A reader let us know "I just put up a webcam looking out at a portion of Clarendon Avenue behind the Disney school. The more webcams people stream, the better, don't you think? It's super easy. Ustream is free; anyone can set it up in seconds." Enjoy the view of this sunny March day.
Live Broadcast by Ustream.TV
Can you imagine 1500 people actively watching the neighborhood through 50 live streaming web cams?
ReplyDeleteWould severely limit the kind of activity the Alderman flat out ignores. Heck might even do what she really doesn't want and make the area better.
...hey....this works in London for sure.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great place for a web cam.
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend heard gun shots coming from (what he's pretty sure) was this area early in the AM this past Thanksgiving. Of course, we called 911, but this gives us even more peace of mind.
Additionally, I take my dogs over here to go to the bathroom (sometimes very late at night). I'm aware that it is dangerous, but I have no choice... it is the closest grassy area to us and we're 2nd shift people with other owners in our building who have made our yard off limits to dogs (understandably).
This makes me a little less nervous.
Get smart!
ReplyDelete$25.00 for a web cam web cam and an internet connection can do wonders. (there's tons of free wifi out there!)
Ustream (http://www.ustream.com) is free and it records the stream too.
Technology can help us very easily and at a very low cost.
Hey Uptown Update, can you put a link at the top of your page that lists the neighborhood web cams? It would be nice for everyone to be able to drop in on them once in a while.
Moosh
Both the Bittersweet Broadcasting as well as the Buena Park Cam has been added to our Useful Links.
ReplyDeleteThe Bittersweet web cam is interesting, but realistically, could a recording from that distance ever be used to identify a criminal?
ReplyDeleteNot trying to be a Killjoy, just a realist.
@ Eye in the Sky
ReplyDeleteNothing like a colossal failure of democracy to make average citizens yearn for Big Brother, eh? Such is life in Chicago.
Since it is people opting to do this its not exactly Big Brother, I guess. Even so, I do wonder how we'll all reflect on this 20+ years hence. I think there is no getting around the fact that we human beings must be failing if we feel the need to put gadgets in control rather than ourselves. There is nothing cheaper or more effective than a human being's own moral compass.
Will we become a society where it has to happen on camera to have happened at all?
Lets find a way to get one up and running at Wilson and Broadway, before the weather gets warm. Im sure Popeyes chicken has a video system in place and recording, how much of a stretch would it be to mount one camera looking at the intersection ? Can we take up a collection for this ? Lets talk to the manager of Popeyes and see what can be done. He may have to defer to the corporate folks at Popeyes, we should let them know its a golden opportunity for them to help out the community. Lets not rule out the owners of other stores in the area of Wilson and B-Way, such as the Currency exchange and Dunkin donuts. No doubt these places of business have video systems up and running. The City sent forms requesting IPs and other info. to tap into these systems in a serious emergency.
ReplyDeleteWonder if we could get the feed of the camera eyeballing the alderman's office ...
ReplyDeleteI don't know that all webcams denote "Big Brother," Sassy. Last night I tuned in to BittersweetCam and watched a couple squirrels chase each other across the park. Maybe nefarious to the squirrels, but not my intention.
ReplyDeleteAnother example: When I first moved back to Chicago after college, many years ago, I lived in a building with a lot of infirm seniors. One of the cable TV stations in the building was CCTV aimed at the lobby. When I asked why, the doorman told me that so many of the residents were housebound that they couldn't leave their apartments, and this helped them feel in touch with what was going on in the building, which was by default their only community.
So webcams can be community building, not simply the cold icy fingers of totalitarianism. I think I gotta go watch the squirrels now.
Does anyone know if the cameras on Fresh Harvest's storefront work? I remember seeing them installed.
ReplyDeleteI'm not as hardcore as some on the topic of cameras, tsn. In fact, a friend of a friend of mine was the person who enthralled the nation last year with the "puppy cam." I can see the good and bad. Nevertheless, I do wonder if we will try to use our gadgets in place of good old fashioned morality, courtesy, and our responsibilities as citizens or leaders in a democracy.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder if we will try to use our gadgets in place of good old fashioned morality, courtesy, and our responsibilities as citizens or leaders in a democracy.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry ... maybe I've been in Chicago for too long; but, I'm unfamiliar with those things .., the last one, in particular.
Additionally, I take my dogs over here to go to the bathroom (sometimes very late at night). I'm aware that it is dangerous, but I have no choice... it is the closest grassy area to us and we're 2nd shift people with other owners in our building who have made our yard off limits to dogs.
ReplyDeleteI omitted "understandably" because what kind of person values a piece of turf more than the safety of their neighbors?
YO, I thought the same thing.....
ReplyDeletea cam aimed at the 46th Ward office would be a good and interesting thing, yes?
As long as the lens was transparent, versus opaque.
on a side note, someone needs to give me a 'Kenny' translation guide. I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think being watched is a good thing, I feel uncomfortable with this camera, and don't want people watching me play with my kid in the park. This is just weird, and I don't get why it would help anything or be good. Can we take it down please? I don't want a police state or a camera state, especially at a park where people go to play or walk their dogs. This is just creepy, and it needs to stop. I don't want to be watched, nobody wants to be watched; this is not what technology is for. I can't go to this park thinking that there are cameras recording my, or any one else's, every move, and that total strangers are sitting around watching people play with their kids from their apartments all over the city or watching people just hanging out or walking their dogs. The whole thing is creepy, make it stop now.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ustream.tv/channel/bittersweet-broadcasting
ReplyDeletewe are watching. web cams are an extra set of eyes.
spread the word about citizen security because it is here. it is now, and you can help.
in the coming weeks, there will be a video made on how to set this up so you can do it yourself.
come back to this thread and look for the link to watch the video.
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kati,
don't let this web cam make you feel safer. make sure you watch your back at all times while alone anywhere.
Stef I know what you mean......however, I'd rather be 'watched' than 'stalked'
ReplyDelete