I am visiting my family for a few days and would like to setup a webcam at my apartment to stream video while I am gone.
I found this question, but the answer isn't really what I was looking for.
I more interested in desktop software, such as WebcamXP, but was wondering if there were any alternatives.
I assume your under Windows? I think it would be easier under a linux variant.
but for windows try these: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-10301349-248.html one of my buddies is using ugolog
EDIT: In that case use ubuntu. There are lots of tutorials out there. http://infectedproject.wordpress.com/2007/06/26/set-up-a-webcam-security-system/ and: http://www.chriswpage.com/2009/05/setup-an-advanced-webcam-security-system-with-ubuntu-8-04-and-motion/
It isn't the easiest solution, but should also work cross platform.
If you install VLC Media Player on whatever machine you want to be the server, and if the webcam is correctly installed, VLC should be able to pick it up and stream it across a network.
You can then use another copy of VLC (or anything else that supports the protocol) to watch what is being shown.
I would also say to test this before you go from an outside connection just to make sure that all ports and everything are configured correctly.
Do you need recording capabilities, or just the ability to check in on your apartment? A quick and dirty solution would be to create a ustream.tv account and just stream using that.
