May 30th, 2009

Shion 2.0b12 is now available.

This is a minor update that fixes a handful of problems in hardware error reporting as well as providing a visual indicator (the Shion icon in the menu bar turns red) when there has been a hardware problem.

May 29th, 2009

Sometimes, even despite our best preparation and attention, things go awry:

We’ve worked hard to make Shion as robust as possible, but despite our best efforts, there are a circumstances where Shion will fail and give you a message like the one above. Perhaps you have an overeager puppy who pulled the USB cable from a PowerLinc, you received a faulty controller from the factory, or we did not find a hidden bug in our code.

This recipe shows you how you can configure Shion to respond to these events by taking action to let you know what’s going on.

May 25th, 2009

Shion 2.0b11 is now available.

This is the first feature-complete version of Shion and also the first 2.0 release candidate. If I find no problems in this version, I will release it as 2.0 proper next week. So, in the interest of robust code, please report any issues that you identify.

Changes

1. More robust thermostat support.

2. Sunrise and sunset events have been deprecated in favor of a more configurable “Solar Event”

3. Snapshots now work in remote mode.

Beta Licenses

This is the last release for which I will make available complimentary beta licenses. If you would like a free license for evaluating the software, you should e-mail me before I release Shion 2.0 next weekend.

May 25th, 2009

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting how Shion users around the world use the system to automate their homes and other environments. If you are using Shion and would like to show off your setup, please send an e-mail to shion@audacious-software.com.

Several months ago, I began working on Audacious Software as a full-time venture when I rented a small 7 foot by 9 foot space from my friends at The House Theatre of Chicago. It was a nice environment to bootstrap the development of the new version of Shion and it had the advantage of also becoming Audacious Software’s first live testing lab.

Last month, the theatre company and I relocated to a new space down the hall and I tripled my space in order to handle the growing amount of computers, test equipment, and other devices that this growing enterprise is generating. Along with the desks and computers, came the automation equipment as well. Once I hooked everything up, the new office became Testing Lab 2.0.

May 20th, 2009

Welcome to the inaugural recipe of the “Shion Cookbook”. Every week or so, I will post a short blog entry that describes how to use Shion to solve a problem.

I have a problem. Starting a business, wrapping up graduate school, keeping up with the family, and everything else in my life keeps my mind busy and I often overlook the simple and basic things. For example, on Monday, I retired to bed early in order to get a head start on the next day, while my wife chatted with an out-of-state friend on the phone. Since she was still up, I left three lights on in the living room, assuming that she would turn them out herself.

Now, my wife’s conversations with her friends can be somewhat lengthy, and when I awoke the next morning to find the living room lights still on. I hadn’t told her that I left them on, and she went to bed herself after wrapping up her conversation.

Given that I had three (3) 60 watt lamps on for an extra seven (7) hours that night, we consumed an unnecessary 1.26 kWH at a cost of at least $0.13 (rates derived from a Chicago Reporter article). While thirteen cents may not be a lot of money, over many months, it adds up. Furthermore this cost does not include related expenses such as the decreased lifespan of the bulbs, the power required to cool the room to offset the heat generated, an increased carbon footprint, and so on.

Using Shion, I made these forgetful moments a relic of the past using the simple technique described below.