Progressive cities around the world use technology to promote themselves. One of the best ways to achieve this is to install a "Web Cam" at a central location within the city that showcases that city to the rest of the world. Charleston has no such feature. People looking at live shots of Charleston on the net only see the newspaper web cam shot of the South Side Bridge or a TV station tower cam shot. These are totally useless for the job, and their refresh rates (the time it take to see a new picture) are much too slow. We need a web cam installed say....on Kanawha Blvd at Capital Street, overlooking the Regatta when it's in town, and maybe toward Capital Street when it isn't. (The scene could change a bit daily.) People interested in coming to Charleston for a visit or convention would love to log on and see a live shot of the city before they arrive. It's just plain good for business!

Here is the link to one of my favorite web cams on the internet. This is the town square of Tartu, the university city in Estonia. Look at how fast it refreshes. You can actually see people walking and moving in real time. It's such a beautiful photo that I sometimes bring it up just to watch the snow peacefully falling, almost like a live on-line Christmas card. Keep in mind that Estonia is 7 hours ahead of us, so if you look at the video after say... 11am our time... it's probably dark in Estonia their time.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE VIDEO

If for any reason that video doesnt appear, it's because there are too many people watching. Try this second camera (not as good).

Camera Two (Smaller area)

NOTE: DUE TO THE HIGH AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC WE HAVE SENT TO ESTONIA, WE ARE EXCEEDING THEIR BANDWIDTH AND SO THERE WILL BE TIMES THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE CAMERAS. THOSE CAMERA SERVERS WERE NOT SET UP FOR THIS MANY PEOPLE TO WATCH. KEEP TRYING AT A LATER TIME BECAUSE IT'S WORTH IT.

 

Here is that same square in a color photo:

 

Back