You are SO right, Dave, it IS a hard battle! Much harder than I would have dreamed it would be.

I get moments I'm SO tempted to give it up, but I just can't. Not yet, anyway. I'm trying to "educate" them, as I do think it's an inability to understand. Some of these people took forever figuring out how to post in the forum just because they're not all that savvy on the computer, so image how complex a webcam is for them!

I even have a few who still can't figure out how to post and no matter how hard I try, I just get blank stares and "I can't do that".

Maybe the webcam issue is hopeless...

Originally Posted by DaveMo~

As long as Law Enforcement or some kind of security is in charge of the web cams, I think they should be used more and I wish they were used more in my community. I don't think that some tourism branch or something that has to do with city commerce (businesses) should have more than what they need to protect their own business.

Yes, they need to be used responsibly. The potential for abuse is huge.

Originally Posted by DaveMo~

Actually, the closed doors and windows don't mean that much anymore. Though you might not be able to readily recognize a person's face, there are web cams that can not only see in the dark, but they get heat signatures (like in the Predator movies). The heat is enough to see who is home, what they are doing, and all behind closed doors. There's a lot more technology out there than what most people believe.

Dave

We are moving at a very fast rate with technology. So fast that most can not keep up with the normal uses, much less, the abusive powers they afford.

Originally Posted by fitnfree

You are SO right, Dave, it IS a hard battle! Much harder than I would have dreamed it would be.

Maybe the webcam issue is hopeless...

The uphill fight is one that needs to be fought...and your rewards will be even greater for it!

Keep up the good work!!

Thanks, so much! Whenever I take some free moments, I'm looking up more info on webcams to post. I'll sure keep trying!

Does anyone know how to put, in simple English, the ways in which a webcam positioned on a lakefront could be used/manipulated by those who installed and have access to it?

Simply put, the user can zoom in on a "bikini line" take a screen shot and post it up all over the world.

But the newest tread is for hackers to do this as well, not just the workers. And who are the workers now-a-days? A lot of places hire non-screened, low-wage "sitters" to monitor these security centers.

And a lot of camera are not up high looking down, but down low and looking up, which leads to all of the concerns of females clothing.

Were you looking for more technical data or is this hitting on target?

I'm not endorsing any web cam manufacturers or installers, but here's an interesting quote to tell others about web cams:

Hassle-Free Web Cam Installation

Once your pan/tilt/zoom camera is mounted and live, all users connect to the TrueLook web cam server directly. Our web cam servers can handle thousands of concurrent users enabling them all to remotely control each web cam. The images delivered from the remote web cams are optimized for bandwidth management giving you enterprise-class security even as users access the web cams through the public Internet.

Notice that it says pan, tilt, zoom camera.... then notice that ALL users connect and this one can handle THOUSANDS of CONCURRENT users enabling them all to REMOTELY control EACH web cam. Hmm, interesting, huh!

Click here for source.

Another one:

Video surveillance has never become so easy with our two security software: Watcher and RemoteView. They provide a complete software solution for office or home security, remote video surveillance and broadcasting. Watcher is an intelligent webcam software. It monitors your home or office 24 hours a day, captures motion event using webcam, saves into compressed video clips with audio and triggers various alerts including ftp upload, email or phone. It also has camera image broadcasting capability, which can publish your webcam on a remote website or Watcher's embedded web server. Watcher can run in stealth mode, it can also be scheduled, or run as an NT service. RemoteView is an optional free tool that can connect to Watcher via a telephone line (modem) or internet (TCP/IP). It enables you to do remote video surveillance from anywhere in the world by real time video/audio streaming.

This can save video clips and trigger various alerts including ftp upload, email or phone. And look at that last sentence that it enables you to do remote video surveillance from anywhere in the world.

Click here for the source.

Okay, so there's just two of the many, many sources of remote cams and how they can be used for security. Of course, if they can be used for security, they can be used for other things as evidenced by many sites that show all kinds of videos or pics that are consider indecent and PRIVATE. We won't list those sites.

And yes, I know people that work surveillance and the cameras are not always pointed where they should be. But these are professionals! Yeah, that's a shame. I do know that most of them are very professional in their job and act accordingly.

Not only should security cams be installed in proper places, but the properly trained and screened individuals working for law enforcement or security should be watching them.

But maybe tourism and capital will increase if that "bikini line" is broadcast over the right sites! [/sarcasm]

Side thought: When is web cam spying for the law enforcement too much and we're giving in to Big Brother?

Dave

Wow, both you, thanks -- again -- so much. The bikini line will work, oh yes, as that one couldn't be easier to understand by anyone and the info you shared, Dave, will help those who are a little more tech-savvy.

Side thought: When is web cam spying for the law enforcement too much and we're giving in to Big Brother?

Yes, I hear you, Dave!! That is something that should be handled with extreme care, also. I do feel a webcam in the hands of the police would be far safer than one in the hands of a sleazy tourism division that's in bed with the mayor and his cronies; however! Having said that, I think that could be abused, as well.

But we have a few communities near parks where there is a lot of gang and drug activity. Those communities have been trying to get cameras in those parks for 3 years and keep getting kicked around. That I would support, hands down so long as it was monitored only by our police force.

But a security camera on, say, the mall parking lot, that I might have some serious reservations about since we aren't having issues with drugs and gangs there. A lot would depend on the statistics that prove an area is troubled and in need of surveillance and just where that are is and how close to people's personal residence's, etc.

At one time, I had some problems with items that disappeared in my office. So the first thing we did was install a motion-activated cam that was about the size of my pinkie. We caught how the stuff was walking out.

The next thing was that I became the Building Manager and I switched my locks on the doors and everything.

Dave

Wow, that's awesome! Maybe I need to start learning how to utilize one of those buggers myself!

I don't know if you read the articles in the news section from our bot, but here's an article about web cams and crime. It's however, on the other side saying that they are ineffective. Still interesting reading.

Dave