Q. I am interested in buying and building a PC security system that I can use to monitor my house while I am at work. I don’t want a home alarm system like ADT or Brinks. The reason for this that an elderly relative has moved in with us who has become lost once and found by the police. I am looking into elder day care for her, but I would like to be able to monitor the front door, back door, garage door and back yard to keep tabs on her while we are at work and whenever she is not in elder day care.
If I saw a problem on the home cameras I could be home within 15 minutes, or I could call my neighbor who has a key.
I would like to be beeped, e-mailed or called on my cell phone by my home PC whenever the front door, back door, or garage door is opened. Is it possible for a fairly technical person to build such a system at a reasonable cost?
Do you have any recommendations regarding what hardware and software is available to build this system, and the approximate cost?
A. Reading your question made the theme from “The Twilight Zone” play in my head, Mr. M. Just last week I reviewed (soon to published) a superb system that does just what you describe. Your answer lies at Smarthome (www.smarthome.com), a large catalog outfit specializing in home electronics, including security, entertainment and convenience (such as turning on the lights at home with your cell phone while still on the expressway).
Specifically, I tested a Smarthome X10 system that uses both the Internet and the electrical wiring in a house to deliver a video monitoring system that can be accessed at the workplace using any Web browser.
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The video cameras are located wherever desired–such as the front door, back door, kitchen or nursery. They plug into regular electrical outlets and use the home’s power wiring to send signals to a receiver that connects to the home’s computer through the USB port.
The USB device displays the pictures from cameras either full screen or in divided sections for multiple sources. The home computer must connect to the Internet by cable modem, DSL or other broadband to make the video available on a Web browser anywhere on Earth. Personal privacy is covered by high-level encryption of the video data, and folks at work find peace of mind knowing they can spot intruders, monitor a nanny with the kids or keep tabs on folks at home with problems.
It’s not cheap because you need to buy cameras at about $100 each as well as the USB devices at another $100 or so. You also need to arrange an account with a provider of Internet-connected servers to host your security setup, which can run in the $10 per month range.
This stuff is a geek’s nirvana, and I know you’ll love exploring it. My favorite is a setup that detects motion at the front door, sends the owner a beep or cell call and allows the owner to either open the door or set off simulated barking by a digitally sampled police dog.
Q. Thank you for your recent answer to a reader about text-to-speech technology both in Windows and Macintosh. I am writing just to add some comments about Mac software. People may use several programs that do take advantage of the Mac’s reading-aloud capabilities, including Microsoft Word. Many Mac users don’t know that at Microsoft’s Web site, they can download for free an interesting upgrade for Word that installs Word Speak 2001.
After installing Word Speak 2001, two new options will appear on the top of the Tools menu: Tools Speak Selection and Tools Pick Voice. Then Word will be able to read aloud articles, newsletters, even Web pages since it can go to the Internet to open an HTML document in Online Layout view.
I am using that free Word improvement to hear lengthy newsletters coming via e-mail while working on my paintings or designs.
A. I was amazed at the level of reader interest in using various programs to have their computer read aloud text, which is pretty old stuff actually but apparently little known.
In a recent answer to a reader from Kerry Kleiber of Lafayette, Ind., I described how Windows XP and Office XP include built-in text-to-speech features. I told those with other flavors of Windows about Text Aloud MP3 that is great because it uses AT&T’s famous voice technology to produce speech close to human voice rather than the Stephen Hawkins robotic stuff most computer speech users endure.
To recap, you can explore the Windows stuff at www.nextup.com.
As I pointed out previously, Macs have come with text-to-speech from the get-go using a number of voices ranging from a friendly female to a “bubbly” voice that drives me to distraction. I appreciate your efforts to expand on Mac options in Office 10.1 for Mac.
The Word Speak Mac module is at www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx.
Q. As a longtime user of PDAs (Wizard, Handspring), I am considering the next generation to consolidate equipment. What is the best of the bunch for PDA/cell phones: Samsung SPH-1330, Sprint Treo 300 or the soon-to-be-introduced Handspring version?
Or is it not wise to combine these tools into a single instrument? I harken back to the old days when combining a fax machine on a line also used for telephone conversations caused fax reception problems.
A. Asking which is best among these new cell phone/PDA products is like asking whether to get a Ford, Chevy or Dodge. They all work fine and as expected, so let me suggest that the real issue worth fretting over is whether to go for a PDA/phone based on the Palm operating system or on Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile software, formerly known as Pocket PC.
To me this decision is best made on the basis of how much you like working in the Windows computer environment.
Palm OS remains the gold standard for simple, no-nonsense business tasks. Those include keeping a contact list to dial on demand, maintaining a calendar, a to-do list and handling e-mail. But in reality much of what Palms can do is a function of how well they can link with Microsoft Outlook, which is the gold standard for personal information management.
As things stand now, the phones with Palm or other schemes rule in the areas of design, size and ease of use.
But if you check out the current batch of Windows PDA/phone products, you’ll see that these boxy gadgets present color screen displays very much like a desktop PC. So using one on the road requires little or no extra learning for those familiar with Outlook and other Windows stuff.
The cream in the deal is the way the Evil Empire (Microsoft) incorporates its enjoyable features like playing digital music files and displaying photos and short films created on PCs. These phones tend to be blocky affairs that look like an early Palm with a fat nubbin antenna on top, which, by the way, describes the hot new Palm-type Samsung SPH-1330 you mentioned.
There are details on the Microsoft stuff online: www. microsoft.com/windowsmobile /buyersguide/wheretobuy /americas/default.mspx.
I can’t think of any problems such as that awful fax-telephone interference glitch of yesteryear, but it is well to remember that the biggest drawback to PDA/phones of every stripe is that they take a lot of learning. And they are never as quick, sturdy and reliable as a dedicated cell phone with a dozen or so fast-dial numbers punched in.
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Have a question for Jim Coates on small-business technology? Send an e-mail to [email protected] or via snail mail at the baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. Questions can be answered only through this column.