Im thinking of purchasing a webcamera and the software to enable my always-on mac mini to act as a security system that detects and alerts me when there is movement in my flat whilst Im away. Ive seen this sort of thing on windows, where it emails you pictures and so on when motion is detected, and it seems like a reasonable thing to do seeing as Ive been burgled before. My question is, can anyone recommend the mac equivalent software and webcamera that can help me achieve this? Thanks in advance.
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Mac and home security
- Thread starter marcus2704
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Yes this is possible on a Mac. I remember reading a story about a University that used a webcam with a Mac to catch some theives.
I couldnt drag out that story but here are some links you may find useful -
http://www.evological.com/evocam.html
http://www.evological.com/cameras.html
http://www.macmerc.com/articles/Mini_Media_Mac/288 <-- wow
Maybe this is reason for me to buy an iSight!
I couldnt drag out that story but here are some links you may find useful -
http://www.evological.com/evocam.html
http://www.evological.com/cameras.html
http://www.macmerc.com/articles/Mini_Media_Mac/288 <-- wow
Maybe this is reason for me to buy an iSight!
I was thinking about doing this myself.
Just remember, if you get a crappy, black and white wirless camera - it's not going to help you much. Also, wireless cameras have their own security issues - as they can be 'hacked'. Then, people can spy on you! Weee!
Make sure it's got a decent picture / resolution so that you can identify the thieves.
It's not very helpful if all it tells you is, 'Hey! Your 's-word' got stole!'
There's some decent cameras out there - I recall TechTV (that old) doing some reviews on these setups. The iSight would work by providing a decent, color image. But I'm not sure how you could tell it to detect motion / only record under certain conditions...
An interesting topic indeed. I'll go hunt for solutions - hopefully there is a fool-proof solution.
Just remember, if you get a crappy, black and white wirless camera - it's not going to help you much. Also, wireless cameras have their own security issues - as they can be 'hacked'. Then, people can spy on you! Weee!
Make sure it's got a decent picture / resolution so that you can identify the thieves.
It's not very helpful if all it tells you is, 'Hey! Your 's-word' got stole!'
There's some decent cameras out there - I recall TechTV (that old) doing some reviews on these setups. The iSight would work by providing a decent, color image. But I'm not sure how you could tell it to detect motion / only record under certain conditions...
An interesting topic indeed. I'll go hunt for solutions - hopefully there is a fool-proof solution.