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Penguins Invade the North Pole

Posted by michael on from the not-as-good-as-jennycam dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes "Thanks to a project of the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a webcam has for the first time been installed at the North Pole -- one which runs on Embedded Linux (uClinux), no less! The device was installed on April 28, 2002 and is now logging four images a day, which are available for viewing on NOAA's publicly accessible website. This article at LinuxDevices.com describes the Linux-based webcam (called the NetCam), opens up the device to see what embedded hardware and software are inside, and explains why the NetCam's developers used Embedded Linux as the basis of their design."

11 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. This must be pointed away from Santa's workshop by Esgaroth · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Cause I don't see anything that looks like elves.

    1. Re:This must be pointed away from Santa's workshop by themoodykid · · Score: 5, Funny

      ... Cause I don't see anything that looks like elves.

      How about gnomes?

  2. A use for Iridium by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Did anyone else notice that at the bottom of the web page it says "the images are transmitted using the Iridium network"?

    Neat.

    1. Re:A use for Iridium by nakaduct · · Score: 5, Funny

      Step 1: Launch a $5bn satellite network, then rig it to deliver four pictures of birds every day.
      Step 2: ???
      Step 3: Profit!

  3. Time zone? by Ark42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What time zone is the north poll in? All of them? None of them? I see the pics say GMT...

    --
    Morphing Software
  4. I apologize in advance for this one... by realgone · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, Linux really has had a polarizing effect on the computer world.

  5. Re:Penguin transportation by nomadic · · Score: 3, Funny

    I thought polar bears also subsisted on canadians...

  6. temps by drDugan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's great the images have the temperatures on them

    on THIS ONE the temp got up to a blistering
    20.5 F -- but most are around 8-15 degrees.

    I wonder how long the hardware will last in extremes like that.

    A year? two?

  7. Re:say what? by delta407 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It only produces 4 pictures per day because it's run off of solar power; they're being smart and conserving electricity. Besides, it has to upload the pictures over a 2400-baud modem through a satellite uplink, which is bound to take up more juice than the CCD and JPEG compression combined.

    Overall, I'd say they're being pretty smart -- you're not going to run streaming video through 802.11b running on a nine volt battery at the north pole.

  8. Santa's going to be mad... by QuantumFTL · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think we're about to slashdot the north pole for the first time in history!

    Hope it doesn't make the ozone hole bigger...

  9. Re:Penguin transportation by LadyLucky · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are penguins native to New Zealand waters too. I have even seen penguins in the Auckland harbour, when out kayaking in it. Just little ones, very cute. They look like ducks, and are about the same size, though they do have front flippers.

    --
    dominionrd.blogspot.com - Restaurants on