An Avatar Is Born-Say hello to easy home control in this high-tech palace.

What can you expect from an Electronic House Home of the Year grand prize winner? For starters, it has to be a great house—one whose occupants don't like leaving and always look forward to returning. It must have innovative home technology. In fact, it should have high-tech conveniences throughout, including great audio and video; a home theater or two; lighting, heating and ventilation control; and quite likely, a control system that allows for easy operation of anything by anyone from anywhere.

Of course, all that has to enhance the owners' lifestyle and not overwhelm the decor. The simpler and less obtrusive the better. Naturally, we received many Home of the Year entries detailing large homes—estates, really—with dozens of rooms and audio and video zones, hundreds of lighting fixtures and pages upon pages of electronics accoutrements. And these places were certainly impressive. Some even came with attendants who greet their occupants whenever they return to their sanctuaries.

We didn't pick one of those as our grand prize winner. Our first Home of the Year isn't some compound for the rich and famous. Our Home of the Year is a more modest 4,500 square feet in size. As far as we know, it does not sport a massive wine cellar or an entire entertainment wing or separate guest houses and pavilions and other over-the-top amenities. In many ways, you could say this house is much more average than some of the other homes we considered.

However, this home does have an attendant that will always greet you at the door. And this is what really separates this high-tech house from all the others. That's because its home attendant is electronic.

Cleopatra's Reign

When any member of this home's family of five returns to the three-story, Seattle-area contemporary house, they receive a warm greeting. That comes from Cleopatra, an attractive and articulate presence who is employed at the house as an avatar, or an electronic personality.

Cleopatra appears on a 42-inch Panasonic plasma screen that faces the front door (see page 114). She greets each resident by name and announces any events of interest that have occurred during the person's absence, such as visitors, phone calls, voice mails, emails and deliveries. Displayed next to Cleopatra is a summary of other information, including who else is at home, pictures of recent visitors at the front door, home activity and alerts, the local weather forecast, stock market changes, even the national security level.

Cleopatra isn't just a sentinel for the foyer, however. She can roam throughout the house, appearing on other screens and numerous wireless PC tablets. She announces visitors, provides information on any high winds in the area—the house sits on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound—and gives status reports on the home's electronic systems. Microphones built into the home's ceilings allow the family to interact with Cleopatra by requesting information and controlling any aspect of the house.

Cleopatra is the brainchild of homeowner Brian Conte, president of Fast Track, a company that produces "greeter" software for the home market. "I'm into technology, and with three kids, we wanted something easy to use and comfortable," Brian says. "We wanted to keep track of the kids and make it friendly for them." As the house was being built, a whole-house Motorola Premise home control system, a Russound audio distribution system, an HAI security system and an OnQ Home lighting system were put into place as well. There's also a home theater and some video distribution. Much of the wiring runs behind removable baseboards for easy access.

Brian's wife, Patti, needed some convincing to live in this high-tech residence. "I was a little skeptical about the whole notion of home automation," she says. "I wasn't sure what it could do for me that was truly useful, and I was worried that the ‘fuss factor' would outweigh the benefits. So far it's been pretty smooth because the focus has been to create useful, fuss-free features."

"I really like the features that help with the kids," Patti adds. "Our 3- and 5-year-old daughters tend to go to sleep relatively early, while our 8-year-old son is a big reader. Lots of evenings, I fall asleep reading to the girls. I've come to depend on Cleopatra to tell our son that it's time to go to sleep if his light is still on at 9:45." As if that's not enough, during the morning rush, Cleopatra issues reminders about what time it is and lets the kids know they need to get in the car so they won't be late for school.

"In effect, Cleopatra provides a home personality and a friendly interface to the home's automation system," Brian says. The Premise system operates over a home's IP (Internet Protocol) network, much like a computer network used in office environments. That way, everything can operate off Microsoft Windows-based PCs. Motion sensors alert the system if someone is in a room or has approached the front door. Cleopatra even knows which family member has entered or departed by scanning tiny RFID (radio frequency identification) chips on their key fobs or other personal items as they pass the door.

The system monitors room occupancy, intelligently switching on and off the lights, music, and heating and ventilation systems when appropriate. It detects who is in bed and will turn off the lights, lower the shades, turn off the music and set the night alarm. The house will also wake up residents at requested times and provide them with weather forecasts and reminders of important appointments or events that day. "Patti's favorite part is when she wakes up in the morning and the fire is already going downstairs," Brian says.

"I especially like having the alarm system tied into it and it being so easy to use," says Patti. "At our previous house, we hardly ever used the security system because it was such a hassle to set down the kids and their stuff, turn it on, rush to get out in 60 seconds and all that rigmarole. Now I just swipe my key fob as I leave, and if I'm the last person out, the system is automatically armed."

Finger on the Music

If you think the home assistant and all that automation is cool, check out how the 18-zone whole-house audio system works. The kids don't have to type or press anything. All they do is place a finger on a scanner that reads who it is and then allows easy access to their personal playlists. "The system knows their preferences," Brian says.

The kids also have a common play area—with a real tree—and there's a clubhouse on top of their rooms that's accessible through trapdoors.

The entertainment systems throughout the house are fairly low-key, with a slew of in-wall SpeakerCraft speakers and a few hidden video projectors in the office and media room. "Everything we do is through the computer, even watching the DVDs [in the media room]," says Brian. In fact, the media room screen often doubles as a computer screen. A PC-based video server can record shows to a hard drive, record them to disc or play them through any of the other PCs in the home.

This futuristic house even has robots. There's a Roomba robotic vacuum, a Scooba robotic floor sweeper and a robotic lawn mower. (We'd especially like to get one of those!) Not everything in this tricked-out home has run smoothly, however. Sensor pads installed to detect who was sleeping didn't work reliably. So switches by the bed that Brian and Patti flick when they retire for the evening set the house to sleep mode. "And while we have had some luck with voice recognition software and querying and controlling the house with that, we are still working to improve the recognition rate, especially for the kids," Brian says.

Unfortunately, there's also a debate about the avatar's good looks. "Cleopatra reminds me of Angelina Jolie," Patti says. "I keep telling Brian that I would much rather have an avatar who brings Brad Pitt to mind. But he keeps telling me that is technically impossible."

Are there pets in heaven?

Millions of people have a special relationship with animals as pets. They say that pets teach us about being natural and unpretentious. They're loyal, affectionate, and in touch with their senses. They draw out of us the ability to nurture and instill an appreciation of our physical nature in an increasingly technological world. Their very presence encourages us to escape the narrow confines of our self-absorbed egos.

Pets are always there for us. They bring laughter and a playful spirit. Children are enthralled by pets and the aged prize them for their warm attachment when everyone else seems to turn away.

To some people animals are only inferior beings put on earth to serve us as sources of food, clothing, entertainment and transportation. But to many others, animals are worth more than simply what we want to do with them.

St. Francis of Assisi held animals in high regard as special creatures made by God -- even speaking to them at times as brothers and sisters.

The highly intellectual theologian Thomas Aquinas explained the diversity of animals on earth this way: "Because the divine goodness could not adequately be represented by one creature alone, God produced many and diverse creatures so that what was lacking in one as a representation of the divine goodness, might be supplied by another."

People value their pets so much that they grieve when they die. Their death prompts quizzical concerns, such as, "Are there pets in heaven? Will I ever enjoy my pet's presence again?"

Peter Kreeft, professor at Boston College, gives an excellent insight to such questions in his book, "Heaven: The Heart's Deepest Longing."

He writes, "How much earth is in heaven? Well, remember that everything real and valuable on earth came from heaven to begin with. A cat is not merely evolved molecules in motion; it is a divine idea, a work of art, and a sign.

"It is a natural sign: it has something of what it signifies, and what it signifies is something heavenly; so there is something of heaven in a cat. And heaven does not die. God does not throw his artwork into the wastebasket; God does not make junk. All his work has eternal value. It passes through time and seems to pass away -- but it is in eternity."

For those who grieve for a recently deceased pet, I offer a prayer composed by Edward Hays:

"Lord God, to those who have never had a pet this prayer will sound strange. But to You, Lord of All Life and Creator of All Creatures, it will be understandable.

"My heart is heavy as I grieve the loss of my pet (pet's name here), who was so much a part of my life. This pet made my life more enjoyable and gave me cause to laugh and to find joy in (his/her) company. I remember (his/her) fidelity and loyalty.

"From (him/her) I learned many lessons such as the quality of naturalness and the unembarrassed request for affection. In caring for (his/her) daily needs I was taken up and out of my own self-needs, and thus learned to be of service to another.

"May the death of this creature of Yours remind me that death comes to all of us, animal and human, and that it is the natural passage for all life.

"May (pet's name here) sleep on in an eternal slumber in Your care, as all creation awaits the fullness of liberation. Amen."

They called me a child pornographer

I took some photos of my kids naked on a camping trip. A drugstore employee called the police -- and my family's life became a living hell.

As usual during the trip, we took several photos. Because I forgot my digital camera, I bought a disposable camera at a gas station on the way to the campground. I took pictures of the kids using sticks to beat on old bottles and cans and logs as musical instruments. I took a few of my youngest daughter, Eliza, then age 3, skinny dipping in the lake, and my son, Noah, then age 8, swimming in the lake in his underwear, and another of Noah naked, hamming it up while using a long stick to hold his underwear over the fire to dry. Finally, I took a photo of everyone, as was our camping tradition, peeing on the ashes of the fire to put it out for the last time. We also let the kids take photos of their own.

When we returned on Sunday, I forgot the throwaway camera and Rusty found it in his car. He gave it to his wife, who I'll call Janet, to get developed, and she dropped it off the next day with two other rolls of film at a local Eckerd drug store. On Tuesday, when she returned to pick up the film, she was approached by two officers from the Savannah Police Department. They told her they had been called by Eckerd due to "questionable photos."

One officer told Janet "there were pictures of little kids running around with no clothes on, pictures of minors drinking alcohol," she recounted for me in an email. "I asked to see the pictures and was told I couldn't. I explained there must be a mistake. I was kind of laughing, you know, 'Come on guys. There must be an explanation. This is crazy. Let me see the pictures.' The officer told me that he personally did not find [the photos] offensive and that he had camped himself as a kid and knows what goes on." But the officer also told Janet that "because Eckerd's had called them and that because there were pictures of children naked, genitalia and alcohol, they would have to investigate."

Janet asked the photo lab clerk what was on the photos and the clerk "replied very seriously that they were bad, that there was one that looked like a child's head had been cut off, one with children drinking beer and pictures of naked kids." As she drove to her house, Janet said, "I was in shock and felt sick to the pit of my stomach and was trying to process all of it." She called my wife, who was driving home, and explained what had happened. Sensing how bad this might become, my wife pulled her car to the side of the road and fought the urge to throw up.

Neither my wife nor I, Rusty nor Janet has a criminal record of any sort. Yet over the next several weeks, the Savannah Police Department and the Department of Family and Child Services (DFCS) investigated us for "child pornography" and then "sexual exploitation of a minor." We suffered the embarrassment of having DFCS interview our family, friends, employers and our children's teachers, asking them whether we were suitable parents and what kind of relationship we had with our kids.

Sharing the roses

Life can be busy and hectic, but please remember to stop and smell the roses, like these cute orangutans are doing. ( via )

Trading a Paper Clip for a House

26-year-old Montreal man appears to have succeeded in his quest to barter a single, red paper-clip all the way up to a house.

Kyle MacDonald makes friends with Alice Cooper.

It took almost a year and 14 trades, but Kyle MacDonald has been offered a two-storey farmhouse in Kipling, Sask., for a paid role in a movie.

MacDonald began his quest last summer when he decided he wanted to live in a house. He didn't have a job, so instead of posting a resumé, he looked at a red paper-clip on his desk and decided to trade it on an internet website.

He got a response almost immediately — from a pair of young women in Vancouver who offered to trade him a pen that looks like a fish.

MacDonald then bartered the fish pen for a handmade doorknob from a potter in Seattle.

In Massachusetts, MacDonald traded the doorknob for a camp stove. He traded the stove to a U.S. marine sergeant in California for a 100-watt generator.

In Queens, N.Y., he exchanged the generator for the "instant party kit" — an empty keg and an illuminated Budweiser beer sign.

MacDonald then traded the keg and sign for a Bombardier snowmobile, courtesy of a Montreal radio host.

He bartered all the way up to an afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper, a KISS snow globe and finally a paid role in a Corbin Bernsen movie called Donna on Demand.

"Now, I'm sure the first question on your mind is, "Why would Corbin Bernsen trade a role in a film for a snow globe? A KISS snow globe," MacDonald said on his website "one red paper-clip."

"Well, Corbin happens to be arguably one of the biggest snow globe collectors on the planet."

Now, the town of Kipling, Sask., located about two hours east of Regina with a population of 1,100, has offered MacDonald a farmhouse in exchange for the role in the movie.

The paper-clip house. (CBC)

MacDonald and his girlfriend will fly to the town next Wednesday.

"We are going to show them the house, give them the keys to the house and give them the key to the town and just have some fun," said Pat Jackson, mayor of Kipling.

The town is going to hold a competition for the movie role.

MacDonald said: "There's people all over the world that are saying that they have paper-clips clipped to the top of their computer, or on their desk or on their shirt, and it proves that anything is possible and I think to a certain degree it's true."

MacDonald, who has attracted international media in his quest, said the journey has turned out to be more exciting than the goal.

"This is not the end. This may be the end of this segment of the story, but this story will go on.

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Ann de Gersem's Life Dress

Need a little privacy? No problem, just puff up your privacy skirt and you’ll be in your own little world soon enough …
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Survival instinct

A mouse rides on the back of a frog in floodwaters in the northern Indian city Lucknow June 30, 2006.