Hello, Computer

We purchased an Amazon Echo some months ago, and in the ensuing time we've picked up two more Echo Dots. At first I thought it would be a bit of an uphill climb with my wife to convince her of their utility, but as it turned out, the more features I added (Alexa skills, IFTTT applets) the more useful they became and the more she came to like them. I don't think it would be fair to say that she finds them as useful as I do, but it's interesting to see how the value of home automation seems to have a sort of network effect. As you add more to the network (devices, capabilities), the value of the overall automation network increases.

I plan to experiment with some new capabilities when I roll into my holiday break, but I'm also cognizant of the inherent security risks that come with a more "connected" home. Many of the IoT vendors still follow fairly poor security standards and practices, so make sure you know what you're connecting to your home network.

Make it so

I've been saying for far too long that it was high time that I establish a presence on the Interwebs. There are many reasons I've come up with previously to explain while I would "get to it later," but today is the day I put those aside and finally create a site. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this space just yet, so please mind the dust while this place likely goes through a significant evolution in the coming weeks and months. Until then...