Discussion:
California Virtual Road tour
(too old to reply)
Rich Piehl
2005-04-16 20:52:52 UTC
Permalink
Caltrans has set up a web page to take virtual tours of many of the
states highways. It requires a Quicktime viewer.

The link is: http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/

Take care,
Rich

God bless the USA
--
Nothing is work unless you'd rather be doing something else.

-attributed to various authors
Mr. Yellowstone
2005-04-17 03:25:21 UTC
Permalink
I have used this before. It's a little more complex than PennDOT's
iVidLog. Of course, iVidLog doesn't cover California.
Comrade Duke of Yamamoto
2005-04-17 03:37:39 UTC
Permalink
Post by Mr. Yellowstone
I have used this before. It's a little more complex than PennDOT's
iVidLog. Of course, iVidLog doesn't cover California.
Doesn't do me a bit of good. There anything for us using a *nix platform?
--
Comrade Mister Yamamoto
http://mryamamoto.50megs.com
"The modern 'conservative' is engaged in one of
man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy;
that is, the search for a superior moral
justification for selfishness."
Cameron Kaiser
2005-04-17 07:24:03 UTC
Permalink
Post by Comrade Duke of Yamamoto
Post by Mr. Yellowstone
I have used this before. It's a little more complex than PennDOT's
iVidLog. Of course, iVidLog doesn't cover California.
Doesn't do me a bit of good. There anything for us using a *nix platform?
QuickTime works just great on Mac OS X. ;) (C'mon, you saw that coming.)

--
Cameron Kaiser * ***@floodgap.com * posting with a Commodore 128
personal page: http://www.armory.com/%7Espectre/
** Computer Workshops: games, productivity software and more for C64/128! **
** http://www.armory.com/%7Espectre/cwi/ **
Comrade Duke of Yamamoto
2005-04-17 22:55:30 UTC
Permalink
Post by Cameron Kaiser
QuickTime works just great on Mac OS X. ;) (C'mon, you saw that coming.)
Yeah, and it only took 'em 16 years to wise up. At least they got it right,
to their credit. Now all I have to do is get hugely rich.
--
Comrade Mister Yamamoto
http://mryamamoto.50megs.com
"The modern 'conservative' is engaged in one of
man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy;
that is, the search for a superior moral
justification for selfishness."
Mark Roberts
2005-04-17 23:13:08 UTC
Permalink
Comrade Duke of Yamamoto <***@linux.poo> had written:
| Cameron Kaiser wrote:
|
|
| > QuickTime works just great on Mac OS X. ;) (C'mon, you saw that coming.)
| >
|
|
| Yeah, and it only took 'em 16 years to wise up. At least they got it right,
| to their credit. Now all I have to do is get hugely rich.
|
Depending on how much power you want, you can probably find a pretty
decent price on a low-end Mac Mini, $500 or $600 or so. You can combine
it with a KVM switch (usually around $100 or so) and cables (around
$20 per computer; avoid Belkin KVM cables if you are using an LCD screen).
You may also need to USB-to-PS/2 adapter for the keyboard and mouse
depending upon what your keyboard and mouse are using.

I just put a Mac Mini on my home network. I find the interface
annoying, but I suppose that's a matter of familiarity more than
anything else. The other thing is that the mouse pointer is really
sluggish -- and I have one of the faster Mac Minis. It may be the
USB-PS/2 adapter, which is a Belkin -- I'll have to see if I can
order something better somewhere since the computer stores in San
Francisco or Emeryville seem to be stocked up on Belkin cables and
nothing else.
--
Mark Roberts
***@myrealbox.com
Permission to archive this article in any form is hereby explicitly denied.
Richie Kennedy
2005-04-18 17:54:22 UTC
Permalink
(around $20 per computer; avoid Belkin KVM cables if you are using an
LCD screen).
Why do you suggest this? In the data center where I work, the servers are
connected to the KVM boxes via Belkins, and we have LCDs attached to the
KVM boxes.

FWIW: KVM = Keyboard, Video, Mouse...
--
Richie Kennedy
***@route56.com ยท www.route56.com
"No matter what it is, everything's a thing"
Mark Roberts
2005-04-20 01:08:09 UTC
Permalink
Richie Kennedy <***@route56.com> had written:
| Mark Roberts <***@myrealbox.com> wrote in
| news:nqmdnSrgB_gZcP_fRVn-***@comcast.com:
|
| > (around $20 per computer; avoid Belkin KVM cables if you are using an
| > LCD screen).
|
| Why do you suggest this?

*Severe* ghosting on 1280x1024 monitors, regardless of refresh rate
or resolution. Changing to Iogear cables cleared it up.

Aside from that, there was Belkin's nasty little trick with one of
its router models, detected in November 2003, wherein the router
would periodically redirect all traffic to a marketing site that
Belkin had set up for its so-called parental control service.
The company backed off the move. More details via Google Groups,
search news.admin.net-abuse.email for "Belkin Verislime router spam".

So, no, I am not a Belkin fan, although it's hard to avoid their
stuff in stores. I just would like a choice of something else at
the local CompScrewYouSA without having to drive 50 miles on
The Worst Freeway in North America (I-880) to a Fry's or
Micro Center. At that point, it's easier and cheaper to
order, even with shipping charges and minimums, from a cable
supplier.

| FWIW: KVM = Keyboard, Video, Mouse...
--
Mark Roberts
***@myrealbox.com
Permission to archive this article in any form is hereby explicitly denied.
Paul DeRocco
2005-04-17 17:34:49 UTC
Permalink
Caltrans has set up a web page to take virtual tours of many of the states
highways. It requires a Quicktime viewer.
The link is: http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/
Interesting, but bizarre.

For some reason, they felt the need to put the camera on top of the vehicle
and point it downwards. The result is that the bottom two thirds of the
picture is mainly a broad swath of pavement. That's pretty idiotic, and
useless. The camera should be pointed at the horizon, not below it.

Also, I suspect the authenticity of some of these pictures. I followed 27
through Topanga Canyon, and didn't see any trace of the community of
Topanga.

The really strange thing is that the highway map seems to have been lifted
from 60s planning maps. The SFV area and the Santa Monica Mountains show the
proposed extension of CA-14 south across the valley and mountains into
Pacific Palisades, as well as the proposed route 64 west across the middle
of the SFV and then south through Malibu Canyon. In the Antelope Valley,
there's a road extending the northern part of 138 east across to US-395, and
then continuing across to CA-58, like the old 48 was intended to follow.
Finally, they show some nonexistent road from Ridgecrest right across the
mountains and the southern end of Death Valley to Shoshone.
--
Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:***@ix.netcom.com
Robert Cruickshank
2005-04-18 06:15:39 UTC
Permalink
Post by Paul DeRocco
Caltrans has set up a web page to take virtual tours of many of the states
highways. It requires a Quicktime viewer.
The link is: http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/
Interesting, but bizarre.
For some reason, they felt the need to put the camera on top of the vehicle
and point it downwards. The result is that the bottom two thirds of the
picture is mainly a broad swath of pavement. That's pretty idiotic, and
useless. The camera should be pointed at the horizon, not below it.
I always assumed that the photo log was originally created for Caltrans'
internal use, and they decided to make it available to the public only
as a secondary use of the archive. Since its primary function is to help
Caltrans in the job of road maintenance, it makes sense for the road
itself to be the focus of the photo log.

That this was not created for public consumption should also answer your
question about the map the site uses. It's not at all strange that the
map shows routes that haven't been constructed - those routes are
legislatively defined, therefore they exist according to Caltrans.
--
Robert I. Cruickshank
roadgeek, historian, progressive
a***@yahoo.com.mx
2005-04-18 21:43:17 UTC
Permalink
[Mr. Piehl:]
Post by Rich Piehl
Caltrans has set up a web page to take virtual tours of many of the
states highways. It requires a Quicktime viewer.
The link is: http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/
The Caltrans photolog isn't "new" news. The first M.T.R. post about it
dates from February 7, 2001:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/misc.transport.road/browse_thread/thread/1fe0982af8e79d59/b3156423c03a577d

However, I checked it out again just now, and have discovered a really
ugly recent development. When the Photolog was first made public in
2001, and for at least three years afterward, it was possible to avoid
using the viewer and go directly to the 'QuickTime' *.MOV files by
accessing the directory tree. Files were typically located at U.R.L.s
like this--

http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/TUL/TUL_099N_45_50.MOV

but Caltrans has now reconfigured its website so that, for example,

http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/TUL/

results in a 403 ("You are forbidden") error rather than, as before, a
directory listing.

I don't know what the motivation can be--security?
Andrew Tompkins
2005-04-19 16:22:28 UTC
Permalink
Post by a***@yahoo.com.mx
[Mr. Piehl:]
Post by Rich Piehl
Caltrans has set up a web page to take virtual tours of many of the
states highways. It requires a Quicktime viewer.
The link is: http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/
The Caltrans photolog isn't "new" news. The first M.T.R. post about it
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/misc.transport.road/browse_thread/thread/1fe0982af8e79d59/b3156423c03a577d
Post by a***@yahoo.com.mx
However, I checked it out again just now, and have discovered a really
ugly recent development. When the Photolog was first made public in
2001, and for at least three years afterward, it was possible to avoid
using the viewer and go directly to the 'QuickTime' *.MOV files by
accessing the directory tree. Files were typically located at U.R.L.s
like this--
http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/TUL/TUL_099N_45_50.MOV
but Caltrans has now reconfigured its website so that, for example,
http://video.dot.ca.gov/photolog/TUL/
results in a 403 ("You are forbidden") error rather than, as before, a
directory listing.
I don't know what the motivation can be--security?
You can still reach the files through the filename URL's (the ones ending in .MOV).
In fact this is the only way to reach some of them as they are not accessible through
the map interface. Basically, each eastern-most segment in the county (the high
post-mile end) moving westward or each northern-most segment in the county (again,
the high post-mile end) moving southward can only be accessed through the filename
URL.

--Andy
--------------------------------------------------
Andrew G. Tompkins
Software Engineer
Beaverton, OR
http://home.comcast.net/~andytom/Highways
--------------------------------------------------
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