Webcam Stories

RayW posted this question to the WeatherMatrix Forums last week:

I am thinking about installing a camera to do snapshots of the weather (maybe real time) and to do vandal identification. The biggest problem is of course cash, followed by routing a cable. Considering the number of cordless phones around the neighborhood, it may not be wise to go wireless. Any pros/cons/opinions/problems/sources would be appreciated. Maybe some new threads on installation, set up, and computer linking could be started. I left my requirements vague so that the discussion may include other ideas.

Like a fisherman spinning sea yarns, I could tell ye many a story about webcams, so I've added my two cents worth:

I have tried various webcam technologies, including mobile ones, since I set up my first weathercam in 1997.

My first webcam experience was not a weathercam at all, but rather one of the first "person cams" on the Internet. This was the 1990's version of the "J-Cam" that you see on the left side of my blog. This was a Silicon Graphics camera that came with the Indigo2 model (see bottom of this page). I created shell scripts for the IRIX operating system that would take a capture from the camera and upload it to my website. I look back fondly on that time... I was just out of college and the the web was just taking hold. The SG Indigo2 was a breakthrough machine with 3D games (controlled by a motion sensor on the camera) and even a 3D file browser. It was way ahead of its time.

When the machine at my desk was replaced with a Mac in 1997, the "J-Cam" was discontinued until around the year 2002 when I setup an X10 wide-angle camera in my computer room at home. The camera looked at my computer desk, which showed various weather stations and the L.E.D. sign I had hooked up to one of them.