You're sitting in your room in the River, seemingly miles from civilization, and want to check out the social scene on the Green.
Well, now you can.
Two webcams featuring live, continuous images of the Green and the Berry Library construction site are accessible from the College's home page, and project co-founder Ned Holbrook '00 said there are plans to add more cameras to other areas of campus.
The webcam project originated last spring when two students, Holbrook and James Muiter '98, asked for funding from Rich Brown, the manager of special projects for computing services.
"They said it would be cool," explained Brown. "So I said, 'Let's do it.'"
With the assistance of Brown and Randy Spydell, the associate director for computer services consulting, the Webmaster Group attached an old camcorder to Baker Tower and connected the video input to an Apple Power Macintosh 7600 computer.
The video images from this camera are converted to a digital format, which is then converted to a streaming video image and is embedded in the College's home page, Holbrook said.
In addition to the live images, viewers can also download a time lapse video of the last 48 hours on the Green, as well as one of the 1998 Commencement Ceremony.
A second camera was attached to the Kiewit Computation Center to provide views of the Berry Library construction site and glimpses of Gerry, Wilder, Carpenter and Silsby halls.
This range of views is made possible by a moving camera base, which can be remotely controlled by web browser users.
"Right away, my friends congratulated me because it is such a wonderful waste of time," Holbrook joked.
He added that several construction workers and Baker Library employees have told him they are glad to have a record of Berry's construction.
Brown said he is not sure what people are using the webcams for, but he said, "It's fun to look at the bird feeder."
Despite all the positive feedback, there was some initial concern that the construction workers might feel in the public eye. Brown said fears were eased after a meeting with the construction companies.
Holbrook said there was no real concern about privacy issues with the camera focused on the Green because there is no expectation of privacy in such a public place.
The Webmasters hope to expand the project in two ways -- by moving the Kiewit camera to Gerry Hall for a better view of the construction site and by placing cameras in other areas on campus.
Holbrook said there are plans to install cameras on the third floor of Collis overlooking the Green and on the roof of the Hanover Inn.
