Many of Perl programmers at least once used LWP or its extensions to create some web automation scripts. There are no any serious problems to do simple things. However, to simulate some complicated web procedure it may take a lot of programmer’s time. In this case, the module HTTP::Recorder can do all this work for you:
HTTP::Recorder is a browser-independent recorder that records interactions with web sites and produces scripts for automated playback. Recorder produces WWW::Mechanize scripts by default (see WWW::Mechanize by Andy Lester), but provides functionality to use your own custom logger.
The article “Web Testing with HTTP::Recorder”
from Perl.com detailed explains how to setup environment and use HTTP::Recorder. There is also a couple examples which can help you create your first web automation script.
I found this module quite interesting but I didn’t find time to test it. Hope I do it soon especially as I have a complicated web automation task.
Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo E is a home media PC which became very popular lately. Scaleo E looks nice (it won’t break an interior of your living room) and features:
- Intel Pentium 4 630 (3GHz)
- 1GB of Ram
- Intel 915 chipset
- Integrated graphics
- 250GB hard drive
- Dual layer DVD writer
- Outputs: 2 Scart, S-video, DVI, VGA outputs
- Inputs: S-video, composite
- Windows XP Media Center Edition
- 430 x 425m x 100m (w x d x h)
- 15kg
One of the most important parameters of home media PC is noise level. Scaleo E quiet enough but the noise increase when a DVD is spinning or the fans need to crank up to cool down the processor. The price of the Fujitsu-Siemens media PC is about $1400. It’s more expensive then ordinary PC which can be easy transformed to the PVR and made quiet enough for living room. Certainly, to do that you should have necessary technical knowledge and free time 
Samsung has announced a new “smart” oven. It reads special barcode from the frozen food package and cooks it according to the activated program. Before the intelligence came down to choice of oven program according to food type – chicken, beef, pizza etc. The using of smart barcodes is a big step to the smart kitchen where human shouldn’t know what food is in the package
Also, Smart Oven has extremely stylish design and uses innovation technology of the optimum mix of fan oven cooking, with microwaves to deliver perfect cooking in extra quick time.
The Smart Oven can decorate your kitchen just for $300.
[via Personal Tech Pipeline]
The security is one of important parts of the smart home. Camera 7546BB can see 100 feet in total darkness. It’s possible because of the camera features 66 high-power IR LEDs. Detailed specification can be found here.
The Gray Stone Outdoor Entertainment System may look like a set of three elegant garden stones, but inside is a full AM/FM/auxiliary stereo outdoor entertainment system. The main rock has an 8-inch subwoofer and 160 watts, while the satellite speakers are 6.5-inch two-way speakers with 100 watts each. The central rock includes a marine-grade digital AM/FM tuner as well as a concealed storage compartment and hookup for your iPod, MP3 player or CD player.
Here is a good example of using newest Intel-based MacMini as HTPC. The installation includes Samsung HLR5078W, Dual-Core Mac Mini, Series 2 Tivo, Comcast HD STB.
Samsung is going to release a SSD-enabled version of its Q1 Ultra Mobile PC. This upgraded model features a 32GB NAND flash-based solid state disk, an Intel Celeron M 353 (900-MHz) processor, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 7-inch WVGA TFT-LCD display, embedded DMB tuner, 802.11 a/b/g WLAN, Bluetooth 2.0, stereo speaker (2W x 2), and SRS sound enhancement.
[via Akihabara]
To watch analog TV on your Mac you can use TVMicro. The TVMicro is a USB TV tuner device with a remote control and compatibility with Mac OS X 10.4 and above. Also, TVMicro can record TV straight to your hard drive in VCD (MPEG-1), S-VCD (MPEG-2) or DVD (MPEG-2) quality. The price in Japan is around $100.
