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door, you see them inside the store. You don't need live video to note they walked across the room!

SOME SEMI-PARANOID THOUGHTS ABOUT SECURITY AND PRIVACY
Just some final thoughts. You may want your camera to be public, say if you're doing a live blog experiment. That's fine. Even so, it pays big to think about security. Consider these points:

1.) Make sure the directory on the domain the images go to is password protected.

2.) Make sure the directory is hidden from "spiders" or "robots" (search-engine software that scouts the web for information.) For information on how to do this, Google "robots.txt." Robots.txt is a file you put on your website
3.) Make sure the image is set so that even if someone did catch a glimpse of your cam image, they couldn't tell where it is. For example, if you set up a camera to watch your dogs while you're at work, make sure the image only shows the inside of the room. If someone sees a water-tower out your window, they could deduce your address, and known when you're not home. I know this sounds far-fetched, but security is about locking down all angles.
4.) Nothing on the net is entirely private, even when password protected, encrypted, etc. If what's on your webcam this is extremely intimate, and its exposure would cause you pain. Don't send it.

Setting up a live webcam is easy. Just dive in and save your receipt! Once you have the right camera and software, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Learn more about this author, Larry Nocella.
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