C'est la vie (Aug. 27, '97)
I wrote a neat script that pulls in live camera images off the web and plasters
the image as the background on my computer screen. So, now I know the sadness
that permeates the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem late in the orange-hued evening.
I can notice when the
shops in an Oslo plaza erect their canopies, envy the sailboats in Seattle
harbor, admire the view at dawn of the Colorado Rockies, sigh over a bird
picking at birdseed in the fading mountain light, be amazed by the clear
air around Mt. Everest and be quite unmoved by the view of the Eiffel Tower
on a gorgeous summer day.
That is by no means all ...
There is a weather map, a canal in St. Petersburg, ski slopes in the Italian
Alps, the Hudson River as seen from the Empire State Building, a gloomy
rain-drenched square in Brussels, the never-ending construction on Berlin's
Pottsdamer Platz.
The best thing, of course, is that the script randomly picks one of the
live cameras to access, adding an element of surprise.
Plus, I can always
look through my window to take in an open Oklahoman view, unobstructed
by buildings, mountains, canals or the
element of surprise. C'est la vie.
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lakshman@nssl.noaa.gov