Just got done doing some research on google earth, getting info on some of my old childhood haunts, for something I'm working on (to be posted here at some point). Boy, was that a bad idea. I coulda done without some of those particular little sidetrips down memory lane.

I feel so tired.

Online webcams. This is a list of some of my favorites so far. I've tried to post this twice before, each time with fairly well-written intros, and both times the browser crashed. Theoretically, it was due to the different routines the cams were asking my browser to perform, but I think it was actually karma.

Anyway, in an effort to actually get this post posted, I'm working in two browser programs and skipping the intro. It works better without me leading in, anyway.

They'll be designated controllable (which are almost always streaming), live (streaming) and still (which refresh periodically, in anywhere from five to thirty seconds, usually.) Have fun.

Nola.com has a collection of live and still cams. There's another new orleans still cam here, at Tropical Isle. (Jesus, it's dawn there as I write this. yeesh.)

There's another collection of still cams at London Cam, looks like they update every five seconds or so.

Seattle's got a cam on the Space Needle. It says live, but I didn't see it update while I was watching. Maybe every minute or so? The interface is cool, though, and check out the time lapse feature, too.

Alcatraz has a controllable cam, come to think of it. Not usually anyone fighting for control of it, either. Go nuts.

I'm not sure exactly where this is (somewhere in japan), and I'm not sure exactly what it is. Horror shop? Tourist attraction? There's four or five streaming cams in there, though. Click around. Don't click the bugs, though. http://www.medamaoyaji.jp/index.html

There's another still cam on an Australian beach, at the Mooloolaba Surf Club. I like this one because I'll probably never ever get to visit australia. Damnit.

I like weasels.
I also like bengal kittens. I'm not sure when they come out, though.
I like lizards, too, but mostly this cam is usually about watching paranoid grasshoppers.

Here's a couple of live controllable cams:
http://www.us-tec.com/live/index.html (Osaka, Japan)
http://www.us-tec.com/live/index.html (Hotel Meridien, Tokyo, Japan)

I like the controllable cams the best, really. Even if you're not moving them yourself, you can sit there and watch what other people do with the cam, without any other connection between you. It's maybe more entertaining that way.

I left out the antarctica cams, because I didn't want to do that subject to death. Scroll back if you're jonesing for ice and wind. :)

Been browsing webcams the past few days. No, not those webcams.

( Antarctic webcams. )

Looking at a lot of these images isn't going to be incredibly interesting at first glance, especially if you don't know much background information. Some of the stations down there have really fascinating projects going on, but I'm just posting the pretty pictures, and I'll let you find the fun stuff yourself.

My big attraction is the idea of being that far away from the bulk of humanity, in a place that's almost completely inhabited by people who want to be there and are excited about why. I'm vaguely thinking about applying for a support staff job there, but that's probably just a daydream. I'll get over it when winter really hits SF. I'm a southern boy in a lot of ways.

This isn't everything I found, or even all of the best stuff, but it's a good selection of highlights. I'm thinking I should cut it short now, because I'm getting a little goofy (see: penguin minions) and I'm going to go to sleep.

Edit: Okay, okay, a few more links. Like I ever go to sleep when I need to, right?

Nova Survival Stories

Revamping the page, I think. I'm understanding why these kanji-a-day pages die off before too long; after the first handful of entries, is gets to feeling like work. Which would be okay, but it feels like redundant work, which is one of the things that's always driven me insane about any of my actual jobs.

So. Look forward to the new kanji-and-other-stuff-maybe-not-quite-every-day page. Go me.

Found what seems to be a wonderful kanji dictionary online, at http://www.nuthatch.com/kanji/ . I'll link to entries on that site for now, and if this journal gets anything more than twenty or so people following it, I'll check in with the owner to see if it's still okay. No need to be rude about bandwidth.

The link above was the into page. This link ( http://www.nuthatch.com/kanji/demo/frame.html ) is a framed version indexed by radicals. Very nicely done. The only problem I've had so far is that it doesn't have a lookup-by-stroke-count function, which means that I'm having a little problem finding the radical(s) for the entry on Nov. 27th

Also, I'm thinking of upping this to three kanji a day, and/or including hiragana and katakana. Personally, I could use the practice.