Well, I sent an email to all my siblings with a link to the U.S. version of the doodad and a brief explanation of what it can do besides play music--it's funny how Amazon touts it primarily as a remote-control speaker when that's probably the least impressive thing it does! So far I've heard back from a couple of them who think it's a cool idea. If we all pitch in (there are four of us), it should be affordable to get the gizmo and some of the special switches for lamps and things. And my brother-in-law, who runs the IT department where he works, should be able to set it up and troubleshoot it. (Mom's very computer-savvy, but she doesn't have good use of her hands.) *hopefulhopeful*

And, as I said to my sibs, it's a good thing she wouldn't be able to use it for the thermostat, because if Mom could change the temperature back up or down every time Dad futzed with it, we'd have World War III on our hands! ;-)