Hello all, I am remodleing my house and am trying to incorperate HA, i have been using Windows XP media center since2004 and i loove it, however i am not a huge fan of windows so when i googled linux media center i was exstatic to find this place!  So my question is what kind of controler do i need?  My install will be simple at first as i only want to have my lights in the living room dim when i watch tv, but i want it to be expandable so that i can later add some lights in other place in the home that ofther get left on, also considering temp control and gas logs and blinds?  While i understand that this is a complex question from what i have seen the controlers all come with thier own software or use....is there one that mce was designed around.  Thanks in advance for any help. also is there a way to use the serial port and some cat 5 to controle a few devices?