my hot water heater
when not needed.
I can't imagine living without it now, where the touch of a single
button turns off all the lights in the house when I go to bed, or a
button in my car turns on the lights, from my garage to my kitchen (but
only in the rooms that have reported to my OpenVMS system that they are
dark). And when I leave, I can be sure it will turn off all the lights
in my house as I'm backing my car out the driveway.
Oh, it's also my family Web server, hosting my personal blog and my
custom-created photo gallery, and allows me to do some software
development and build Open Source tools that I use.
The majority of this code is DCL, save for the blogging software, which
is PHP. You can track this system's uptime at
http://uptimes-project.org/hosts/view/602
It's been a solid and reliable tool that is now an essential part of my
home. With uptimes measured in the hundreds of days, I truly feel
comfortable knowing that when I'm gone, my OpenVMS Hobbyist system is
taking care of my home, and when I'm home, that it's taking care of me!
— Aaron Sakovich
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