Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us
Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network
Home
Discussion Groups
General
GeneralPortable MacsHardwareNetworking
Applications
Mac ApplicationsEudoraFirefox / MozillaInternet ExplorerOutlook ExpressMS OfficeEntourageExcelPowerPointWordVirtual PCMedia PlayerOther MS Products
Programming
Mac ProgrammingCodeWarriorPerl
Country Specific
Australian Mac GroupUK Mac Group

Mac Forum / General / Hardware / March 2005



Tip: Looking for answers? Try searching our database.

Mac compatable webcam for home surveillance?

Thread view: 
Enable EMail Alerts  Start New Thread
Thread rating: 
Jean S. Barto - 02 Mar 2005 04:15 GMT
I'm having some firewood pilfered/stolen from my two woodpiles, and I'd like
to catch the folks who are doing it in the act.  It's happening in the
evening while I'm at a night class--for example, I noticed my front firewood
pile, near my garage door, about 18 inches lower than it was earlier this
morning.  My larger wood pile on the side of my house also is lower than
earlier this week.  I don't have a fence around my yard, so whoever is doing
it has easy access to where the wood is stored.

Do any of you know of any reasonably priced Mac compatible webcams that I
can get and hook up for this type of surveillance?  I'd really prefer having
something Mac compatible, because I have the iMovie software on my iMac and
it would be very easy to save and edit it as required.

Thanks in advance,

Jean in VA
Lawrence Glickman - 02 Mar 2005 04:48 GMT
>I'm having some firewood pilfered/stolen from my two woodpiles, and I'd like
>to catch the folks who are doing it in the act.  It's happening in the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
>Jean in VA

I know nothing about Mac, but I've seen infrared surveillance cameras.
Or consider putting a motion detector activated light out over the
wood piles, and have that turn on a vcr / or camcorder at the same
time.

Lg
Joakim Wendel - 02 Mar 2005 23:35 GMT
Anyway... (i hate violence) There is a software called EvoCam that will
do it, it works with most USB cams (and Firewire cams too) if you use a
"driver" from IOXperts. You can find the software at versiontracker.com
and the cams all over ...

Signature

Joakim Wendel
Remove obvious mail JUNK block for mail reply.

My homepage : http://violinist.nu

myal - 02 Mar 2005 07:12 GMT
> I'm having some firewood pilfered/stolen from my two woodpiles, and I'd like
> to catch the folks who are doing it in the act.  It's happening in the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Jean in VA

Dont worry with webcam , booby trap the fire wood .

Use your imagination , a drill , some catridges....

Done good enough , they wont have a heate to burn it in anymore
Stormin Mormon - 02 Mar 2005 14:25 GMT
I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.

Signature

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
    www.lds.org
    www.mormons.com

Dont worry with webcam , booby trap the fire wood .

Use your imagination , a drill , some catridges....

Done good enough , they wont have a heate to burn it in anymore
Don Bruder - 02 Mar 2005 16:30 GMT
> I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.

Ah, yes... And expose yourself to liability out the wazzooo...

Y'see, here in Amerika, the crook who rips you off is entitled to sue
your socks off should what he steals cause him harm. And worse, said
crooks have filed those suits, *AND WON*.

Blowing up somebody's fireplace is justice at it's finest, no disputing
that. But it isn't much in the satisfaction department when the slimebag
who stole your booby-trapped firewood and blew his house to hell has a
lien on every nickel you'll make for the next hundred years because of
your booby-trap...

If you want to be buying Bubba's prison groceries until he dies of old
age, go for it... Drill a few hole, stuff a few rounds of ammo, or a few
ounces of magnesium, sulphur, or similar into 'em, and wait for the
resulting ruckus. But don't be at all surprised when Freddie the
firewood thief fingers you as the cause of his injuries - In a
who-knows-how-many-million-dollar lawsuit. And be even less surprised
when the judge in the case rules against you, and to add insult to
injury, files some criminal charges against you for the illegal "man
trap" you created...

Signature

Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

Gunner - 02 Mar 2005 17:04 GMT
>> I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.
>
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>injury, files some criminal charges against you for the illegal "man
>trap" you created...

The typical firewood thief hits more than one place usually, based on
my experience.  It would appear to me that he would have to prove it
was your wood, you had booby trapped it and so forth. For all you
know..someone may have booby trapped wood and intended it for you, and
the thief got it instead.

Admit nothing. Remove any evidence of the deed. Let them make the
case..or try. Wide eyed innocence is the key.

In the mean time...the thief is fingered or fooked.

Gunner
Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"
Don Bruder - 02 Mar 2005 18:19 GMT
> The typical firewood thief hits more than one place usually, based on
> my experience.  It would appear to me that he would have to prove it
> was your wood, you had booby trapped it and so forth. For all you

Ahhh, but you're forgetting a crucial concept, Gunner, m'lad...

It only has to be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" in criminal cases.

In civil cases, "proof" is a lot more lenient.

You want a prime example?

OJ Simpson's results:

Criminal verdict? Not guilty. You're free to go. Have a nice day.
Civil judgement? "Your a.s belongs the plaintiffs from now to eternity
or until you cough up whatever-the-number-was dollars. Have a nice day."

> know..someone may have booby trapped wood and intended it for you, and
> the thief got it instead.

In a civil case, the wood coming from your woodpile is good enough -
Nobody cares who put it there, who built the booby-trap, or anything
else. It came from your woodpile, so you're the "guilty" (Errr... sorry,
in a civil case, you're "responsible", not "guilty"....) party.

Only someone too stupid to continue breathing without illustrated
instructions would say anything about ripping off you *AND* George down
the street *AND* Bill across town *AND* Joe just outside the city limits
*AND* Bob next door in such a lawsuit... "Well, yes, your honor, I did
rip off the defendant's woodpile. No sir, nobody else's. His was the
only one I ever stole from, so that's the only place the bullets in the
logs could have come from."

> Admit nothing. Remove any evidence of the deed. Let them make the
> case..or try. Wide eyed innocence is the key.

Let's see... 10 .308 rounds went off and blew the sh.t out of Freddie's
house... Freddie claims that yours is the only woodpile he pilfered. So
your place gets searched (to fulfill Freddie's subpeona), and your .308
is found, along with a box of shells for it that has 10 missing. Not
admissable in criminal court, sure. But for a civil case? Circumstantial
evidence *IS* admissable in civil cases most of the time. You better
damn well believe you're going to take the fall...

Is this "right"? Hardly. But it *IS* reality under the "He who has the
most to spend on a lawyer wins" legal system we're currently saddled
with.

Regardless of the legal end of things, booby-trapping a woodpile is just
plain stupid. Ignore questions of liability, and start thinking in terms
of common sense - How are you going to avoid shoving that log into the
furnace yourself? You can't very well mark it visibly - That would give
it away to the bad guy. And I can tell you from experience that unless
you're some kind of nutbar that holds personal conversations with 'em to
get aquainted with each and every stick of wood on the pile, one looks
exactly like the next when it's been more than 5 minutes since you last
eyeballed it. Or what if Wifey, who isn't privy to the trap, goes out
for a load of firewood? Or the "Gunnerlets"? Betcha they don't know
which one has the ammo buried in it, either. And I'd bet my left nut
that a houseguest, trying to lend a hand/earn his keep, wouldn't have a
clue which log was trapped, and stand just as good a chance as "Freddie"
of grabbing it in an armload of wood.

The point is, booby-traps are illegal for a reason: There's no way to
know who's going to fall victim to them. It might be the intended
target, it might be your kid, your wife, or your relative, or even
*YOU*. They're non-selective. I don't know about anybody else, but I've
failed to figure out a way to teach a trap the difference between "the
good guy" and "the bad guy" and "the innocent bystander" who just
happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They'll trigger for
any of them, with absolutely zero concern for who/what might be in "the
kill zone" beyond "It's there! Hit it!"

Signature

Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

Gunner - 03 Mar 2005 06:39 GMT
>Let's see... 10 .308 rounds went off and blew the sh.t out of Freddie's
>house... Freddie claims that yours is the only woodpile he pilfered. So
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>evidence *IS* admissable in civil cases most of the time. You better
>damn well believe you're going to take the fall...

Ah..Don?  Only an idiot would leave such evidence in their own
custody.  And only an idiot would use ammunition for such a booby
trap.  While it might make an interesting series of pops..it would
cause virtually no damage to a fireplace, let alone a house.

There are far far better things to use in such a sceanario..the least
of all being the magnesium deck from an old lawn mower..or pieces
there in. None of which are easily traceable back to the wood owner.
<EG>

Please be aware you are cross posting into misc.survivalism...and the
folks tend to be not your usual run of mac nerds....

Ill refrain from going into greater detail..but the contents of the
area under your kitchen sink will supply the ingredients for much
better things than stuffing some cartridges into a log.

Gunner

Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"
Gunner - 03 Mar 2005 06:46 GMT
>The point is, booby-traps are illegal for a reason: There's no way to
>know who's going to fall victim to them. It might be the intended
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>any of them, with absolutely zero concern for who/what might be in "the
>kill zone" beyond "It's there! Hit it!"

Of course. The thief might even sell the wood on the open market.
Such has happened before.  Rare..but does happen.

I agree..that video evidence is best, or even a good well planned
stakeout where the perp is caught redhanded is even better.

On the other hand..there could be a certain amount of personal
satisfaction in having a aluminum and iron filing filled log (with a
bit of magnesium) tossed into the fireplace of the thief.

Or other contents with a bit more..ah...brisance.

Gunner

Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"
Don Bruder - 03 Mar 2005 15:34 GMT
> >The point is, booby-traps are illegal for a reason: There's no way to
> >know who's going to fall victim to them. It might be the intended
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> satisfaction in having a aluminum and iron filing filled log (with a
> bit of magnesium) tossed into the fireplace of the thief.

Ahhh... Another fan of homebrew thermite, I see :)

Signature

Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

H L. Falls - 02 Mar 2005 19:30 GMT
>>> I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>"That which does not kill you,
> has made a huge tactical error"

I've known folks to drive through a neighborhood with a
pickup load of wood, knocking on doors until they find a
buyer...  

If you could guarantee that the thief were stealing it
for his own use I'd say boobytrap away, but what if you
blow up someone who just happened to buy a load of
firewood from the wrong person?

--Landon
myal - 02 Mar 2005 22:06 GMT
>>>>I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]
>
> --Landon

It'd be a while before they needed to buy stolen property again .
Stormin Mormon - 02 Mar 2005 22:29 GMT
Reminds me of the time I knew a guy whose bicycle was stolen. He was fuming
about how he'd pound the thief, the next guy came by on his bicycle was
gonna get it.

I don't think he understood the concept of thieves selling stolen stuff to
unsuspecting folks.

Signature

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
    www.lds.org
    www.mormons.com

I've known folks to drive through a neighborhood with a
pickup load of wood, knocking on doors until they find a
buyer...

If you could guarantee that the thief were stealing it
for his own use I'd say boobytrap away, but what if you
blow up someone who just happened to buy a load of
firewood from the wrong person?

--Landon
myal - 02 Mar 2005 21:05 GMT
>>I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.
>
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> injury, files some criminal charges against you for the illegal "man
> trap" you created...

Doesnt he have to prove you set the trap in the first place ?

There is strong possibility that it could have been ticked off firewood
vendor supplying booie trapped firewood to dickhead customer , or the
neighbourhood kids playing dillybuggers...

Whatever happened to the much vaunted innocnet till proven guilty crap
that we hear ?
Don Bruder - 03 Mar 2005 03:48 GMT
> >>I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> Doesnt he have to prove you set the trap in the first place ?

Not to file charges, he doesn't... Only to convict.

> There is strong possibility that it could have been ticked off firewood
> vendor supplying booie trapped firewood to dickhead customer , or the
> neighbourhood kids playing dillybuggers...
>
> Whatever happened to the much vaunted innocnet till proven guilty crap
> that we hear ?

It only counts in *CRIMINAL* cases. Civil cases have a much lower
"standard of proof".

"Man traps" in any form are illegal everywhere in the US that I know
about - Locally, a fellow put up signs (only signs - "Beware of spiked
pit near garage door", "If this door is opened improperly shotgun will
fire through door", and similar) warning of booby-traps on his property
after a rash of thefts and vandalism. He was arrested within hours, and
spent quite a bit of time and money before finally getting the charge
dropped. Meanwhile, the vandals/thieves he was trying to scare off got
away free as a bird...

Gotta love police priorities... Arrest a guy trying to protect his
property within hours of him taking steps to do so, yet ignore the
reports of theft and vandalism for days before sending someone out to
take a statement/view the damage/etc... A classic case of the law being
an a.s if ever I saw one.

Signature

Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

Stormin Mormon - 02 Mar 2005 22:21 GMT
Are you related to my mother?

Signature

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
    www.lds.org
    www.mormons.com

In article <U1kVd.53884$nC5.7308@twister.nyroc.rr.com>,
"Stormin Mormon" <cayoung61-#spamblock*-@hotmail.com> wrote:

> I was thinking some small holes, and then powdered sulphur.

Ah, yes... And expose yourself to liability out the wazzooo...

Y'see, here in Amerika, the crook who rips you off is entitled to sue
your socks off should what he steals cause him harm. And worse, said
crooks have filed those suits, *AND WON*.

Blowing up somebody's fireplace is justice at it's finest, no disputing
that. But it isn't much in the satisfaction department when the slimebag
who stole your booby-trapped firewood and blew his house to hell has a
lien on every nickel you'll make for the next hundred years because of
your booby-trap...

If you want to be buying Bubba's prison groceries until he dies of old
age, go for it... Drill a few hole, stuff a few rounds of ammo, or a few
ounces of magnesium, sulphur, or similar into 'em, and wait for the
resulting ruckus. But don't be at all surprised when Freddie the
firewood thief fingers you as the cause of his injuries - In a
who-knows-how-many-million-dollar lawsuit. And be even less surprised
when the judge in the case rules against you, and to add insult to
injury, files some criminal charges against you for the illegal "man
trap" you created...
Spud Demon - 02 Mar 2005 14:38 GMT
"Jean S. Barto" <jsbarto1@cox.net> writes in article <p6bVd.18260$Az.11095@lakeread02> dated Tue, 1 Mar 2005 23:15:42 -0500:
>I'm having some firewood pilfered/stolen from my two woodpiles, and I'd like
>to catch the folks who are doing it in the act.  It's happening in the
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>earlier this week.  I don't have a fence around my yard, so whoever is doing
>it has easy access to where the wood is stored.

Footprints in the snow...?

>Do any of you know of any reasonably priced Mac compatible webcams that I
>can get and hook up for this type of surveillance?  I'd really prefer having
>something Mac compatible, because I have the iMovie software on my iMac and
>it would be very easy to save and edit it as required.

The iSight firewire camera would probably do; the hard part is the software.
Apple makes it really difficult to use their SW for non-standard purposes
(video capture SW for surveillance, in this case).  Step 1 would be to find
some software designed for surveillance, then find hardware which is
compatible with the SW.

If you're considering Linux look at this:
http://freshmeat.net/projects/lvs

I like the embedded-bullets idea, but you'll probably only get 1 chance at
it before they start checking for holes.  If they are burning the wood in
your neighborhood you'll probably hear the explosions but if they are taking
it away in a truck forget about it.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.
Tufty - 02 Mar 2005 16:26 GMT
> I'm having some firewood pilfered/stolen from my two woodpiles, and I'd like
> to catch the folks who are doing it in the act.  It's happening in the
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>
> Thanks in advance,

Hello, Jean. I'm saddened to learn of your problem. 18" is a lot of
wood off a face cord.

Are you familiar with a website called
 http://www.dealmac.com
?

Daily except Saturdays it lists currently available good deals on
Mac-compatible hardware and software. I've seen webcams listed
occasionally. It might be worth your while checking the listings once
or twice a day for a week or two. In December, e.g., they had a
1st-generation iSight for $99.

I have found DealMac's deals to be valid and appealing and have bought
many items through a dealmac referral.

Also you might Google "Mac" and "webcam" and whatever OS you're using.

Wishing you success,
Tufty
Loren Finkelstein - 02 Mar 2005 16:59 GMT
> Are you familiar with a website called
>   http://www.dealmac.com
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> or twice a day for a week or two. In December, e.g., they had a
> 1st-generation iSight for $99.

Is there such a thing as a 2nd-generation iSight?
BreadWithSpam@fractious.net - 02 Mar 2005 17:55 GMT
  [Dealmac]
> > or twice a day for a week or two. In December, e.g., they had a
> > 1st-generation iSight for $99.
>
> Is there such a thing as a 2nd-generation iSight?

IIRC, they changed the mounting bracket that comes
with it and thus the model number at some point.

Signature

Plain Bread alone for e-mail, thanks.  The rest gets trashed.
No HTML in E-Mail! --    http://www.expita.com/nomime.html
Are you posting responses that are easy for others to follow?
  http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2000/06/14/quoting

Lawrence Glickman - 02 Mar 2005 18:11 GMT
>   [Dealmac]
>> > or twice a day for a week or two. In December, e.g., they had a
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>IIRC, they changed the mounting bracket that comes
>with it and thus the model number at some point.

Pour some fresh nitroglycerin pills into a piece of wood on the top.
Make sure they're in a ziplock baggie to keep moisture out.

There will be no *evidence* left over when that one goes off.

Lg
Stormin Mormon - 02 Mar 2005 22:29 GMT
It's my understanding that nitro pills aren't explosive. At all. But, it's a
cute idea.

Signature

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
    www.lds.org
    www.mormons.com

"Lawrence Glickman" <Lawrence_Glickman@comcast.net> wrote in message

Pour some fresh nitroglycerin pills into a piece of wood on the top.
Make sure they're in a ziplock baggie to keep moisture out.

There will be no *evidence* left over when that one goes off.

Lg

Lawrence Glickman - 03 Mar 2005 01:53 GMT
>It's my understanding that nitro pills aren't explosive. At all. But, it's a
>cute idea.

I haven't tried the experiment, but I have nitro patches and liquid (
for my heart ) up the wazzoo.  So if I want to do an experiment, it
will be outdoors this summer in the backyard bar-b-q grill ;-)

I highly suspect that said grill will become disintegrated, with maybe
just the wheels left in my yard, if that much.

The dose equivalent is 0.4 micrograms times 200.  Is that enough to do
anything?  If what I read on the "net" is accurate, is enough to level
a -house-.  A guy who supposedly tossed 2 nitro pills into his
fireplace turned it into dust, IIRC.

This idea needs some personal testing, in a hole built to direct the
BLAST upwards instead of taking out my new windows and knocking down a
wall ;0

Lg
Tim May - 03 Mar 2005 02:27 GMT
> The dose equivalent is 0.4 micrograms times 200.  Is that enough to do
> anything?  If what I read on the "net" is accurate, is enough to level
> a -house-.  A guy who supposedly tossed 2 nitro pills into his
> fireplace turned it into dust, IIRC.

0.4 micrograms times 200 is still less than a milligram.

A stick of dynamite, made partly of nitroglycerine, is around a 100-200
grams. So you are less than this by a factor of 100,000.

The math is clear.

--Tim May
Stormin Mormon - 03 Mar 2005 03:23 GMT
From what I've heard, nitro needs a shock wave to detonate it. For example,
nitro soaked into somthing or other (can't remember what) makes dynamite.
Dynamite can be thrown into a fire without exploding, it needs blasting
caps.

As for the two nitro tabs throw into a fireplace, I really doubt that. But,
if you can find it ont he web, I'd love a URL.

If they were that explosive, you really think the Fed would allow seniors to
carry bottles of them in their pants pockets?

Signature

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
    www.lds.org
    www.mormons.com

On Wed, 02 Mar 2005 22:29:33 GMT, "Stormin Mormon"
<cayoung61-#spamblock*-@hotmail.com> wrote:

>It's my understanding that nitro pills aren't explosive. At all. But, it's a
>cute idea.

I haven't tried the experiment, but I have nitro patches and liquid (
for my heart ) up the wazzoo.  So if I want to do an experiment, it
will be outdoors this summer in the backyard bar-b-q grill ;-)

I highly suspect that said grill will become disintegrated, with maybe
just the wheels left in my yard, if that much.

The dose equivalent is 0.4 micrograms times 200.  Is that enough to do
anything?  If what I read on the "net" is accurate, is enough to level
a -house-.  A guy who supposedly tossed 2 nitro pills into his
fireplace turned it into dust, IIRC.

This idea needs some personal testing, in a hole built to direct the
BLAST upwards instead of taking out my new windows and knocking down a
wall ;0

Lg
Don Bruder - 03 Mar 2005 04:33 GMT
> From what I've heard, nitro needs a shock wave to detonate it. For example,
> nitro soaked into somthing or other (can't remember what) makes dynamite.

"Something" in this case equals plain ol' clay originally, nowdays,
though, it might be anything from sawdust to cornmeal.

> Dynamite can be thrown into a fire without exploding, it needs blasting
> caps.

Yep - No cap, no boom. Disposal of
old/excess/unwanted/confiscated/otherwise "needs to be got rid of"
dynamite is routinely done by pitching it into a fire. No muss, no fuss,
no bother. And no "boom".

> As for the two nitro tabs throw into a fireplace, I really doubt that.

As you should. The bullshit meter not only pegs on that one, it wraps
around the peg several dozen times.

> if you can find it ont he web, I'd love a URL.

You're not going to get one, for the simple reason that no such thing
(or anything even remotely like the scenario described) has ever
occurred outside of somebody's overactive imagination.

> If they were that explosive, you really think the Fed would allow seniors to
> carry bottles of them in their pants pockets?

A nitro pill (or even a whole bottle of them) is at least as stable as a
typical marble or ball-bearing. Maybe more stable, if any radioactive
material somehow got into the melt that turned out the marble or
bearing...

Signature

Don Bruder - dakidd@sonic.net - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

Gunner - 03 Mar 2005 06:50 GMT
>Yep - No cap, no boom. Disposal of
>old/excess/unwanted/confiscated/otherwise "needs to be got rid of"
>dynamite is routinely done by pitching it into a fire. No muss, no fuss,
>no bother. And no "boom".

Ah...unless the dynamite has been frozen.

Gunner

Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"
Gunner - 03 Mar 2005 06:50 GMT
>> If they were that explosive, you really think the Fed would allow seniors to
>> carry bottles of them in their pants pockets?
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>material somehow got into the melt that turned out the marble or
>bearing...

Quite true.

Gunner

Rule #35
"That which does not kill you,
has made a huge tactical error"
Stormin Mormon - 04 Mar 2005 02:28 GMT
Ah, graphic and descriptive both. Thank you.

Signature

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
    www.lds.org
    www.mormons.com

> As for the two nitro tabs throw into a fireplace, I really doubt that.

As you should. The bullshit meter not only pegs on that one, it wraps
around the peg several dozen times.
Willcox - 03 Mar 2005 03:17 GMT
> ....because I have the iMovie software on my iMac and
> it would be very easy to save and edit it as required.

Which means it is not so useful as evidence in a criminal trial. Why not
just use an ordinary VCR and a hidden camera?
Jean S. Barto - 03 Mar 2005 04:40 GMT
I guess I'm not at all familiar with how I  would set any of this up--I'm
not mechanically inclined, and I must admit that I don't want to go
overboard price-wise on setting things up.

I *do* have a Dell laptop from 1999, and I guess I could do the wireless
webcam thing using the PC, but I really prefer doing it from the iMac.

Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll let you know what else happens with
this--

Jean in VA

> > ....because I have the iMovie software on my iMac and
> > it would be very easy to save and edit it as required.
>
> Which means it is not so useful as evidence in a criminal trial. Why not
> just use an ordinary VCR and a hidden camera?
Kerry S - 03 Mar 2005 05:03 GMT
I do this using a "floodcam" from X10, which provide a floodlight when
motion is detected. The floodlight camera was pretty cheap, watch their
site for weekly sales. It's really necessary for night shots - the low
light cams aren't really that good.

For software, I use SecuritySpy, which I think is really terrific. Go
to http://securityspy.com/

> I'm having some firewood pilfered/stolen from my two woodpiles, and I'd like
> to catch the folks who are doing it in the act.  It's happening in the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Jean in VA
Bob G - 04 Mar 2005 10:52 GMT
>I'm having some firewood pilfered/stolen from my two woodpiles, and I'd like
>to catch the folks who are doing it in the act.  It's happening in the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
>Jean in VA

I have no clue about Mac compatible stuff.

However, FWIW, one of the things I deal with for a living is the
design and installation of video surveillance equipment.

Might not matter in your case as likely all you'll end up doing is
confronting theif, or calling cops who'll issue guy a minor
misdemeanor citation.

But if you're thinking of trying for serious charges, where offender
might get a lawyer.  Courts DO NOT like "edited" video evidence.  Not
even a little bit.

One of the most common features demanded and wanted in the commercial
systems we use and install, is a feature whereby recording equipment
includes encrypted data in the video stream.  Done in such a way that
it can be shown that if encrypted data stream is intact and unbroken,
it is "almost" impossible that anyone monkeyed with the video.  As in
editing it, altering, cutting out portions, and so forth.  Encrypted
stream includes periodic checksum data, time/date stamping, and so
forth.  Very hard to break or alter without it being immediately
obvious.

Of course, that's for high end commercial surveillance systems.  Where
theft, damage, mischief is likely to be big bucks, and owner likely to
be pressing for substantial charges and penalties.

But it's a good practice, if yah have video to be taken to court for
evidence, to do nothing that would alter original recording.  If judge
detects that video has been monkeyed with, he may not allow it.

Bob
 
Sign In
Join
My Latest Posts
My Monitored Threads
My Blog
My Photo Gallery
My Profile
My Homepage

Start New Thread
Enable EMail Alerts
Rate this Thread



©2009 Advenet LLC   Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.