Can’t See Something? Use Your Phone’s Camera
Posted in Technology on 31. Aug, 2010
Last night I received some packages of LED strip lighting. I got to work upgrading some of the lighting in my Lexus with some LED strip lighting. Here’s an image of an LED strip.
When it came down to installing a long white LED strip into the trunk of my Lexus, everything was goin’ fine until I realized it didn’t seem that the lighting was turning off. I would close the trunk (not actually locking it down) and peak through the cracks and it appeared the lighting was still on.
Crap, how do I check to see if the trunk LEDs are turning off? I can’t exactly crawl inside the trunk and close it, I’d be trapped. And I didn’t have anyone with me to jump in the trunk to see if the lights would turn off (even if I did have someone with me, I doubt they’d volunteer to jump into the trunk while I closed it).
I was at my wit’s end. I couldn’t figure out what to do. Sure, I could disconnect the LEDs and run a wire out from the trunk and close it to test it, but the LED’s were already wired up and just waiting to be mounted into the trunk. I didn’t wanna’ go through all that crap.
I thought I’d have to disconnect the wiring to test it out manually until I had a brilliant idea; the Neocell 4! I could use my iPhone 4’s video camera.
So that’s what I did. I hit record on the Neocell, put it inside the trunk, draped part of the LED strip over the Neocell’s camera and closed the trunk. I then opened the car door, hit the trunk release button, close the car door, opened the trunk, took the Neocell out, hit stop and played back the results. Here’s the video… (the video’s in portrait unfortunately)
How perfect is that? I was able to see clearly that the trunk LEDs were, in fact, turning off. I also discovered why I kept thinking the lights were staying on. They actually were. I never knew this (never been inside the trunk when it was closed), but unlike most cars, the lights aren’t triggered by a physical button (depressed by the trunk opening), but instead are triggered by the electronic locking mechanism. So as soon as I hit the trunk unlock button or use my key, the lights instantly come on. That’s why in the video, the lights come on long before I ever open the trunk.
Here’s the finished product…
Tips for putting your video recording phone to good use
So if you happen to have a mobile phone that can record video, remember it. You’ll be in situations where using your phone to record video will help you out. Here are some examples of how you might use your phone’s video camera.
- Record the license plate and positioning of a car parked badly next to yours, in case you come out and find your car dented, scraped or damaged.
- Record the price tag of an item in store to show as proof when checking out to avoid “Electronics associate to the front end…”.
- Use your phone as a video mirror to see things you physically can’t (such as my trunk light scenario).
- Use your phone to display a situation your trying to describe to a someone. (i.e. “Here’s the leaking when it rains.”, “This is how your dog acts when around other dogs.”, “This is your child acttin’a fool when you aren’t around.”, “See honey, your friend checks me out each time you leave the room.”)
- Record something for evidence, such as an accident, criminal act or general wrongdoing. (For all you know, your video could make the nightly news.)
- Record something involving yourself to avoid being wrongfully accused. (i.e. “Babe, I did give Rover a bath. Here’s a video of me washing him. He must have gotten dirty again”, “Yes Mr. Johnson, I was sick yesterday. I took a video of the doctor’s waiting room yesterday as proof.”, “No, I didn’t forget. They were completely sold out. Look, I even took a video of the empty shelf.”)
Now come on, no one readin’ this can’t say they’ve been in one of these situations where having a video would have helped them out. Most people’s excuse for not doing this is “I don’t have a phone that can record videos.”. And you know, that’s right. There’s nothing they can do. But for those people lucky enough to be able to record video anytime, any place (such as myself), we need to remember to use it.
After all, don’t one of those people everyone makes fun of. “She was lost for hours and hours… and she has a car GPS but it never occurred to her to use it! Hahaha…”
Peace, JbB
