Monday, August 30, 2010

Burning Man 2010 Live Web Cam, Nevada

Regarded as one of the "Big 3" international festivals along with Germany's Love Parade and the Streetparade festival in Zurich, the iconic Burning Man festival is taking place all this week in the remote desert of Black Rock, Nevada.

This live web cam feed is in Gerlach, the site of the Burning Man:

Burning Man Web Cam

Background Information:

1997 was a pivotal year for the event. The car-friendly, open dry lake had become over-run with 10,000 attendees and was deemed too dangerous to continue in the same way with unrestricted driving. To implement a ban on driving and re-create the event as a pedestrian/bicycle/art car-only event, it was decided to move the event to private property. Fly Ranch with the adjoining Hualapai mini dry lake-bed was chosen. This brought Burning Man into the jurisdiction of Washoe County permitting. To comply with the new permit requirements and to manage the increased liability load, the organizers formed Black Rock City, LLC.

Since then, one of the challenges faced by the LLC has been trying to balance the freedom of participants - a defining element of the experience - with the requirements of BLM and various law-enforcement groups. Over the years, numerous restrictions have been put in place.

One notable restriction to attendees is the 7-mile long temporary plastic fence that surrounds the event and defines the pentagon of land used by the event on the southern edge of the Black Rock dry lake. This 4-foot (1.2 meter) high barrier is known as the "trash fence" because its initial use was to catch wind-blown debris that might escape from campsites during the event. Since 2002, the area beyond this fence has not been accessible to Burning Man participants during the week of the event

Akumal Beach Webcam

For a winning combination of Caribbean sun, white sand beaches and clear blue turquoise waters, you can't go far wrong with Mexico's Riviera Maya, and thousands of tourists every year continue to agree.

This fabulous web cam feed is live right on the beach:

Akumal webcam

Akumal is a small beach-front tourist resort community 100 km (62 miles) south of Cancún, between the towns of Playa del Carmen and Tulum. It is the municipal seat of Tulum municipality in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The 2005 census showed a population of 1,198 inhabitants.

Akumal means "place of the turtles" in the Mayan language. The town was officially founded in 1958 as a community for scuba divers by Pablo Bush Romero--a Mexican businessman, diver, writer, historian, and archaeologist. Pablo Bush's family (the Bush/Wolfe family) still owns a large portion of Akumal, including the largest resort/hotel Hotel Club Akumal Caribe. Local bartender and DJ Ryan Wolfe is a direct descendant.

The fine white sandy beaches at Akumal Bay and Half Moon Bay are ideal for swimming and snorkeling. Sea turtles can be found in Akumal laying eggs on the beaches at night throughout the nesting season (end of April to October) or swimming in the main bay during the day. Hatching season runs from June to November, coinciding with hurricane season. This translates to big losses in the turtle population when major storms hit the area. However, Green Turtle populations seem to be steady.

Manchester Gay Pride Webcam Live at the Mardi Gras 2010

The Big Weekend Pride Festival in Manchester is extended into Monday thanks to the Bank Holiday and visitors will be hoping for good weather as the event ends by candlelight with an evening vigil.

This webcam feed is live in Manchester on the final day:

Manchester Gay Pride webcam

Location Information:

Wilmslow Road is a major thoroughfare in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood north into Manchester City Centre. Its name changes to Oxford Road at Whitworth Park, north of Rusholme, and changes again to Oxford Street, when it reaches the city centre.

The road runs through the centres of Didsbury, Withington, Fallowfield and Rusholme. It is a popular bus corridor which crosses the University of Manchester campus and the All Saints campus of the Manchester Metropolitan University. A number of hospitals are also to be found near the route. Oxford Road and Oxford Street are a continuation of Wilmslow Road into the centre of Manchester. Oxford Street begins at St. Peter's Square. The name changes from Oxford Street to Oxford Road as the road crosses the River Medlock, placing Oxford Road railway station closer to Oxford Street. Oxford Road changes to Wilmslow Road at the junction with Hathersage Road. At the Parrs Wood end, Wilmslow Road crosses Cheadle Bridge over the River Mersey to become Manchester Road, Cheadle.

Istanbul Webcam Live for Victory Day in Turkey 2010

The Battle of Dumlupınar was the last battle in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). The battle was fought from 26 August to 30 August 1922 near Kütahya in Turkey. The anniversary is marked every year with a national holiday and celebrations.

This webcam is live in Istanbul for the Victory Day festivities:

Istanbul webcam

Location Information:

The Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge is one of the two bridges in Istanbul, Turkey, spanning the Bosphorus strait and thus connecting Europe and Asia (the other one is the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, which is called the Second Bosphorus Bridge.) The bridge is located between Ortaköy (on the European side) and Beylerbeyi (on the Asian side). It is a gravity anchored suspension bridge with steel pylons and inclined hangers. The aerodynamic deck is hanging on zigzag steel cables. It is 1,510 m (4,954 ft) long with a deck width of 39 m (128 ft). The distance between the towers (main span) is 1,074 m (3,524 ft) and their height over road level is 105 m (344 ft). The clearance of the bridge from sea level is 64 m (210 ft). The Bosphorus Bridge had the 4th longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1973, and the longest outside the United States. At present, it is the 16th longest suspension bridge span in the world.