August 1995
Yes, it's neat that you can hook a camera up to a Web site. It makes me gadget-happy to look at somebody's office from my computer. Not only is Big Brother watching, but I get to BE Big Brother. But why Coke machine inventories? Is it because net people really are geeks who live on a diet of Coke and Ruffles? Then, how would you explain a Web site that lets you know if someone's door is open?
Anthony's list has links to more that just machines. It's divided into
sections, such as
Equipment Status Reports,
Cameras and Video, and
Tele-operated
Machinery. The section on Temperature Sensors/Weather
Monitors is actually kind of useful (well, as useful as sticking your
head out the window). My favorite link from this page is to the
Pizza Server,
which lets you order a pizza with a variety of toppings -
everything from pepperoni to nuts and bolts. This pizza is subsequently
delivered to you in a GIF file (yes, it's just a picture). Another link
connects to a view of
Steve's Ant Farm,
but every time I tried that link, my connection was refused. I also had a
lot of fun on the
Subway Navigator,
a site displaying subway information from cities all over the
world. Even though
Yahoo's Interesting Devices Connected to the Internet
is bigger, it's not as well organized as Anthony's list.
-WKC