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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week /2008 Using the internet for imagined
getaways – As we
have our air conditioners blasting and our refrigerators filled with extra
liquids, I’m thinking about the great snow-in we had last February just 5 month ago, and how I was
actually snowbound for 5 days in 2 feet of snow- at Lincoln Heights. Not only was my
car stuck in my parking lot, but I was stuck in 2 foot deep snow and
couldn’t walk to the grocery store. So to
relieve my claustrophobia and to fight off Seasonal Affective Disorder –
I surfed the Web and started finding webcams, local Washington and all over
the word – to create a sense of mental freeness. The first
webcams I surfed to are our Washington
Department of Transportation traffic cams covering the entire state. All major
Washington cities are on their webcams too, so I looked at the Spokane area
– 3rd
and Washington – and traffic was moving fine although there was a
huge snow berm in the center lane. The Hamilton
street bridge heading into the Gonzaga district was pretty clear too. I’d
been telling my daughter in West Seattle about all our snow, and I was able
to see the West Seattle
Fauntleroy ferry – 5 minutes from her house – in bright
sunshine with bare snowless shores. I’d
heard that Snoqualmie
Pass actually was ok, and sure enough I saw it to be almost bare, but
with of course a lot of snow on the roadside. All the other Washington
mountain passes are viewable on DOT webcams. Surprisingly,
just seeing snowless areas in my own state made me feel better, so I started
looking for webcams
around the world . San Francisco Bay looked sunny and
warm, and the webcams offered both a live and fog free view of the bay. Seeking
warmer climes I found the Boca
Raton webcams, and saw white sandy beaches, sunny skies and blue ocean. Going
international, Zurich Sweden looked inviting too, and it had a
panoramic webcam so you could move your view around. Ah yes, this is much better. Let’s
go to Paris
in about one mouse click – the Eifel tower against clear skies. Looking
at all this good international weather makes me feel great – but also a
little guilty – surely there’s are some places on Earth that have
worse weather conditions than me here on the South Hill, and I do have a
McDonalds 2 blocks away I could trek to. The South Pole has
a webcam named after the Explorers Roald Amundsen
and Robert Scott. Ok, that does look bleaker than here on the South hill, and
probably no McDonalds. And at
the top of the Earth at 29,029’, Mount Everest has
a slowly moving panoramic display – but not live
– which you can stop at anytime. So I’m seeing what English Explorer George Mallory might have seen in 1924
on his final attempt which took his life, and which Sir Edmund Hillary
actually saw in 1953. So
looking at webcams truly is invigorating and empowering. If George Mallory
could climb Everest in 1924 wearing a tweed jacket and home-knit sweater, I
know I can make it to that McDonalds..... |
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For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2008 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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