Given Moore's Law and the "Innovator's Dilemma", commoditization, industry liquidation, and the trend of "half the price and smaller" every 18-24 months (even faster for genomics technology), more technology is reaching the price point you need at a faster pace than ever.

Consider just one option: -iPod/iPhone Light Switches: Though you may not be able to put iPads in every room, I just checked eBay and first, second, and third generation iPods and iPhones are selling for $50-$100. With a little programming, a lot of potential becomes possible. Your light switches could control not only your lights but your sound system as well. Every light switch could show the time, the weather for the day, your favorite stocks, and the latest post from your FaceBook Wall or Tweet. The latest iOS Framework supports face tracking which is trivial to implement. Add that to some of the facial image recognition libraries and a well placed iPhone camera in your foyer could cue your favorite music the moment you arrive home. Add photos of your friends to the system and now whenever a guest looks at a light switch, the system could recognize their face and show their favorite stocks or posts from their FB wall.

A single technology pervasively applied could create a compelling impression yet at a budget price.

Just don't be surprised if you find your guests at parties clustered around your light switches playing Angry Birds.

(From a physician trained at Northwestern, in medicine for over 15 years, also a routine coder)

The burning in your eyes is caused by the surface of your eyes drying. The drying is caused by persistent attention to the screen during which time you blink less frequently thus spreading less tears across the surface of the eye.

To cure this you need to do more than trying to blink more often.

When you feel the burning (or as often as you can think of it) - close your eyes and hold them closed. If you have caught the process early enough, you will feel the burning fade as tears soak back into the conjunctiva of your eye. The feeling of relief is immense.

As a physician using computers for long periods of time, the feeling of relief is immense. The technique has worked for years. It has only failed if the eyes dry out too much originally. At that point, inflammation has set in and it takes much longer to resolve.

Changing monitor colors will work only if it encourages you to "blink and hold" more often.