My favorite typo ever?

A dealer response to my request for interesting security-sensor applications (emphasis added)

We have a client who's husband would go to the kitchen pantry for little snacks and leave the pantry light on which totally annoyed her being a bit of a tree hugger hippie. (not that there's anything wrong with that)............. The panty door was rarely closed so a motion detector/control system and lighting control were used to create an "occupancy sensor"....

X10 VP: 'Julie you haven't a clue what you’re talking about'

35-year X10 veteran Dave Rye takes offense to my January 2010 CE Pro Industry Insider in which I suggest that we're still a long way from mass-market automation. Below is Rye's entire rant.

Julie, I regularly read your column in CE Pro and Electronic House just so I can have a laugh to myself. I am always amused by your total lack of knowledge of X10, or is it just that you ignore us because we don't advertise with you any more?

Anyway, you said in your January issue of CE Pro, quote:

"For about a dozen years, manufacturers have tried to sell "easy-to-install, easy-to-use" home control systems to the masses, but for the most part the masses aren't buying. Despite some capable, affordable, turnkey do-it-yourself products from the likes of iControl, Mi Casa Verde, Wayne Dalton, Xanboo and others (and a great fear among CE pros), we're still a long, long way from automation at retail."

Julie, how can you be so out of touch with an industry that you cover and are supposed to be an expert on?

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Oops, David Richards plagiarizes on iPad

Looks like our Australian friend David Richards has forgotten again to credit CE Pro for our fine interview with Jim Carroll, CEO of Savant.

He writes (directly from our story):

In the US, Savant CEO Jim Carroll said, "When we look back on this two years from now, we're going to say this was a watershed event, not just for Savant but for the industry in general,"

"The days of making margins on expensive touch panels are winding down," according to Carroll. He says consumers will see the iPad as having "the same or similar touch hardware" to other control offerings. 

The grammatical error, as usual, was all his!

My favorite error in this particular story is David's subtitle:

The new Apple touchscreen iPad could have a devastating effect on the automation industry, say industry experts, with the device used to replace custom display screens and remote controls like the Philips Pronto and the RCI remote.

RCI remote? Perhaps he meant RTI?

Read the original story on CEPro.com: Savant: iPad Will Redefine Home Automation

Click for more David Richards gems. 

AMX, Crestron: Separated at Birth?

This is too priceless: arch rivals Randy Klein of Crestron (left) and Michael Olinger of AMX.