Automated Dorm Room Causes a School Inquiry 170
First time accepted submitter ElectronicHouseGrant writes "Freshman Derek Low rigged up his Berkeley dorm room with something he calls B.R.A.D., which is short for 'Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm.' The room includes automated lighting, drapes, music, motion detection, and more. He can control everything through voice recognition, but a wireless remote, his iPhone and his iPad are also in on the control party. Derek started the install on February 4 and finished just a few days ago."
School inquiry? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe I missed something, but since the headline said school inquiry, shouldn't there be some info about that either in the blurb or the article it's linking to?
Re: (Score:2)
That's what I was thinking!
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Informative)
Ya... terrible title doesn't match summary or linked article. News at 11.
Re: (Score:2)
Ya... terrible title doesn't match summary or linked article. News at 11.
You wrote that at 11:43PM. Do we really have to wait till 11:00AM? I want the news NOW!!!
You must be new here. We never get the news too quickly.
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Informative)
Here [livescience.com] is a more complete article.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
What was that laser thing? That was pretty nifty.....however, somehow, and maybe I'm old school...the party music was seriously lacking in cowbell.
Other than that, I think the kid has a hit!!!
Re: (Score:2)
The laser is a common DJ light effect from American DJ.
AMERICAN DJ Galaxian Green & Red DMX Lazer Light Beams
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe I missed something, but since the headline said school inquiry, shouldn't there be some info about that either in the blurb or the article it's linking to?
You know what's even more surprising? That someone at MIT didn't do it first. You know, those west coast silicon valley hipsters havn't been known to do anything progressive in the area of tech progress.
/sarcasm
Re: (Score:2)
Not sure that anyone at MIT would stoop so low as to use X10 modules for a dorm project. Somehow I would tend to expect them to design their own solution that wasn't so noisy, or prone to being affected by someone in the next room with an X10 timer, or lamp control pad.
Re: (Score:2)
Not sure that anyone at MIT would stoop so low as to use X10 modules for a dorm project. Somehow I would tend to expect them to design their own solution that wasn't so noisy, or prone to being affected by someone in the next room with an X10 timer, or lamp control pad.
I agree, I already did this more than 10 years ago when I was in college. I guess the youtube crowd is easy to impress.
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Funny)
This discussion thread is only for those of us who do not read the article. There will be another post later that actually links to the article to allow those annoying fact checkers to join in.
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Informative)
Not very hard to guess the problem.
Take a look a the third or so pic on http://lab.dereklow.co/brad/ [dereklow.co] The one with the light switch hanging out of the wall as he screws around with the wiring. If he could have just stuck to plug in modules like everyone else, but no he has to go all amateur electrician... I love this quote "With no access to the circuit breakers of the dorms, the contacts and wiring inside the wall switch remains live even as I open and try to modify it.". This dude is the stereotype of nothing is more dangerous than a programmer with a screwdriver... damn...
Screwing around with the drapes might have pissed them off too. Worst case is losing some security deposit unless he can return it all exactly to original operation.
Oh and the fog machine. My dorm didn't allow gasoline and oil products in the rooms, to discourage people from putting their scooter in the room, or doing oil changes in the dorms. Maybe they're worked up about fog juice and treating it as automotive lubrication oil.
Re:School inquiry? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, all dorms have rules...but they never really enforced any of them...at least not in my day at LSU.
I mean, we weren't supposed to have hot plates or anything to heat up food...we did. You weren't supposed to have kegs in your room....we did (after dorm crawfish boils, the left over kegs followed us into our room, as did the RA's that we befriended).
Hell, you weren't supposed to have women in your dorm room over night, but I know a guy who had his chick living with him (and his room mate) for a whole semester. Basically in our dorm...there could have basically been an ax murderer come out and take out a whole floor...and no one would have noticed till a week or so later when the smell got even worse that usual.
*sigh*..those were the days. I remember the 2 day poker/Bourré games we played on a table we'd stolen from a study room, and placed in the elevator....and just rode up and down playing all weekend straight....only taking breaks to pee, grab some food...and replenish the beer in the cooler.
Re: (Score:3)
My dorm had a stupid rule against having microwaves, supposedly for safety, but then they tried renting us these massively overpriced microwave+refrigerator combos, and were forced to drop the rule against microwaves since it was obviously bogus.
Re: (Score:2)
My wife gets all pissed at me when I replace switches and outlets without turning the breaker off. I just tell her that I always act like there is live power anyway so it just makes me even more careful. If you know how electricity works and actually THINK about what you are doing...
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, I've done it many times before too. It's not that hard if you're not an idiot or a klutz. It helps to wear gloves, however. 110V shocks aren't that dangerous (as long as you're dry), but they're quite annoying, kinda like a bee sting.
Re: (Score:2)
As a kid I got zapped by a neon light transformer (7.5KV) and anything after that seems tame. That did get me into the proper mindset when I was working on broadcast transmitters though.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Another thing that you see is that a wire is connected to two different circuit breakers on either end. Also known as two circuits that accidentally got joined together. Turn off the breaker, and the wire is still powered from the other side. Or if only the neutrals are tied together; turn off the breaker, you think you're safe, someone flips a light switch, and BAM! The white wire bites you.
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Insightful)
As the saying goes:
- There are Old Electricians
- There are Bold Electricians
- There are no Old Bold Electricians
Re: (Score:3)
1) Press the breaker test switch to try to turn stuff off, and to test the breaker.
2) Test the wires with a multimeter to make sure
3) short the wires, so if some wise guy tries to turn stuff back on you don't get zapped so badly (the breaker should trip as tested in 1) ).
4) Work on stuff.
5) unshort the wires
6) reset the breaker.
This only applies for lower voltages.
For the HV stuff you better be more careful - even if stuff is off the residual charge
Re: (Score:2)
For the HV stuff you better be more careful - even if stuff is off the residual charge can be enough to kill you.
Aye, grounding sticks are your friend!
Re:School inquiry? (Score:4, Insightful)
It's like a gun. You always assume a gun is loaded but you unload it before working on it. In both cases, it's dangerous enough that if you don't want *both* precautions, you're a fool.
Re: (Score:3)
I'm not an electrician either (I'm an EE), but if you take some decent precautions (insulated sleeve screwdriver, or a stubby), it's not so dangerous to open out a wall switch. What's a lot more dangerous is if you have anything with both hot and neutral close together - then you're in danger of arc flash, which IMO is quite a bit more dangerous than live-to-ground leakage.
Also, don't fog machines use glycol? It does leave a residue that can, at first glance, look oily, but its not the same thing
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Note to Derek Low: My God man, you're in college. How dare you show any initiative and innovation?
Clearly, you haven't learned much your freshman year. All innovation and initiative must be pre-approved by your faculty sponsor and the department head. In addition, such projects are reserved to graduating seniors with some exceptions granted for juniors who have shown they know how to behave properly.
Re: (Score:2)
All innovation and initiative must be pre-approved by your faculty sponsor and the department head. In addition, such projects are reserved to graduating seniors with some exceptions granted for juniors who have shown they know how to behave properly.
Well...yes. This is essentially what our society is morphing into. If you show the least little bit technical know-how with electronics, or chemistry, or biology, or anything mechanicky looking (that isn't a car), then you're viewed with suspicion and reported.
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Insightful)
Messing with the fixed wiring in a room that you do not own is not "initiative", especially when you can't turn off the power while you're working on it. In that case it's called "recklessness". Faulty contacts are a serious fire hazard, and unlike the stuff you just plug in, the installed wires do not simply revert back to safe when you move out.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Messing with the fixed wiring in a room that you do not own is not "initiative", especially when you can't turn off the power while you're working on it. In that case it's called "recklessness"
It's actually both. He's a kid, recklessness comes with the territory.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
He is acting like an 18 yr old adult.
Re: (Score:3)
X10 isn't worth getting hospitalized over.
If you're going to get seriously hurt at college, the situation should at least involve several gallons of vodka, unprotected woo-hoo with an entire sorority, and questioning the football team's heterosexuality at a practice while tripping on shrooms. Precisely in that order.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Presuming he messed with the wiring to accomplish this is recklessness. There is nothing in the video that requires more than wireless and plugging in to a power socket.
Re: (Score:2)
He's more than welcome to innovate. The issue is whether or not his modifications violated the terms of his dorm lease, which is ehy residence hall officials want to talk to him. For example, if you sign a lease contract that says you can't drill holes into the walls, and then your landlord heard from folks that you did that anyway, do you expect to be let off the hook for the damages because you've come up with a revolutionary new way of line-drying your laundry?
Re: (Score:2)
They're undoubtedly upset at changes he made to electrical wiring to get around problems X10 modules have with CFL bulbs he mentions on the project page [dereklow.co]. Also, if they have some strict guidelines about holes in the walls I suppose the mounted lights, motor, and pulleys for the curtains might annoy them.
Re: (Score:2)
You must be new here.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. Unfortunately it just "Caused a School Inquiry". The article was far more interesting when I believed it said "Causes a School Injury".
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Don't be ridiculous. I was replacing wall outlets and light switches at that age, sometimes without turning the power off. It's easy, you just be really careful (so you don't short something and make sparks), and wear some rubber gloves. It's only 110V so as long as you're not wet and wearing rubber-soled shoes, it can't hurt you, only give you a small jolt. Obviously it's better to turn off the breaker if you can, but it's not that big a deal if you can't. Not sure I'd try this with 220V systems howev
Re: (Score:2)
you be trolling? i'm pretty sure current has some kind of contribution here. 110, 240, 12, it's gonna kill you if you're not careful (especially if you're a sweaty type).
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, no it doesn't. Maybe you should go read about Ohm's Law; current is a product of voltage and resistance. Voltage is fixed at 110VAC, so resistance controls current. Your skin resistance when dry is too high for current to be dangerous. The only way 110V is going to kill you is if you're playing with it while in the bathtub (which indeed is how most deaths by electricity occur I believe: people using a blow dryer while in the bath tub; the lethal combination of water + 110V is why kitchens and b
Re: (Score:2)
Erm... Alternating current? Also, it's 110V AC rms, so it peaks at +/- 110*sqrt(2) = 155V.
Also, one slightly sweaty hand contacting a neutral pin while the other slightly sweaty hand touching a screwdriver touching live equals the possibility of a nice, healthy current across the heart.
(Admittedly I was brought up on manly European electricity instead of this puny American stuff, but I still wouldn't risk it.)
Re: (Score:2)
That's 110/sqrt(2). My typing is defective.
Re: (Score:2)
No, 110*sqrt(2) as I originally had it. My error-checking has errors. AAAARGH.
Re: (Score:3)
Actually that's not the most dangerous scenario. The most dangerous electrical shocks are straight through the blood-stream - blood has a much lower resistance than skin - and goes straight over the heart. My father is an electrical engineer - his final thesis included a proof that just 1v straight to the blood is deadly.
Here's what really happens in most electrical shock deaths: the current causes a muscle spasm preventing you from letting go. Now you have voltage over high resistance - so the current isn'
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Informative)
oltage against high resistance is known to produce large amounts of heat (that's how stove plates work)
No, not quite. Power dissipated (in this case the "heat") is V^2/R. Higher resistance means less power. Stove elements work by putting mains voltage across a fairly low resistance, causing plenty of current, power, and heat. In actuality, 110 Vrms is not enough to produce much in the way of a burn.
Now, you are correct about the bloodstream being a good conductor. It is quite rare that a live wire will directly contact the bloodstream, though -- but it does not need to. The resistance of human skin is non-linear, and is actually lower at higher voltages. Additionally, there is plenty of capacitance involved in the body's circuit*, meaning that the full impedance at 60 Hz is lower than just the DC resistance. If there is a route through the heart, and the "let-go threshold" has been exceeded, then even 110 V can be deadly -- no burns necessary.
*The human body model capacitance is only 150 pF, but this represents the body's capacitance to the outside world. The actual capacitance through a narrow layer of skin is many orders of magnitude higher, though I can't get a good source for the actual value.
Re:School inquiry? (Score:5, Informative)
Your skin resistance when dry is too high for current to be dangerous. The only way 110V is going to kill you is if you're playing with it while in the bathtub...
Bull. Fucking. Shit.
Connect one finger to hot and one to neutral, and experience first hand how much current flows, and the pain and muscle spasms it causes. Now imagine that flowing from one hand to the other across your chest, through your heart.
I don't know where the hell you got this horribly dangerous misinformation, nor how the hell it got modded informative, but please shut the hell up. 110V most certainly can kill people who are not wet, and is documented to do so.
The reason that kitchens and bathrooms are required to have GFCI is that the addition of water makes even minor leakage current from defective appliances potentially lethal.
60 mA to the heart can be fatal (Score:5, Informative)
Lethality of electric shock depends on way, way too many factors to make blanket statements such as above. For example, according to wikipedia [wikipedia.org], for a large contact area and dry skin, 5% of the population has a hand-to-hand impedance of 1,200 Ohms. 110/1200 ~ 100 mA, which is significantly above the 60 mA threshold for a fatal shock to the heart. 50% of the population are just about at the threshold. Also, broken skin, sweaty skin, duration of contact, etc. are all factors. This is also why you should never break the ground pin off of an electrical plug. Case in point: a Cleveland State prof. died in 2006 after touching a lamp with a broken-off ground pin [nmsu.edu].
Re:60 mA to the heart can be fatal (Score:4, Informative)
This is also why you should never break the ground pin off of an electrical plug.
Yep. Also, installing a 3-prong outlet onto an old 2-wire circuit with the ground disconnected presents the same hazard, just disguised so future users can't know about it without looking in the walls.
But a useful tidbit, installing a GFCI outlet in that situation is safe, and even code-compliant ;-)
Re: (Score:2)
you be trolling? i'm pretty sure current has some kind of contribution here. 110, 240, 12, it's gonna kill you
What's this phobia against electricity? Sure, it can be dangerous, but it's not Ebola. I routinely used to slap 220V wire pairs with my hand to test whether they had voltage. If they did, and I couldn't turn it off, I isolated one strand while working on the other. If feasible, I started by installing a circuit breaker. :)
if you're not careful
Pretty much anything will kill you if you're not careful. I am sure more people die from falling from stools than from being electrocuted. Yet, you don't hear screams of panic if someone tries to sit on a stool.
Re: (Score:2)
Best to wear safety goggles, even if you have those cool German plastic-covered screwdrivers, you still might short it out and send molten tool spattering about the room. Rubber gloves? sounds hazardous.
Strangely enough, I've just returned from Bonanza in Oakland where I purchased the last of their Wera 1500v flathead screwdrivers for exactly that purpose. I have to change out about twenty outlets in my ex-wife's Apartment that she's selling soon, and I tend not to use the breakers for every job. (240v kind
Re: (Score:2)
I have to change out about twenty outlets in my ex-wife's Apartment that she's selling soon, and I tend not to use the breakers for every job. (240v kinda hurtz so that's more likely to get my respect, or any time the wires get up above 10ga or so.)
Also, with 240V, since here in the US only a few circuits are 240V, it's pretty easy to tell which breaker goes to what in the breaker box. For the 110V outlets, you usually have no clue since the dumbass electrician who wired the place didn't bother to label an
Re: (Score:2)
Don't be ridiculous. I was replacing wall outlets and light switches at that age, sometimes without turning the power off. It's easy, you just be really careful (so you don't short something and make sparks), and wear some rubber gloves. It's only 110V so as long as you're not wet and wearing rubber-soled shoes, it can't hurt you, only give you a small jolt. Obviously it's better to turn off the breaker if you can, but it's not that big a deal if you can't. Not sure I'd try this with 220V systems however.
I've received a few shocks doing stuff like this with both 110v and 220v, with 220v the jolt is a little worse, and your appendage may feel a little number after the jolt, but it's not that big of a difference between the two.
Re: (Score:3)
I didn't say it was ridiculous to change them live, I was saying exactly the opposite. The kid did the right thing given the circumstances, in my opinion, as long as he's confident he can work with 110V live; I am, and I was at that age too, so I'm not going to fault him for it. I was only saying it was ridiculous to short it intentionally and then involve campus maintenance, as the AC before suggested. That's way too much trouble, and who knows how long that'd take. Plus, you might knock out power for
brings to mind an MIT project from 14 years ago (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe next year he should work more on his planning and scheduling . . .
Notice he's by himself (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
/.ed (Score:5, Informative)
Oh that's right.. unlike the submitter or the eds.. I can use google.
http://www.livescience.com/20048-ridiculously-automated-dorm-room.html [livescience.com]
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2012/05/01/cal-student-creates-a-ridiculously-automated-dorm/ [berkeleyside.com]
http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-video-berkeleys-most-ridiculously-automated-dorm-room-ever-20120501,0,2225746.story [latimes.com]
Great and all but... (Score:2)
In my dorm here in Italy it's illegal (as for in Dorm rules) just to put a chair from the kitchen in your room.
And anything like that would not have passed the montlhy control check.
Re:Great and all but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In my dorm here in Italy it's illegal (as for in Dorm rules) just to put a chair from the kitchen in your room.
And anything like that would not have passed the montlhy control check.
Land of the free, and all that...
I'm going to start with the assumption that you already noticed he said Italy and just say... I don't get it. Can anyone enlighten me as to the funny?
Re: (Score:2)
I have been to just about any and every country you can name. I don't really consider the US to be land of the free, in fact quite the opposite.
pick up routine (Score:3, Funny)
ALS Residence Initiative (Score:5, Informative)
The Residence was designed by my friend Steve Saling [youtube.com] with his own long-term care requirements in mind. The building is stuffed with automation equipment from PEAC [peacpc.com] which enables people, who can only use their eyes to control a computer, to open doors, operate lights, call an elevator, or summon assistance (among other operations). The Residence is the first of its kind, and the ALSRI is committed to building these across the USA. The second facility is to be built near Atlanta, GA.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for the info. My wife also has ALS, and your link is very cool.
Thanks again.
Re: (Score:2)
Disappointed (Score:2)
Consumer grade crapware? (Score:4, Interesting)
That just looks like a hodgepodge of cheap consumer crap he picked up at Home Depot and literally taped to the walls and ceiling of the dorm room. He even runs free apps on his Apple products to control that stuff.
Where's the fit and finish of quality hackery? Practically any geek with a spare couple of weekends could throw this together.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The X10 stuff is cheap (at least one ebay) but I wouldn't call it exactly crap. It is what it is and it works well, at least when I used it. It isn't as elegant as other remote control systems, but it doesn't have the price either. ;)
But using the phone to control things looks like a pain. W
He's a kid, for pete's sake (Score:2)
There's more to engineering than classwork. This kid's got it in his genes. Go Bears!
Re: (Score:2)
Seriously. While we didn't have smartphones back in college, a friend of mine rigged up his alarm clock to a winch that would slowly lift up his mattress and dump him out of bed in the morning.
I imagine engineers have been doing shit like this all the way back to the Egyptian days. Those traps protecting the pharaohs' tombs were probably just freshman year hijinks.
So he finished (Score:2)
I fail to see the innovation (Score:2)
He bought off the shelf X-10 controllers. He used off the shelf controller software.
Where's the innovation? The creativity? The uniqueness that makes this an engineering project instead of just an assembly of existing parts?
Back in University, some students in my hardware class wired up a Radio Shack sound generator chipset project. The prof spent 40 minutes tearing them a new arsehole because they did nothing more than wire-wrap a canned project. They didn't design, create, or innovate a single t
Re: (Score:2)
Toys (Score:2)
Well, the system looks interesting; however, I'm more interested in the camera work a video editing. It seems, especially at the beginning, to have been professionally done. Is that the level of sophistication of today's modern video recorders and editing software, is this guy into video production or was there outside help? It seems a mismatch in skills as the hacking is fairly insignificant in comparison to the video skills.
Re: (Score:2)
Seemed like a decent video compared to most home stuff. I'd like to know what tools were used to produce it.
alterations may not be to code, creatign liability (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
The only real issue I would have with what he did is the part where he fiddled with the switch in the wall. He does not own the building, and I doubt he's a certified electrician. If something electrical went wrong in his room, the insurance people would have a field day with that, whether his wiring caused the issue or not. And if the electrical problem caused injuries, many lawyers would become involved. If I were the school, I'd inquire over that too.
Other than that, it's a cool room...although a bit sma
Re: (Score:2)
It is an X10 powerline device. A light switch replacement is not rocket science or safety issue once installed.
I do not recommend using X10 in a dorm room. The standard is well known. Anyone can buy components. The power network is common to his neighbours. If I was his neighbour and thought the stereo was too loud, it would not take long to try the All Off command on all 16 House codes to turn everything off.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X10_(industry_standard) [wikipedia.org]
It uses a 4 bit house code. 16 tries is a
Re: (Score:2)
Who cares if he's a "certified electrician"? They don't sell wall outlets and light switches and romex wire at Home Depot to only licensed electricians; anyone can buy them and install them, and it's because it doesn't take a genius to work with that stuff. There's a lot more danger in letting the kid drive a car in traffic.
How many people die every year from fires caused by electrical modifications made by unlicensed people? Zero? And how many people die in car accidents? 50,000+.
Re: (Score:2)
How many people die every year from fires caused by electrical modifications made by unlicensed people? Zero?
The number is much higher than zero, and you know it. If you don't know it, Google should be able to enlighten you.
Re:Why do American Dorm rooms (Score:5, Insightful)
always appear to be multiple occupants? I've always found that a bit weird.
It is to condition Americans to despise a) sharing and b) small living quarters, yielding a steady supply of cooperation- and organization-averse individualists who seek sprawl and thus fuel the real estate, automobile, & energy industries.
Re: (Score:2)
Really? That's news to me. I've never heard of an individual-occupancy dorm room, unless someone bought out the entire room. Plus, it'd be kinda hard for most American universities to move to that, since their dorm buildings are all decades old and designed for having roommates. University dorm buildings aren't exactly replaced on a frequent basis; they're giant concrete-and-steel buildings designed for a lifespan in the centuries I'm guessing. Plus, universities located inside cities typically don't h
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds nice and all; for new-construction dorms, it makes perfect sense to me, and I don't know why they didn't do it before. Probably just to save the tiny bit of money that the additional wall costs. However, for older dorms I don't see it happening; I'm thinking of the dorm I lived in as a freshman/sophomore; it was two rooms, each with two roommates, both sharing a common bathroom. I don't see any way of modifying that building to split apart the rooms; you'd have to demolish it and start over, unles
Re: (Score:2)
Closest we had to mixed-sex facilities was one dorm that'd been recently renovated. Each room had an en-suite 3/4 bath and while each room was single-sex, the floors were mixed. Other dorms on campus had sexes segregated by floors, and each floor had its own shared shower and toilet facilities.
It was interesting to see how different the dynamics were in the mixed-floor system. It was a lot quieter, for instance, and in general people seemed more respectful. That wasn't just because freshthings were bann
Re: (Score:2)
You wouldn't see mixed-sex shower/toilet rooms here; we're much too sexually repressed as a culture.
You sound like an American. That's the thing: so am I, and the article I was referring to was talking about American universities having mixed-sex shower/toilet rooms, which is why I was rather shocked, as you're correct: we're very sexually repressed, so it's hard to imagine that here. But, I haven't been in a dorm building for almost 20 years, and different colleges and different dorms are different, so I
Re: (Score:2)
I guess things have changed a lot in the ~15 years since I was in dorms. I thought having a roommate was one of those things that was just part of the "college experience", to force you to get out of your shell. Then again, I had mostly negative experiences with my roommates as a freshman and sophomore before I stopped living in dorms, so the two shared bathroom and one shared kitchen and living room per four individual rooms plan actually sounds pretty nice to me.
Re: (Score:2)
There are other benefits to having a room-mate. If you get seriously sick in your room there is someone to 1. notice and 2. do something about it.
Re: (Score:2)
If you get seriously sick in your room there is someone to 1. notice and 2. do something about it.
So that helps if you suddenly get so sick that you can't get out of the room, can't reach a phone and your room mate just happens to be in (and not e.g. attending a class). Should we enforce a policy where nobody can ever be alone anywhere just because they could possibly get sick?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
My alma mater usually had two to a room, although one year I was in a larger room with three total (third guy was usually at his girlfriend's, so the extra space was nice. I'd imagine it's more efficient and is also meant to build character. I think the only people with single rooms were the resident assistants, basically upperclassmen who were den mothers to a given floor.
IIRC the average 2-bed room was 120 square feet, or a little over 11 square meters. How big are the rooms in your country?
Re: (Score:3)
I was thinking similar. I was messing with X10 a decade ago, and it wasn't terribly new then. Very limiting. I was looking at really doing up the house with a project like this, but, over a wider area than a dorm, and I eventually want more intelligently controlled devices (RGB lights, I want to be able to go from soft white, to warm white, or rave/strobe mode)
In any case... X10 is cool and all, but, so basically all I need to do to really fuck with him is inject X10 from anywhere in his building...a dorm.
Re: (Score:2)
But hats off to him for a most excellent job!