myhometheaterpc.com

My Definition of Home Automation:

• The use of one or more computers to control the home devices you may already own in an intelligent or integrated fashion to produce results that cannot be done by using each device’s native ability.
  

Corollary:

• It is always better to use an actual wired connection, such as RS232 or USB, instead of infrared (IR) as they are 2way connections that can inform your HA software engine what the current status is or that something has changed. This is also much more reliable than IR as CQC can confirm that the command worked, rather than just execute the command and assume it worked. (ever press the button on a remote and have it do nothing…)