Further to the blog posting over at Lisa & Emma’s Blog, I’d posted about how the girls got a cute little Syrian Hamster, named Nibbler, for Christmas. I wanted a way to keep an eye on him in his cage that might be fun for the kids too… what to do, what to do .. oh yeah, get geeky and find a small camera for the cage, HamsterCam<tm>
Here are a couple of pics of the camera fitted to the cage.
The field of view is pretty tight on the camera, which is a bit of weakness as it’s sort of sold as a security type device, it’s only 50 degrees, it really wants to be closer to 90 degree’s I think (or at least adjustable). But it really is a crack’n little device.
Setup is crazy easy, plug it in (or put a battery in), switch it on, look for it’s WIFI Access Point SSID and connect to it. If you want it to join your existing WIFI network so it acts as a WIFI client rather then an access point on it’s own, just switch it to the Setup Setting, connect to it’s SSID and configure it for your network including the WIFI key, switch it off and back on again and you’re done.
There are a couple other minor annoyances I have with the device but all but one can be fixed with firmware updates. The one that can’t however is it’s ability to see in low light. I don’t mean no light, but middle of the afternoon with the curtain drawn and all you get is a black camera.. not really ideal for a “security” type device.
I’ve not yet tested it’s ability to see with a IR light source. I’ll test that and if it works I may rig up an IR flood lamp on an PIR sensor so it will trigger the lights when Nibbler moves about the cage.
It could really doe with a pan and tilt system too haha but that’s asking for too much in something so small.
Here’s a sample screen shot from the camera (this was taken with the built in recording Java app in the camera)
All in all I’m pretty happy with the camera and I’m sure it’ll come in handy in other places as well, as it’s a it’s own WIIF Access Point it can be used anywhere you want and that you have a USB power source (or a battery).
I suppose I should list some Pros and Cons for this little camera to make this a bit more complete, not that it’s a proper review (yet).
Pros
The size, this has to be it’s biggest asset for sure.
Fully Wi-Fi enabled device, access point and Wi-Fi client to connect to your own network.
Feature list I’ll put as a Pro, as it’s short comings can be sorted with future updates
Image quality in good light is quite good
Allows for a user/password to be set up control access
Runs off 5v @ 1A so most USB ports on modern laptops should be able to power the camera
(optional) Accessory kit comes with a stand, mains and car power adapters, battery replacement uses standard Mini USB cable
Cons
Image quality in low / no light is unacceptable.
Only allows for a single user/password to be set, the user had all or nothing access
No way to limit or prevent access to audio other then by the single account, ie: no public access to camera yet blocking audio
The camera runs quite hot, I’ll put this as a Con, see below
Not water/weather proof at all, strictly indoor use only unless it’s dry outside.
Not likely a good idea to put this in a case for external use due to the heat generated
Audio quality is pretty poor, but given the size of the device and mic I didn’t expect much here
I say early because her birthday isn’t really until Nov 13th. However, we had the party a week early as we’d planned to do something next weekend. Anyhow we held the party at Cheeky Monkeys Play Barn in Fulbourn. Emma invited 10 of her friends plus our 2 kids made 12, however one of them was unable to join us. See all the photos, CLICK HERE.
This is the cake and some snacks provided by Cheeky Monkeys Play Barn, and Emma blowing out the candles.
Here’s Emma opening her gifts from everyone that came to the party. Lisa is “helping” her.
We got the sense that everyone really had a good time at the party.
Thanks to everyone that came to the party and Emma says thanks very much for all the wonderful gifts!
Back in September both Lisa and Emma went out for the try outs at The Grafton Centre for Modelsearch UK. Emma didn’t make it through but Lisa did. Then it was back for the second round of try outs in early October and Lisa managed to get through again. That brings us to Oct 23 and the rehearsals for the big show.
The daily show started on the Sunday and ran until Wed Oct 27th. Lisa has been doing 3 show 4 times a day. Today was the last day and the last show of the day which was suppose to start at 6pm but is running late, will be judged by a panel.
Lisa is very excited about this final show. The winners will get a gift certificate good for any shop in The Grafton Centre plus some professional photo and a chance to sign on with an agency.
1840hrs Lisa has just finished two of the show.in The final.
Final update … Lisa didn’t get selected this year, but she’ll go back next year and try again for sure!
We started out a weeks camping by leaving the house about noon on Sunday. The drive to the camp site, Brickyard Farm Camp site (Banham, Norfolk, NR16 2HQ), was only about an hour or so from home. Even at the reduced speed we had to travel at because of towing the trailer. After a stop at Sainsbury in Thetford for a few last minute supplies and lunch as well, we arrived at the camp site at about 1400hrs, plenty of daylight left so we could take our time getting everything set up.
Lisa and Emma immediately found the horses in the fields to go and see plus a swing set to play on as well. I was a bit worried for a while, there were no other kids around. Then, a family came trooping back into camp. They’d been out to the Banham Zoo. It’s about 1/2 mile down the road. Anyhow, Lisa and Emma quickly became acquainted with Hanna, 7yrs old. They spent the next 3 or so hours playing all sorts of games and running around the farm.
The camp site itself is a small family run business. It’s run the brother of our neighbour, very nice folks. They popped around to check on us and see how we were settling in. Quite layed back, they haven’t asked for money as yet. The site is, as I mentioned, small. Only about 6 or so pitches, most with electric. We didn’t bother with that, I’d brought the 120amp battery with us. More then enough power for the week to run a laptop if needed and charge the phones. I brought a 12v florescent lamp as well but likely won’t need it.
The kids are knackered. They’ve had a busy afternoon that’s for sure. Tomorrow we’ll be walking to the zoo and checking out the animals and whatever else they have there.
Well that’s about it from here tonight I think. the big people are knackered too and ready for bed now as well.
Watch this space for the day 2 report. I won’t be posting pics on the blog, but check on facebook, flickr and mobypictures and of course Twitter.com/m1xzg for updates.
Btw, this is all from my phone, there are likely spelling errors, I will fix them later. Don’t think I have a spell check on here.
Right, well Easter is actually over, but I’m doing a blog posting now really just to put the pics of the kids online more then anything. The day was good, it started way to early though. Man the kids were up at the crack of dawn, if only it were the crack of dawn in the UK and not for say India .. shesh.
Thankfully, Yuki’s dad is here staying with us and he was looking after the kids.. Yuki and I managed to sleep in until nearly 9am, which was nice. In fact, we managed to sleep in until nearly 10am Friday and Saturday. I can’t even begin to recall sleeping in that late when vast amounts of alcohol was the direct cause of it. So can’t really complain much.
Anyhow, the day started with breakfast as usual.. then we sent the kids up stairs with their lao ye (grandfather in Chinese, it’s more specific then that, but trust me, you don’t want me to open that can of worms here and now ). Yuki and I took to hiding all the stuff for the kids.. candy, chocolate eggs, bunny’s, all sorts of rubbish haha. Then it was time to unleash the kids..
First, here is a quick tour of the hiding places of all the candy
Here’s a video of the “hunt” under way .. I love Emma’s comment at one point “I’ve got so many…”
Here are a few pics…
You can see all the pics and videos taken today by CLICKING HERE.
Enjoy the pics and videos. I hope to do more blogging in the future.. I’ve been pretty slack at getting out updates, but life has been full of upheavals that… well… frankly made blogging a chore.
Besides, I’m booked to attend WordCamp UK in July. It’s the second year for the event and the first year I’m going … it’s a weekend full of meeting other bloggers, some who do it for a living but most because they enjoy it (I assume anyhow). With enjoy luck this event will encourage me to blog more, or even just give me loads of ideas to make my blogging better (which frankly wouldn’t take much, I know I suck at blogging).
). Yuki and I took to hiding all the stuff for the kids.. candy, chocolate eggs, bunny’s, all sorts of rubbish haha. Then it was time to unleash the kids.. 
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