Great, but not everyone wants to fork over several hundred dollars each month in order to type in a four digit code every time they go through the front door.

For those of us who want a smoke detector that costs less than a fancy dinner, but who still want the fire department to come down no matter what, I bring you the "Smoke Pager."

The smoke pager is a stand alone smoke detector wired up to cell phone technology. When the smoke alarm goes off, it instantly sends this information to the proper emergency authorities, ensuring that they are aware of the situation, and know where to go. Like alarm systems, these may need to be registered in some areas.

Various add ons may be desirable...

1: A speaker phone add on, which when used, allows the fire department to turn off the smoke alarm (after a few seconds) and then communicate directly through the smoke detector. This may allow them to reassure anyone in the house, get a better idea of the sutiation, and cut responses to false alarms short, thus saving them some trouble.

2: A "test" add on, which allows the fire department to check the alarm batteries remotely, and conduct "fire drills" with citizens permission. The Test add on might also be useful in police siege situations....

Uh... It's late, and I have a headache. I'll stop for now, and wonder what I was thinking when I spot this in a day or two.