Switch power outlets on and off with home automation tools
Click Clack
The "If This Then That" web service lets you simply click together home automation components, instead of laboriously integrating them via their APIs. However, you still have to open the hood for the nitty gritty where applicable.
What's that? There's a gathering storm, and suddenly, as if by magic, the outside shutters on the house are pulled in? Oh, this must be home automation at work! Unfortunately, it's not that easy to integrate individual components in a smart home into a coherent overall system; many manufacturers like to do their own thing and deliberately don't play well with gadgets manufactured by the competition.
WeMo
I recently bought the WeMo Switch [1] on a whim (Figure 1). It can be used to switch electrical devices on and off, both mechanically and by using the mobile phone app either via local WiFi or over the Internet.
The remote switch generates its own WiFi signal with the identifier WeMo-xxx after plugging it into the wall socket. After downloading the iOS or Android mobile app (Figure 2) onto your smartphone and adjusting your WiFi setting to point to the temporary WeMo wireless signal, the app connects to the switch and prompts you to enter the SSID and password of your home WiFi.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
There's a New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle is a Linux AI assistant that can work with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.