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Among webcam sites, EarthCam.com is definitely one of the most unique and interesting. Just as the name suggests, this site consists of a big (they claim to be the biggest) network of webcams located all around the world. Live images from New York, Washington, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and countless other cities are transmitted directly to your screen and take a live picture of our world and different aspects of our society. If Big Brother awakened your voyeur instincts, here is a site you can go 24/7 to satisfy your needs without even having to pay for cable.

But EarthCam.com is definitely much more than just a resource for voyeurs: when you look at some of the life cams, be it New York traffic in rush hour or a quiet skiing facility, you can really feel the pulse of a live planet, and places that were previously far away are immediately brought closer than ever.

The site homepage is well structured and contains a series of different sections linking to the most popular cams, featured ones, newly added, etc. One of the most appreciable features of the site is, however, that you don't just get to see what's going on on the other side of the screen, but for each cam you are also provided with an extensive description and explanation of the place and what exactly is going on there.

You can also browse the site by directories, which comes very useful. Webcams are grouped in many different ways (traffic, weather, personal, etc.), which makes it very easy to find the kind of content you're looking for. The personal area is of particular interest: it's a space dedicated to people from all over the world who decided to install a cam on a portion of their house (most commonly on their pets) and want to share those images with the world.

The best cams are determined via the familiar processing of voting by assigning a certain number of stars to a cam. You don't have to register to the site in order to be able to vote - in fact, the site has no actual registration form, and the only form to compile is in case you want to add a cam to the site, in which case you have to indicate data such as the streaming URL and categorize your content for easier user access.

Another section of the site is called 'EarthCam Mobile' and is a way to create (after creating a free account) what is called a 'moblog', a blog that you can edit and update directly from your own mobile phone. You are also enabled to turn your mobile phone into a live webcam and share the images on the site - however, if you wish to do so, make sure you have a flat Internet subscription for your mobile phone, or your next phone bill might look pretty scary!

One, last section of the site (linked to at the top of the screen) is a e-commerce section in which you can buy all sorts of webcams that are compliant with the site specifications. There are devices for all budgets and of various quality, and it's certainly a good place where to look if you're willing to join a live community and start sharing your images with the rest of the world.

The site is available in many different languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese, a further testimony of the site's global aims and purposes.

Overall, EarthCam.com is definitely a site worth a visit. The large repository of webcams, a big community, and really interesting content provided both by business partners, cities administrations and regular people from just all around the world all make the site really unique, and probably the most interesting in its genre, too.

Learn more about this author, Dario Borghino.
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