Brandon's X10 Blog

It's all about you... isn't it...

Well it IS TRUE. Whenever I put on my Buzz Bisbee hat and think of cool kits that get me going, they are going to end up in the hands of you, the X10 Fanatics (other than the ones that I take home for TESTING... lordy do I love to TEST!).

So... for my last post before this beautiful long extended weekend, I want to put the ball in your court by asking you one simple question.....

What would be your X10 dream system?

Post you comments on the bottom of this post - and we will see if we can make any dreams come true (I am no Amy Grant - but I will try my best)

Have a Fun and Safe Memorial Day Weekend!

Posted by BrandonK at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (19551) | TrackBacks (0)

Man I love this time of the year - almost summer - NEW music and movies are coming out. I have been movie obsessed lately and there is a good one coming out this weekend X-men 3: The Last stand. I have always been a fan of the X-men, how could you not be? That is the REAL question... So I was thinking about how pumped I am to go see the movie this weekend (I know, I said I was going to see the Da Vinci Code last weekend.. but it STILL hasn't happened) when I had a thought. Cyclops... you know, the guy with the lasers that come out of his eyes. I kept getting this image of Robotic Pan & Tilt Mounted XCams (Don't ask me why, but for some reason it clicked in my head). One thing lead to another and there I was making an ALL ROBOTIC 3-Cam system. I have 2 Robotic Cameras at my place (1 for the back, 1 for the front) and another Camera mounted on the side yard without Robotics - it got me thinking... I NEED ANOTHER MOUNT for the side one (we'll see if I can "take one home for testing purposes") Anyways to sum it up... X-men 3 is going to be a cool Movie.... 3 XCam2s with 3 Robotic Mounts is going to be a cool System... Happy Thursday Everyone... BTW, here is the link to the 3-cam system I was talking about. http://www.x10.com/products/xx20a_ed_x3_219_0523.html

Technorati Tag: X-men

Posted by BrandonK at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (26) | TrackBacks (0)

So I have been absolutely OBSESSED with Big, Flat HD TVs lately. And, the feature that I am ESPECIALLY pumped about is the ability to use them to look at my pics and media. Now currently I have an ok TV - 31" Tube. It does the job. This last Monday the Big Bosses came to me and said "Brandon, the world NEEDS to know about showtime!" I replied... "Showtime? Tell me more...." Basically, they went on to tell me about the way it transmits your photos, and movies to your TV from your PC....... wirelessly......... ok at this point I almost hit the floor......... PC to TV connection - Wireless.

At that point I put 2 and 2 together - $2000 HDTV....... I think not.........Showtime Digital Media System....... YES! So being the MAJOR skeptic I am I asked the bosses "So, how much is this thing going to cost? $400? $500?" They all looked at me like I was crazy and in unison said.... "$29.99!" I think you get the picture - I was shocked to say the least. So I took a "sample kit" home (I think it may just stay with me) and tried it out.... frankly, it rocks. Check it out here... http://www.x10.com/promotions/treasure_chest_vk73a_p.html

Technorati Tag: HDTV

Posted by BrandonK at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (429) | TrackBacks (0)

It's Monday again everyone and it's raining here in the beautiful pacific northwest (My lawn needs it though, so I am ok with it). So last friday, I lied... I didn't go see the Da Vinci Code this weekend, but I hear ALOT of other people DID. Instead my wife and I watched a couple movies that everyone in the office told me "I HAD TO" and that "YOU HAVEN'T LIVED TILL YOU'VE SEEN (fill in the blank)". I got 'Swingers' and 'Office Space' from one of X10's Finest Web Designers Ross. Watched Office Space, thought it was great. Then we popped in Swinger's at about 11:00pm on Saturday on the downstairs TV. Now, I am one of those guys that can fall asleep on command and I knew that starting a movie at 11 at night on a Sat. could be risky. About 30 Minutes into I was ZONKED out on the couch and my wife nudged me and said "Brandon, wake up it's getting good". Just then an idea popped into my brain - X10's VIDEO SENDER! UUUUREEKA! So I told my wife we could watch it upstairs in our bedroom. She said "We don't have a DVD player up there" (If you have read any of my other entries, you know that I love being right when my wife thinks she knows what's going on)... I said "Tulip (I didn't actually say Tulip, I just thought it sounded interesting) we CAN watch it upstairs - go up and I will be there in a second". So I plugged in the sender and pushed play on the player and went upstairs to see my wife looking at the TV in amazement. This time I didnt say a word to her... rubbing it in is just plain cruel.

In the end, I fell asleep 30 minutes later and caught the last 20 minutes of swingers - good flick.

If you want to see more about the Video Sender go here - http://www.x10.com/products/vk54a_ed_lr_ps79.html
-Brandon

Technorati Tags:Office Space

Posted by BrandonK at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (3501) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey all,

TGIF everyone! I am looking forward to this weekend a lot. My wife and I are going to go see the Da Vinci Code - read the book and loved it, hopefully the movie is as good (Ever notice no one ever says "WOW, the movie was WAY better than the book" - I guess people always choose their own imagination over someone else's).

So I was reading more about Da Vinci and ALL the amazing things this guy did and got so pumped up about it I decided to make a Camera System in his spirit. Basically this thing does EVERYTHING (kind of like Da Vinci) - you can check it out here...

http://www.x10.com/products/xx16a_ed_davinci_199_0517.html

Have a good weekend everyone - Talk to you Monday

Technorati Tags:Da Vinci Code

-Brandon

Posted by BrandonK at 07:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (207) | TrackBacks (0)

I told you I would be back:)

So I gave some thought to my 2nd official blog post (this is a big one - it could make or break the whole thing) and I came up with this...

I want to start at the very beginning - the FIRST TIME I tried ActiveHome. Now before you continue I will give you this warning - these are real experiences not just cheezy attempts to sway you... now that that is out of the way.. here we go.

The first time I plugged in ActiveHome and fired up the install - I was skeptical to say the least. I was new to X10 and had yet to be schooled in the X10 way of life. I went downstairs put a lamp module into the wall and went back upstairs and looked at the computer. It had a light switch that was begging me to switch it on.... so I did thinking to myself, this isn't going ot work. So back downstairs I trudged and what did I see when I got to the bottom landing... but a LIT light over in the corner. At that point I was encouraged... so I yelled up to my wife and told her to turn off the light switch on my computer desktop... so she did, and the light turned off... then I yelled up again.. "ON"... so this went on for 4 or 5 more times till she decided she had had enough of my enthusiasm. So I then told her to come downstairs and watch the light for 15 secs... I then proceeded to turn it on 6 or 7 times and let me tell you... SHE was impressed and wanted to know ALL about it (love it when I can show her I am right!)

So... to most that little bit I just typed may seem kinda boring... but to those of you who have experienced the same kind of thing your first time you guys know what I am talking about (hopefully you do at least, or maybe I am just a big tech nerd). So if any of you guys aren't in the ActiveHome Club yet you can go here...

http://www.x10.com/activehomepro/activehome-pro.html

Posted by BrandonK at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (236) | TrackBacks (0)

It's been a LONG, LONG time since Buzz Bisbee started sending out daily emails full of X10 Gear - but now it is time for you to know the truth. THERE IS NO BUZZ BISBEE! I repeat there is NO BUZZ BISBEE... The truth is I am Buzz Bisbee... Let me introduce myself. My name is Brandon K. and I am X10's Email Guy (Like in the Wizard of OZ: the man behind the curtain). I live in Washington State, am married and have a dog named Bailey. For many, many years I have been the one bringing the X10 Newsletter to your inbox day after day.

FINALLY! I can STOP LIVING THIS LIE!

So you are saying to yourself "who cares.... why should I read this "email dork's" blog"... well... After so many years of writing this nightly email I felt that the X10 Fanatics deserved to see a face behind Buzz. Someone that will tell them about the latest and greatest, tell them about random things I have done with my X10 gear (some of which I probably can't mention in my blog... scratch that... this is my blog... I will tell you ALL THE CRAZY X10 SECRETS!)

So ya'll come back now ya hear (going to be posting daily - if not more) - this blog is going be different than what you would expect from a internet retailer. I am going to tell you what I think... simple as that.

-Brandon

Posted by BrandonK at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (377) | TrackBacks (0)