Views of the World

[MoonHunter]

One thing I have always liked to do is view webcams from around the world. Checking weather, traffic, or watching Old Faithful going off or the Otters at the aquarium, are all interesting things to do.

In no particular order

http://www.earthcam.com/
Fun and easy to use. I like this one because it occasionally shows "live shows" of jazz and such. It is related to Earthcam.net

www.webcamsearch.com
Webcams: WebcamSearch.com provides a webcams directory with over 42,000 webcams listings worldwide, including free webcam video chat - live webcam chat with people from all over the world. Viewers can browse sites by category or geographical regions. Indoor cams, college cams, travel cams and more.

http://www.camscape.com/
Welcome to the Camscape webcam directory. There are 1363 operational and free webcam sites listed in 206 categories. All the webcams on the site have been checked to be functional - this site was redesigned recently and every single link was checked, we are the most up to date directory there is!

http://www.camvista.com
Mostly UK site. The UKs top travel webcam portal. Plan your next holiday or vacation using our UK webcams. Network camera sales.  

http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/cam_menu.asp
My favorite aquarium.

[Ancient Gamer]

Cool!

In 20 minutes I checked out whats up near MoonHunter in San Francisco, how the mountains of Idaho (near Cap) are doing, what's up in Slovakia (where Echo and Manfred hail from) and how the malls of Singapore are doing (where Maggot is from).

I feel... connected

[MoonHunter]

That is why I think I am getting addicted to WebCams. I can set my computer screen to be a window on the world. If I am in the mood, I can have snow covered mountains, a beautiful nightscape (Paris), watch the Vatican, see the ocean waves, check out a sunset (or the sunrise in Antartica). The images of the world are there for me... and they are live (almost).  At work, this can make things palitable.

Besides, when my new system is purchased (still waiting on that tax refund... who would of thought you could get more money back from the US Federal government than you put in??) I will have that lovely broadband connection. The reminants of my broken computer plus a small projection monitor that will be dedicated to being a "window" to the world.


I would make this in the IGW thread, but it is not really gaming. It is however "cool".

[MoonHunter]

I was looking for something else entirely, but found a non game related website that was quite interesting.

http://www.confluence.org/

The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location. The pictures and stories will then be posted here.

The project is an organized sampling of the world. There is a confluence within 49 miles (79 km) of you if you're on the surface of Earth. We've discounted confluences in the oceans and some near the poles, but there are still 12,416 to be found.

You're invited to help by photographing any one of these places. Read the Information pages, and contact us if you have questions.

[Strolen]

That is pretty darn cool!

[Andimia]

here's a site I go to when I feel homesick.
http://www.touchtmj4.com/_content/weather/liveCameras_Port.asp
sometimes they have a really nice shot of the harbor at night.

[Caitriona]

That's great - I have a new hobby: Watching people around the world.   At the moment I'm watching what the people at N.Y.C. Times Square do. Very cool!  

[Kinslayer]

I thought at first you meant different ways of perceiving how things operate, as in Weltanschauung.

[MoonHunter]

Well Kinslayer... That is kind of fun too. Unfortunately it takes many, many, months to perform properly without pharmalocogical aid. Altered states of mind allow for different perceptions and thus different ways to view the world.

You can also view the world through various different intellectual lenses. See the world as an Athiest, a Marxist, a Socialist, or Religious Sectarian. Thus the world will have different context and meaning.

Personally, I don't like isms and -ists, so I will stick to web cams.

[Ancient Gamer]

In this spirit I recently discovered NASA's World Wind project on sourceforge.

Incredibly cool. Start with an overview of the globe, then turn it and zoom in as much as you like. The map did not show the actual houses where I live, but the fields, forests and rivers are clearly shown.

A must try!
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=69528&package_id=145079

[MoonHunter]

http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/

Speaking of interesting ways to look at the world....

My favorite and now my desktop
This spectacular “blue marble� image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet. These images are freely available to educators, scientists, museums, and the public. This record includes preview images and links to full resolution versions up to 21,600 pixels across.

[MoonHunter]

Have I not said in the past that the National Geographic site ROCKS!

http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/

And the main page:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/  Where you can click the magazines, and see tons of images and articles from the past.

So check out a map and see where the world takes you. Gaia's nervous systems is truly cool. It allows the world to be one in a way that would be  impossible earlier in history.

[MoonHunter]

Okay. I have found something more addictive than any MMORPG, or even The Sims. It is more insideous than D20. It sucks up a great amount of time.

Lets take viewing the world to another level.

http://earth.google.com/

That's right. It takes satalite imagry and allows you to navigate the entire world zooming in and out. You can see national landmarks. You can see rugged terrain. You can see my house (as it is viewed from 900 feet up, the image gets a bit fuzzy below that distance). The interface is intuitive and easy to use. Really you have to try this.

Very soon... it will be nearly real time.. :)

[Roack]

It's kind of creepy to know that we can do that, Orwellian creepy.

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

WAR IS PEACE

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

[MoonHunter]

http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/wwp/

The World Wide Panorama began in March 2004 and has become an ongoing series of events. Photography takes place on the solstices (longest and shortest days of the year) and equinoxes (day and night of equal length). Photographers all over the world are welcome to participate.

The current event is Energy.

[MoonHunter]

I forgot I had put this thread up.  This is a great one.  Of course, I feel compelled to throw a yellow flag at myself saying that this should be moved to links, but ....

Anyone else like webcams? (for scenery pervs...)

[MoonHunter]

While we are going through google-fu. I thought you might like this one.