checkout the Wattnode. This device does a lot for the money. There are many different configuration options, and plenty of technical info on their site. http://www.ccontrolsys.com/products/pulse_output.html datasheet: http://www.ccontrolsys.com/downloads/Data_Sheet_WNB_Pulse.pdf checkout the application notes as well: http://www.ccontrolsys.com/support/app_notes.html

Here's the kind of meter we typically provide for commercial building applications: http://www.electricitymetering.com/p3894/veris_h8036_enercept.php That's just the retail cost of the meter.. add the cost of the web appliance (Honeywell/Tridium) with I/O module or Lonworks/modbus interface, plus labor to the electrician for wiring/installation, graphics design, programming the appliance and commissioning the whole enchilada. Not cheap.

This is about as cheap as it gets for a DIY project. If I were to give you a quote for a commercial grade version you'd shoot me in the eye. http://www.iobridge.net/projects/category/projects/ http://www.iobridge.net/projects/2009/01/real-time-power-monitoring-system/

I had over a dozen Optiplex GX280 machines plagued by this issue. These had been purchased in mid-to-late 2005, and began to fail in early 2007. Dell extended the warranty on all of the machines affected by the bad capacitors, I got a free replacement board for every one of these.

Wired story reports blackout was caused by sooty insulators, not hackers http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/brazil_blackout/

checkout iobridge http://www.iobridge.com/

Check out the Fan language at fandev.org Some of the features you mentioned I think are covered in Fan. http://www.fandev.org/doc/docIntro/WhyFan.html

Has anyone here checked out Fan? "Productivity of Ruby, Performance of Java" http://www.fandev.org/

I work for a controls contractor doing primarily HVAC, central plants, and lighting control in large commercial buildings. The commercial market has changed quite a bit over the last few years, with Tridium leading the way with its qnx-based embedded controllers featuring the niagara-AX framework, adopted by the majority of the big players (Honeywell, Siemens, Johnson Controls, Distech, etc.) http://www.tridium.com/partners Tridium (now owned by Honeywell) has been developing the Sedona Framework - combining 802.15.4 and IPv6 - as an open source project: http://www.tridium.com/galleries/tridiumtalk/SedonaFrameworkand6loWPAN.pdf However, this stuff isn't priced for the home automation market. For those interested in the DIY @home stuff, check out www.iobridge.com/store for some cool web-based i/o control products. They also have an interface to your X-10 modules for less than 20 bucks.

"The general public will have to wait until Friday" Unless off course you really want the 64-bit demo floating around the bitTorrent waves...