We saw a number of Electric Imp demos and appliance ideas at the booth including a simple hand-held "detonator" toggle switch with LED, seven-segment counter, water level sensor, servo-controlled gauge, RGB light, power socket, Christmas light, power monitor, toy washing machine, 16x16 LED display and receipt printer (the latter two being combined to show the avatars and tweets of anyone mentioning the Electric Imp) -- all Internet aware.

ENGADGET: Hands-on with the Electric Imp at Maker Faire (video)

Each was given carefully controlled salt-water injections in their jaw muscles to induce pain.

BBC: Gene controls pain threshold

Farming fish close to shore often causes contamination of water and seabeds, so the company has partnered with fish producers to devise a remotely-controlled fish pen that can drift with currents in the open sea.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

BrightSource generates electricity using an approach called concentrated solar power, in which computer-controlled mirrors, known as heliostats, focus the sun's heat to boil water and turn a steam turbine.

ECONOMIST: Energy storage

It's a 30-foot-long, 4-foot-deep, fully automated stainless steel tub that produces a pasteurized egg by bathing it for about an hour in water that is precisely controlled to between 128 and 150 degrees (the exact temperature is secret)--hot enough to kill salmonella and other dangerous microbes without cooking the egg, (see sidebar).

FORBES: The Yolk's On Him

Examples of household electrical loads that could be shifted to off-peak hours via an automated or controlled mobile app include charging a plug-in vehicle, running a dishwasher, running a hot water heater, running the refrigerator's defrost cycle and ice-making.

ENGADGET: Ford teams up with Eaton, Whirlpool and SunPower to create MyEnergi Lifestyle, hopes to reduce everyone's CO2 footprint