You’ve been there for your friends and family members during the long and difficult road to New York. Now you can be there for them on race day. Here, you can record a personal video of support to someone close to you who’s running in this year’s marathon. Or if you don’t have a webcam, simply upload a picture and type in a short message. These messages may appear along the course during the actual race.

Submitting a message will also qualify you for a chance to win a trip to the 2010 ING New York City Marathon, Nov, 7, or one of over a hundred other ASICS prizes.

 Watch the 2010 ING New York City Marathon on live webcam from New York City.

 NYC Marathon History : From what can only be described as humble beginnings, the first New York City Marathon, in 1970, had a total budget of $1,000 and the 55 finishers were rewarded with recycled bowling trophies, the New York City Marathon has grown to become a weeklong, worldwide celebration. On the guest list: 30,000 athletes, 12,000 volunteers, thousands of city employees, 2 million spectators lining the course, and tens of millions more curious onlookers around the globe, all celebrating friendship, sport, and human potential.

The explosive growth of this most famous marathon was triggered by the decision to move the 1976 race from the confines of Central Park onto the streets of New York City’s five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. In the months, weeks, and days leading up to the first five-borough race, nobody was exactly sure WHAT would happen. Even Frank Shorter, who had won the Olympic gold medal in the marathon in 1972 and the silver in that same event earlier that summer, admitted he only showed up to see if the NYPD could actually clear the streets. They did, and Shorter led 2,088 others on a tour of New York City, eventually finishing second to Bill Rodgers. Perhaps it was the flight of stairs that runners were forced to negotiate at mile 18, or that Shorter ran the entire race on a broken ankle!

The stairs were gone by 1977, but the field continued to grow in size and diversity. More than 14,000 marathoners participated inwinner Grete Waitz’s then world-record race in 1980, almost 25,000 helped push Juma Ikangaa to a 2:08:01 course record in 1989, and an all-time high of 31,786 finished in 1999, when Joseph Chebet continued the Kenyan men’s recent dominance and Adriana Fernandez became Mexico’s first female winner.

On the cusp of a new century, even more drama and growth is anticipated: The “race within a race” of the USA Men’s and Women’s Marathon Championship, the first significant course change since the move to the five boroughs, prize money for wheelchair competitors, and the continued race-day coverage on NBC-TV and nycmarathon.org, expected to reach 100 million people worldwide.

Over the last 31 years, the famous blue line marking the New York City Marathon route has seen brilliant performances, heartbreaking defeats, and more stories of individual triumph than any one person could ever hope to document.

Listen closely. What you’ll hear is the fast-approaching sound of 30,000 athletes, making their way to the most famous finish line in the world. The sound rises from the streets; it echoes off the city’s skyscrapers, it reverberates through its vibrant neighborhoods. And it sounds like a symphony. A symphony on the world’s greatest stage.

One of the later summer festivals, this live webcam feed is in the Croatian coastal town of Pula, home of the 2010 Outlook Festival, at Fort Punta Christo.

A wide range of musical tastes are catered for at this summer festival, with best in reggae, hiphop, dubstep, broken beat, drum & bass and dance-floor soul music being played at a series of locations across 4 days.  Webcam in Pula throughout the festival.

Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 (2006). Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, tame sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism. Pula has also been Istria’s administrative centre since ancient Roman times.

The city is best known for its many surviving ancient Roman buildings, the most famous of which is its first century amphitheatre, which is among the six largest surviving Roman arenas in the world. and locally known as the Arena. This is one of the best preserved amphitheatres from antiquity and is still in use today during summer film festivals. During the World War II Italian fascist administration, there were attempts to disassemble the arena and move it to mainland Italy, which were quickly abandoned due to the costs involved.

Two other notable and well-preserved ancient Roman structures are the 1st century AD triumphal arch, the Arch of the Sergii and the co-eval temple of Rome and Augustus, built in the 1st century AD built on the forum during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus.

The Twin Gates (Porta Gemina) is one of the few remaining gates after the city walls were pulled down at the beginning of the 19th century. It dates from the mid-2nd century, replacing an earlier gate. It consists of two arches, columns, a plain architrave and a decorated frieze. Close by are a few remains of the old city wall.

The Gate of Hercules dates from the first century. At the top of the single arch one can see the bearded head of Hercules, carved in high-relief, and his club on the adjoining voussoir. A damaged inscription, close to the club, contains the names of Lucius Calpurnius Piso and Gaius Cassius Longinus who were entrusted by the Roman senate to found a colony at the site of Pula. Thus it can be deduced that Pula was founded between 47 and 44 BC.

The Augustan Forum was constructed in the first century BC, close to the sea. In Roman times it was surrounded by temples of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. This Roman commercial and administrative centre of the city remained the main square of classical and medieval Pula. It still is the main administrative and legislative centre of the city. The temple of Roma and Augustus is still preserved today. A part of the back wall of the temple of Juno was integrated into the Communal Palace in the 13th century.

Two Roman theatres have withstood the ravages of time: the smaller one (diam. circa 50 m; 2nd c. AD) near the centre, the larger one (diam. circa 100 m; 1st c. AD) on the southern edge of the city. Webcam in Pula throughout the festival and more Webcam in Croatia.

The College of Saint Scholastica is a private college with its main campus located in Duluth, Minnesota. The College was founded in 1912 by a group of pioneering Benedictine Sisters who offered college courses to six young women. Today St. Scholastica educates more than 2,800 men and women and has graduated more than 13,000 alumni.

The 186-acre (0.75 km2) campus is set on a hill overlooking Lake Superior. Campus buildings include: Tower Hall, the Science Center, Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel, the Myles Reif Recreation Center, Burns Wellness Commons, the 500-seat Mitchell Auditorium, the College Library, the Little Theatre, a newly-expanded Student Union, Somers Residence Hall and seven apartment complexes.

Adjoining the campus are St. Scholastica Monastery, home of the Benedictine Sisters, and the Benedictine Health Center, which serves the needs of the Duluth area and provides opportunities for practical experience for many of the College’s health science and behavioral arts and sciences students. St. Scholastica has a 13:1 student-to-teacher ratio and offers 17 intercollegiate athletics programs, with more than 50 extracurricular offerings.

St. Scholastica is consistently recognized for excellence by U.S. News & World Report Report magazine. The magazine’s 2010 “America’s Best Colleges” ranks St. Scholastica in the Top Tier of regional universities in the Midwest.

The college awards bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and two doctoral degrees, the Doctor of Physical Therapy and the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Undergraduate areas of study include business, computer science, education, English, humanities, mathematics, nursing and other health-related fields, religious studies, and sociology. Graduate programs include business, education, and health-related fields.

In addition to the main campus in Duluth, St. Scholastica also has sites in Brainerd, St. Cloud, Rochester, St. Paul, as well as a virtual campus.

St. Scholastica has a number of undergraduate programs, including Advertising, Biochemistry, Education, English, Exercise Physiology, Nursing, and Ojibwe Language and Culture Education. Graduate programs offered include the Doctor of Physical Therapy, Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, and Master of Arts in Computer Information Systems.

St. Scholastica utilizes a program called “Dignitas” (Dignity), which all students are required to take part in. Students are made to choose a single course their first year of school that may focus on as broad a category as the psychology behind human beings bowling alone. These classes are very participation-driven and have students do such hands-on things as helping out in the community, gardening, and creating a mission statement for one’s own life. St. Scholastica faculty is very proud of this program and claim that CSS was one of the very first colleges to use such a method to introduce their students to the campus, the faculty, and one another; they even go so far as to say that the springing up of similar programs over recent years in neighboring colleges was due to their influence. View of The College of Saint Scholastica and more Usa Webcam and more College Webcam.

March 17th is the traditional date when everyone goes green! Not ecologically, or even politically, just green everywhere. Hats, glasses, clothes, beer, food, fountains and grass are all green for St Paddy. Where better to celebrate St Patrick’s Day than in the Irish capital, Dublin. Merrion Square is the place to be for family friendly events. The main parade begins in Parnell Square North and makes slow and rambunctious progress around the city. The celebrations actually start days earlier with drama, music and dance.

Across the pond and lagging the usual 5 hours, New York does the Mother of all parades. It may be cold, but that does not hinder the partying of this Irish rooted immigrant community. Around 34 million Americans claim Irish ancestry so it’s a good thing they moved out of the tiny Emerald Isle, to be sure.

Of course, the best place to find the most authentic Irish cuisine and celebrations is in an Irish bar, if you can squeeze through the door. The New York parade runs along the Fifth Avenue, best known for its upmarket boutiques, and it starts at 11am and finishes around 5pm, if you’re lucky. Some of the best views can be seen from Central Park, or from a live New York webcam on Times Square ! Checkout Alary’s bar webcam for more St Patrick’s Day action in St Paul’s, Minneapolis.

Sharpen your knowledge of St Patrick with a few facts below:

Although St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland he was born in Britain around 385AD.

He was captured as a boy and carried off to Ireland as a slave herding sheep.

He later returned to Ireland as a missionary to the pagan Celts.

He used the shamrock to illustrate the Holy Trinity in his preaching.

March 17 AD461 is the date of the death of St Patrick and is a national holiday in Ireland, Newfoundland and on the island of Montserrat!

The largest festivities in the southern hemisphere are in Sydney , which are probably also the warmest.

St Patrick is attributed to driving all snakes and serpents out of Ireland.

A popular toast on St Patrick’s Day says: “May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends beneath it never fall out”.

And on that happy note, cheers and have a great St Patrick’s Day!

Live webcams have come a long way in the last few years and their uses are as wide as the imagination. Webcams have been used for crime spotting, pet-sitting, baby-minding and more. There is even a webcam focused on Loch Ness just in case “Nessie” makes an appearance. The Nessie webcam has a camera attached so that if the viewer sees something strange, they can capture it on record.

Hampton Court Palace has many tales of strange sightings and chilling experiences. On one occasion security guards spotted that fire doors were frequently opened and on checking their camera footage saw a figure in period dress stepping through.

BBC Lincolnshire has innovatively put their webcam to a new use. Whilst two of their webcams show live webcam views of their presenters on air, the third has been set up in what appears to be a derelict building. Or is it?

In the old Radion Buildings there have been spine-chilling tales of a pale apparition. The building is reputedly haunted by…..a ghostly ice-cream lady. Perhaps I should tell you that the building was once used as a cinema. If you have the nerve, you can checkout the ghost webcam for yourself. Rather than pay to have the webcam monitored, BBC Lincolnshire is hoping that listeners, or rather viewers, will spot evidence on the webcam and let them know.

A similar ghostcam is set up inside the Willard library in the US state of Indiana. Live webcams are monitoring the library in the children’s room, the basement and the reading room. So far the results are inconclusive, although the still photos are pretty spooky……

The occurrence and development of electronic means of communication brought about a very useful tool – the webcam, whose role is to make real conversation and seeing each other at the same time possible. The MSN webcam, like other webcam models, is a video capturing device which is connected to computers or computer networks. It often uses USB or, if it connects to networks, it relies on the ethernet or the Wi-Fi. The good thing about the webcam is that it has low manufacturing costs and allows for flexible applications or games… HelloWebcam

The history of the webcam and, indirectly that of the MSN webcam, started in 1991 when the first such camera, called the CoffeeCam, was installed in the computer science department at Cambridge University. This camera was on until August 22, 2001. The oldest webcam still functioning is the FogCam at San Francisco University, which has been in use since 1994. Until recently the webcams were built to be attached to/mounted on the computer. Recently, some computer hardware manufactures started making the webcams incorporated in laptops and desktop screens, which enables you to get rid of external USB or firewire webcams. Therefore, the use of a MSN webcam has become a more comfortable and relaxed experience than it has ever been.

What can you use a webcam for? This question has lots of answers. You can use it either for personal purposes or for public interest. Due to the fact that webcam capabilities have been added to instant messaging text chat services such as AOL Instant Messenger, skype, webcamchatroulette millions of computer users all over the world, now get into one-to-one live video communication over the Internet. New features among which lighting, real-time enhancements (retouching, wrinkle smoothing and vertical stretch) make users more comfortable, therefore increasing its popularity. Features and performance differ between programs. Videoconferencing support is included in programs like Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Windows Live Messenger, Skype, webcamchatroulette…

Besides using it for personal videoconferencing, you will notice that there are many World Wide Web users who enjoy looking at images from cameras which have been set up in different parts of the world. An educator can use an MSN webcam to take his/her students on a virtual trip. The first part of the word webcam is simply technical. Thus, it can be replaced by others like street or net, in accordance with the place where the camera is placed. Nowadays there are millions of webcams providing views into homes, offices and other buildings as well as providing panoramic views of cities (Metrocams) and the countryside. Webcams are used to monitor traffic with TraffiCams, the weather with WeatherCams and even volcanoes with VolcanoCams. Webcam aggregators also allow users to search for particular webcams, based on geography or other criteria : 123cam.com

The coffeemachine has then been bought from Spiegel Online for 10.452,72 DM and repaired for free by Krups and can now be viewed here:

The oldest webcam still operating is FogCam at San Francisco State University, which has been running continuously since 1994