Actually, that’s for real. Also the Internet-enabled lawn sprinkler, automobile, espresso maker, big-screen TV, and refrigerator. We think nothing of Internet-connected cell phones – in fact, we generally expect that feature – and Internet connections are de rigueur for video games, navigation systems, and retail point-of-sale terminals. Hell, what isn’t Internet-connected these days?

So how do you as an engineer actually connect all these seemingly unrelated embedded systems to the big wide Interweb? Slapping an Ethernet connection on the side of the box isn’t enough. You’ve also got to add TCP/IP software stacks, and drivers, and maybe some server-side code. Probably some security and intrusion-detection software, too.