Slashdot Mirror
Joe Barr Gives ZoneMinder A Thumbs-Up
I've been interested in the Free software home-security software called ZoneMinder for a while, but strictly as a lurker, checking out the project's site whenever I noticed it crawl down the Freshmeat home page. Joe Barr of NewsForge, though, recently had reason to install the software, which manages one or more home security cameras (which can be any Linux compatible camera -- he used some common D-Link wireless ones), watches for movement (generating alarms based on user configuration), and lets the camera output be streamed elsewhere, so a thief can't usefully just rip out the recording system. (NewsForge and Slashdot are both part of OSTG.)
One thing I wonder about, though. The Screenshot in the article showed the driveway from a fairly long shot. Are the cameras good enough to read a liscence plate at that distance? And what about lighting? It might be hard to read a plate at night, although a motion detector on an external light might solve that problem.
Getting pictures of theives is a good thing, making sure that they are good enought to ID someone is even better.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
I can have it page me whenever there is movement in the shower. Ooops! Thinking aloud again.
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
ZoneMinder is a collection of Perl, PHP, and C++ modules which work together to deliver a highly functional video security package. It can handle multiple cameras, either locally attached, like a USB Webcam, or remote Internet cameras. Also required are MySQL and an HTTP server like Apache. That can mean a lot of installation time, and perhaps a few frustrations along the way, but it's worth it.
This project might be out of reach for folks without the technical ability of the geniuses that populate slashdot. Anyone know how much a professional installation like this would cost for comparison?
FoundNews.com - get paid to blog.,
Cannot tell you the number of times I have thought about implementing the exact same application. The idea of wireless streaming means the storage device can be kept off-site or in a very discreet location within the premises.
One question I have is about the detection analysis, and how the threshold for analysis is set. For instance, there are a number of trees beside my front driveway and they sway and shake a lot. How does one go about making sure Zoneminder does not record the trees continuously?
M
Oh how this can add to my pron world. The place next door to me is still under construction. Perhaps I can covertly install some of these in certain areas, stream them to my house, and watch them at work. Or better... I'll buy the place, rent it a bunch of college girls, then stream it into my new site called VoyeurDorm.com. ;)
Motion has motion detection and whatnot, and it's a pretty nice program, extremely configurable and extensible. Makes a nice webcam with java streaming .
"'Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue."
He says his *friend* has an IP from a cable modem provider. His whole plan will fall apart when the IPs change. Note to self: when implementing this in the shower at work, make sure I use an IP that won't change. ;)
I was thinking more like setting it up near the local meth house and publishing license plates to the web.
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
Okay admit it. How many of you read that as "free homeland security software" and were about ready to burn down sourceforge to find the programmer who created this? Fess up! I know you're out there!
Away put your pitchforks and torches!
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
I wonder what other applications this could be used for. Maybe I'm wrong, but alot of people do NOT need this intense of security. They may want it, but a deadbolt would be sufficient. If someone does break into my apartment, the most the can take are a couple of computers, the cost of setting up this system would be as much as what I'd be securing. Perhaps it could be low-cost/opensource security solution for school computer labs. With that said, what else could this be used for? Besides the normal childish pron/watching your babysitters jokes. How about Environmental monitoring?
I think it is important to remember that even if the web access is secure anyone can intercept RF link warless cameras. Rather than supplying extra security, you may be letting thieves case your home or business. They'll be able to see what you have, if you are home, and where your security cameras are pointed.
Plus, the privacy implications are also bad, you are letting anyone with a receiver to spy on you 24 hours a day.
Looking at the tutorial for the camera, it doesn't appear that there's anything to stop anyone in wifi range from intercepting the video stream. Seems to be an odd oversight in something intended to provide security.
I guess that might be acceptable if the cameras only looked outside, but your neighbors might have other ideas...
Not your job to play vigilante..
Be sure to post your address too so they can burn your house down for sticking your nose into other peoples affairs.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The cameras use Wifi to transmit their images.. Think of the fun you could have if you cracked the WEP key or whatever they use, and transmitted your own footage.
From the article:
I installed it at the house of my 'friend' Susan...
The camera is at her house, but the program is running at mine...
It is for her security, in case she is burgled again.
Yeah, Right.
As someone who worked in security (and no, not as an 'officer') he would help himself immensely by creating some kind of sign and stickers saying "This house protected by webcams" or something. The real goal should be to deter, not catch, because cacthing a crook like this is a long shot. This sort of thing isn't really conducive to catching John Doe, local professional thief, it is good, however, for catching Timmy, the neighbor's kid.
I recently tried installing ZoneMinder to test it as a security system for my company.
/usr/local/zoneminder (after a couple of false starts, figuring out the directives that needed to be passed to the configure script); and then tried to run the setup script.
I downloaded the most recent version (1.19.5), and tried installing it on a Debian box with a USB webcam attached. Being that there isn't a Debian package for it yet, I tried installing it from source. I installed it to
I found that I needed to hack the setup script in order for it to find certain things (which Debian puts in a different place than Redhat, and were hard-coded in); and even when I did so, the setup script bombed out near the end with a perl error (even after turning off 'use strict', which helped me past a couple of coding errors). I discovered that Redhat-ish values (user and group to run as) had been hard-coded into some autogenerated config files.
Even after straightening that out, I found that the init script was Redhat-specific (and not outrageously well-written at that). So as a quick-and-dirty measure, I just started the daemons by hand, the old Unix way. (If I cared to, I can write init scripts with equal aplomb for both Redhat and Debian; but I just wanted to try this program out).
Got the daemons up & running. Looked at the config page through a web browser. Tried setting up a camera. Got no output. Got no useful debugging information in the logs. I knew very well that the camera was working (got output via xawtv and camstream); but zoneminder wouldn't produce output. After reading the FAQ, troubleshooting docs, and Googling a bit, I figured out how to invoke some of the programs from the command line, and saw that Zoneminder's tools could scan for video devices and get information about them; but couldn't figure out any more than "something's not right with this daemon, it exits directly after being invoked".
At this point I decided that the quality of this tool was highly suspect, and not appropriate for our use. Definitely not appropriate for a post-1.0 release; since even just the installer bombed out with a perl coding error.
It looks like a nifty program, which is why I stuck with the frustrating install & troubleshooting process for 4 hours or so. I wish the developers the best; but I humbly and honestly suggest they develop some regression and install tests.
Note: I am anything but new to Linux. I've been admin'ing Redhat and Debian systems for 6 years now, and using it as my exclusive desktop since about 2000. I am not a perl hacker nor a C programmer by trade (tho I'm not unfamiliar with such things); and I really don't feel like becoming one in order to just try out a post-v1.0 program.
After trying and sending back the X10 crap (CMOS is not the way to go) I found an inexpensive solution that I've been using for over a year now. Geovision makes an excellent system that comes bundled with a DVR card for the PC (*nix too). I'm running 2 - 3/4" weather-proof wired bullet cams (Sony 1/3 CCD's high res, low lux) connected to a 2 port card (up to 16 port avail). The software is solid and has wayyyy more features than I need. 24x7x365 monitoring, MPEG's captured to an HD on motion detect, remote access, playback, web, security, 30 day retention of files (configurable), alarms, PTZ support, audio, yada, yada, yada. Amazing what goes on in my hood when I'm at work! :) Cams, card, and software was under $300 USD. Just add PC and away you go! Tin foil hat and side arm not included.
I moved a few months ago.