"Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither and will lose both," according to a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin. We would add, "Those who would sacrifice $199.99 for a Panasonic WV-NM100 network color camera deserve first-rate surveillance functions." The WV-NM100 makes it easy to keep tabs on the old homestead while you're away - not only can you monitor its high-quality color video from any web browser, you can actually control its movements that way, too. We think even Benny himself would approve, if a pile of dust and bones in the cold, hard earth could approve of anything.

Created for Panasonic's professional security division, the WV-NM100 makes all those cruddy little webcams look like even cruddier, littler webcams. It houses a digital video camera, a web server, and a network interface into one all-seeing eye. All you need to do is hook it up to a standard RJ45 network cable, set up an IP address, and sit back and wait for the scumbags to make their move. The motorized controls make it easy to pan & tilt from the comfort of your web browser, with an expansive 140-degree pan range and a 120-degree tilt range, or you can set it to auto-scan. In return, the WV-NM100 streams color MPEG-4 video right back at you, or switches to high-contrast black & white when the lights get low. It's what we'd call a symbiotic relationship, if we didn't really understand what "symbiotic" meant.

But the WV-NM100 is no mere disinterested observer, standing coldly by like Uatu the Watcher while rampaging barbarians perpetrate their calumny. Its Video Motion Detector function can pick up any motion in its field of view and output an alarm signal. If, God forbid, it detects some motion and sounds the warning, it will automatically capture and store up to 60 JPEG still images from just before and just after the alarm went off. The WV-NM100 will even e-mail you to let you know the alarm went off, and attach one of the images so you can size up the scumbags and choose the proper gauge of weaponry to regulate the situation.

It's a dangerous world we live in, crawling with fiends, guerrillas, malefactors, rogues, and deviants trying to break into your home or business and have their wicked way with you and yours. You can't be everywhere at once, but with enough Panasonic WV-NM100 network color cameras, you can just about see everywhere at once.

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