This module looks interesting.  For $10 you get a uC which is supported by the Arduino world and has wifi.  Presumably it is free of the unix issue with file system corruption at power-down.

* [https://www.adafruit.com/product/2471 Adafruit HUZZAH] board, which contains:
 * [https://www.elecrow.com/download/ESP-12F.pdf Datasheet] for ESP-12F (module)
 * [https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/035/388/original/0a-esp8266_datasheet_en_v4.3.pdf Datasheet] for ESP8266 (chip)
* [https://arduino-esp8266.readthedocs.io/en/2.4.0/ Documentation] for Arduino ESP8266 core
 *[https://arduino-esp8266.readthedocs.io/en/2.4.0/libraries.html#other-libraries-not-included-with-the-ide Other Libraries] tested with ESP8266
* [https://arduino-esp8266.readthedocs.io/en/2.4.0/esp8266wifi/readme.html Documentation] for !WiFi library
* [https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino/blob/master/libraries/ESP8266WiFi/examples/WiFiClientBasic/WiFiClientBasic.ino WiFiClientBasic.ino] -- simple TCP client example
* [https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-huzzah-esp8266-breakout/faq FAQ] from Adafruit mentioning some gotchas with certain GPIOs

Sunrise lamp thoughts using this thing:

||= Qty =||= Item =||= Each =||= Total =||
|| 1 || [https://www.adafruit.com/product/357 Warm White LED strip 1m] || $25|| $25||
|| 1 || PWM lamp controller ([https://www.adafruit.com/product/355 MOSFET]) || $1.75|| $1.75||
|| 1 || [https://www.adafruit.com/product/2471 Adafruit HUZZAH ESP8266 uC with Wifi] || $10|| $10||
|| 1 || [https://www.adafruit.com/product/2342 Adafruit sound gizmo] || $15|| $15||
|| 1 || Powered speaker || ? || ? ||
|| 1 || [https://www.adafruit.com/product/3295 Adafruit RTC] || $5|| $5||
|| 1 || [https://www.adafruit.com/product/1115 Display/Keypad Module] (I2C) || $20|| $20||
|| 1 || Power supply, box etc || $25|| $25||
|| || Total|| || ~$100||

Power:

|| 12V || LED strip || 1.2A ||
|| 5V || LCD module, Sound generator, ESP || ? ||
|| 3.3V || RTC, ESP, I2C pull-ups || ? ||