I’m probably a bit late to this party but I’ve just discovered a fancy new toy called IFFFT – IF This Then That (apparently pronounced like “gift” without the “g”). It’s a clever little website with a bunch of plugins (called channels) which basically do very simple logic called “recipes”. Each recipe has a trigger and an action. The clever thing is that the triggers and actions can be internet connected things so a trigger can be an email, a facebook notification, an instagram post, a weather forecast, a comment on your website etc. The actions can be a message to your phone, an email etc.
Where it gets really clever is when you connect devices such as the Philips Hue lights I’ve just bought. With the help of IFTTT I can briefly flash the lights a different colour when I receive an email, a tweet or a facebook notification. I can make the lights turn a different colour if I receive a text message or my phone rings. With a wifi connected thermostat I can make the heating automatically turn on when I get within a mile of my house. If I wanted to I can make the lights turn on as I approach my house (not sure I’d want to do this…)
Anyway – have a look… http://ifttt.com
