The Connected Life

Sort By:  Post Date TitlePublish Date
John Sciacca  |  Jul 13, 2011  |  0 comments

Some people immediately get that the iPad can become the controller for an automation system, allowing them to control not only their audio/video gear but also their lights, HVAC, security, and irrigation systems.

John Sciacca  |  Jul 01, 2011  |  0 comments

Friday the 13th is nothing to fear this month as remote control giant URC releases the first wave of its new Total Control platform of housewide automation, control, and audio distribution components today.

John Sciacca  |  Jan 14, 2011  |  0 comments

There are so many Pow! Bang! Ka-chow! buzzwords thrown out by the consumer electronics industry's marketing war chariots that smaller, more important things often get lost or completely overwhelmed in the ground clutter.

John Sciacca  |  Nov 17, 2010  |  0 comments

At this year’s CEDIA Expo, held in Atlanta at the end of September, I felt that the mood on the show floor was decidedly upbeat. The positive vibe exuded by many suggested that the worst of the recession is over and that business is actually starting to pick back up.

John Sciacca  |  Sep 16, 2010  |  0 comments

We definitely don't need to be bogged down with more rules. Practically everywhere we go, someone or something is telling us what to do or what not to do. Walk. Don't walk. This lane 15 items or less. Pants required to eat here. Enough!

John Sciacca  |  Sep 10, 2010  |  0 comments

My dad called me the other day. He had just rented Avatar and he wanted to know if I had seen it and if the version I watched was in 3D and why his wasn't. A client sent me an e-mail asking whether he could use a new 3D TV to watch regular, non-3D programming.

John Sciacca  |  Dec 02, 2008  |  0 comments

Fans of the Bible and of the Byrds will recognize that there is a time for everything - a time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to keep quiet, a time to speak, and so on. Accordingly, there are times when it pays to hold things close to the vest. For one, supervillains should refrain from pontificating about their master plans for world domination.

John Sciacca  |  Oct 06, 2008  |  0 comments

Being a custom installer is no easy feat. More often than not, the job involves problem-solving and figuring out a way to make a square peg fit in a round hole. Fortunately, the manufacturers that support the world of custom installation have produced a lot of terrific products to make these possible.

John Sciacca  |  Sep 11, 2008  |  0 comments

You may consider Jim Carrey to be many things - comedic genius, overpaid goofball - but technological futurist probably isn't one of them. However, his prediction in the 1996 movie The Cable Guy has proved to be surprisingly accurate: "The future is now!

John Sciacca  |  Nov 05, 2007  |  0 comments

Cathedrals are almost preternaturally quiet havens where even the softest whispers, shuffling in the pews, or footsteps across marble floors can seem blasphemously loud.

John Sciacca  |  Oct 04, 2007  |  0 comments

While it might take a village to raise a child, it takes an army and lots of time to build an estate! Custom Theater and Audio (CTA) in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, where I work as lead system designer, was recently involved in all aspects of the A/V design and installation for Phil and Janet Pate's new home in North Myrtle Beach.

John Sciacca  |  Oct 01, 2005  |  0 comments

Writing for Sound & Vision has taken me to such exotic locales as an aircraft carrier at sea and George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch.

Pages

X