The Pyrotechnic Pen
Is our privacy being invaded by the usage of more and more cameras in public places? I am not talking just about security cameras, but about hidden cams which broadcast their picture live directly upon the Internet.
Recently I did a search on the internet and came up with over thirthteen thousand hits for Montgomery, Alabama and cams. I was surprised by this number and wondered if all those cams were in Alabama or somewhere else. How many of them were in public places? How many of them were in private homes? How many were in bedrooms?
The WSFA TowerCam 12 gives a view of Montgomery's skyline. This particular cam can rotate 300 degrees from due east to southeast. When I took a peek the cam was pointed west toward the Alabama State Capitol.
The Montgomery Academy, a private school, operates at least eight cams. When I went to take a peek, both the Bridge cam and the Garzon Library cam both showed public views. The Garzon Library cam overlooks the main parking lot and viewers are asked to, "Keep your eyes peeled for students hanging out of windows... or just hanging around the parking lot."
Those interested in area cams might try the Alabama Live Web Cam Directory. This site has links to cams in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Montgomery as well as a beach cam at Gulfshores. Another live beach cam is located at Picho's On The Beach Bar and Grill in Gulf Shores, Alabama and gives a pretty view of the beach where you can watch the wave roll in or see passers-by.
Most interestingly, the Montgomery Civic Center has eight webcams providing views of its convention halls. Appearently these cams operate 24/7. When I peeked in using my Netscape browser I was greeted with a very cluttered display. Either exhibitors were getting ready for a show or those who had previously used the facility had left a real mess!
One of the best local weather cams has to be Robert Carr's Live Web Cam which entertains you with "Sweet Home Alabams" as you look across a suburban Montgomery neighborhood skyline. His neighbor Tommy L. Sager Jr. of Fagan Pool Service also operates a web cam. If you visit his site, don't click on the "See what I know about you computer" key or it will search your root directory and give as list of folders which could be considered an invasion of your privacy! Last time I'll be visiting that site!
Auburn University has a nice view of Samford park. Appearently this cam in on 24/7 as when I visited it early in the moring all I saw was the irrie glow of pole lamps. This cammer uses an a java applet script service called Anfy Cam Applet to prevent right clicking and saving of images. However, as any idiot knows you, can access cam images or anything else viewed over the Internet simply by searching user download cache file areas.
Not to be out done, Bama Cam at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa features a bike rack and a garbage can! One of the prettest high tower cams views comes form WAAY TV in Huntsville, Alabama. This cam looks down upon a city of sparkling lights in the evening or early morning hours.
One of the most unusual cams I found was the Deer Cam sponsored by Great Southern Outdoors which operates a hunting lodge located 25 miles southeast of Montgomery some 6 miles northwest of Union Springs. This cam appearently is setup to snap pictures of deer which happen to wander in its path, a good way to alert hunters of their activity. Guess Bambee is being watched, too!
If you want to search for more cams try www.comfm.com which indexes over 2799 webcams around the world. Realtime Camera Paradise provides a nice randome selection of cams from all around the world. The Destin Beach Cam will let you know when the surfs up. Mike's WebCam Links has a nice, easy to navigate USA map with favorite webcams listed state-by-state.
In the event you may be searching for my webcam, it broken. Well, actually I broke the lens off while trying to connect it to a microscope. It was only a cheap Logitech cam, so no great loss there. Cam gone, I deleted my webcam site and have gone underground. The only one on camera now is those whom I chose to point my hidden video cam at. I figure if everyone else is going to be setting up spy cams, I'll do the same, then when I get some good tape, broadcast it to the world. Who knows, maybe I'll be lucky and capture the police beating some black man for jay-walking and be able to peddle my own version of Rodney King to the networks for a hefty sum.
Reference
Cams and Montgomery 113,000+ hits
Montgomery, Alabama and cams 13,000+ hits
Note: Many of these "hits" are not actually cam sites. Some are people with the name 'Montgomery" or relate to other kinds of cams, like cams in bows and arrows, cams in cars, etc.
Sincerely,
Terry Lynch
Date: 14 Sept., 2002
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