iSighting
I’ve been putting my new iSight through its paces over the last week.
As a webcam, it does the job nicely. I’ve been refining how the webcam picture fits in with the overall layout here. It will only appear if the webcam is actually on. I use a some of PHP’s file functions to check if the last webcam picture has been modified in the last 30 seconds and only display the picture if that is the case. I’ve also got an inline refresh going with JavaScript so you don’t necessarily have to open the pop-up window to see the picture update.
Of course, the iSight isn’t primarily intended to be just a webcam. It’s the eyes and ears of iChat, donchyaknow?
My mother was here for a few days and we arranged for a transatlantic chat with Jessica’s family. My mother hadn’t seen Jessica’s mother in about three years. Myself, Jessica and my mother gathered ‘round my iMac here in Brighton while Jessica’s mother and grandmother faced the family’s newly purchased iBook in Sierra Vista, Arizona.
It was very cool.
Weird at first, but… cool.
It’s going to save Jessica’s family a fortune in ‘phone bills.
