My smart home journey started back in 2005 when Smartlabs released the first light switches based on the company’s Insteon home automation technology. If you’re getting interested in home automation, a good way to start is with “Take Control of Apple Home Automation” by fellow TidBITS editor Josh Centers. I have a string of actions called “sleep” that sets the alarm, changes the thermostat, turns off most of the lights, dims the kids’ lights to nightlight level, turns on our master bathroom lights, starts up our bedroom ceiling fan, and turns on some hallway lights at the right dimming level for us to go upstairs, and then turns those lights off after 15 minutes.