Slashdot Mirror
Geek CAM watching Hurricane Floyd in South Florida
Gregory F. Maxwell gave us the
link-up to a South Florida Geekcam. The house has been evacuated, apparently, but the Cam must go on. I'm looking forward to watching Floyd make landfall.Update: 09/14 11:31 by H :There's a back-up site up. And for record, I regret damage done to property and life-but the power of Nature is still amazing.
I guess it is funny that all those people live in the midwest and get hit by tornados all the time. Or that it is funny that all those people live in California and get hit by earthquakes all the time too?
Actually, according to the updated page, their main site was being syn-flooded as well. The backup site isnt nearly as bogged down.
when they go out, the cam dies, right?
:-)
isn't there a "hamnet" or something? someone with a phat UPS and a good antenna/ham radio could keep a cam going for quite awhile.
Build the whole thing into a reinforced/locked case of some kind, with a viewhole on the end, and you'd be 'leet.
so the box falls out of the sky in south carolina...oops lawsuit
As the creator of the site, and the submitter of the post I feel save in saying that you are EXACTLY right. I submited under "It's funny laugh" because of the weird geek twist. Of course I'm worried about the storm, but I'm going to save the sadness for what comes after. For now, I'm going to play it safe and respect the power of the storm.
Thats why I work for them. They don't pay really well though. -greg maxwell (greg@linuxpower.cx/gmaxwell@martin.fl.us)
The only place that has 155 mph winds is the eyewall, and as of 3 PM it looks like it will stay offshore. Hope the folks North in the Carolinas are prepared!
I'm surprised nobody used this disaster to make money on the side. Like, having IEG(Internet Entertainment Group) offer a pay-per-view webcast of the hurricane in the comfort of your own home. Then they could say it is for "educational" value. Would be more interesting than those aid concerts.
Why is this guy posting messages anywhere, and "ignoring the evacuation orders"? He's on a boat -- MOVE the boat. He's "500 feet from the Atlantic Ocean"; I assume there's a waterway from where he's at to the Atlantic -- get the bloody heck OUT of there!
Before you start calling people names and criticizing their intellectual abilities, you might try learning to spell; proper grammer helps as well. Although your bit of incohent, inflammatory discourse did help me to realize why I prefer posts from ignorant people whose wrong-headed libertarian philosophies incorporate laissez-faire capitalism; my head aches less after deciphering them.
Slashdot effect > hurricane?
Overpaid geek jobs, barter, unwise spending of $$. :) -greg maxwell
www.goleader.com/floyd
Bob Billson (bob@goleader.com) (who is too lazy to log in)
What's funny is that a guy set up a webcam to allow the rest of us to get a realtime view of what a hurricane does. NOT that the hurricane is coming, or that a lot of people will suffer because of it.
We're laughing about the webcam, not the hurricane. Those complaining should see the distinction.
Cry me a river. I was in charge of hurricane preparation for a hospital in S. Florida, and I can't tell you how many times I was blown off by cheerful idiots saying "Oh, we haven't been hit in *years*!". Not to mention (tho' I will) their idiot cousins who have hurricane parties, so as to insure that they'll be as drunk as possible during the worst of it. Oh, well! Have a nice disaster!
Too bad a hurricane property zone can be as far as 300-500 miles inland when a real hurricane comes
Yeah, terrible stuff. you get shitty weather no matter where you live. You get a Category four hurricane, I get foot after foot after foot of snow, and temps 50 below zero. California gets storms, my parents get tornados. Quit the bitching - no place is perfect.
Can't wait for live feeds.
I live within 35 miles of where this storm is predicted to go, to those of you saying "It's their fault for choosing to live in a hurricane zone": I live well inland, about 30 miles northeast of Charlotte, we've had 1 hurricane actually come through here in my lifetime: Hugo. Floyd may make 2. In 17 years. This is not a high-risk area, yet you insult my parents and I by saying we're idiots for living here. Why?
3 or 4 errors? Yup, that definitely makes a post incoherent. "Jeeze, what does he mean by who's!?!?!? I am so baffled." You also fell error to spelling errors yourself. I could understand your post fine. Looking for petty spelling errors to discredit an entire comment is really petty. Don't you think?
Actually I've seen boat owners literally sink thier boats a day ahead of time, little masts sticking out of the marina waters b)
Would have provided a link but didn't want to slashdot the servers....
ZCZC MIATCPAT3
TTAA00 KNHC 141445
BULLETIN
HURRICANE FLOYD ADVISORY NUMBER 28
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
11 AM EDT TUE SEP 14 1999
...SEVERE HURRICANE FLOYD POUNDING THE BAHAMAS...EYE EXPECTED TO
PASS NEAR OR OVER THE ABACOS IN A FEW HOURS...HEADING TOWARD EAST
COAST OF FLORIDA...
A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS
...INCLUDING THE ABACO ISLANDS...ANDROS ISLAND...BERRY ISLANDS
...BIMINI...ELEUTHERA...GRAND BAHAMA AND NEW PROVIDENCE ISLAND
...AND FOR THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS
ISLANDS...LONG ISLAND...RUM CAY...AND SAN SALVADOR ISLAND.
A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE MAINLAND FLORIDA
EAST COAST FROM FLORIDA CITY TO JUST SOUTH OF BRUNSWICK GEORGIA.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM
SEVEN MILE BRIDGE NORTHWARD.
A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM BRUNSWICK GEORGIA TO
LITTLE RIVER INLET SOUTH CAROLINA.
AT 11 AM EDT...THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN
BAHAMAS HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED.
AT 11 AM EDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FLOYD WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 25.7 NORTH...LONGITUDE 76.8 WEST...BETWEEN ELEUTHERA
AND ABACO ISLANDS IN THE BAHAMAS OR ABOUT 215 MILES...350 KM...
EAST-SOUTHEAST OF PALM BEACH FLORIDA.
FLOYD IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NORTHWEST NEAR 14 MPH...22 KM/HR. A
GRADUAL TURN TO THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY AND WEDNESDAY.
ON THIS TRACK...THE EYE OF FLOYD WILL CROSS THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS
LATER TODAY AND WILL BE NEARING THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA
THEREAFTER.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 145 MPH...230 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. ACCORDING TO HAM RADIO REPORTS...GUSTS UP TO 115 MPH...
185 KPH... HAVE ALREADY BEEN EXPERIENCED IN THE ABACO ISLANDS.
ANDROS ISLAND...LOCATED WELL TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE HURRICANE
RECENTLY REPORTED WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...112 KPH...AND SOME TREES
DOWN.
SOME FLUCTUATIONS IN INTENSITY ARE LIKELY DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 125 MILES...205 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 290 MILES...465 KM.
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE
PLANE WAS 932 MB...27.52 INCHES.
STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 15 TO 20 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...
ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES ARE POSSIBLE
IN THE BAHAMAS. FLOODING OF 5 TO 10 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDES ARE
POSSIBLE ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST IF THE CENTER REACHES THE
COAST.
HEAVY SURF ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE U.S. EAST COAST
NORTHWARD TO MONTAUK POINT NEW YORK. PLEASE REFER TO STATEMENTS
ISSUED BY LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION.
RAINBANDS FROM FLOYD ARE PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS OVER PORTIONS
OF THE BAHAMAS AND LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 10 INCHES ARE LIKELY.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN PORTIONS OF THE
FLORIDA EAST COAST WARNING AREA.
ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE PATH OF FLOYD.
REPEATING THE 11 AM EDT POSITION...25.7 N... 76.8 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST NORTHWEST NEAR 14 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...145
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 932 MB.
AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE
CENTER AT 2 PM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 5 PM
EDT.
AVILA
STRIKE PROBABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ADVISORY NUMBER CAN BE
FOUND UNDER AFOS HEADER MIASPFAT3 AND WMO HEADER WTNT73 KNHC.
NNNN*******************************************
Maybe I'm a fool, but I prefer earthquakes.
Not only are they cooler to experience (particularly the minor, non-damaging ones), but they're very infrequent.
I mean, seems like every each Florida is evacuating for some killer hurricane.
When was the last time San Francisco had any significant damage from an earthquake? 1989? A decade or once a year?
The only upside I see of hurricanes is yes, you have warning, and more important, no fires.
Still, I'd take the infrequentness of serious earthquakes over hurricanes any day. My opinion might also be skewed, seeing as I live on nice firm bedrock. If I lived on landfill and sand in the Marina I might be more worried.
I wouldn't worry about it. I've *never* had a single one of my submissions show up. The latest was on dedicated hardware ray tracing. http://www.art-render.com
Wow. Someone else from Wilmington reading Slashdot =)
Right now (as of 3:17am) its still raining (some thunder). Rain started about 7:30-8:00pm. They expect the hurricane eye to pass near Myrtle Beach (or possibly closer to Wilmington). They expect 30-50mph winds during the day tomorrow with 50-100+ mph winds starting at night.
Lets just hope this doesn't turn into another Hugo/Andrew. Fran was definately bad enough.
www.wect.com for local Wilmington news if you didn't know already.
DISCLAIMER: I'm in a real sarcastic mood and may say things some may find offensive! If you don't like what I have to say, DON'T READ IT! Of course, if you don't read it, how do you know you don't like it???
;-) There are many different cam software out there, pick one and find out what camera is best supported by it. As for computers, I personally like older Alphas (21066A 233MHz vintage) running Linux; webserver, ftp, mail, file server, and web cam. All rolled up into one nice "compaq" (joke, Compaq now owns Alpha :-) system. A AS200 4/233 can be picked up anywere between $100 and $300 dollars or more depending on what you get with it.Check eBay for usually good deals on older Alphas. But your want's and needs will probably vary...
Hey I just moved into college which means a sweet dedicated connection.
Hay is the first stage of horse manure...
Don't be too upset when you find that everybody and their brother/sister use that same connection and it's so saturated that you can't use it!
What do people use to run web cams on Linux?
A computer running Linux with a web cam attached, duh!
What are good compatible cams too?
The QuckCam's are popular, just make sure you don't buy a VC modle, as they are not supported last time I checked. Check the list archives for your Linux distribution or even better yet do a power search on dejanews.com and seach comp.os.linux.* for cam or webcam or something.
Good luck and have fun!
Long Live Alpha!
We get storms in California?
Not much..
It's pretty perfect out here, except for the significant earthquake every decade or so..
It's just their desktops. All servers are Datageneral and Linux! The county offices are all Suns right down to the desktops.
That should be, "perhaps you're thinking of California."
I happen to agree with you. What we should really be complaining/upset about, are the arrogant assholes who say people deserve it for living here. And the even more extreme people who say "hooray, I hope it destroys the south!" This is what pisses me off. Florida isn't really considered a part of the "hillbilly" south for one...even still, to generalize all the people living in an area as being stupid and worth dying, is...stupid. Yeah, the south has it's share of hillbillies and Bible thumpers, but that isn't all of them, maybe not even a majority.
As for living somewhere else...most people tend to stay where they were born? Why? Well, they develop a feeling of security by knowing many people, the area, etc. very well. Also, there's economic reasons. Many people can't really afford to just pack up their stuff and leave because there are "safer" places to live. They need to work to pay their bills, they would need to find a job in the place they want to move to, they'd have to secure enough money to afford moving and buying a new place to live. Then they'd have to get used to an entirely new area, new people, new culture...if they have kids, it may even be harder on them. They may not even like the climate or area structure of these safer places...maybe they like being by amusement parks, or big cities (say New York), or the west coast (California). I personally dislike Florida and want to move as soon as I can, if I can. Does this mean I'm a dumb idiot, along with everyone else in the south east? No.
my parents live in florida. they're capable, but i still worry for their safety. everyone who thinks this is a game are foolish and will get their dues by their own hands.
...
11. Hurricane Huddling In The Basement
...
You've never actually been to FL have you?
Doesn't matter what you live in if this hurricane comes ashore with a direct hit. Why don't you go and find some pics of what Andrew and Hugo, just to mention two, did to REAL houses and REAL people... then see if you think it is funny...
Correct, but they should not be "wanting" the storm to make a landfall. They should watch it happen if it does.
point a camera at M$'s florida office, then we'll have proof that Windows does indeed blow
To bad a hurricane property zone can be as far as 300-500 miles inland when a real hurricane comes. So, basically that makes it stupid to live anywhere in North Carolina because you would have to move over the mountains and into Tennessee. And by the way, I don't find it humorous when you have a tornado warning, or when anyone has any kind of natural disaster. Interesting maybe, but humorous definately not!
...I've submitted two stories about Microsoft in the last couple of weeks (one about plans for tablet computing, one about a study of the expected rollout costs for Win2K). I figgered they'd be of some interest to the /. community, even if they're about the Evil Empire(TM). AFAIK, they never appeared on /.
It's sort of newsworthy that there's a webcam devoted to Floyd (tho it's not like webcams are exactly news), and the guys do have the pics on Linux boxes. But for my money, the good Cmdr & co. dropped the ball editorially.
Disgruntledly yours.
"How many light bulbs does it take to change a person?" --BMcC-->
I think it is funny.... what are you thinking livin on a BOAT, in FLORIDA, during HURRICAN SEASON. geez, that's like living in a trailer park in kansas worrying about tornadoes...
will not some circumstance prevent us from seeing the true brunt of the storm? it seems only obvious that well before houses are being ripped apart, electricity or a power line will come off, his isp will shut down, or some other factor along the way.
-DAVEO
you may want to try new york city, or if pollution is a problem, long island, where daveo lives. a few years ago there was a blizzard that dropped some 26" of snow, but that was a very bad winter and very little damage was caused. hurricanes have no hit since 1938 and rarely do, tornadoes are almost non-existant, and earthquakes are almost unheard of. another mentioned a nor-easter, but these are just strong storms, not disasters, and your only worry would be beach erosion etc for people who choose to live on the beach, which few peopl edo.
-DAVEO
That was the pic taken right before we shut down the computers and moved them out. A few hours later, I tossed the wintv card from Ralph's computer (in that pic) into a sacrifical box for webcamming.
The cam may survive Floyd, but ...
Please don't make fun of Mother Nature's destructive forces. At least pay some respect to all the people in SE Florida who lived through Andrew in 1992. And Hugo in the Carolinas 10 years ago, etc. This posting is akin to saying "Let me post a webcam to see your house being blown away by a tornado in the Midwest." Pretty sick for slashdot. Jose C. Lacal jose.lacal@volks-pc.org
This link shows the potential flooding that could occur if a Cat 5 hurricane hit Savannah. Most of you probably never have been to Savannah, but it's one of the oldest cities in the United States, and a great place to live. It would be horrible thing to happen to that area.
Sorry guys. I didn't expect this would actually get posted! :) It's only on a 256Kb/s T1 line. :P Please use http://z.treco.net/~greg/ (The pictures are broken because it's become so slow that it is getting caught in the middle of a copy.
That is rare...that recent drought that helped fuel the fires (slong with suspected arsons) was rare here. Perhaps you're thinking of Florida. I think living in a place where a powerful hurricane hits like once every 20-30+ years isn't so bad. Most hurricanes get close to florida but steer north and hit North Carolina or states in that area, or just spin off back into the atlantic. Rarely does one come through and not get directed northward. Even rarer does a bordering level 5 hurricane even come.
I'm sure there are 100% natural disaster laces on Earth (many places in Europe probably), but I don't see most of the world living there. Do you? Is everyone stupid? No, people like different climates, areas, cultures...there's things like jobs in which they have to live in certain areas...perhaps they like the amusement parks, perhaps they like a college, perhaps they're a large percentage of the world population that can't afford to move wherever the hell they want.
It annoys me how ignorant some of the middle/upper middle/upper class pseudo-intellectual s on slashdot are. From thinking laisezz faire capitalism is the best thing for the world ever, to thinking they're the smartest people because they happen to be living in a place not being hit by a natural disaster. I guess it's what to epxect from people who's life experience is limited to computer screens, their suburban neighborhoods, occassionally going into the city (or often) and just ignoring the homeless people and avoiding driving by the ghettos...when the news focuses on news for the middle class...stocks stocks stocks. Few pieces about world event a and b, then more stocks!
Currently, I am ignoring the evacuation orders, as nothing much will actually happen for another 10 hours or so, but after that...
I think the key word there was 'currently'. I'd assume that this fellow will have the good sense to bail out of there at some point between the time of his post, and 10 hours or so after that, when it starts to hit. If he doesn't, I won't even discuss that. Let's just hope he has the good sense to realize that while it may be fine to ignore evacuation orders for a bit (perhaps to stave off looters?), it's certainly not the most intelligent thing to ignore them during the storm.
No...but it is funny that people in California keep building houses where they know there are mud slides and wild fires. Now Tornados can spawn about anywhere...I was in a couple when I lived in Pierre South Dakota and on the Reservation in South Dakota. Tornados are pretty random, they can be on the water, in Salt Lake City or Miami, or trailer row in Bufu OK.
But at what point do people just flat start ignoring history and build in areas that are just plain stupid? It's not just Florida. I saw on the news that 90 percent of the homes damaged by floods in the south eastern US damage the homes of the same people year after year after year, and the Federal Flood Insurance is finally going to force people to move.
How stupid is that?
This is eerily reminiscent of the bit about the telegraph signal in On the Beach.
Probably very few people here (I number among the "many") have ever seen a major hurricane make a close pass. Here in the northeast, the only hurricanes I've seen were David (1979), Gloria (1985), and Bob (1991). Each of these were fairly weak by the time they reached us. If Floyd does come anywhere close to the location of the webcam, there will be a lot of opportunities to see what this kind of storm can really do.
The truth of the matter is that a major hurricane can hit anywhere along the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the northeast, if a major hurricane does hit, it can carry strong winds a considerable distance inland (because such a storm is invariably moving very fast -- 40 MPH forward speed or greater -- and simply doesn't have time to weaken, and furthermore the right hand side of such a storm has its winds enhanced by the forward motion of the storm). Hazel in 1954 went inland at South Carolina and screamed north at 50 MPH or so, so it had been inland for 500 miles or thereabouts by the time it reached New York's latitude. Nonetheless, it spawned a wind gust of over 100 MPH at the official observing station (probably Central Park), which was well east of the center. The 1938 hurricane was cat 3 (still a major hurricane) when it reached the coast, and Blue Hill had a peak wind (1 minute, which is not a gust) of 183 MPH in that storm!
Anyway, this storm might nail (to some degree) the entire east coast. If the storm does hit hard, and if the webcam survives, it might help warn other people what to really expect from a major storm. It's weakening a bit (down to 125 knots from 135 last night), but not enough to matter. The one piece of good news for Florida is that if it is a coast hugger the coast will be hit with the less severe west side of the storm. However, it's an absolutely gigantic system, so even a moderately near miss will cause problems. It's not a tiny system like Andrew was.
Actually, even in the heart of the tornado belt, any one location is struck on average once every 2000 years. The repeat frequency for large hail or destructive wind is, of course, much more frequent. However, the important point is that there's no location within that zone that's particularly more or less prone to devastating effects.
Residents of barrier islands and the immediate coast in hurricane country (the entire east coast, in other words) are in quite a different situation. Significant storm surge isn't as rare as that, and what's more, there are well-understood reasons why those locations are much more vulnerable than even a few miles inland. Building somewhere that any competent meteorologist or structural engineer can tell you is a sitting duck for a fairly common kind of storm is asking for trouble.
Before people talk about Homestead and Andrew, let me point out that Homestead was really at ground zero for a particularly devastating storm; that quite a few well-constructed buildings did survive; and that there was evidence of a previously unknown phenomenon (extreme wind gusts resembling microbursts in the eyewall) that is hard to defend against by any means, and that really is very localized and random.
Storm surge affects a much greater frontage of shore, and is far more devastating than even a hurricane's rain and wind. There's also a simple defense against it -- just don't build anything close to certain kinds of shoreline that you're not willing to have destroyed every so often. Nothing will really stop a storm surge other than distance. Winter storms also cause destructive surges from Cape Hatteras north, so there's no excuse for excessive development too close to the northern shoreline (there's also less of it, because it's less desirable, and because winter storms are much more common).
It's not only hurricanes that are an issue -- anyone who builds a house in a known floodplain, or close to a volcano that might be active, or in an obvious mudslide channel is also being pretty silly, when it's not hard to choose a much safer location nearby.
Meanwhile the storm is still tracking to the left of the forecasts. Check out ne.weather and sci.geo.meteorology for a lot of discussion on it. It's starting to turn (seemingly fairly decisively finally), but it's going to be an awfully close shave at best.
Can you or I do a single damn thing to stop this? No.
You're right; it isn't a game. It isn't "funny". We aren't taking pleasure in other people's misfortune.
We are commenting and "coolifying" the awesome forces of nature. After this is over, video footage taken of the hurricane will be all over TV programs, news reports and web sites and people will be saying things like, "Oooh, ahhh," because they're commenting on *nature*. You must think storm chasers are the scum of the earth, taking pleasure and even making a living off of forces that invariably ruin peoples lives! How dare they!
To say "stop saying nature is cool because people are going to get hurt!" is stupid. Stop whining. You're not helping anybody.
Why? They chose to live there then. They choose to live there today. They get to live with the results of their decisions just like the rest of us. Fools they might be, but that in no way entitles them to respect from me.
Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
- W. Wriston, former Citibank CEO
that we get (I live in Houston) over the earthquakes that California gets. At least with a hurricane you know it's coming and can choose to leave with the important things(friends and family) intact.
Adventurous geeks setting up a last-ditch webcam in the wake of an approaching storm is something I can relate to, and definately brings the seriousness of the whole storm closer to home for me.
**>>BELCH
Florida is a nice place, but it gets hit every freaking year by hurricanes. If you can't afford to have all of your shit destroyed every year, DON'T FREAKING LIVE THERE!
You obviously don't live in Florida, nor do you pay attention to the news. Out of the 20 years that I've been living in Central Florida, only one or two hurricanes have actually made landfall. Other than that, it's just been a lot of wind and rain. Maybe a tornado or two over the years. But hurricanes do NOT hit us every year.
At least we can predict where they're going to fall, and make our way out of here safely. Places like California are much worse-- when was the last time you had a week's advance notice of an earthquake? What about Tornado Alley?
>Everyone has to live somewhere. I've been looking
:)
>for the perfect place to live. Something with no
>hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. Haven't
>found it yet. You always have at least one thing >to make your day a bummer. I live on the coast of >Texas. Hurricanes and pollution are our big
>things(and mosquitoes the size of small
>children). But don't knock a person because they
>choose to live somewhere. Florida's pretty nice,
>if it weren't for the hurricane thing. As far as
>I can tell, that's their only disaster-prone
>item.
You could always try somewhere in New England or Canada's maritime provinces. I, myself, live in New Brunswick. Sure, you'll get the occasional winter snowstorm, but on the whole it's a very peaceful part of the world. Plus, the beer is fantastic.
Sorry for the offtopic post.
Parc was just wondering about relatively calm places for him/herself to live. I never suggested moving any signifigant amount of people here. I can see how my post was ambiguous, though...
:)
I'll grant you the Ice Storm reference, though. However, it was a *very* rare event. I doubt we'll see more than two or three such storms in the next fifty years.
If nothing else, Slashdot is showing me the value of clearly forming my thoughts.
Located in Lake Worth,FL. 10th Ave & Congress, pretty much. Right now it's too bright out to see anything, but give it a few hours. We went shopping yesterday, didn't see any fistfights. The most violence was inflicted upon my mate who kept screaming "hysteria" at me, by me. Our camera is pointing out the westward window in the computer room. As of noon, nothing much happening but a lot of wind. A seed head from the chefflara tree out front fell down, but that's it. ungulate.net/floyd
"Why is the Space Center in Florida again?"
I've read discussion elsewhere that the reason it's in Florida is that Kennedy needed to get a number of Southern votes from Congress in order to get the space program started. Note that Houston is where the Command/Control center is. The most logical place to put it is in Southern California, where there is rarely anything like weather; you'll note that this is where the Space Shuttle lands. But political necessity intervened, so Florida it is.
mahlen
Progress might have been all right once, but it's gone on too long.
--Ogden Nash (1902-1971)
Linux Hardware Solutions was there for almost three years, now it's an East Coast office for VA Linux Systems (we joined forces last spring). So until just afew months ago the 2nd largest Linux system vendor was in Wilmington.
I'm a UNC-W alumnus, and another UNC-W grad works here (there) as well.
These days I split time between Sunnyvale and Wilmington, unfortunately I find myself out here for this storm, but some friends that live on the beach will be staying with my family.
Of course that only provides a limited degree of comfort. I just wish this storm would push out to sea, quickly...
--Kit
Former Inmate, VA Linux Sanitarium
Is this funny? No. Interesting? Definitely. hurricanes are as much a part of life on the southeast coast as tornadoes in the midwest, earthquakes in the west and snow in the north. You would be hard pressed to pick an area that doesn't have some uncontrolled risk to contend with.
Having grown up in coastal North Carolina hurricanes are a fact of life. Fortunately no one I know has experienced significant loss of life or property in the past 40 years or so. My great-grandfather lost three beach houses to Hazel in the 50's, but since then the only real damage was a tree on one aunts house from Fran in '96.
My house in Wilmington is about 4 miles from the beach, my wife is in the process of having it boarded up and packing the kids for a trip further inland if Floyd should turn more to the north than projected. For selfish reasons I certainly hope that the track remains as forecast and follows closely what Hugo did a few years ago. There are signs of weakening, hopefully that trend will continue as well.
As far as FEMA money, I think they need to institute a 3 strikes rule. If you can't afford proper insurance how can you afford a house on the beach? An empty lot on Wrightsville Beach (the location of Geek Week last spring) recently sold for over $800K. It was less than 1/4 acre. The Geek Week house is on the market for well over $1M if anyone is interested. Those people certainly don't need to get a handout to repair their second or third home.
I'll quit babbling for now...
--Kit
Former Inmate, VA Linux Sanitarium
hehe our webcam was very high priority :) im still flipping out that my bedroom is on slashdot :), but anyway, i think it was a cool thing to do... i home my amiga's are alright...
Cybie! aka Ralph Bonnell
Hrm. *checks sympathy guage* Nope, nothing registering. *taps guage* Nope, still nothing.
Florida is a nice place, but it gets hit every freaking year by hurricanes. If you can't afford to have all of your shit destroyed every year, DON'T FREAKING LIVE THERE!
You do have a choice. It may not be a palatable choice, especially considering how nice Florida is most of the time, but no one is forcing you to live there.
You're like the people who build their houses on a floodplain and then complain every spring when their houses are full of water. Duh...
Anyhow... The point of this posting wasn't to belittle the poor schmucks who are going to get pounded by Floyd; it was to give the rest of us a chance to watch a big hurricane from the safety of our computer chairs, without having to watch Bob the weatherman being blown around while babbling inanities about how strong the storm is.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast...
A host is a host from coast to coast...
Unless it's down, or slow, or fails to POST!
Live with it.
Finding God in a Dog
the perfect place to live imnho would be oregon, it may be dull, it may be full of retires, and it may have more than it's share of stoners, but damn if the weather isnt nice, especially in southern oregon, my area.
The wise words of this very experienced fellow are always worth reading, especially if you're facing the sailboat owner's predicament:
9 .htm
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/hurricane_season_199
D
----
Safety isn't everything.
- pacifico/
Just tell me you really wouldn't want to live here:
http://www.amazing.com/david/dream-house/rambla
Yes, someone bought it -- and for more than the asking price, I reckon.
D
----
Did it ever occur to any of you who are bitching about this being distasteful that the "poor guy who's being exploited, and who's house is going to get destroyed" is the one who sent the link to Rob?
My thoughts go out to those about to get pounded as well. Best of luck, and be safe (get outta there before the damn thing hits, and to hell with the boat/house/etc!)
In an ideal world, one would sail the boat out of harms way before hurricane season starts, then come back after it is over. Unfortunately, most jobs prohibit people from leading that kind of nomadic existence, however ideallic and (in terms of property loss at least) practical.
I do find it refreshing that at least one geek in Florida can face that kind of impending doom with enough of a sense of humor to set up a Linux webcame, point the thing into the face of danger, and leave the box running. Sure beats the usual news drivel laced with insincere and trite rhetoric of empathy for those suffering while capitalizing shamelessly on their plight. If someone who lives there can laugh in the face of destruction, who the hell are the rest of us to wax judgemental?
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
I would suggest all posters like this apply for funding/advertisements from VA, Sun or Silicon first. Otherwise we have no chooice but to say: "Sigh, ./ again..."
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
It is actually a pretty cool county. Even the sherif's office is running apache ;-) No 98/NT's detected anywhere in the links.
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
I thought they said the place was evacuated - they must be looters on there now.
Left shift 1 for e-mail...
...AGREES that people deserve it for living here. If idiot people would stop building right up to the fucking water, the damages from all these hurricanes would be minimal.
Yes, I do feel sorry for the people that chose to live a reasonable distance from shore but still lost life and property due to the severity of the storms. However, because the callous and cynical person I am, I feel *NO* sympathy for the fools that live in the waterfront condos and don't try evacuating until a minute before the gale-force winds hit.
All of shorefront South Florida deserves one big Darwin Award.
And, no, moderators, this is not flamebait. This is a rant against the $18-30 billion dollar damages that could have been significantlly reduced if people realized that they didn't need to rape every single square inch of Florida.
i wonder if one could use any of these images ... ..
as proof for your insurance
somebody save them
fx! kicking and screaming
I am able to get updated shots, 12:00:04. Looks like they have a little sun for now....
Microsoft aggravates my tourettes syndrome.
Where did you guys get all that hardware? Wish I had boxen like that. Wish I had a pentium at home at least.
Microsoft aggravates my tourettes syndrome.
What?
Yeah, I'm sure Meteorologists will get some good information from a slow, grainy webcam.. DUH
I live in St. Louis now, but I come from the Mississippi coast myself. My parents have lived in the same house there for over thirty years. Camille was just before I was born, but you can still see the water marks in the garage. They've been lucky enough to have had little damage in storms since. I seem to remember riding out some storm (Frederick?) when I was very young. I definitely remember waiting out Elena about thirty miles to its leeward. The house was about ten miles leeward of George, but my parents new plenty of people who had losses in that one. My sympathy, dude.
Weblogging Considered Harmful:
I have no problem with the technology. I do have a problem with the context in which it is used/viewed. I have the same low opionion of its use as I do for all standard media frenzy that always takes place during a disaster. I'd like to think that the average slashdotter is better than that. I guess I was wrong.
I admit that I see your point though...
Thanks. And I'm beginning to appreciate the forum a little better. I've seen a number of comments on this thread, not all of them agreeing with my point of view, but what unites them all the is civility. I may have over-reacted to the catagory the original article was posted under, but not by much. I can take a view counter to mine a lot better when it's intelligently broached, and so far everybody here has posted with great etiquette.
Your explaination doesn't cut it, especially with this crowd. I remember in particular the Al Steven's obit, and the comments that came out of that. Until such time as slashdotters prove otherwise, I consider any interest in any natural disaster suspect. Prove me wrong by showing the concrete positive good that can come out of this groups viewing.
Why even post this? I don't usualy critisize what gets posted here, its good to see stuff I wouldn't ordinaarily see, but really whats the point of this one? Theres no chance whatsoever that some little web cam in someone's house is going to stand up to the /. effect! So basicly this post has no information and no web cams pics to view so they might as well not have posted it!
Its not like the Slashdot effect isn't in the dictionary.
... the guy who set it up in the first place.
Lest we forget, the webcam's owner lives in Florida, set up the system, evacuated, and then submitted the URL to Slashdot. We may presume that he wanted people to watch the storm's progress through his site, whether out of amusement, morbid curiosity, or boredom.
It seems sort of weird to flame Slashdot for callowness but not the person who performed the hack in the first place.
I'm sure that nobody on /. are the type of people to enjoy the distruction of life or property in Florida, and that was obviously not the intent of this webcam.
/. had no control over the installation of this webcam, they simply let everyone else know about it. The only way that we could know about it is if the people who installed it in THIER house told others about it.
Simple facts:
- WE did not put this cam up, residents of florida did. They put it up in THIER house.
- I respect what you are going to go thru. I would not wish it upon anybody. But the fact is that it's going to happen. And speaking for most of us (if I may be so bold) we have never experienced a hurricane, and hopfully, never will. But, I have to admit, I'm curious to watch this hit. I would be just has happy if it didn't hit, and no damage was done. But, we can't change the fate of nature, and if we can watch it and learn to respect something we will never experience, what's the harm. We are not going to make it worse. Hell, maybe this will help people respect what is happening down there and help with relief efforts.
- I'm also sure you have never watched a picture or a movie of twisters, earthquakes, fires, or other nature disasters. We, as a people, are more knowledgable of the world events around us, and have more compassion about those who go thru such this, then ever before in the history of the world. And a big part of this is becuase we have the ability to watch this happen now, make it real for us.
In other words, we don't wish this upon you, we hope the best for everyone who will be affect by this, and we hope to learn by being able to watch. But, I'm sure that if there was a person staying with this webcam, we would certainly feel totally different about his, and would not be watching this.
Good luck to all of you in Florida, we will be watching.
Webcam
They are saying it is supposed to hit here so we set it up in the window. The police has kicked us all out but the cam will be up until the power goes out.
Webcam
Webcam
There is what appears to be a Webcam shot of one of the computers in the house at ralph.cx
/. it too quickly, eh?
Let's not
Actually, you should try finding some pictures of the island of Kauai after hurricane Iniki hit. Flying over, it was incredible-barely a structure left standing in some places. I keep wondering if Steven "I like to film on Kauai" Spielberg will ever release the film he and his crew shot of the hurricane landing. Not funny at all for the people who are still recovering from the economic destruction it brought.
I think it is kind of funny for millions of people to live on a sand bar that gets hit over and over again by hurricanes
Yeah, but when you can walk out of your house in the morning and be standing on a sandy beach with the sun shining and warm water 9 months out of the year (or all-year-round, if you're a true die-hard) ... well, it's worth the risks. Dealing with all the blue-hairs is a bit of a distraction, but you quickly learn not to stay behind cars that are larger than most boats.
And for people that will ignore an evacuation notice [...] Natural Selection
Actually, I think that most ppl who have lived here through a previous hurricane would agree with you. It's the non-natives who freak out the most. The beach-side hotels (on the barrier islands, at least) kicked everyone out Monday night, so even tourists have a fighting chance.
The radio this morning made a good point: the Sheriff's office is telling ppl to get out now because they won't be coming in to help them out later when it gets worse. If that's not a excellent case for your point then I don't know what is.
Man I hope KSC doesn't get damaged...all four Space Shuttles are there.
They actually have a few webcams up: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/ shuttle/countdown/video/video.html.
Why is the Space Center in Florida again?
Because even rocket scientists need a little sun.
I note that the webcams at Universal Studios are toast ("temporarily unavailable due to preventative maintenance"). Oh well. I guess that means no footage of tourists fleeing for their lives from the big, bad storm.
(And to anyone who thinks I am being callous, bugger off. I live in Orlando with family in Melbourne, and am not worried because we are *prepared*. You live in Florida, you're gonna get stomped by a few hurricanes. Deal with it.)
Humor has may dynamics to it. But if you really think about it, humor almost always has an element of pain to it.
Do you remember Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land?" Mike, the main character who was raised on Mars by the natives and doesn't have an understanding of human culture, doesn't understand humor until he goes to the zoo. While watching the monkeys, he sees one basically beat up on another, smaller monkey. The victim then proceeds to beat up on a different monkey, that one being even smaller than it is. Mike begins to laugh uncontrollably. He deduced that "people laugh because it hurts so much... because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting." He conjectured that when apes learn to laugh, they might be people too.
That is conventional humor. It is based on pain, and is one of the ways we, as humans, deal with pain.
This is not to say there is any evidence of outright humor by posting the link to the webcam. I find it more apealing to watch the storm come in using a remotely operated device, than to watch the archetypical reporter in a yellow rain slicker holding on to a tree as she reports from ground zero.
Everyone has to live somewhere. I've been looking for the perfect place to live. Something with no hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc. Haven't found it yet. You always have at least one thing to make your day a bummer. I live on the coast of Texas. Hurricanes and pollution are our big things(and mosquitoes the size of small children). But don't knock a person because they choose to live somewhere. Florida's pretty nice, if it weren't for the hurricane thing. As far as I can tell, that's their only disaster-prone item.
Damnit Cyber. There are lots of WebCams out there, but there's only one AU, now where is it?
My family evacuated yesterday. I hope this storm doesn't do too much damage, good luck to everyone in Florida. I'm pretty far inland so hopefully I'll stay alive
I'd like to go out with you, but the girls and I are having a quakefest.
We want endless gardens of data, where the bits can flower, flourish and reproduce. -- Andy Mueller-Maguhn
Great. Keep laughing.
The thing is, though, there's no place in North America (or the world, AFAIK) that's completely safe from natural disasters of some kind. Hurricanes, tornados, flooding, earthquakes, volcanos, blizzards, etc.. - everyone is at some risk. We'd all do well to remember that.
To me, to get to live on a boat in Florida during the non-hurricane seasons (most of the rest of the year) sounds pretty sweet. I wish the guy the best. For those laughing - shame on you.
Where the value of X-Mailer: is the true measure of a man...
If he lives on a sailboat out in the middle of the ocean, he may not notice trees falling across the road. Or maybe he's clairvoyant, who knows.
I suppose when he notices trees falling across the road he'll decide something is happening and it is time to evacuate.
In case it wasn't made clear in the /. reprint, it is made clear on the page (and its backup) -- NO one is in the house.
Just a happy little webcam, a few boxen, and a (doubly) nervous T1.
Of course, if you are objecting to the inhumane treatment of the Linuxen, I think that is an entirely different issue.
And if nothing else, being able to watch as this hurricane rips up the little pier, the trees in the yard, the back porch, and ultimately frazzle the webcam and its box, will make me appreciate the deadly power of the hurricane... not trivialize it.
Romulus
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
Cry all you want about the Slashdot effect, suddenly a scourge upon society and no longer an ironic amusement. If you re-read the story, and perhaps try loading http://linuxpower.cx/ , you'll notice that the guy who runs the cam is the same one who gave /. the link. So he brings the ruckus upon himself.
When you think about it, how would you rather your machine meet its demise -- by involuntary submission to the awesome power of nature, or by a deliberate sacrifice to the awesome power of Slashdot?
Romulus
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
Then I had to have a subnet firewalled off because they were blasting me with a 128Kb/s syn flood attack.
...
/. does not need (and I would dare presume the average /. reader does not want).
What stupid fscker would synflood a little interest point like this? I simply am stunned anymore by the apparent inability of some to find new lows to attain. These kind of people
-'fester
-'fester
The camera may still be there, but the connection won't last very long. High winds always tend to take out cables first... If it's not the power, it's the phone.
And what's wrong with watching a hurricane scream by? Everyone's evacuated already.
I'm sure glad my intelligence and integrity has been judged and deemed as unworthy. Are you done standing on your soapbox, yet? Because the BS is getting pretty thick down here.
Chill out for a minute, eh? Noone said "Hey cool! Now we get to see the hurricane destroy stuff! That rulez!" Most of what I read up to the point of this comment could be summarized as "Wow... we'll get a chance to see the awesome power of nature from another perspective." Not a soul has suggested that they are GLAD a hurricane is moving towards Florida.
I have two suggestions worth following:
1. Don't Panic
2. Think before you speak (write)
And please stop condemning the rest of us based on some imaginary media frenzy you think exists because of this slashdotted webcam.
FWIW I think this is a great thing to do. I've never experienced severe weather and probably never will. Being British, I'm born with a genetic imperfection which makes me obsessed with weather. (ask any briton about the wether!) This site is as close as I'll ever get to experiencing it live. Kudo's to the folks that have put this up, I'll be watching intently, and hoping that their kit doesn't get smashed, cos I know how i'd feel if mine did!
We get storms in California?
Not much..
My apologies. Mudslides was what I was really thinking of, which I assumed perpetrated by storms. Sorry for any slight.
Methinks that peeps across the country simply cannot appreciate the destructive power and force of a hurricane like Floyd. I've lived in Tampa, Florida for 18 years, and I've hurricane after hurricane devistate the east coast. I'm not one to question the wisdom of /., but sometimes it hits a little too close to home (no pun intended).
.mil. They do real tangible dammage
Maybe some people need to climb out of their bunkers once in awhile and see what mother nature can really do. You all just don't understand that a hurricane can be more dangerous than that friend of yours that's got root on a
Last time I heard, they were prepping Discovery for launch and it was being moved to the vertical mating position to the external tank. I wonder if they proceded with that and if they did they are lowering it again.
Reading the current status report, it mentions that the Kennedy is a mere 9 feet above sea level. The storm surge of floyd is going to be well above that. This could seriously jepordize the US Space Program. Heck, it could cause repricussions world's Human Space Flight programs!
For more info...
Current Shuttle Status
I hope this thing moves on.
SP
"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." - Voltaire
Man I hope KSC doesn't get damaged...all four Space Shuttles are there.
And the shelters (OPF-Orbiter Processor Facilities) that the STSes are in are only rated to 105mph sustained winds. The VAB is a little better, rated to 125mph sustained, but a direct hit by Floyd would be bad. KSC is currently at "HURCON II" (gotta love that name!), more info on what that means at KENNEDY SPACE CENTER HURRICANE PLAN SUMMARY
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
Hey I just moved into college which means a sweet dedicated connection.
What do people use to run web cams on Linux?
What are good compatible cams too?
OK, so I'm relatively safe, hiding up here in the mountains in New Hampshire.
My sister, on the other hand, lives in Jupiter, FL, really close to the coast, and works in the ER at a local hospital. She's on call and CAN'T evacuate. She got her kids to safety, out of state, but she has to ride this sucker out and I, for one, am really worried about it.
Nothing sucks more than knowing your loved ones are in imminent peril.
Yeah, being able to watch the carnage remotely may be cool, just don't forget that this is real and is affecting the lives of real people.
--
I gave my boss a reality check. It bounced.
Well, Either the T-1 Got knocked out, or slashdoted, dont know which is worse. Anyway, if you noticed, the Archive/Backup site has had the same imagr from the webcam up (showing 10:29) for a while now, althou you can see some "broken"images in the archive.
Just thought I would point that out.
As one Hawaiian once said "Hurricanes are the price we have to pay for living in paradise"
Let's all bear down for a minute, and think about all the people and all the fear they have right know about losing everything they ever treasured.
Murphy(c)
Depends on what hits KSC.
Three shuttles are located in the OPFs (Orbital
Processing Facilities). These can withstand 110mph
winds.
One shuttle is in the VAB. The VAB can withstand 125mph winds.
The SSPF (Space Station Processing Facility) can
withstand 105mph winds.
Now what the term 'withstand' means is up in the
air but for the VAB I thought 'withstand' means
the side panels won't get torn off. At another
facility, the O&C (where the Spacelabs used to
be) 'withstand' meant the roof doesn't get torn off.
But on a side note you can see video feeds from the
cameras around KSC through a link on the web site
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov. I actually hope this is
not correct since the SSPF camera still shows the
building operating under electrical power. There's
even a computer powered up in the last shot I saw!!
I remember when those mudslides happened in California a few years back and people's houses were sliding down those massive cliffs, I couldn't stop laughing. The people would come on TV all crying saying, "Look at my house...my poor house." Why in the fuck did you build your house on the side of a cliff using pillars of wood to hold it up. Do you think that was the sturdiest house you could build? Maybe losing your house isn't worth the view that it offers. I live on Long Island and routinely, every winter we have a "nor-easter"...which is a storm that comes from the north east. These storms are fierce, and the houses built on stilts in the middle of the ocean/bay always fall down. I laugh and say the same thing...if you didn't build your house on the coast and in the middle of the water...this wouldn't have happened to you. It's your own fault...so, don't clog up my TV set with your tears because I don't want to hear it. I'll be kicking back with my feet on my otoman over here on the mainland...away from the shore and the storms.
I just thought that water had begun to wash into the house...
- The truth is where the sculptor's chisel chipped away the lie.
If you're living in Florida, on a boat.. You're gonna experience a hurricane. It's bound to happen while you're living there.
In a situation where not evacuating could mean life or death.. fucking evacuate while you still have time. A boat is a lot less important than your life.
My sympathy to the author of that post.
...
Bitchslapped? Give Rob a bitchslap from bitchslapped.com.
I have never before had the opportunity to stand on someones back porch and observe a hurricane via the web. Yes, I am aware there will be damage and possible loss of life and lives disrupted in unpleasant ways. That doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for an opportunity to view the phenomena. And THAT doesn't make me insensitive. Storms and natural disasters occur - my compulsion to view them has no impact on that and causes nobody harm.
Bite My Ziff, Davis!
======
"Cyberspace scared me so bad I downloaded in my pants." --- Buddy Jellison
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
As of 8:58 am central, the server is down, at least from WI. Of course, it could be the /. effect. I hope these folks are OK.
--- Think of it as evolution in action ---
Luck it's Linux, so it can be administered remotely. If slashdot effect crashes something, it's nice to be able to remotely get it to reboot.
"There's so much left to know/ and I'm on the road to find out." -Cat Stevens
Go look at the sheriff's office.
Look closely at the pictures. (Or view the images seperately. The files are bigger than the page's view of them. Doh!) Do you see that little grey bar at the bottom of their screen! If you look real close, you see a little icon on the far left of the bar!
The Sheriff's office is running Windows!
Don't be too proud of this web-cam you've constructed. The power to destroy Florida is insignificant next to the power of Windows.
This person would not have left his computer running and camera pointing toward the storm if he didn't want people to see it. Soaked reporters standing on a pier spewing nonsense are cliche, and I don't watch much news except CNN anyway. If a webcam is what it takes to get Slashdotters to think about this storm and the people it is affecting, so be it.
Communication is only possible between equals
The pictures have all been broken for the last hour now, is there anything you can do?
A long while, actually, due to their location.
Savannah would be washed out, and probably will, if the 'cane holds its own against the frontal system it's going up against.
Talk about a big b******, though, It's still off the Florida coast, and I'm getting light wind in Atlanta. Screw the wind, I feel sorry for whoever gets caught in the surge for this one. And wtf was South Carolina doing not opening up both sides of the Interstate?
"I've got friends and acquantances who stand a real good chance of loosing their homes to the storm"
Pardon me if I don't feel a lot of sympathy for people who choose to live in areas where this kind of weather is common. It's not like hurricanes just suddenly started spanking the Southeastern coastal states...
as someone who was stupid enough to ride out andrew in homestead (not because i thought it'd be cool, but because i'd never been in a hurricane and my boss told me it'd be no big deal)i can truly say that this webcam is of interest to me. i don't want to see anyone killed or anyone's home destroyed by this storm but as far as i can tell, the webcam is looking at some guys pier, not a bunch of houses. for those of you saying it's a morbid fascination, maybe it is, but for me i think it's justified. i got to see the aftermath from andrew the next morning but never got to see the storm. now someone else mentioned this - with a webcam there doesn't have to be some daffy reported putting his neck on the line to make sure everyone gets to see destroyed homes. and be sure, that's what the networks and news agencies will show. i don't see how one little webcam of some guys back yard can set you idiots off so badly. most of you will probably be watching the reporter risk his life to get you the money shots of buildings coming down and you won't complain a bit! hypocrites!
nope, definitly not another clever sig
Florida's pretty nice, if it weren't for the hurricane thing. As far as I can tell, that's their only disaster-prone item.
Don't forget their forests that burn like kindling every summer.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19990914/us/hurric ane_floyd_nasa_2.html
of them hurricanes. Elena back in 86, and george last october. i HATE them with a passion. george decided to be mean to me. the ONLY tree that was in my yard decided it didnt want to be in the ground anymore, so it took root in the second storry hall way of my house. this was at about 3am sunday morning..the BEGINING of the storm. for 2 days we had a water fall going down the stairs. 90% of the house was ruined. 25k damage cost. thank god for insurance.
whats worse tho, is that it took the imcompitant over 9 months to fix the house. his first estimate said 3 months...then 5..then 5and a half..then 6...etc etc etc..
i coulda built a new house in that time..
Gorfin
"interesting data"...from a web cam being battered by 150 MPH winds??? You might get a better picture if you dragged the web cam, on a rope, behind your car as you flee! How can better predict a hurricane, from data received, based on a fisheye view from a camera being spun around like Linda Blairs head in the Exocist?
Interesting concept though.
For the guy on the boat...well...uh..why?????
Curiosity is never wrong. Now, of course I know a webcam won't be able to provide much info (definately not a slashdotted one) but there's no reason not to have a closer look. Just because something is terrible that doesn't mean people shouldn't know about. Rather the other way around I'd say...
May we live long and die out
I'd hate to see the entire population of the world cram into a few (relatively) safe areas like that. Besides, how could we sustain our population on the food that could be raised here in New England and maritime Canada? And let's not forget events like the Ice Storm we had a couple years back. We're not totally safe here!
Addlepated - punk & metal
>real good chance of loosing their homes to the
>storm surge projected on Florida's coasts.
Yeah, but unless they are stupid, they knew there was a chance they would get hit by a hurricane when they moved to a coastal area in Florida. People near a coast in Florida have no right to complain about anything having to do w/ hurricanes, just like people in California have no right to complain about earthquakes or people in the midwest who live in a flood plain. You knew about them when you moved there.
If I or anyone else has a fascination with it, it's a free country!!! People complaining about things like this just amaze me.
Tell you what, if you want me to care, you're going to have to expect that I want to see what's going on.
-beme
1971
I read about the hurricane on a newsite and how they're evacuating the area. It sounds terrible down there and personally, although I'm appreciative that the technology today can show us a storm truly "on live", it's still fairly morbid considering all those people who had to move out. Besides, it's even endangering Cape Caneveral. Now that really sucks.
I don't live anywhere near Florida but I'm actually looking more forward for this storm to pass on or at least move on as quickly as possible.
early mornings suck.
NASAs building that are holding 4 of the shuttles :)
:/
right now are only built to handle 130 mph sustained winds. Floyds is up to 155 mph sustained... but will probally drop down to 130
hope hope
The buildings that are storing the shuttles
are ENORMOUS... just the fact that they can with
stand 130 mph SUSTAINED winds is an engineering
marvel.
So me and NASA are gonna weather the storm here
in South Florida. Im a volunteer firefighter
so when/if the hurricane hits.. I will be out
trying to put out fires and clear debris sooner
than anyone else. All I hope is no fires break out during the storm... 100mph+ winds do NOT make
for fun firefighting
For what it is worth, below is a link to a webcam showing footage of Myrtle Beach. The storm hasn't hit us (yep, I'm in SC) yet, and y'all see the same weather reports as I do, so I can't really say much else. Take care,
m s/pavilion/
Steve
http://www.gocarolinas.com/travel/beach/beachca
The storm itself isn't what suposed to be funny. It's the fact that somebody set up a web cam and left computers behind to moniter it. That's something only a geek would do SO IT'S FUNNY!.
Obviously we aren't going to be sitting there saying "Hahaha! Look at that! His house is washing a way! HA! And look at that little girl drowning! AhhHaHaHaHa!"
We're going to laugh with the people who set the thing up.
i saw on msnbc or some other cable show last night that all of the shuttles have been moved into hangars and should be safe from the storm.
I don't know what webcam *you're* looking at, but the one I see is pointed out at somebody's back yard and a body of water. If we're going to see anybody's house being blown away, it'll be the house of the people that set up this webcam in the first place.
I applaud them for allowing us to witness this spectacle of nature from the point of view of their home. I don't particularly think it's funny, but like most people, I consider it thrilling to be able to witness such a thing, even if it's not first-hand.
It would have been much cooler if they'd managed to set up a live RealVideo stream. I'm sure they could have found some rebroadcast providers (like that distributed RealNetworks "backbone" thing) to donate the bandwidth...
The power company always has trouble with trees. Remember how a few years ago when the load was very high there was a blackout across much of the city? IIRC it was because the lines sagged (due to the waste heat generated by the passage of so many electrons) and hit a tree that was _way_ too close to the lines.
But other than Kate, which didn't really do much in my neighborhood, I can't remember a single serious storm in Tally for as long as I lived there. (I now live in Seattle where I'm told they're expecting a magnitude 8 or 9 quake any time now. Crap)
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
Aye, the cowards came from behind.
The unsuspecting cam never had a chance.
I really don't think that the post was intended to poke fun at or in any way detract from the serverity of the threat that Florida and the South-Eastern Seaboard is facing. It has been woefully misfilled under humor, though there is a sense of 'geek-to-the-end' about abandoning your home but leaving a WebCam to record the onslaught of the storm.
/. readership when I say that we are not entertained, but rather concerned and enawed by Floyd. Our thoughts are with you, and we are not laughing.
I, for one, am dreading the reports from the Bahamas, once they are available. I certainly hope that this does not turn out to be another Andrew for Florida. I'm also a bit concerned about the leftovers (or whatever there be) that makes it's way here to New England.
We have all seen severe weather at one point or another. It's been a number of years since I've seen a hurricane. I think Gloria was a class 3, and I'm quite a ways off shore, so I can only imagine what you folks are facing now. But if it helps at all, I'm sure I speak for most
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
No, not the storm itself. That's not funny.
Putting a web cam up to virtualy "brave the storm", THAT's funny.
The pictures are broken because they are being sensored by Big Brother. They don't want you to know there really is no hurricane. It's all a plot by the government to boost lagging sales of plywood.
This article is about geek culture and the fact that in the shadow of a disaster a geeks still love technology, computers and the internet. This is not about a morbid death fetish. Get of your soap box and quit crying. No one is twisting these peoples arms to live where they live. I dont feel bad at all for the dummy who gets crushed because he is stitting in his beach cottage filming the storm surge. Slashdot is looking at this from a geeks perspective if you dont understand that then go read www.cnn.com like the rest of the masses.
Microsoft aggravates my tourettes syndrome.
As a resident of Florida (Orlando), I don't know if I appreciate the morbid interest a web cam provides to the slash dot crew. I hope, that while you watching it, that you realise real people and real lives are about to get pounded. I've got friends and acquantances who stand a real good chance of loosing their homes to the storm surge projected on Florida's coasts. On the way in to work I've been watching the long lines of traffic from Melbourne and Daytona. They're shutting down Research Park near UCF (we leave at noon), and Orlando itself will essentially shut down around 4 pm.
Floyd is a big, crazy storm, class 4 trying to be a class 5. It might pass by and the only thing we get is a lot of wind and rain. But then again, it might not. Whatever happens, keep in mind that our experiences in Florida over the next 48 hours are not meant to be a form of cheap entertainment for slash dotters.
Yesterday, I stocked up - at the grocery store, there was no bread, no soup, no canned meats (tuna, spam, etc.) the first aid section was ransacked, there were not enough shopping carts, and people were parking in the middle of the road to get to the store while workers put up solid steel storm shutters on the outside of the building. A fistfight broke out twice while we were there - the second because someone tried to go through the express line with a full cart. At least they had just gotten a new shipment of water.
As we drove back, we went past a Scotty's (a local hardware store). One guy rammed his truck into another truck several times, and then peeled off. I heard later that there was a riot there. The store had run out of all fasteners (screws, nails, etc), and people were buying plywood and duct tape.
Bandwidth has been spotty. I haven't done many tests, but browsing the web on my ADSL has become a "maybe" affair. I'm not pinging through to some sites occasionally. I'm using BellSouth. My server (www.onepaper.com) is also down here (actually located in Boca Raton, another city), and located in the old IBM campus, which is built to withstand a nuclear attack, and should weather the hurricane without trying. Just in case, we made copies of backups, and CD-ROM sets of critical data, and sent them around.
Phone service was ringing "circuits busy" (fast busy signal) quite a bit yesterday - I was using my cell phone more that my regular phone. I had a dozen people over for Monday night Rocky Horror rehearsal at my place (which I think would take place even post-apocolypse). One person is living in a mobile home, and is more afraid of the shelters than the hurricane. She has nowhere to go. Another person who just moved back from college, and is currently living with her parents, lives in a wood construction home. She and her sister are going to stay with us tonight.
A large part of a tree is down outside. I just got a call that they are closing down the roads in a short while.
If anybody is from this area, I am near the corner of Okeechobee (a major road that runs east/west), and Military Trail (about two miles west of I-95, and about three from the coast). I'll stay on-line as long as possible - lightning dosen't often go along with hurricanes.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
But Floyd winds are 117% of NASA shuttle hangar strength. Keep watching the skies...
For archival readers, this was posted at 11:47 CDT, in case the above time is still several hours off.
Actually, it says 500 feet _from_ the atlantic ocean, maybe in a marina, methinks. Should be able to detect trees falling without too much extra-sensory perception. =)
I also live in Tallahassee and was in Hurricane Kate in November, 85. Kate was a minimal hurricane when it hit our beautifully forested city of Tallahassee. heheh. The 70-ish MPH winds of Kate knocked down so many trees that we, living well inside the city limits, had no electricity for days. Some people in the outlying neighborhoods and further had no power for 2 or 3 weeks!
;)
But the thing I remember most vividly was the howling wind that went on for hours. A large tree, about 20 inches in diameter, fell behind our apartment -- and we didn't even hear it fall. We discovered it the next day lying about 10 feet from the house.
A minimal hurricane, even hitting where there is no possibility of flooding, is a pretty scary thing. Stuff flying through the air, trees and limbs falling, and the ever present possibility of a "tornado" or superswirl focuses your attention every time the howl reaches a higher pitch.
I'm alternately fascinated and terrified by hurricanes. We've had many much larger ones threaten our area since '85 but we haven't been hit again. But we choose to live down here and we take our chances. My friends and relatives living right on the Gulf made their own choices too.
As for those who think there is something wrong with a webcam sitting in the path of the hurricane, remember: you don't have to look. But, please, don't judge those of us who appreciate the view.
Geeky modern art T-shirts
Why is the Space Center in Florida again?
Because the people at NASA are big fans of Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon".
The real reason:
When you launch a rocket into a normal (non retrograde) equitorial orbit, you add the velocity of the launching site, at the equator this translates to v = (2*pi*r)/(24*60*60) m/s, or about 450 m/s velocity that you get for free.
The two parts of the continental US that are closest to the Equator are Florida and Texas, and it was a coin toss as to which got the launch facilities (though the lack of great populations to the east of Florida certainly helped). Texas got the Space Center as a consolation prize.
Jules Verne's also described having to choose between Texas and Florida.
A lot of Vandenburg launches are destined for polar orbits, which is why Vanderburg isn't at much of a geographic disadvantage (and the Air Force security, too).
This is also why the French/ESA launches from Guiana, just about right on the equator.
George
If you want to put your big monitors to use, NOAA posts a handfull of
big high resolution satellite images here.
I've never had to evacuate from a hurricane. However, I have had to deal with one or two (or ten or twelve) typhoons during the seven years I lived in Taiwan. Better still, on a small island in the middle of the Pacific, you don't get to evacuate inland.
,fresh vegetables (they would be in short supply for a few weeks after a typhoon, and wincingly expensive), and beer. The worst consequence we ever had to deal with were friends who came up from the center of the island after a few days because their water had stopped (they usually smelled pretty ripe by then!).
We lived through the typhoon season every fall. Our standard plan was to stock up on bottled water
How do you survive? a few pointers now the Florida coast has to reconstruct...
1) Wood-frame houses are great -- in California. Look into concrete and brick as building materials.
2) Some parts of the world have iron or stainless steel hurricane shutters for the windows. They're attractive and useful at the same time!
3) Walk the extra 200 feet to the beach. Pumping salt water out of your beachfront house has just got to bite.
Good luck!
All the shuttles are at the Cape along with parts of the International Space Station and parts to repair and improve the Hubble Space telescope.
If all that gets trashed by the hurricane we (humanity and science) might lose years of work in space program. A significant amount of Congress is hostile to spending money on NASA and the Space Station. We could lose the ISS all in one shot without Space Shuttles (which will take years to rebuild).
Meanwhile, I'll be hiding behind my plywood here in Miami.
Anjin-san
I'm sorry...but I think it is kind of funny for millions of people to live on a sand bar that gets hit over and over again by hurricanes and the Federal Governemnt keeps giving them money to rebuild there.
No it's not funny when people die from a hurricane...but it is funny that people will move back and wait for another one. And for people that will ignore an evacuation notice and ride a 150 MpH hurricane out on a boat...two words for you. Natural Selection.
Man I hope KSC doesn't get damaged...all four Space Shuttles are there.
Why is the Space Center in Florida again?
What the hurricane couldn't bring down, the Slashdot effect has/will. Poor little web cam, so bravely facing the onslaught on the storm, only to be blindsided by hordes of geeks clicking it to death.....
Never ask a geek why, just nod your head and slowly back away. -Rob Malda
Hurricanes are terrible. Scary. Very Dangerous.
People who don't evacuate (i.e. "ride it out") are VERY STUPID. The geeks left and set the cam up to stay behind. They were smart.
BTW Meteorologist like to see things like this because they might produce some interesting data to let them better understand and predict these things.
Everyone who is in the path of this storm has my sympathy, until you refuse to evacuate. Please be safe down there. Just remember that my tax dollars will help you rebuild that beach-side condo afterwards anyway, dumbass.
OK, so the humour icon might be a little tasteless. However, to me, this really shows the power of the internet (if not the power of the host computer and its internet connection!), and the way that current affairs and news coverage is changing (although admittedly this probably wouldn't make a terribly interesting TV program).
Top 20 Things Iain M. Banks Would Name Hurricane Floyd
20. Hurricane Mild Inconvenience
19. Hurricane Looter-Friendly
18. Hurricane Net Congestion
17. Hurricane Wildly Overrated
16. Hurricane So Much For Subtlety
15. Hurricane This, Too, Shall Pass
14. Hurricane Flying Shrapnel
13. Hurricane We're Not In Kansas Anymore
12. Hurricane Rotating Cow
11. Hurricane Huddling In The Basement
10. Hurricane Hissy Fit
9. Hurricane That's It, We're Moving To Wisconsin
8. Hurricane Doing Unto Others
7. Hurricane The Movie
6. Hurricane Hurried Evacuation
5. Hurricane I Didn't Know My Car Could Swim
4. Hurricane Slashdot Effect
3. Hurricane What I Did On My Summer Vacation
2. Hurricane We're All Going To Die
1. Hurricane Warrior Princess
We want endless gardens of data, where the bits can flower, flourish and reproduce. -- Andy Mueller-Maguhn
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
You can be sure there will be dozens of live reports on television; so why not a webcam? If anything, it makes me care for what happens more than some phoney journalist dramatising the whole thing on national television. I hope I won't see anything on this webcam and that the house stands.
This is only technology at the service of communities, people. If anything, it makes us seem to live closer to one another. The Slashdot category chosen may be weird, but I think it's comic in a tragic sense. The poor webcam faces the uncoming storm long after the people have evacuated. Beyond that, there is nothing funny about it.
So, cool, people. The day they put a webcam in a concentration camp I'll scream. For now, I'll watch and hope things are alright.
"There is no surer way to ruin a good discussion than to contaminate it with the facts."
I do not think that this is the correct category for such stuff. The following message came around yesterday evening on the PHP-Slashdot Developers mailing list:
...
From:
Date: 13.09.1999 01:46
Subject: [PHPSLASH] The big blow
To: "PHPSlash"
Well, we are under mandatory evacuation orders here in Hollywood, Fl. where I live. There is a major storm about to stomp us. They are not sure if it is going to come ashore here, or somewhere north of us, but as it's less then 400 miles away now and is over 400 miles wide, that puts the leading edge less than 200 miles away. Tropical storm force winds (35+ MPH) are due in a matter of hours, gale force (about 60+ mph) by 10 AM. The storm is expected to last all day tomorrow and most of Wednesday. What fun. Currently it is a
category five storm that is described as capable of doing catastrophic damage. Love that word, catastrophic. Everything three and above is
considered deadly.
As most of you possibly know, I live on a sailboat about 500 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. If my home (boat) is destroyed, or S. Fl. looses power/telephone/water, then god only knows when I will be back online, might even take weeks/months. If everything survives all right, I'll be back online Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
The good news is that the storm center is thinking the hurricane force winds (155+ mph in this case) will miss us. By about 10 miles. Nothing like
cutting it close.
Currently, I am ignoring the evacuation orders, as nothing much will actually happen for another 10 hours or so, but after that...
So, wish me luck and if you are so inclined, say a prayer....
Best always,
...
Still thinking this is funny?
I have pics of the house at http://ralph.cx/page.phtml before the storm....
:) Now i wish i had more than a 256 Frac-T.....
As I read some of the responses here i would like to point out, we took all of the important stuff out of the house (like our main server with 40+ gigs of mp3s) and have dat backups of everything else, so we are just trying to make light of the situation. Hurricanes are a fact of life in Florida and we understand the risk living on the water... I think it was really cool of Hemos to put it up, thanx
Almost everything in our house runs linux... (except for the HP-Apollos running HP-UX, the NeXt box, and my Amigas....)
Cybie! aka Ralph Bonnell
Here is a live cam from Miami Beach, several North Florida cams and a link to a whole page of weather cams for the US.
Don't kill them all at once! Spread it around.
In case something somehow happens to the main site, a backup site is set up. In case the site is too busy, the view is looking out a window at what looks like a river. I was hoping for a view which included the computer so we could watch the water rising...
Perhaps this mail should be sent to CNN, Reuters, AP, UPI, and the major networks instead -- groups which are encouraging hapless freelance paparazzi to deliberately risk their lives to film the storm themselves.
All the testy objections to publicity of one little linux-cam taking footage of the storm, which apparently all of you have forgotten has been standard media fare in every disaster for the past 20 years at least, are ignoring one significant point here.
How much does a cheap Linux box cost? 500, 600 dollars, if that? And a little color webcam comes to 100 - 150 dollars? And no one has to be there. So not only do you come up with a remotely viewable camera that costs MUCH less then your average news camera, it doesnt require anyone to risk their life filming a dangerous situation.
To me, that's much more preferable than people driving themselves off of torn-up causeways and dunking into turbulent water just to film swaying trees and floods on a Florida barrier island. It's not worth anyone's life. THAT is something to be thankful for.
Romulus
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
You know, whenever a natural disaster, or a massacre, or whatever occurs, a few of us refuse to see it as a serious life-changing event. Then, people on message boards like this, or Usenet, or editorials in your local rag, get on us because "this isn't funny! Remember all the people who were hurt/died/homeless!" Know what? If I wanna find humor in this, I will. Nobody freaks when my county gets a tornado warning. Or a tornado. It affects you, not me. It'd be really shitty of me if I made these jokes around someone who had lost home and family, but you know what? I don't really give a damn. What affects you doesn't affect me, and be damned if you're gonna try to make me feel bad because you got property in a hurricane zone. I hope your home and family survive OK. But don't expect me or