SlothCam is a customizable webcam Dashboard Widget for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). SlothCam lets you view any jpeg based webcam in Tiger's Dashboard environment. You can customize Slothcam by simply entering any image URL of your choice into the preferences panel on the back of the widget (click on the while "i" in the corner to see the preferences). When dashboard is in the foreground, SlothCam updates the current webcam at the specified time interval. When dashboard is in the background, slothcam stops updating to save memory and bandwidth.

When new version of SlothCam are released, sometimes new webcams are added to the default list. In order to see the new webcams, you may have to reset your preferences (don't forget to backup your old webcam addresses first!!)

If you like SlothCam, please click the paypal link below to buy me a beer, or click here to buy a shirt!!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION OF SlothCam. (2.94)

Changes in version 2.94 (Jan 10 2008)

• Fixed a bug in version 2.93 that caused problems when adding new webcams or modifying existing webcams.

Changes in version 2.93 (November 16 2007)

• Fixed broken URLs (Montreal, Toronto, Paris, etc.).
• Visual improvements for Leopard (the control element positioning on the back of the widget was a bit messed up in Leopard for some reason).
• Some really obscure webcams will now work which previously did not.
• You can now tab through elements on the back of the widget in the correct order.

Changes in version 2.92 (April 3 2006)

• Fixed broken URLs (Panama Canal, Toronto).
• Made the "auto cycle" speed a variable, so it cam be changed. I did not want to put a new field or drop down menu into the GUI becuase I haven't had many people requesing this feature, so in order to adjust the ayto cycle speed you will need to use the terminal. See instructions below.

Changes in version 2.91 (Dec 23 2005)

• Fixed several broken URLs (Venice Beach, Panama Canal), and changed Polarbear Cam to Calhoun Factory WebCam (since the polarbear cam is down until next season). Changes will only take effect if you reset your preferences (don't forget to backup your webcams).

Changes in version 2.9 (October 22)

• Removed broken niagara falls URL and replaced it with 'Polarbear Cam'.

Changes in version 2.8 (August 2)

• Fixed support for certain URLs containing 'wvhttp'.
• Added a few new default URLs (you need to reset your preferences to see them if upgrading from an older version).
• You can now hit space-bar to force SlothCam to update the current webcam image.

Changes in version 2.7 (July 8)

• Added the ability to move the caption to the top or bottom of the widget.
• You can now turn the image loading notification on or off (if it is off, there is still a small notification in the bottom right corner).
• Camera list should load faster for users with lots of cameras in SlothCam.

Changes in version 2.6 (June 27)

• Fixed a bug that occurred when more than one SlothCam was left open.
• Made camera caption easier to read (transparent background).
• Notification that camera is reloading (caption background turns red). The other loading images have been removed.

Changes in version 2.5 (June 20)

• Slothcam now keeps track of camera names. The camera name can be displayed on top of the webcam image, or just in the widget preferences.
• Fixed window resize bug that caused slothcam to lose it's aspect ratio.
• Preferences have a new look.
• NOTE: You might lose some of your refresh rate preferences in this version, due to the fact that they are stored differently in the preferences. If you experience any problems, please try resetting the preferences.

Changes in version 2.4 (June 12)

• Arrow Keys can now be used to cycle between webcams (you need to click on SlothCam first them use arrow keys).
• New "Auto Cycle" mode makes SlothCam cycle to a different webcam every 5 seconds.
• Many optimizations! Hopefully SlothCam runs faster and takes up less memory now.
• Changed Venice Beach webcam to one that updates more frequently.
• (2.41 is the same as 2.4 but the Cycle@Refresh feature was changed to Auto Cycle, and it now works properly).

Changes in version 2.3

• No more bordered window mode - SlothCam is now always borderless.
• SlothCam is now resizable.
• New default webcams.

Changes in version 2.2

• SlothCam now has a "borderless" window mode, for those of you that think SlothCam's window is too big.

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Instructions

Press "Add URL" to add a new URL that you have typed into the URL field to the list.

Press "Clear URL" to clear the current URL from memory.

Press enter (return) to modify the current URL or camera name.

Press "Reset Preferences" to revert SlothCam to it's default list of webcams.

Check "Cycle Cams" if you want SlothCam to display a different webcam each time you go into Dashboard (in the order that they were entered).

Check "Auto Cycle" and SlothCam will cycle webcams every 5 seconds while dashboard is open.

In order to In order to adjust the auto cycle rate, you will have to type the following command in the terminal: defaults write widget-net.webhop.glorioussloth.widget.SlothCam autoCycleTime -int 5 where the number at the end is the number of seconds you would like it to cycle at.

You can turn the text caption on and off and change the position of the caption from the caption pop-up menu. By default when a new image is loading, the caption will turn red, and this behavior can also be changed from the caption menu.

Another indication that a new image is loading can be seen in the bottom right corner of the widget, just below the resize tab. If the image loading indication is disabled for the caption, you will still see this small indicator in the bottom-right.

You can use the arrow keys to switch between webcams. Just click on SlothCam and then press the left or right arrow.

If you press the space-bar, Slothcam will immediately update. This is useful for modem users who don't want to have frequent update intervals and like to decide when to refresh the image.

SlothCam resizable! Just click the tab in the bottom right and drag to resize. If you wish to change the aspect ratio of the window, hold shift and drag.

SlothCam can only display an image from a webcam, so the URL you enter must be point to a jpeg or gif (it must end in .jpg or .gif not .html). SlothCam does not support webcams that require RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, flash or java based players.

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Click here for a list of image URLs that work in SlothCam. Check out this google link for some random webcams. Also, there is a good database of webcam URLs here (only the ones ending in .jpg will work with SlothCam).