Brian Lovin
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hasbot

Kinda have to dig a bit into the website to see what it is. Users can record and upload a 10 minute video out their window. The website allows one to view those videos. No site news since 9/21. Interesting idea, though.

Discussed numerous times on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23815460

sp0rk

I really like this site. I also wanted to call out the smart UI decision to map the space bar to the "new window" button (which is itself long like a space bar.) I discovered this intuitively after going fullscreen just because of the shape of the on-screen button.

Edit: I realized after using the site a while longer that the space bar is just activating the last button pressed, which is normal browser behavior. I still appreciate that the site uses the native browser buttons so that this behavior works out that way.

rwmj

https://www.insecam.org/ (now dead) was fun while it lasted. It listed all unsecured security cameras by country, so you could stare at a forklift moving pallets around in a Chinese factory or people parking in a Japanese car park, and similar things.

Edit: It's not dead after all: http://insecam.com/

CableNinja

I cant remember them now, but there used to he some specific google searches you could do to get even more unsecured cams. Wont lie though, it was really creepy finding cameras people had in their houses, just unsecured.

andai

Yeah I found one of those searches, must have been late 2000s, looks like most of them were in Asia. Mostly streets, supermarkets, but I found one in someone's bedroom (unoccupied) and promptly shat myself.

It bugged me that there was apparently no way to contact the owners and let them know, "hey you should probably do something about this..." This was like, first page of Google, so I'm sure I wasn't the first or the last to find it...

extraduder_ire

Thankfully, some of the cameras have a speaker you can play audio through. So you can let them know in band. Assuming you speak whatever language they know.

andai

>If you do not want to contact us by e-mail, you can still remove your camera from Insecam. The only thing you need to do is to set the password of your camera.

bigell

I love that the site isn't using HTTPS.

latexr

If you like this kind of thing, search for “Slow TV” and get lost in the myriad of options.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_television

https://www.reddit.com/r/SlowTV/

https://www.youtube.com/c/RailCowGirl

https://explore.org/livecams

is_true

Thank you.

I'm working on a product that is the total opposite of this and I hope I can add a "Slow TV" option to it, so I don't feel that bad about exploiting people's FOMO

sambeau

I’d love to see this idea but with 360° environments for Apple Vision. Choose your desk, your view, your ambience.

If anyone would like to fund me, I’d be happy to lug a desk and a 360° camera to remote locations: a rain forest, beaches, alps, tundra, a Scottish glen, beside a water tower on a rooftop in Manhattan…

kingforaday

Sounds like you will need help. Employee #1 reporting for duty.

brookst

I’m late to the party but can bring mad AI skills to locale determination and specifying the direction the desk should face. Where do I get my employee #2 badge?

joshspankit

Add complex metadata via on-site collection and AI. I’d like to choose a time and location that matches my location. Rainy 1 hour before sunset. Sunrise on a clear winter day. Lunch rush where most are in good spirits.

mikae1

A couple of years ago, when this was last posted, it was really easy to extract the name and surname of the window-owner. Still, they had a privacy policy saying they would not share your identity... I have to investigate this again.

tokai

All of these are easy to geolocate and then get names from address registers. There is no way to completely provide privacy to the window uploaders.

b212

Just opened a window and it was a video stream with audio from inside of the house (heard people talking, clearly).

Some people just simply don’t care, I guess.

johnmaguire

From what I can tell, these are pre-recorded videos, not live. So yes, they must've decided they were OK with the audio.

INTPenis

The window I watched had a name and surname printed in the top left corner. Maybe it's part of the design? I'd assume window-owners can submit whatever name they feel comfortable with.

latentcall

These are my favorite kind of websites. Really interesting to see real perspectives from around the world in this way. Thanks for sharing!

jh00ker

Gosh, this planet is big! Like, so, very, very big!

Waterluvian

Yes! This idea! I so badly need a 4K stream of some downtown apartment where I can see the lights at night and hear the ambience.

I’d put it on a dedicated tv in my room.

A_Venom_Roll

The YouTube channel of Nomadic Ambience might be interesting for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OSidavbRDI

dr_kiszonka

There are a lot of streams like that on YT. I am partial to nature, but I am sure you will find something for yourself.

https://youtu.be/gFOYZuuNSZI

drschwabe

This is a brilliant idea that seems to lack execution.

skrebbel

FWIW I think execution could've been way worse. I mean it actually works! I can click a button and look out of someone else's window.

omarfarooq

In what way?

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lloydatkinson

Is this not live? I got London in day time and Southampton at night time.

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Window-swap – open a new window somewhere in the world - Hacker News