Home+security


 * Home security **

Home security is a problem, and some people try to solve it by investing in expensive CCTV systems. But if you have a PC and a webcam you can keep an eye on your property when you are away from home, using free software tools. One such application is ContaCam, With this tool, you can turn a webcam into a motion detection camera that will react to movement in your house. It can monitor the area within camera view, and auto-start recording once it detects motion. The recorded videos can then be saved in AVI or Flash video formats, and then, uploaded to an FTP server or sent via email. ContaCam is also capable of capturing still images at regular intervals, and creates a thumbnail history log, which can be remotely accessed. ContaCam supports numerous advanced configuration options, including customisable detection zones, snapshot editing, detection scheduling, network based streaming and even audio recording. If you can, set up your PC in the room that you want to observe and leave it turned on. And of course, it isn’t just useful when you think you might be burgled. You can use it to keep an eye on pets or even troublesome children. From the **Preferences** screen you can adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, gamma, backlight, zoom, exposure, pan, roll, light and flip the camera input image. Other settings can be configured from the drop-down menus located on the main interface, such as the **Network** menu, which allows you to stream captured video over your network. You can download ContaCam here : [|http://www.contaware.com/]