ChumbySpy

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ChumbySpy

by: wrybread (community developer)

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created:03/06/08
popularity rank:7/89
average rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
(94 ratings)

Watch random security cameras from around the world on your Chumby. Some cameras aren't intentionally public so you get the occasional moment of high voyeurism. But mostly its waiting rooms, country roads, coffee pots, elderly relatives, waterfalls, rooftops, backalleys, restaurants, walkways, birdfeeders, computer labs, confusing blurs, shopping malls, and the like. A disproportionate number of which are in Japan. See the comments for some usage notes, and go to gizmoware.net/chumby for source code and my Python scripts that searches Google for the cameras.

Chumby is providing these community-developed widgets as a courtesy and makes no representations regarding the widgets or any information related to them. Any questions, complaints or claims regarding the widgets should be directed to the appropriate author.

Comments:

  • wrybread

    April 6, 2009

    I just updated all the cameras, hopefully no more dead cameras. I really need to work out how to have it load the cameras off a webserver so this can happen once a week or so.

  • sishogan

    February 6, 2009

    #562 is a candy factory!

  • josep

    January 11, 2009

    This widget is great! One comment: I think the widget continue to move through the cams if the user still has the finger pressed to the chumby. In "flash speak": don't wait for another onPress to toggle but instead keep ttoggling until an onRelease.

  • crazymatt1

    January 2, 2009

    This is probably my favorite widget. Since my office is in the bowels of a hospital, I will literally go weeks during the winter without seeing the sun. This is like having a tiny porthole in my office! Thanks for the work!

  • wrybread

    December 29, 2008

    To Michael Zahn, below this comment: Agreed, the ability to enter camera numbers manually would be nice. In the meantime, what I do when I want to go to a specific camera number is keep going to the next camera until I get close, then turn off randomization and autocycling, then advance until I get to the right camera.

  • Michael Zahn

    December 25, 2008

    I love #16, which pans through an intersection in a town in Poland. I wish there were a way to specify which site number I want to watch, rather than tap madly hundreds of times to get back to good old #16. This application rocks, even so!

  • sishogan

    November 25, 2008

    As President of the ChumbySpy Fan Club, I thank you for all your hard work!

  • wrybread

    November 20, 2008

    Update: I really need to stop working on this damn thing, but note that on the options panel you can now see a list of the previous 3 cameras. Handy for when you want to return to a previous camera.

  • wrybread

    November 20, 2008

    Usage notes: touch the question mark to set a couple of options, touch the top left of the screen to toggle autocycling, the bottom area to show the URL and camera number, the right area to go to next camera, and the left area to go to previous camera.

  • wrybread

    November 17, 2008

    Big update: ChumbySpy now tries to get the city and country for each camera as listed in the hostip.info database. Gets a location about half the time, super cool when it does. And the camera builder script now searches google for a bunch more security cameras: Axis, Panasonic, Evo, Sony, Netsnap, Canon, Mobotix, and a few others. The new google searches are usually the higher number cameras, above #450 or so.

  • wrybread

    November 5, 2008

    Update: I figured out how to tell the Axis and Panasonic cameras to deliver images in 320x240 instead of the default 640x480, which should mean most of the cameras are much higher framerate than before.

  • wrybread

    November 3, 2008

    Update: I changed the time for each camera from 15 seconds to 35 seconds. That's my preference, let me know if you think there should be some configuration for how long it stays on each camera.

  • sishogan

    October 6, 2008

    Yay! New cams! Now I may never sleep...

  • wrybread

    September 30, 2008

    Cool! Channel 3 is a skatepark...

  • wrybread

    September 30, 2008

    I added a metric crapload of new cameras (that's 410 for people who don't know metric) and got rid of all the old dead ones, so its now a very happy ChumbySpy...

  • sishogan

    March 28, 2008

    That's no walrus, it's Snooty the Manatee, live from the South Florida Museum! Love the update.

  • wrybread

    March 28, 2008

    I just uploaded a new version which should load images as fast as bandwidth will allow. Fixes a couple other little issues too. And I put the sourcecode on gizmoware.net/chumby. Still some glitches, the biggest being that that if you watch it on this webpage occasionally you get a request for a username and password that stubbornly won't go away. Not the biggest deal since it doesn't affect the Chumby version, but still. And I have a new favorite camera: #29 is a walrus tank or something with constant walrus action.

  • allayrizzle

    March 18, 2008

    they just look like a bunch of pictures to me.

  • waverider

    March 8, 2008

    It shows an analog clock in virtual chumby is that correct?

  • sishogan

    March 8, 2008

    Thanks for the tip! Right now I am watching a match on the college soccer field.

  • wrybread

    March 7, 2008

    By the way I should say these are all Axis networked security cameras. They have a unique URL pattern and so are <a href="http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=+%22inurl%3Ajpg+image+jpg+r%22&btnG=Search">searchable via Google</a>.

  • wrybread

    March 7, 2008

    Yeah I like the doggy daycare too. As I type someone's sweeping up all the doggy hair. I have this incredible urge to heckle her. Oh well, maybe with next year's security cameras. (And if you want to go straight to that camera, in the current version it's camera #17. You can see camera numbers by tapping the bottom of the screen. Then tap the top left to stop autocycling, then tap middle left and middle right to manually cycle thru the cameras.)

  • sishogan

    March 7, 2008

    I can't stop watching this - I keep waiting for the doggy daycare to cycle back!

  • gingerbeardman

    March 6, 2008

    Very nice concept!