"YAWCAM" VIDEO SECURITY ALARM

With a free software application and some trial-and-error configuration, you can turn any computer that has a webcam into a security alarm that sends photos of any unexpected events in your home or business to one or more e-mail addresses. If one of these e-mail addresses is one that you got for free with your celllular phone, then you will be notified in a timely manner, whenever an unexpected event occurs in your home or business.

The "Yawcam" software application can be used as a totally-free "motion detection alarm system". It runs in "Windows 2000", "Windows XP", "Windows Vista", and "Windows 7".

Prior to downloading and installing "Yawcam", you should install a webcam, if your computer or monitor does not already have one. Many laptops have a built-in webcam. Most Viewsonic flat-screen monitors have one hidden in the center of the top of the plastic frame. You can buy an inexpensive Webcam that connects via "USB 2" that is manufacturered by Logitech, Belkin, or Hewlett Packard.

To test your webcam, go to

http://www.sillywebcam.com/others/?demo=test-your-webcam

It looks like this:

Click on the "Allow" button inside the "Adobe Flash Player Settings" box:

If your Webcam is working correctly, you will be viewing a live video stream with your videocam:

Now that your Webcam is installed and tested, go to

http://www.yawcam.com/download.php

and download"yawcam_install.exe".

This installation file is only 3.94 Megabytes in size.

After it is downloaded to a local hard drive, double-click on it and the setup will commence:

Click on the "Next" button:

Select the "I accept the agreement" option:

Click on the "Next" button.

Click on the "Next" button:

Place a checkmark for "Don't create a Start Menu folder" (to make it harder for someone who steals your computer to determine that you were collecting photos of them):

Click on the "Next" button:

You will now be provided with an opportunity to "Select Additional Tasks" with both "additional tasks" already checkmarked:

Remove the checkmarks from both the "Create a desktop icon" and "Create a quick launch icon" (to make it harder for someone who steals your computer to determine that you were collecting photos of them):

Click on the "Next" button:

Click on the "Install" button:

"Yawcam" will be busy installing for a while:

Click on the "Finish" button:

The "Yawcam" application always starts up with two default windows:

The initial "Yawcam - Preview" window looks like this:

The default "Control Panel & Console Window" looks like this:

Click on "Settings" on the Menu bar:

Click on "Device" on the pull-down menu:

Click on "Change to" which will be to the right of "Device (none)":

Click on the webcam that you wish to use.

In this example, I clicked on the webcam that is part of my old Viewsonic monitor:

The "Yawcam - Preview" window now shows a live video stream from the webcam that you selected:

Now go back to the "Yawcam" "Control Panel & Console" window and click on "Settings" on the Menu bar.

Then click on "Edit Settings":

A "Windows Security Alert" dialog box will probably be displayed:

Click on the "Allow access" button if a "Windows Security Alert" dialog box is displayed:

Go back to the "Yawcam" "Control panel & Console" window:

Click on "File" on the Menu bar:

Click on "Enable Motion detection":

A checkmark will now be displayed for "Enable Motion detection":

Next, click on "Settings" on the Menu bar:

Click on "Edit Settings":

A "Yawcam - Settings" dialog box will be displayed:

Click on "Startup":

Uncheck "Check for new versions" and place a checkmark next to "Start Motion detection":

Click on the "OK" button:

Back at the "Yawcam" "Control Panel & Console Window", click on "Window" on the "Menu bar":

Click on "Motion detection" on the pull-down menu:

A "Yawcam - Motion Detection" dialog box will be shown:

Click on the "Settings" tab to adjust the "Sensitivity" and "Tolerance". You will be adjusting these parameters through a trial-and-error process:

Click on the "Actions" tab:

Place a checkmark next to "Send E-mail":

Click on the "Settings" button next to "Send E-mail":

An "Email settings" box will be displayed:

In the "To: " field, type in the e-mail address that you want motion detection events to be sent to:

In the "Subject: " field, add in the location if you have more than one computer running "Yawcam":

For example:

The computer with "Yawcam" that is aimed at your front door might have a "Subject:" of

"Motion detected - front door of Tucson house!" and the computer with "Yawcam" that is aimed at your back door might have a subject of "Motion detected - back door of Tucson residence!".

Place a checkmark for "Attach Image":

Go to the technical documentation of your e-mail service and determine your "SMTP server" settings. For example, the "SMTP server settings" for gmail accounts are located at

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=13287

Type in your "SMTP server:" domain name.

For all gmail accounts, the "SMTP server" is "smtp.gmail.com":

Type in the port number for your SMTP server.

For all gmail accounts, the port number is "465".

For all gmail accounts, "Use encrypted connected.(SSL)" needs to have a checkmark.

Place a checkmark next to "Password required":

Enter in the "Username" and "Password" for your e-mail account:

Click on the "OK" button.

"Yawcam" will now send you an e-mail with an attached photo of whatever your webcam "sees" whenever it detects motion.

For example, a typical e-mail notification in my "Yahoo mail" inbox looks like this:

While Yawcam is a free, no-frills software application, you can use various e-mail tricks to extend its capabilities. Since I was using the "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol" ("SMTP") server of my "gmail" account to send out Yawcam's motion detection alerts, I configured my gmail account to always send itself a copy of all e-mails that are sent out: When "Yawcam" uses the SMTP server of my gmail account to send a notification to my "Yahoo mail" e-mail address, I get a copy of the e-mail notifications of detected motion in my "gmail" inbox also. In this way, my gmail account acts as a redundant repository of my motion detection messages:

To further extend the usefulness of my "Yawcam" security system, I configured my "Yahoo mail" account to send a "copy and forward" to my T-Mobile cellular phone's e-mail address whenever my "Yahoo mail" account gets a motion notification e-mail from "Yawcam". In this manner, my cellular phone also receives timely notifications and photos of "motion events". The net result of this e-mail wizardry is that when "Yawcam" detects a "motion event", I get an e-mail notification with a photo of the culprit in three places: my "Yahoo mail" inbox, my "gmail" inbox, and my cellular phone. It is then my job to call the local law enforcement authorities to ask them to respond to the situation.

"Yahoo mail" automatically copies and forwards a copy of the "Motion Detected!"

e-mail to

T-Mobile cellular phone

"Yawcam" uses the gmail SMTP server to send out a "Motion Detected!" e-mail to "Yahoo mail" with the "frame grab" photo attached

"Yawcam" detects a "motion event" and takes a "frame grab" photo of the intruder

gmail SMTP server automatically copies and forwards a copy of the "Motion Detected!"

e-mail to gmail's inbox