Neighbor Cam - The Ultimate Practical Joke!

June 1, 2001 - No matter where in America you live, you're going to have neighbors. That's just a fact of life that you've learned to live with. Some of those neighbors are okay, while others are not. But then you've got the neighbors with whom, for whatever reason, there seems to be a wonderful connection. Brad Hoskins and his family and his next-door neighbors have such a relationship. They've been living next to each other for many years, and over time have developed a wonderful friendship. So much so, that Brad thought he could have a little fun with his neighbor.

"I was supposed to go over and watch the game," Brad told us, "but I wanted to play a practical joke on him first." So with the help of the XCam2, Brad set about setting up his elaborate practical joke.

First he placed the XCam2 in his neighbor's window near the television and aimed it toward the living room sofa. Then he set up the receiver to the VCR, ran the output of the VCR to the input of the cable to his neighbor's house, or as he put it, "ultimately disconnecting the cable." All very carefully concealed from his neighbor's watchful eye.

Once the setup was complete, he showed up early. "We talked about new yard equipment, and our cars and stuff," Brad says. All the while keeping his neighbor's attention off the television. "Then when it was time for the game, we sat down on the couch with a couple of beers and some chips." That's what Brad says, but let's add that all-important - "And the remote." "While we were sitting on the couch my neighbor turned on the television, and there we were, sitting and watching ourselves watching TV."

Brad's neighbor wasn't the technophile that Brad was, so it took him a little while to figure out what was going on. And by the time he did, Brad had himself about twenty minutes of great video of the event.

"I went along with him," Brad told us about his neighbor's confusion. "I just pretended that I didn't know what was happening either." Needless to say, Brad had a good joke, and his neighbor had his first experience with the XCam2 and its many practical uses. And Brad pulled off his joke just the way we like to see jokes pulled off. His joke was fun, completely thought out, harmless so that nobody got hurt, and it was done in the spirit of good clean fun. That's the way X10 likes to see all practical jokes played out.

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