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Home > Sneaking a global peek with EarthCam
June 3, 2005
By: Bob Whitehead
While it’s nice to know that there are places on the
Internet, like EarthCam, where we can view other places of
interest, it’s still comforting to know that it’s a long way
from being usable for spying on us or our neighbors. A visit
to EarthCam will open the view up to a wide collection of
webcams ready to be view 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The notion that someone can put up a webcam anywhere in
the world and post the live streaming images on the web can
be a little disturbing. However, if EarthCam is any
indication, people would still have to know where and when
to look to see anything potentially embarrassing or
incriminating. That is why EarthCam provides a “searchable”
database of images.
EarthCam is well organized, being segmented into
categories that range from education and traffic to scenic
and sports areas. The search engine also provides a means of
searching all the web cameras for key words that one might
be interested in. However, how the results are ranked for
searches on their site remains a mystery.
Top five things still needed in the EarthCam search
engine:
- Dark, still, or inactive cameras should not show up in
live searches.
- Links to camera shots should go to cameras, not other
links.
- Search results should rank higher those webcams that
a. Have a higher video refresh rate,
b. Have the most visitors,
c. Show what they say they show.
- Geographical locations should have best viewing times
posted in description.
- New link additions to the community should be checked
for live web cameras.
The technology for web cameras is still in its infant
stage. EarthCam is wonderful site to learn how the world of
web cameras is used today. It can be used personally to
provide video surveillance on personal property or within
your own home. However, it is not a tool for spying. To be
able to be “EarthCam’d” like someone is “Googled” is still a
long ways off.
About the Author
Bob Whitehead is a successful freelance writer and
contributor to Video-Surveillance-Guide.com. Your
definitive guide to video surveillance equipment, CCTV
cameras and wireless security systems for home and business.
Also See:
[ The age of informational spy gear ]
[ Karmic consequences of using spy equipment ]
[ High quality surveillance with a video capture card ]
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