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I was looking at my iPod weather forecast and looking forward to some cool days in the sixties next week. And then I looked at my Macbook’s weather widget - which expects temps closer to 80. Who should I trust?
I’ve actually noticed this quite a bit over the last few weeks. My iPod thinks it’s going to be cool. My Macs are all less optimistic. The weather on my iPod comes from Yahoo! Weather, which partners with The Weather Channel, aka weather.com. My Dashboard weather comes from AccuWeather.com.
I’ve got Weather Bug installed on my iPod too. But I’m not in the habit of checking it.
Where do you get your forecast?
Amazon Prime Free Trial
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I’ve wanted a wireless webcam for a while. Amazon made it pretty clear that there was one camera that stood above the rest. The Panasonic BL-C131A. The only problem was that it cost over two hundred dollars.
I got one anyway.
Setup
There were comments all over Amazon about people needing to call support to get this camera going. I didn’t need to call. But — I needed to read the instructions. Once the initial setup is complete it’s very easy to make changes to the configuration.
With the camera sending live video to Safari I spent a couple hours digging into what else it could do. There was enough to keep me busy.
Accessing the Stream
The BL-C131A displays video on a multi-tabbed web page. The main page has controls for panning left and right as well as up and down. There are also eight preset locations. You can name the presets things like “door” or “crib”. Using the presets is the quickest way to swing the BL-C131A to a given position.
You can also click right on the video to center, or use multi-directional arrow controls. Clicking to center has a slight delay. The camera’s panning motor isn’t noisy, but you’d probably hear it in a quiet room.
There’s a Windows-based program for setting up the camera that can also be used for viewing and capturing the video to disk. I don’t feel left out because of that, but others might. A negative for me: the audio from the camera can only be accessed from a PC. Mac browsers don’t support the audio control.
I tried using Quicktime to view the stream - the BL-C131A interface has settings for RTSP. I couldn’t get that to work and I called Panasonic. They said it’s not currently supported but future firmware might add the capability. (Everyone on Amazon raved about the tech support provided by Panasonic.)
Triggers
The camera can also capture stills and email them or upload them to an ftp site. This capability works with “triggers” the camera can act upon. A trigger could be motion or a time interval. I used the motion trigger to send photos via email to my Flickr account. The camera sets keywords and privacy settings on the photos when it sends the email, so my Flickr account can keep the photos out of public view and tagged for further action. The BL-C131A and Flickr make for a powerful combination.
You can set up to five different triggers, each with its own schedule and actions to perform when invoked. The camera can time stamp the stills.
Additional Information
Sometimes Firefox has trouble updating the image on my computer. Restarting the browser usually handles the problem. I haven’t been using Safari lately, but when I do I haven’t had the problem as much. I can also view the image on my iPod touch, which never seems to have a problem. Using the ‘tap to center’ function on the BL-C131A video with my iPod is handy.
The camera has some nice additional features, like scheduled down time and reboots. I have it reboot every day, which probably provides increased stability. A green light on the front of the camera lets you know when it’s being accessed. The light can be disabled. There’s also a physical button on the camera to invoke privacy. There’s a standard tripod mount on the bottom of the BL-C131A. A small metal cable is provided to prevent falls by securing the camera to a wall.
I can access images directly from the BL-C131A across the Internet too. The interface has settings for UPnP, and my Netgear router works fine with the camera. It would be easy to check in on your camera with an iPhone. Alternatively, there’s a free service bundled with the camera: viewnetcam.com.
Video quality isn’t bad in a dimly lit room. The camera doesn’t have the kind of nightvision you see in camcorders. The heat sensor is for detecting motion, it’s not an infrared camera!
You can create multiple user accounts with different levels of access below the administrator.
The BL-C131A would be suitable as a nanny cam or for watching a door, as long as the space was lit. The interface allows viewing feeds from multiple cameras simultaneously.
The camera purchased was intended for watching an infant, but we’ve been using it to watch a toddler who won’t stay in bed. I might have been better off when I didn’t know.
I’m pretty happy with the camera. Sometimes I have to restart a browser, which is annoying. This camera has a complete, well thought-out feature set. The biggest downside is the price.
Panasonic Webcam on Amazon
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I almost made a screencast. Then I tried Screen Steps instead. Here’s a link to a tutorial for this post.
This is kind of a stretch, meaning there’s a good chance you’ll never want to do anything like this. But maybe you will. Remember, Widgets can live on your desktop, they’re not limited to the Dashboard Widget layer. That means you could use this process to design custom content that’s laid right into your desktop.
So - what are we talking about anyway? Well, you probably know you can make a Dashboard Widget using a tool provided with Safari. But maybe there isn’t a page that has the content the way you want it for your widget. No problem, just make a web page using iWeb, lay it out the way you want your Dashboard Widget to look, then publish it. Use the Dashboard Widget maker and you’re done.
The steps are outlined in the tutorial below. Murphy made a web page with two Flickr badges on it. One that pulls from Murphy’s Flickr collection and another that pulls from all of Flickr. Both grab random photos from their respective collections. From that page he made a widget that shows both Flickr controls side by side. Again, this might be most useful for making a widget that will live within your desktop.
Is this reaching too far or what?
Tutorial
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You know when you’re watching a football game, and your team is down by 8 with 3 minutes left, and they start thanking the producer and the director and all that stuff? Like the game is over? I never liked that. I’d shout at the tv, it’s not over! Stop thanking people!
Apple special events can be like that too. Like today when they put Jack Johnson out to sing. This can’t be over, not yet! We need more stuff! Jack! Stop singing!!!
So today there’s a new nano and a new touch. With the touch, Apple demonstrates an incredible ability to offer what should have been in version 1, like volume controls, and make us want to upgrade. Here are some thoughts on today’s news:
iPod touch. The Nike thing built into the touch is nice, having is better than not having, unless having makes it bulky. And the touch is far from bulky. But I’m not running with my touch — it’s too big and I know I’d drop it. Built-in Nike would have been REALLY nice in the nano. The aapl in me is glad they didn’t drop the price too much - comparing it to the iPhone’s retail sticker makes no sense.
The new nano. I like the shake to shuffle, even though all the comments on AppleInsider this morning said Yeah Right. I like the tall form factor better than the fatty. I’m on a 2G right now and don’t see myself buying a nano until my current one dies. I find my touch is big enough for video, I don’t see myself watching much on a nano.
Classic. A little confusion here. They had the classic in 160GB and 80GB, now they’re just offering a slim-sized 120? Maybe the 160 didn’t sell so well. I’ve aways secretly wanted a classic. Glad to see they aren’t dropping it yet, despite the slightly weird news. I have a touch, so it’s hard to justify the classic. I’ll just keep wanting one. Silver. If you’re getting one, buy it on Amazon so I get a cut.
iTunes. The Genius thing in iTunes? I don’t think I’ll use that much. Glad to see NBC back as I really like The Office. I’ll fill in the gaps with episodes I didn’t rip from my TiVo. I like to think NBC came crawling back, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.
What was missing? I’d like to sync my iPod touch over wifi. I keep it downstairs where I charge it. When I’m going out the door why should I have to go upstairs to grab the latest podcasts? They should have synced already, over wifi. While you’re at it, support the Radio Remote on the touch!
The last earnings call had a juicy hint about things to come. I don’t think anything announced today met the expectations for what was suggested. So — there must be more stuff that’s going to drop. Maybe another event next month?
Some notes on Murphy Mac:
Where have you been Murphy?
Murphy is the proud Dada of a new little girl, just 4 weeks old. Now I’ve got two little angels. So I’ve been busy with little girl stuff, and I was working on the same secret project I spent time on last summer, which I’m still working on now. But I expect to get back to some regular posting. Thanks for not dropping the RSS feed.
What else have you been doing?
I’ve also been working for a long LONG time on an article about the Mac tablet or Mac touch that I’d like to see. I hope to have that out the door soon. If you have thoughts on that send me an email. Murphy at murphymac. Dotcom.
Finally, I’ve been working on some course materials for enterprises interested in moving users from Windows to Mac. If you’re interested in having Murphy talk to people at your organization please send an email. Murphy at murphymac. Dotcom.
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