Pandash [ a Panoptical Dashboard ]

Red-Light and Speeding Cameras

admin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:26:05 +0000

Well, if you live in almost any major city in the US of A and have run a red light or been speeding lately you might have been caught “on cam”. Here is the drill, law enforcement has cameras that capture the faces and license plates of red-light violators and speeders. When radar-activated cameras are placed on city streets average speeds drop by 9 mph. There are actually a number of websites that have sprung up to help you fight your ticket. fightthespeedingticket.com

In these economic times look for governments to help fill the coffers with some much needed cash. You can expect to see more cams and lights on a corner near you.

A few drawbacks I see are never knowing if you got a ticket when you change address. And what happens with this time dated material and you leave town for a while? The other drawback being if you lend your car and the picture can’t ID the driver. Then what happens if there is a fault in the cam software.

Well now you can protect yourself withPhotoBlocker Spray

The good news, less deaths!

Happy New Year Camsturs!!!

admin — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:53:10 +0000

Well I hope all of you watched your favorite spot on-cam last night to see the festivities. I logged onto earthcam.com to watch the Times Square action. It never fails to inspire me to get a better cam. The technology continues to move at a rapid rate so that each year the virtual and real worlds coalesce.

Peace Out and Happy Happy Prosperous New Days !!! Imagine that 2010 is less than 365 days away !

High Def and IndyCar Series

admin — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:42:15 +0000

From Steve Ballard on blogs.indystar.com/nascarinsider “The new-look IndyCar Series, with 26 cars in a unified field for Saturday night’s season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway, also will have a new look for fans watching the race from home.” He is talking about HD. Now if you are a fast car fan, this is a triumph!

From Wikipedia, “Superficially, IRL cars closely resemble those of other open-wheeled formula racing cars, with front and rear wings and prominent airboxes.”

From autospectator.com, “The 2007 Indianapolis 500 on ESPN on ABC was the first IndyCar Series event to be televised in HD, and all cameras used in ESPN’s IndyCar Series coverage in 2008 will be HD, including in-car cameras and those used in the pits and for other points of view. Included will be a new, high-tech HD onboard camera that can provide a rotating 360-degree view.”

Camfrog

admin — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:57:04 +0000

I would be remiss to report on the state of live webcam streaming without occasionally and energetically acknowledging Camfrog. According to the wayback machine, Camfrog has been online since Oct 2003. Their worldwide user base includes kids, adults and a thriving community of hearing impaired. They offer both hosted rooms and sell a pro server version to host your own room. The rooms vary in topic and subject matter such as geography, language, age and interest. If you are a pot-smoking dweeb with a penchant for tats and wanking, a room waits for you. As of this post they have 4820 chat rooms with 71085 users online. Hands down this is the best video chat application I have used.

Camfrog is not a Web 2.0 app but instead requires a small download of about 5 mb. You get to view one chat person’s window with free version. For a one-time $49.95 fee you get to open up to 100 windows in addition to other benefits like sorting and searching for users. I have a hefty broadband connection and semi-fast machine and can get about 65 windows without to much degradation in movements.

I have seen rooms with up to 1000 users and while the chat typing moves fast, you have options to block users and bots to slow it down. No webcam needed to watch or chat either 1 to 1 or 1 to many in a chat room. Add video conferencing to your website.
You can add robots to greet users, posts ads or hold trivia games.

One of the features I like is the hierarchical structure in which colors denote a pecking order of sorts. Red - owner, green - operator, blue- friend. Each have more user rights then black. Bold are pro version users.

So if you have a virtual yearning for new friends, stuck on intimacy issues, are homebound for a spell and/or are lurking for a safe-sex experience, Camfrog might be your cup-o-tease.

Live Streaming and GPS, is this a good idea?

admin — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:31:07 +0000

If I were seeking a mate on a livecasting site like stickam.com only to find out she lived next door I would drop my cam and go knocking. If I were live mobile streaming from my ride someone might want to check for crowded freeway conditions. And if I wanted check out a potential vacation locale I could log on to their scenic or weather cam. But honestly, what other significant reasons are there to know our webcam buddies exact whereabout?

All criticisms aside, it’s a reality now with a new site called Seero. And yes, there is an excellent application of this: event-based video. Imagine if you wanted to see exactly where the America’s Cup finalist is in relation to the mark, or how far out on the lava fields the women’s leader in the Hawaii Ironman World Championship is. And you could drill down on your favorite lifecaster as they rock to that sold out rock concert.

Now all we have to do is get the major broadcasters and corporate event sponsors to allow non-licensed parties to broadcast and record their events.