Internet Moments

Bored?  Looking for something to do?  How about taking some time to patrol the Texas border?  The Texas Border Sherif’s Coalition would love to have your help as a “Virtual Texas Deputy”.  Using a $2 million dollar grant from the Governor of Texas they contracted a private company called Blue Servo to create a website where ordinary people can log on and watch the border using strategically placed webcams.  Once you set-up an account and log in you can choose the camera(s) you’d like to watch and begin your “patrol”.  Each camera comes with instructions on what to look for and how to report anything suspicious  annonymously.  Here are some examples of what they’ve seen.

Give it a try!  Live the dream of being a Virtual Texas Deputy:
TexasBorderWatch.com

Composed and Conducted by
ERIC WHITACRE
“Lux Aurumque”

This original composition went live on YouTube on March 21st, 2010.   You can read about previous projects and the development of this virtual choir at Eric Whitacre’s Offical Blog.

Local.Alkemis.com is a website that offers lots of local information, including access to traffic cameras in cities all around North America and even a few cities around the world.  Alkemis.com has several projects underway with this mapping system that combines Google Maps, live traffic cams as well as Yahoo Traffic, Weather, Local News, Fandango Movies, even local subway maps where possible.  An amazing experiment in combining multiple forms of data into an integrated and functional website.  Keep checking back as they develop more and more information for cities like:  New York, Washington, Las Vegas, Toronto, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, London, and Dublin.  Here’s a link to all the cities they cover.

Google Earth is a free download from Google that offers a unique, interactive, dynamic globe that’s created using satellite photos and electronic data from all kinds of resources.  Lets say you want to check out a friend’s new house in Washington D.C. By typing in the address you can zoom right in on a satellite photo of their house that you can then move around.  You can search their neighborhood for restaurants, schools, libraries, gas stations, whatever you want.  But that’s not all, next you could add layers to the satellite photo that would tell you things like voting district borders, real time traffic speeds, crime statistics, all kinds of stuff.  You can even find YouTube videos, streaming webcams and photos of neighborhoods.  Try checking out the 3-D renderings of whole cities and, if you go to places like the Grand Canyon you can view the terrain in 3-D.

Local.Alkemis.com is a website that offers lots of local information, including access to traffic cameras in cities all around North America and even a few cities around the world. Alkemis.com has several projects underway with this mapping system that combines Google Maps, live traffic cams as well as Yahoo Traffic, Weather radar, local news, Fandango movies, even local subway maps where possible. An amazing experiment in combining multiple forms of data into an integrated and functional website. Keep checking back as they develop more and more information for cities like: New York, Washington, Las Vegas, Toronto, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, London, and Dublin. Here’s a link to all the cities they cover: http://local.alkemis.com/local/index.htm#infoDiv

This site is one to watch for future developments!