For the past five years, Clément Storck has been tracking his cat's movements. He does so using an automation device he set up on a cat door that leads to the outdoors and sends a tweet with a photo, a message, and a timestamp whenever his pet goes in or out. Since he created Pépito's account in 2011, the handsome black cat has gotten over 18,000 followers.The internet-beloved Pépito's timeline is a source of constant cycling repetitive messages: "Pépito is out," it reads as you see hind legs and tail going out the door; "Pépito is back home" you read when the feline hastily jumps back in through the door head-first, on rare occasions carrying a mouse in his mouth.VICE reached out to Storck, an engineer of sorts who studied telecommunications and lives in Paris, to ask him about why he set up Pépito's account in the first place and to see how it feels when your cat ends up having way more Twitter followers than you.
Clément Storck: I started doing it because I made a website called PushingBox, and I created a cat door. The website can send notifications for life events, like if someone opens a door or rings the doorbell, you can get a notification, send a Tweet, get an email. I'm a big fan of automation, and I have a French blog about it… There was a need for notification, say like if you leave the garage door open without knowing it… I created PushingBox to help people do this without them needing to know coding because it is really simple to use. Anyone with basic computer knowledge can use it. Pépito was the perfect example of what you can do with PushingBox.Pépito is your cat, right? How long have you had him?
Yes. He was born in 2007, and we had him since he was four months old. It's been about nine years. My parents' friends' cat just had babies and they gave one to us. Right now I'm in Paris, but the cat still lives with my parents—they do not live in Paris. For about a year and a half, I only see him when I go back home every few months, so it's quite good to know that my cat is doing well because I can see the photos of Pépito and know what he is doing.What is Pépito's personality like?
Pépito is really independent. He likes to be pet, but not like other cats who really, really like it and can go on the couch with you. He likes to live his life most of the time alone and sometimes only he will go with you when he wants and sleeps on the couch.Were you surprised by how many Twitter followers Pépito got?
Of course, this is crazy! I still don't know why people are following him, but they give a lot of commentary. I read every comment he gets each morning when I wake up.Pépito's account and PushingBox in general were inspired by your fascination with automation. Can you tell me what makes you so passionate about automation?
The amazing thing about automation is that it is the gateway between real life and programming. My goal is to automate everything. When you go back home and it's dark, you have to turn on the light by pushing the button. Now, I don't even have to think about it. When I go back home, the lights turn on automatically.What other things have you automated in your life?
It's a lot to think about! One thing I really like is this year I built a device under my bed, so when I go to sleep, it knows I am going to bed, it activates, and it tells the lights to turn off, audio to turn off. If I wake up in the middle of the night, the lights turn on. When I come back to my flat in Paris, it triggers automation. When I go to work, the lights and radio shut down. When I open the door to go back home, there is a voice that tells me the temperature in the room.In regards to Pépito, his Twitter account keeps track of when he goes out, for how long, etc. Are you studying this data, or has anyone else asked for it?
No, I really think of doing that because it could be very interesting to know how long he goes out or what time he comes back home. I've never [studied] it, and I don't think anyone else has. But there is a girl who I don't know in real life, but she made a bot called Pépito's Friend. It really makes me smile a lot because that it responds to Pépito whenever he does something, and if he is gone for a long time, it asks what he is doing. The bot itself has 2,000 followers. That's crazy.With Pépito's Twitter, what is the most interesting thing you've seen him do? I know people get really excited when he gets a mouse.
He has gotten a mouse a few times… He has brought back birds before also. One time he brought a living bird in, and I found it flying in the room… Two years ago during the summer, it was so hot in France that Pépito was always outside. So for three days, he didn't go through the cat door, and there was no tweet. There were so many people asking in the comments what was going on. They wanted to know why he didn't come home. I had to send a tweet with a picture to say he was OK, and I had a lot, a lot of commentary. One commenter was funny and told me I am probably the only guy in the world with less followers than his cat because on my personal account, I have about 500 followers, and my cat has 18,000 followers. That's weird, and it's very interesting.Follow Allison Tierney on Twitter.
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VICE: Why did you decide to set up a Twitter account for Pépito?Pépito is back home (19:35:24) — Pépito (@PepitoTheCat)December 24, 2014
Clément Storck: I started doing it because I made a website called PushingBox, and I created a cat door. The website can send notifications for life events, like if someone opens a door or rings the doorbell, you can get a notification, send a Tweet, get an email. I'm a big fan of automation, and I have a French blog about it… There was a need for notification, say like if you leave the garage door open without knowing it… I created PushingBox to help people do this without them needing to know coding because it is really simple to use. Anyone with basic computer knowledge can use it. Pépito was the perfect example of what you can do with PushingBox.Pépito is your cat, right? How long have you had him?
Yes. He was born in 2007, and we had him since he was four months old. It's been about nine years. My parents' friends' cat just had babies and they gave one to us. Right now I'm in Paris, but the cat still lives with my parents—they do not live in Paris. For about a year and a half, I only see him when I go back home every few months, so it's quite good to know that my cat is doing well because I can see the photos of Pépito and know what he is doing.
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Pépito is really independent. He likes to be pet, but not like other cats who really, really like it and can go on the couch with you. He likes to live his life most of the time alone and sometimes only he will go with you when he wants and sleeps on the couch.Were you surprised by how many Twitter followers Pépito got?
Of course, this is crazy! I still don't know why people are following him, but they give a lot of commentary. I read every comment he gets each morning when I wake up.Pépito's account and PushingBox in general were inspired by your fascination with automation. Can you tell me what makes you so passionate about automation?
The amazing thing about automation is that it is the gateway between real life and programming. My goal is to automate everything. When you go back home and it's dark, you have to turn on the light by pushing the button. Now, I don't even have to think about it. When I go back home, the lights turn on automatically.What other things have you automated in your life?
It's a lot to think about! One thing I really like is this year I built a device under my bed, so when I go to sleep, it knows I am going to bed, it activates, and it tells the lights to turn off, audio to turn off. If I wake up in the middle of the night, the lights turn on. When I come back to my flat in Paris, it triggers automation. When I go to work, the lights and radio shut down. When I open the door to go back home, there is a voice that tells me the temperature in the room.In regards to Pépito, his Twitter account keeps track of when he goes out, for how long, etc. Are you studying this data, or has anyone else asked for it?
No, I really think of doing that because it could be very interesting to know how long he goes out or what time he comes back home. I've never [studied] it, and I don't think anyone else has. But there is a girl who I don't know in real life, but she made a bot called Pépito's Friend. It really makes me smile a lot because that it responds to Pépito whenever he does something, and if he is gone for a long time, it asks what he is doing. The bot itself has 2,000 followers. That's crazy.With Pépito's Twitter, what is the most interesting thing you've seen him do? I know people get really excited when he gets a mouse.
He has gotten a mouse a few times… He has brought back birds before also. One time he brought a living bird in, and I found it flying in the room… Two years ago during the summer, it was so hot in France that Pépito was always outside. So for three days, he didn't go through the cat door, and there was no tweet. There were so many people asking in the comments what was going on. They wanted to know why he didn't come home. I had to send a tweet with a picture to say he was OK, and I had a lot, a lot of commentary. One commenter was funny and told me I am probably the only guy in the world with less followers than his cat because on my personal account, I have about 500 followers, and my cat has 18,000 followers. That's weird, and it's very interesting.Follow Allison Tierney on Twitter.