Re: Networked refrigerators (was Re: [Nolug] Vint Cerf talk (my notes from his talk at LSU))

On Wed, 2003-10-01 at 04:56, Joey Kelly wrote:
> Thou spake:
> >On Tue, 2003-09-30 at 18:52, Joey Kelly wrote:
> >> Hey all,
> >>
> >> I took notes during Vint Cerf's talk on "Internet Past and Future" this
> >> afternoon. They aren't complete, but I think I got most of the high
> >> points.
> >>
> >> ttp://joeykelly.net/cgi-bin/scratchpad/index.cgi?VintonCerf
> >
> >"net fridges: emailing you that you need to buy milk, etc."
> >
> >Why do people keep bringing this up? How can the 'fridge know if
> >the milk carton is almost empty? Any technology put in the box to
> >try to make such estimations will just drive up the cost.
> >
> >Such things are *useless*.
>
> He did mention smart wine corks. These exist, but I do agree that it's a
> little silly.

A net-connected wine cork is over the top, but one that pops out a
little indicator when it's gets too dry, or the wine turns to vinegar
sounds very useful to wine collectors.

> >What *is* useful about a net-connected refrigerator is the ability
> >to send alerts like:
> >"Hey, the door's been open for 30 minutes!!!"
> >"The temperature is above normal, even though the door is closed."
> >"The compressor is working too hard. Maybe it needs to be cleaned."
> >
> >This leads to other appliances sending useful messages, and being
> >able to be remote controlled, like the:
> >dishwasher
> >washing machine
> >clothes dryer
> >VCR/DVD players
> >
> >Imagine a secure web interface into your DVD-RW player, so that if
> >you are at work, and remember that you forgot to set the timer to
> >record Jeopardy, you can do so from the office.
>
> You can do this now... if you're running VNC on your box. SSH in to your
> firewall and set up a tunnel for VNC. Blam, you have your desktop staring you
> in the face. Web interface? Hmm...

Tell me again how many VCRs allow interactive control over network
interfaces? (No, I'm not about PCs with TV capture cards and mythtv.)

Actually, I don't ever think that Tivo has a remote-over-network
control feature.

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Johnson, Jr. ron.l.johnson@cox.net
Jefferson, LA USA
"Whatever may be the moral ambiguities of the so-called
demoratic nations and however serious may be their failure to
conform perfectly to their democratic ideals, it is sheer moral
perversity to equate the inconsistencies of a democratic
civilization with the brutalities which modern tyrannical states
practice."
Reinhold Nieburhr, ca. 1940
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