The FeedleCam
Created: June 30, 1997

Attic Outdoor Camera [live] D-Link Web Cam	Apple iSight [live] [Click For Full Size]
"Studio" Camera [live] At Raleigh ActivSpace, Portland OR	Mac Camera View [live] Portland, OR

Historic Shots | Other Pictures
About... | FAQ's | Recent Changes
My Homepage | My LiveJournal

The "Where's Feedle" Cam project was set up solely to let you, the discerning computer user, know if I'm sitting at a computer in either my home, or at my work. If I'm not at either computer, well, you're likely to see nothing, or at least, nothing interesting.

About the System

There are currently two cameras: one that is a D-Link Ethernet camera that points out my bedroom window onto Dekum Street. The second camera is the iSight camera on my Macintosh. Clicking on the Mac cam will give you a live (and perhaps video, if the bandwidth allows) shot.

Recent Updates

• December 23, 2007: After a long hianus.. err, hiatus.. the camera page is back.
• Welcome back to the feedlecam. I picked up a D-Link ethernet camera, and it's pretty fun. So, the cam is back. June 29, 2004 9:00am
• I finally got around to hooking cameras back up after I moved from San Francisco. Yeah, it's like a year later. Like before, expect more cameras to pop up as I get around to setting them up. The Mindstorms camera will probably be next, probably providing a second view of the living room. December 13, 2002 7:00pm
• I'm in the process of moving things to "cambot", a new machine constructed specifically for dealing with cameras. Eventually, all cameras will be driven live from cambot. Cambot also will have a Lego Mindstorms robot camera attached to it (called "Basement # 3" in the cam-page) that eventually will be positionable by you, the Internet user. Watch for that soon. October 17, 2000 12:00noon
• Well, a new year, and more cam-page changes. First off, I now have two "home" cameras, both color. One cam is wireless, and I'll probably frequently change it's position depending on my mood. Expect it to point out the window the majority of the time. The other cam is in my basement where all my computer stuff is. Should be fun.
• Made some changes to how the home camera works. Also, you may notice that I changed the page layout a wee bit. There is now a camlong.html page (which you are now reading) that has all the verbosity on it, and the main camera page now contains just the camera shots and links to this page. This should dramatically improve performance on slow connections.February 15, 1999 04:29pm
• I am reworking the way the home camera updates the page. Until I'm done, the home camera will be offline. Check back after Feb. 1. January 26, 1999 11:58am
• The home cam will be down for a couple of days. I'm restructuring things on my home network, and will not be bringing up the PPP connection until things are fixed. Check back on Friday Jan 15. January 14, 1999 12:23am
• I bought a color QuickCam VC for myself for Christmas. It is now the home cam. December 27, 1998 11:37pm
• After much handwringing, the feedlecam is back. December 14, 1998 11:59pm
• The work camera will be down for a couple of days more. The hard drive on "vagbond", my old work computer, died a horrid death, so I need to re-install and configure the "work" camera service. January 28, 1998 10:00am
• I'm experimenting with some of the various options on the program to improve handling of files. The "old" way is a bit clunky. The "new" way involves directly writing files to the web server drive, as opposed to FTP'ing them. As such, things may behave oddly today. January 4, 1998 04:32pm
• I've finally got the "work" camera... working. January 3, 1998, 4:00pm
• I've added a directory to the server for "Historic Shots", like if the camera happens to catch something neat. Right now, there's just a picture of my third favorite thing in there... a bottle of Icehouse Ale. December 21, 1997, 11:00am
• I've now added a "last five minutes" page, so you can see if you've just missed me. Also added a "live stream" button, although there are some limitations to the streaming video. December 21, 1997, 7:00pm

Future Updates

• More cameras are always being considered.
• The Lego Mindstorms camera, on a computer controlled platform, will probably return shortly. Eventually, you will be able to control this camera through the webpage.
• I'm currently working on a Java applet to chat with me by clicking on the pictures. [This is low priority] [Quite low: it's been on the "todo" list for the better part of five years now.]

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: The camera shots are dark. What gives?
A: You can almost certainly expect the "office" camera to be dark from about 7:00 in the evening to sunrise the next morning, usually because somebody has turned the lights off in the office, and it's dark. If you see nothing but a black image on the "office" cam, you can pretty much expect I'm not there. The "home" camera may have poor lighting, especially if it's an overcast day, because I tend to not turn lights on in the apartment during the day. Also, like the "office" camera, if it's nighttime, and the image is dark, it's a pretty good guess that I'm not here.

Q: The home camera is all white, and I don't see anything.
A: There is a bug in the Webcam software (actually, I think it's more a bug in the Quickcam drivers) that prevent the camera from adjusting to changing light conditions when the program is minimized to the system tools tray on my desktop. Consequently, if I iconify the program at night, and then the sun rises, the camera dosen't compensate properly for the changes in light. Live with it. [Note: Since I no longer depend on a Quickcam, this answer is outdated. It is left in here because eventually the QuickCam may return at a different location and present the same symptoms.]

Q: I'm seeing really strange things in one of the cameras.
A: Realize the camera faces both my workstation and the remainder of my desk. Sometimes at night I like sitting at my desk with nothing but a set of miniature Christmas lights illuminating it. I've noticed that when this happens, the images in the camera get, well, strange. This is normal.
On the other hand, if you see a guy in a skimask carting off computer equipment, you might want to send me some E-Mail.

Q: "Image Not Available?"
A: From time to time, I might take one (or both) of the cameras offline for a short period to modify things a little. When this happens, you will get a nice image that says "Image Not Available". This is solely so your web browser dosen't sit there for hours on end trying to http transfer a file that might not be there.
If you see this on the wireless camera, it's usually because the battery has died and I haven't gotten around to recharging it yet. I'd like to say that some ultra-high tech image detection software sees a "blue screen" coming from the camera, and then loads this image in it's place.. but it dosen't. So, if you see that message in the wireless camera, assume that I know the camera is down. Note: the batteries on the wireless camera are now completely flat. It's gonna be a while for this one, folks.

Q: What's with this "privacy mode" shit?
A: Infrequently, you may see a crudly made cardboard sign in front of the "home" camera that says "Privacy Mode." If you see this, you can assume that I am indeed home, and don't want to be pestered. I may also do this from time to time if the camera is having problems or other related issues. (usually, however, I'll change the caption at the bottom instead) [Note that I have only done the "Privacy Mode" thing twice since the camera page has been put up]

Q: What's with the RSACi rating for this page?
A: Since this page is in my home, it is quite possible that you may see any number of things that would differ than the RSACi rating for my primary site. As a result, I increased the severity of several ratings (primarily, the ones for nudity and sexual content) to more accurately describe what one may see.

Q: It hasn't updated in a long time / Live Home Shot not available.
A: Sometimes, I turn off the camera server on my Windows box because (usually) I'm playing a game or something. Before I do, usually, I'll add a caption to the last shot before I shut the server down. Also, I infrequently will go on weekend trips, and if I'm not around, I usually turn off my personal workstation at home, hence the shots won't get updated.

A: Oh, grow up. Yes, infrequently, you might catch me walking around in front of the camera with less than a full set of clothing. I consider it a hazard of having a publically accessible camera on my computer: therefore, you will need to deal with it in your own way. You will never see me nude.

the world needs more mayo © 1998-2007 C. Sullivan (random.2.feedle@spamgourmet.com) i like honey [Creative Commons License] [No-Spam Notice] [Legal Stuff] camlong.shtml, Updated: Sunday, 23-Dec-2007 14:32:59 PST .