Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the coming-at-ya-live-14,000-times-a-day dept.
beebware noted that as of today, the JenniCam is now four years old. I've been a fan of this thing for the majority of that time... all I can say is it sure beats the Netscape FishCam. It's nuts how Jenni's little cam became such a fixture on The Internet... congratulations to her.
JenniCam is newsworthy because, as Salon (?) said she is the first cyberstar. See, whatever star you can think of, Ronaldo, Pamela, Clinton, Gates, Torvalds and Tux (not that good example), the Pope, they are popular in the net and outside of the net. Their fame was enhanced by the net, but Jenni was created by the Internet. It showed that you could be a mere student and get worldwide famous, a dedicate followership, even alt.fans.jennicam and only by some pieces of networked hardware.
It couldn't happen before the net.
Besides, it's the only webcam available as a Slashbox. (What about some statistics about Slashboxes people choose?)
But yes, 4th anniversary is not that exciting. __
-- __ Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death. GW Bu
A little self-indulgent nostalgia
by
daviddennis
·
· Score: 5
The moment I saw the old pages she created at Dickinson college, I fell in love with Jenni. When she was knocked off server after server due to the popularity of her content, I gave her a home on amazing.com.
And then she created the JenniCam. I well remember that dramatic moment, her always loveable enthusiasm: "I got a cam for my birthday!* And you do know what I'm going to do with it, don't you?"
I didn't. But I soon found out. At first it was something special for her favourite fans. Then word spread. I didn't like it because I knew my server couldn't handle the hits. So she got another server, had someone design her JENNICAM format, and off she ran. I liked the personal feeling of her old pages more than the almost corporate look she has now, but that's just me.
At first, I loved the cam just as I adored its object. I lovingly collected the best images into an archive that was probably the most popular thing I've ever done on the Internet.
But then she told me she could never, ever love me - and I told myself "You know, watching this thing is just twisting the knife in the wound. It hurts like crazy and doesn't get me anywhere". And so I stopped, cold turkey. From watching the thing in every spare moment I could get, I basically stopped. For a while I maintained the archive because my fellow fans loved it so much, but that fell by the wayside.
The JenniCam was not the first webcam, but it was the first webcam to feature a girl's life. It spawned thousands of imitators, none of which had quite the "real" spirit of the original. Curiously, sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to think of - and the most apparently obvious once they're created. I can tell you through numerous email and phone conversations with her that she is a highly creative and intelligent woman.
Incidentally, her BDSM pages, which were erotically charged creations, were taken down by her when she received one too many insulting comments. And she stopped doing her incredibly creative "shows" when she got death threats if she didn't continue. I consider this to be the depressing side of creative expression on the Internet.
Sadly, we've drifted apart over the years, but I still remember her fondly and wish her luck, wherever she is and whatever she does.
D
(*) I don't remember if it was birthday or christmas or whatever -- but it was a gift from her parents.
----
JenniCam - what's in it for me.
by
jabber
·
· Score: 5
Kudos to Jenni, congratulations for sticking to your guns and putting your life on display.
Kudos to CT for seeing JenniCam as worthy of a Slashdot article.
I've seen posts here, mostly commenting how JenniCam is about Jenni 'doing' her boyfriend. Grow up guys. Read the journals and get a clue.
/Disclaimer: I am NOT a JenniCam subscriber. I just pop in now and again out of curiosity.
Some time ago, Jennifer went through a messy situation with her folks. At that same time, I had a very similar thing happen in my family. I'm a grown adult, but it still shakes you to the core to see your parents at each other's throats. Reading about Jenni's experiences, having a glimpse inside her feelings - which she bravely puts on display - helped me realize, confront and resolve my own issues. Jenni, thanks.
That was a rather singular event, but it made me a fan of Jenni's courage. She's forced me to consider the fact that I'm neither special nor typical - just like her. So she takes her boyfriend to bed on the Internet. So what? She also does yoga, pets her cats, hacks on her PCs, watches South Park...
She's one of us, whatever US means. She just doesn't hide any aspect; doesn't consider things dirty or inappropriate. Such restrictions are ours to place on ourselves.
So, Jen, thanks a bunch for exposing your self (and I do mean SELF, not body). It's nice to know another person. Best of luck in CA.
--
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
I'm kind of surprised, as I haven't really seen any posts backing up CmdrTaco on this one.
Honestly, I agree with him, that Jennicam was the first(if not the first, than one of the first) sites on the internet that showed just to what degree someone could go on a website.
Jennicam is one of those sites that really shows why the internet is such a stronger medium than we've ever had available before, because one can expose themselves to the entire public, but at the same time, be completely hidden as well.
I, for one, admire Jenni, and think that she, if nothing else, deserves a little recognition on/. when such an anniversary comes about. She launched a net trend, the webcam, which should definitely be counted as "news for nerds". But in any case, it's definitely "stuff that matters." (This isn't just pr0n here guys, take some time to actually read the site)
-Julius X
--
-Julius X remove "-whatkindofspamdoyoutakemefor-" from email to send
Maybe A Little Background Would Help?
by
Carnage4Life
·
· Score: 5
Here read this article. It has a history of Jennicam and how it became famous plus a few emails from flame wars Jenny got in over her webcam site. Anyway, her site was the first webcam site, so this makes her a pioneer of something that's now a common aspect of Net culture. I would call that geek news.
Slashdot Mirror
JenniCam is newsworthy because, as Salon (?) said she is the first cyberstar. See, whatever star you can think of, Ronaldo, Pamela, Clinton, Gates, Torvalds and Tux (not that good example), the Pope, they are popular in the net and outside of the net. Their fame was enhanced by the net, but Jenni was created by the Internet.
It showed that you could be a mere student and get worldwide famous, a dedicate followership, even alt.fans.jennicam and only by some pieces of networked hardware.
It couldn't happen before the net.
Besides, it's the only webcam available as a Slashbox.
(What about some statistics about Slashboxes people choose?)
But yes, 4th anniversary is not that exciting.
__
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
The moment I saw the old pages she created at Dickinson college, I fell in love with Jenni. When she was knocked off server after server due to the popularity of her content, I gave her a home on amazing.com.
And then she created the JenniCam. I well remember that dramatic moment, her always loveable enthusiasm: "I got a cam for my birthday!* And you do know what I'm going to do with it, don't you?"
I didn't. But I soon found out. At first it was something special for her favourite fans. Then word spread. I didn't like it because I knew my server couldn't handle the hits. So she got another server, had someone design her JENNICAM format, and off she ran. I liked the personal feeling of her old pages more than the almost corporate look she has now, but that's just me.
At first, I loved the cam just as I adored its object. I lovingly collected the best images into an archive that was probably the most popular thing I've ever done on the Internet.
But then she told me she could never, ever love me - and I told myself "You know, watching this thing is just twisting the knife in the wound. It hurts like crazy and doesn't get me anywhere". And so I stopped, cold turkey. From watching the thing in every spare moment I could get, I basically stopped. For a while I maintained the archive because my fellow fans loved it so much, but that fell by the wayside.
The JenniCam was not the first webcam, but it was the first webcam to feature a girl's life. It spawned thousands of imitators, none of which had quite the "real" spirit of the original. Curiously, sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to think of - and the most apparently obvious once they're created. I can tell you through numerous email and phone conversations with her that she is a highly creative and intelligent woman.
Incidentally, her BDSM pages, which were erotically charged creations, were taken down by her when she received one too many insulting comments. And she stopped doing her incredibly creative "shows" when she got death threats if she didn't continue. I consider this to be the depressing side of creative expression on the Internet.
Sadly, we've drifted apart over the years, but I still remember her fondly and wish her luck, wherever she is and whatever she does.
D
(*) I don't remember if it was birthday or christmas or whatever -- but it was a gift from her parents.
----
Kudos to Jenni, congratulations for sticking to your guns and putting your life on display.
Kudos to CT for seeing JenniCam as worthy of a Slashdot article.
I've seen posts here, mostly commenting how JenniCam is about Jenni 'doing' her boyfriend. Grow up guys. Read the journals and get a clue.
/Disclaimer: I am NOT a JenniCam subscriber. I just pop in now and again out of curiosity.
Some time ago, Jennifer went through a messy situation with her folks. At that same time, I had a very similar thing happen in my family. I'm a grown adult, but it still shakes you to the core to see your parents at each other's throats. Reading about Jenni's experiences, having a glimpse inside her feelings - which she bravely puts on display - helped me realize, confront and resolve my own issues. Jenni, thanks.
That was a rather singular event, but it made me a fan of Jenni's courage. She's forced me to consider the fact that I'm neither special nor typical - just like her. So she takes her boyfriend to bed on the Internet. So what? She also does yoga, pets her cats, hacks on her PCs, watches South Park...
She's one of us, whatever US means. She just doesn't hide any aspect; doesn't consider things dirty or inappropriate. Such restrictions are ours to place on ourselves.
So, Jen, thanks a bunch for exposing your self (and I do mean SELF, not body). It's nice to know another person. Best of luck in CA.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
I'm kind of surprised, as I haven't really seen any posts backing up CmdrTaco on this one.
/. when such an anniversary comes about. She launched a net trend, the webcam, which should definitely be counted as "news for nerds". But in any case, it's definitely "stuff that matters."
Honestly, I agree with him, that Jennicam was the first(if not the first, than one of the first) sites on the internet that showed just to what degree someone could go on a website.
Jennicam is one of those sites that really shows why the internet is such a stronger medium than we've ever had available before, because one can expose themselves to the entire public, but at the same time, be completely hidden as well.
I, for one, admire Jenni, and think that she, if nothing else, deserves a little recognition on
(This isn't just pr0n here guys, take some time to actually read the site)
-Julius X
-Julius X
remove "-whatkindofspamdoyoutakemefor-" from email to send
Here read this article. It has a history of Jennicam and how it became famous plus a few emails from flame wars Jenny got in over her webcam site.
Anyway, her site was the first webcam site, so this makes her a pioneer of something that's now a common aspect of Net culture. I would call that geek news.