My Thermostat Can Beat Up Your Thermostat...

Check this out:
http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html

The Nest^TM Learning Thermostat^TM

If you decided not to go peep the link, the Nest is a new self-regulating thermostat that learns your temperature preferences, and decides for you how to keep your home comfy customized to you. How cool (or warm) it that?

No more programming, no more constantly changing the temperature. The Nest^TM Learning Thermostat^TM programs itself in a week to keep you comfortable and save energy...  

That really seems like an excellent idea! Hope it works as well in practice as it seems to in theory--the energy savings alone per house installation should be amazing. According to the site, "10% of all U.S. energy is controlled by thermostats." And we often forget to set them! Major kudos to the inventors of the Nest.

But since we are in an ever-advancing age of spookily intelligent machines and inventions, wouldn't it be nice if other things in and around the home were self-regulating/capable of learning the routine YOUR routine? Here are my dream picks for improvements specific to my household/lifestyle:

1. Cable boxes--especially DVR boxes--that turn themselves off after non-use (did you know they draw some SERIOUS energy? Surprisingly major energy hogs...)
2. Power strips that stop drawing current after a certain period of non-use (these may exist already...)
3. Toilet seats that learn to put themselves down 
4. Toilets that flush themselves when the water is ... unclean (since some people in my household obviously strongly believe in the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" theory!)
5. Laundry that changes itself over from the washer to the dryer (not forgetting to add dryer sheets of course, and doesn't smell funky if you wait too long to change the laundry over: see my previous rant about the evils of front-loaders -- gah!!!)
6. Window and door locks that "automagically" lock themselves after a certain time of night
7. Dog food and water bowls that fill themselves (I know they have some versions of these)
8. Lawn sprinklers that sense water saturation levels and turn on/off accordingly (timers are a waste--Hate it when I see a lawn sprinkler going during a rainshower because of a timer)
9. Pool pump that senses when the water needs to be cleaned (instead of using a timer)
10. Mail that brings itself inside
11. Free papers that magically self-destruct!

Oh, the possibilities are endless! Now certainly some of these above things already exist, but the challenge is likely in making the intelligence affordable for and available to us regular folks. :)

What would your best picks for smart house features be? Share your ideas!!!