Here's something to check out, compliments of Scott Bradner in Network World. It seems that Axis cameras use the same URL suffix wherever they might be: view/index.shtml.

Just go to Google and search on it this way: url:view/index.shtml.

One thing I found quite interesting is the number of European cameras I found, like a Finnish university, several with German city views, a British street corner, a number of small shops, etc. Granted, the images are low res and slow scan - at most refreshing 2 or 3 times a second - but it's still amazing to watch people 5000 miles away at work or play, oblivious to their Internet onlookers.

Another thing I found interesting was the number of computer cams. You can spy on datacenters or workshops that you might think would want to stay hidden - oh, well. Here are a few of my favorites from the technology realm:

• GNax datacenter


• Webcows


• European "Funkcam"


• Datacenter cabinets

Warning: You can get into some stuff you might not want to see, so use caution.

Patriots win 24-21. I got the Eagles score right, anyway. I had to root for the Eagles, though - I hate the Patriots.

SuperBowl Pick: I wrote before that if the Eagles don't score more than 27 points, they won't beat the Patriots. I still don't think they can do it. Patriots 31, Eagles 21.

Here's something we need more of - American Ingenuity!

Carl E. Person has a website called Law Mall. He's written a book called Saving Main Street and its Retailers, 20 Things You Should Know - and 3 Plans - to Protect Your Town, Local Property Values, Local Employment and Business Opportunities.

His premise is that, by establishing the office of Town Attorney General and going after corporate villains like Wal-Mart and Best Buy and Home Depot, small towns and villages can protect their "independent retailers" (and subsequent higher prices) while collecting cash (a.k.a. bribes or extortion) from the aforesaid corporate villains.

Sounds like interesting reading. Conceptually it may even be brilliant! Economically speaking it's unworkable on a large scale, but it might work for a small percentage of hamlets.

Elephant blamed in circus fatality - that was the headline in the evening newspaper tonight.

The circus was getting ready to leave town. Handlers were loading elephants in a truck Monday afternoon, a routine event for them. With the last elephant in the truck, two handlers left a third to finish closing the gate. It took awhile for anyone to notice that the man had been injured, apparently crushed in some mortal way. By the time he arrived at the hospital, it was too late.

A tragedy caused by that most human of sins: Assumption, the carelessness that is brought on by routine due to the expectation that nothing will go wrong. An unnecessarily sad story.

So I'm listening to a commercial for the 11PM news sometime this evening, and here's what they say (or something close to it):

"An animal handler was killed yesterday by an elephant as the circus was preparing to leave town. We'll hear what local animal rights activists have to say about the tragedy tonight at eleven."

What?