👀 You get a view, you get a view, you get a view

#103 | And Oprah's not even in the house

How’s your Friday going? It’s been quite the week, eh? Thankfully, the weekend awaits, and I have just the thing to keep you fruitfully occupied this weekend and many others to come.

But first, some context.

I’ve written before in Just One Thing about how I’m one of the Internet dinosaurs, having been in the domain (hehe) since the mid-’90s. Today’s post harkens back to some of the evolutions that took place in the cybersphere in the late ’90s.

In 1997 or thereabouts, one specific type of content offering really took off. I’d say went viral, but it was still the age of dial-up Internet for most of the world back then. Took off fits better. And that content type was live webcams.

The early “pioneers” in the live webcam space were all the mom-and-pop-shop equivalents of the Internet. And most of them had one USP: watch naked people live.

People spent hours in front of their screens just watching random camera feeds, hoping to catch a glimpse of unbuffered skin.

Internet speeds and means of access have both evolved a lot since then. And so has the live camera space. Although a lot of the evolution in that space was still mostly voyeuristic. Remember ChatRoulette, anyone?

That finally brings me to the point of today’s Just One Thing: a place where you can explore a whole host of live webcams from around the world. And yes, it might still be considered voyeuristic but Explore‘s intention is a tad more altruistic.

They’ve compiled, and curated live nature feeds from around the world for you to watch in real-time. Whether it is African wildlife that you want to spend your weekend amongst or whether it is swimming with orcas that brings you joy, Explore has got you covered. You can watch cat rescues in real time or dogs being, well, dogs. 

My favourite time to visit Explore is actually right now because they also have a live feed from the Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. And this time of the year, the feed focuses on the 12 brown bears in the park, who are piling on the pounds in anticipation of hibernation. And this week, called Fat Bear Week, you can vote on who you think will be the chonkiest of these bears come sleep time. My favourite to win is 435 Holly.

Go on, then. Cast your votes. Take blessings from dogs. Coo, along with the birds. Most importantly, have fun.

Baaa.

Dolly