George Jetson used to step into his cylindrical closet each morning and, a few seconds later, step back out in different clothes, as the closet with Star Trek-style sliding pocket doors automatically dressed him. His wife Jane talked to their refrigerator, and moments later hot food slid out of a slot in the counter. And, of course, they drove a flying car, which automatically navigated George to work each day shades of Tom-Tom!

(If youre too young to remember the Jetsons, they were a cartoon family from the 1960s, created as a futuristic counterpart to the stone-age Flintstones. You can probably catch the show from time to time on The Cartoon Network. The theme song went something like, Meet George Jetson, Jane, his wife, his daughter, Judy, his boy, Elroy . . . and they had a white dog that was remarkably like Sonys recently deceased Aibo robo-pet.)

We havent quite reached the point of living like the Jetsons, but were getting there, step by step. Recent articles have described business executives who are so wired, in both senses of the word, that they push a button to transform the bathroom mirror into an online monitor from which they can check their stock prices as they shave or do make up.

As for myself, I read the NY Times online each morning, and sometimes I wish I could take it with me when I go to the bathroom but my laptop is too much hassle to unplug and carry with me, and too heavy to balance on the shelf over the sink. Besides, I always think of bathroom breaks as an opportunity to ESCAPE from being connected: no phone calls, no emails, no C-Span; instead, an opportunity to leaf through a gardening catalogue, read a few pages of a novel, or catch up on this months National Geographic.

Full house automation systems can, however, really make life easier for those whose lives are so busy (or whose wired-ness is so complete) that they dont want to lose contact even when theyre in that private haven. System panels can be installed anywhere in your house or apartment to provide the same control over your appliances and security systems that youre accustomed to having at your fingertips elsewhere. They can heighten your ability to stay in control at all times, and that can be important for home security systems and, especially, in households with small children.

If youre connected enough that even a bathroom break might cause you to miss an opportunity to make a bid or complete a deal, or if you want to make sure your little ones dont get into trouble while youre bathing (remember the movie Poltergeist?), check out the home automation systems at Vertex Security.

And see how close your household is to becoming the Jetsons.