Simplify your life and help you live

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos’ revelation this weekend on 60 Minutes that his company is aiming to deliver its wares via drone by 2015 sent our minds wondering what other things a brave new world of drone delivery could hold.




Also, people will begin wondering what caliber of ammo would best take down an Amazon drone (I would assume a Marlin .30-30 works best). Obviously the FAA needs to weigh in, as do all the other government agencies that take the fun and terror out of everything.
Just think, months ago we were scared of drones, and now we can’t for a drone to drop an iPad on us.




The Amazon folks are surely just the first in a long line of businesses that will take to the friendly skies to make our lives all the more easier. Personally I would love a grocery drone to drop off a gallon of milk, a case of beer, and a loaf of bread when I just cannot find the will in my bones to crawl to the nearest market. Get me the latest issue of Sports Illustrated while you are at, H-E-Drone.
It will only be a matter of time before a drone drops a big screen TV onto some poor person’s head, or worse, their car.
With the correct clearances and waivers, daycare centers could drop off your kids on your doorstep, instead of making you waste precious minutes in traffic trying to pick them up. Sure, the flight home could scar them for life and birds of prey may attempt to peck out their eyes en route, but at least you’ll get some “me” time. Besides, kids these days are too sheltered. Maybe being flung to and fro by a hook at a high rate of speed will toughen some of our youth.



This service can also be used as a parental threat, as in, “If you don’t clean your room I am sending a drone to zap that smirk off your face and take you to your real dad’s house.”
While we’re whizzing our children here and there, our furry, four-legged babies could also get a ride to the veterinarian on a fancy VetiDrone.
Almost immediately, foodies of the nation cheered the idea of getting hot, fresh food sent to them via drone. Gone are the days of tipping a Domino’s driver or making small talk. Thirty minutes or less? How about 10? I’m excited to see how food warming technology will evolve to keep your food at a reasonable temperature while hundreds of feet in the air. Also, wily teenagers could intercept your delivery. Militarized pizza delivery could be our future perhaps. Shot through the heart by a Domino’s drone while attempting to hijack someone’s pizza and wings would be a sad end.
A TacoDrone has long been the dream of many hungry, hungover Houstonians. Maybe Tacos A-Go-Go can make this a reality? I know people who would pay top dollar for this service.




Like most people, I dread making that post-doctor-visit trip to the pharmacy. You’re achy, snotty, irritable, and in no mood to stand around while your antibiotics prescription is filled. Why not just come home and wait by your door for your Amoxicillin fix? Could this work for other prescription drugs? Perhaps.



Maybe, just maybe, one fine day when marijuana is legalized in Texas, Lone Star stoners will wait anxiously in their backyard to hear their Weed Drone — blaring the Grateful
Dead’s Europe 72 album — dropping a parcel of premium herbage for their Lord Of The Rings marathon needs.



Soon, hipsters will fight back against the drone craze and begin boutique delivery services, proudly advertising delivery by car or bicycle, for the quaint 20th Century touch, just like our grandparents all knew.


It’s ironic that home automation, which promises to simplify our daily lives, is such a massively complex market, with hundreds of competing products, disparate standards, interoperability concerns, and more.

“The aim is to simplify your life and help you live comfortably by automating everyday tasks and giving you remote access to your home when you’re away,” the company says on its new store, which is heavy with guides and introductory manuals.

Properly wired, connected, and programmed, your home’s lighting and heating can be automated to turn on and off at designated times. Gardeners can time plant and lawn watering, and those concerned with home security can alarm doors and windows, install cameras, set radios to turn on — simulating someone home — and view their house remotely from smartphones or laptops

New tools also allow you to enable monitored, personalized, and timed access to your home for repairs or cleaning. Or, of course, wake up to your favorite music at just the right time.

But it all takes technology that works together. And it hasn’t been simple to enable.

Part of the problem is that the industry is very young, with competing products and standards that haven’t coalesced into simple, unified offerings yet. Via International, a company formed

by the merger of six home automation startups.

Now Amazon is providing a single place to buy just about everything related to home automation .

Get started today and find out how simple it is to DIY your home automation , the company says in the new store

Time will tell if home automation is about to become as simple as buying some components, installing them, and expecting them to just work. Having dabbled a little in home automation myself, I’m not holding my breath just yet .