Yes, it’s that time of year again, when grocery stores are selling Christmas decorations and toys, drug stores are selling Christmas trees (hey, nobody actually buys food or medicine, do they?), and Starbucks is playing Jingle Bell Muzak on infinite loop.

And, oh yes, the Komarnitsky family is once again letting you – yes you – control their outdoor Christmas lights via your web browser and the magic of the Internet. (Note to George Tenet: I won’t tell the terrorists if you don’t.)

[Page no longer available – we have linked to the archive.org version instead] Komarnitsky and his family live near Boulder, Colorado, where it’s cold, clear, and snowy. The perfect backdrop for a Rockwellian white Christmas, and with nothing else to do in that blustery winter wildness, hey, why not put up a few thousand, or a few dozen thousand, Christmas lights?

But gosh, after spending all that time putting up all those lights (22,000 one year), it’s a shame that only the neighbors are going to get to see them.

Hey, here’s an idea, why not let everyone on the Internet see them.

In fact, heck, why not let everyone on the Internet turn them on and off and flicker them!

And that is exactly what you and your web browser can do at http://www.komar.org/cgi-bin/xmas_webcam.

Happy Flickering, from our house to yours.

P.S. You can read more about this at Komar.org