Friday, December 30, 2011

$40.00 [Animal Cam]

I received the most perfect gift this Christmas.  A webcam.  But not just any webcam.  A webcam set up in my living room so that I can dial in from my iPhone or iPad and spy on the animals from work.  That's right -- an ANIMAL CAM!

Now, while drafting contracts, researching tax law, and doing all the other things I do at work that you don't care about, I can tune in to a continuous feed from the animal cam.  Here are some screenshots from the last few days at work, as taken by my iPhone.

[That little black blob on the chair behind Betelgeuse is Lulu.]

[Highlight of my work day was when Lola sauntered on camera and just sat for 5 minutes while Betelgeuse watched her.]

[When Betelgeuse gets too hot, she moves to the floor.]

The most hilarious part is that it's not a one-way stream.  I can talk to the animals through the webcam, and they can hear me.  I feel sort of bad doing it, though, because they are clearly confused when it's happening.  Their ears perk up and they look around.  Betel goes and waits by the front door.

It's always going to suck to have to work 12-16 hour days at the law firm, but now it's going to suck a little bit less thanks to my bf(f) and my brother.  This is officially the best $40.00 anyone ever spent on me. 

Happy holidays, everyone!

4 comments:

  1. This is great- I'm really happy you have it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What model cam did you use for this? Is it connected to a laptop or directly to your network? I've been looking for something like this so that I can holler at my dogs if they're chewing on the dog door or dog bed and get them to stop.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is a Logitech HD Webcam C310 [link: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-960-000585-HD-Webcam-C310/dp/B003LVZO8S]. It is connected to a Mac Mini and mounted on the wall, although it could be connected to any computer. You just need to make sure the volume is up on the computer to which it is connected if you want to holler at your dogs.

    When I dial in to the designated email address with FaceTime from my Mac, iPad, or iPhone, FaceTime answers automatically with the webcam. This is a little tricky to set up [instructions here: http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_create_security_cam_facetime_mac_and_applescript].

    You can also set up the same sort of system more easily with Skype [instructions here: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-set-up-147nannycam148-surveillance-with-sky.html].

    Happy remote dog yelling!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for taking the time to reply, you are a font of knowledge and I look forward to spooking the poop out of my dogs. Hopefully they go outside first though...

      Delete