The Techie Chronicles

Apple just introduced Nike+iPod this week. What a great addition, I could not wait for a heart rate monitor to show up on the Nano! Are you listening Polar? A Bluetooth adapter is already on the way – Bluna. It really makes the iPod the next big integration platform after the PC or Mac. I wonder when will be the Nano plugins daisy chainable – but wait, Bluetooth is better for that. So let's sit tight, listen for the rumors and wait for the Bluetooth iPod.

I decided to document my efforts and progress on making a DIY-zoning project in my house. The motivation clearly came with the note in the utility bill last month – Delmarwa Power announced the 59% rate increase. After hitting the best ever $400 record bill in February I thought if I make this house more efficient I can save an iPod worth of money every month.

Then I found the DIY-Zoning project with the promise of efficiency and DIY fun. I ordered some CAT5 jacks and wall plates from MCM Electronics and DS18S20 sensors from Maxim to build the sensor network on the unused 2 pairs of phone wiring. The builder installed CAT3 cabling in a bus topology 9 years ago, I connected the unused chunks all together and made them accessible on a second jack everywhere a phone jack was installed. It's all done now, it took a lot of 3M Scotchlok connectors.

The next thing will be to place the temperature sensors and collect some baseline data before the register servos come in…