Saturday, January 23, 2010

Database updated - Jan 23

I've done another weekly sweep of the database to see how many dead links should be removed or temporarily disabled. For those of you who wonder about the contents here are some figures:

  • There are a total of 4879 cameras in the database
  • 1539 are currently disabled (because they fail to respond or contain "questionable" content
  • Of the enabled cameras, here is the breakdown by brand
    • 696 are Canon devices which all support PTZ and streaming video
    • 1186 are Axis brand, supporting streaming video and sometimes PTZ
    • 532 are Panasonic, supporting streaming video and sometimes PTZ
    • 91 are Sony, supporting streaming video and sometimes PTZ
    • 381 are Mobotix (high definition cameras), none of which support PTZ
    • 352 are JPEG stills that are pulled on an interval from a host website
    • The remaining cameras are a mix of various brands and capabilities
I manually spot-check every few days to see which ones have gone offline or have been password-protected. I also screen the content as best I can to eliminate cameras found in people's living quarters or in children's daycares (and yes, there have been a few and I'm surprised these are even installed by anyone!).

I may have missed some because it all depends on the time of day that I check and the area that the camera is pointed to. If anyone has seen cameras that should not be available, please contact support. Be cautious here, I have had dozens of emails about the rooms with the "Dora" bedsheets and wallpaper. This is in fact a doggy daycare and not a childs room!

Cameras may go offline due to maintenance, poor internet connections, or the owner is intentionally removing the camera (perhaps it was not intended to be public!). If a camera goes offline I can't honestly answer why because I don't own or operate the devices, nor do I know who does (in most cases, some of the cameras have been submitted to me by the owners but only a few hundred in total).