The other day, my friend Lauren sent me a page. "You there?" When I responded yes, she told me to get online. "I have something cool to show you," she typed. I thought she wanted to video chat, but no, she had something else in mind. She sent me a link to a web site and an access code. Lo and behold, the next thing I knew, I was watching her sleeping
baby - live!

Newborn Henry won't become an Internet phenomenon like the Shiba Inu puppies. A San Francisco, California couple set up a web cam in October to monitor their six puppies while they worked. It has had over 13 million views.

What both families have discovered is a novel concept — whether you have a baby or a pet. Forget baby monitors. With today's technology, you can go one step further. Why not?

Now you don't have to be the only one to keep tabs on your loved one, whether you're at home or at work. Your significant other can too, and so can family and friends. That's the beauty of the Internet: you can broadcast this footage and share the love. Just be sure to set up a password on the video so you can control who can see into your house. Also, make sure to change the password frequently since your friends and family may share the link when you first distribute it.

All you need is a video camera in the subject's room. There are two options: a computer with a webcam or a network camera. An example of the latter is a Panasonic Network Camera. Even though the site's marketing mentions "petcams", ostensibly they can also be used for monitoring babies as well. Be aware that some network cameras don't have full motion video and audio. This means some may be better for monitoring rather than communicating.

If you're going to use a computer and webcam, you'll probably want to use a broadcast site like justin.tv or ustream.tv. Both of these sites support full motion video and audio. Unlike a network camera, they require a dedicated computer. You can use an old one if it meets the minimum requirements, or you can put a laptop in the room temporarily when you want to broadcast.

If you only want to broadcast within the house, then you can use Bonjour iChat (on a Mac) or a LAN network video camera. If you don't need to broadcast outside of the house, this is better than using the Internet since it is inherently more private.

Now I'm going to go ooh and ahh over little Henry some more, though I think I'll mute the sound first. I've already had my share of crying babies!

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