The Un-Added Security

October 10, 2001 - The X10 Community counts on its articles prompting readers to respond with stories of their own, and we do get a lot of those. One story we ran last January, called "Robots that Broadcast Memories," got just such a response. The story featured an artist, Reva Stone who used everything from Motion Sensors to the XCam2 in a robot she created to ’broadcast memories of her life.

This article drew the attention of Daniel Osieczonek who had his own thoughts on the subject, and his own story to tell us. Daniel noted that people like Reva Stone were the type of people who could use both sides of their brain equally. "They were the type of people that could coach Little League, and then go home and design a Helmet Cam," he says. They’re the people that can go to work all day, and then come home and design a haunted house. They’re the people who buy X10 products.

Of course as Daniel noted, "The only drawback is that full-brained thinkers seem to themselves to be absent-minded." But he knows why. "It’s because they are working a mile ahead of themselves.

Daniel bought his first X10 camera package because, as he says, "I was having trouble with packages disappearing from my porch." Daniel learned about X10 from an X10 ad while he was surfing the Internet for security systems. "I was greatly surprised at the difference in prices," he says, comparing X10 to the other systems out there.

So Daniel purchased a simple camera package and a set of Light Control Modules and "easily installed them." Then he "purchased a weather tight box, put the camera inside, and placed it on the front porch." On the porch he put up a sign warning that there was a camera on the premises. It seems to have done the trick because, as he says, "I haven't lost a package since."

"Last week," Daniel says, "I had a demonstration for a home security system" from one of those "professional" surveillance companies. At least that’s the way it started out. Eventually though, Daniel ended up giving that salesman a demonstration of his own.

"The salesman was amazed to see how I had set up lights to turn on and off at different times and that I could control the whole system with a Credit Card Controller or from my computer," Daniel said. The salesman’s system runs about $2000 dollars with a $40 dollar a month surveillance fee. Daniel paid about "$200 dollars with an extra Motion Sensor and a Chime module to build a system that was in many ways better then his."

Then Daniel ends his letter with this little note. "I gave him your web address and he plans to purchase a system for his own home." But don’t tell his boss.

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