Do your own home automation.

"It ain't dead till we say it's dead." Typical movie quote, but it is a reality that should be a good maxim.  The parallel port printer per say is not used any more, but who says we can not still use the technology in some new way.  Came across this article about using old hp Jet directs as home automation controllers. Supposedly you can get them on ebay for around ten dollars. Though you might have to add ten or twenty dollars in parts, it is still a bargain compared to the hundreds of dollars you have to spend with equipment from a company like Insteon. There are tons of articles where you can get information about using the Jet Directs for home automation.  The one that started it all off was probably from Doktor Andy. Later it was expanded on from this article: Print server power control hack. I am even working on one of my own. Have another article about interfacing the parallel port add-ons. See: External device control (i.e. coffee machine).