Legacy of a Singular Life is a compilation of the poetry, essays and stories of Miss H. Almeda Boulton. If she loved anything it was nature: the innocence of trees, the joy of the bird, the mischief of a squirrel, the mystery of weather, the history of the rock or mountains and seas. She lived her life watching, recording what she saw into her quick, inquisitive mind. Her poetry relates her observations without the frills of romanticism or obscurity and rings with a clear truth. Circumstances set her apart from relationships she craved. Those few she regarded as enduring were taken from her at various times in her life. Her strict independence was founded upon the realization that only one person was completely and absolutely trustworthy: herself. This was not a selfish condition. It was all she knew. She would be amazed to know her writings are of interest. There is much to learn from them and her thoughts and philosophies are valuable lessons to be taught to all generations. She died at the great age of 96. Her closest and most endearing kin was Mother Nature. She rests in the sanctuary of the arms of Mother Earth with her treasured ancestors in Caro, MI. May God grant her peace and respite. She lived a rewarding and abundant life with fearless exuberance.

Nowadays networks, microprocessors, memory chips, smart sensors and actuators are faster, cheaper and smaller than ever. They are becoming available anywhere, anytime. Current advances in such enabling technologies let foresee novel applications and services for improving the life of elderly and disabled people in their home and outside. These conference proceedings present the latest approaches and technical solutions in the area of smart homes, health telematics, and enabling technologies. The first chapter delves into the user perspective to ascertain real needs and design truly useful services. The following chapter explores the enabling technology. Distributed sensors, smart devices and networks appear as the nuts and bolts compulsory to build up smart homes. Chapter three looks at the realization of smart homes. Pervasive computing is emerging as one of the key approaches to organize computations within smart homes. The fourth chapter addresses the issue of using smart home features to design and deliver smart care services to persons with disabilities and elderly people. Finally Chapter five outlines standardization efforts and practical and industrial experiences.I COST aims at creating an active research community dedicated to explore how smart homes in particular and health telematics in general can foster independent living and an enhanced life style for elderly and disabled people. On the one hand, smart homes are augmented environments with embedded computers, information appliances and multi-modal sensors allowing people to perform tasks efficiently by offering unprecedented levels of access to information and assistance from computer. On the other hand, health telematics makes the most of networks and telecommunications to propose health services, expertise and information at distance.

Legacy of a Singular Life is a compilation of the poetry, essays and stories of Miss H. Almeda Boulton. If she loved anything it was nature: the innocence of trees, the joy of the bird, the mischief of a squirrel, the mystery of weather, the history of the rock or mountains and seas. She lived her life watching, recording what she saw into her quick, inquisitive mind. Her poetry relates her observations without the frills of romanticism or obscurity and rings with a clear truth. Circumstances set her apart from relationships she craved. Those few she regarded as enduring were taken from her at various times in her life. Her strict independence was founded upon the realization that only one person was completely and absolutely trustworthy: herself. This was not a selfish condition. It was all she knew. She would be amazed to know her writings are of interest. There is much to learn from them and her thoughts and philosophies are valuable lessons to be taught to all generations. She died at the great age of 96. Her closest and most endearing kin was Mother Nature. She rests in the sanctuary of the arms of Mother Earth with her treasured ancestors in Caro, MI. May God grant her peace and respite. She lived a rewarding and abundant life with fearless exuberance.