I just realized that I started this thread. Now that’s a zombie. The only update is that my in-laws moved to be closer to us and watch more TV.
Commercial TV? NFW!
But the never ending fireplace or a marathon of TCM movies I’ll allow it.
I’m not sure whether or not to be surprised by the number of people in this thread who claim to like background noise and be bothered by quiet. I wonder how much of it is nature (e.g. how your brain is wired to be sensitive to external stimuli) and how much is nurture (i.e. what you’re used to).
For the record, I like silence just fine; I only want the TV on when I’m actively watching it; and background noise is either neutral or annoying (although background music can be good if it’s something I actually enjoy listening to and if it doesn’t interfere with something I’m trying to concentrate on.)
Thank you so much for this link! Last night was one of those when I wake up at 2 am and my brain refuses to shut back down so I can sleep. This sight was just perfect, mildly interesting to watch but not enough to get me caught up in watching… ZZZZZZZZZZZ
Thanks so much for telling me that! I love this site. There are other world web cam channels, but I’ve gotten attached to these particular locations. Did you get to see the albatross cam? Or the watering hole in the desert in Namibia?
Yes, in that I saw the nest but no albatross. Yes – if that is what it was? Looked like a puddle and nothing at all was happening in the area for the ten seconds I saw.
I liked the cam way up north somewhere, that shows a small airfield but does it in a compressed time manner? There were five red painted planes when it came up, and before the ten seconds were up, they’d all taken flight!
I watch Crittervision the same way. It’s interesting to see the daytime visitors compared to Nightime. I can usually get back to sleep after watching for awhile.
It’s not unsettling. I typically work at home, and having the TV on provides background noise.
Note that I’ll usually have a news channel on–all it is, is people talking, like in the background at an office. I don’t have daytime talk/variety shows, or soap operas, or anything else that has music or applause. Just news, always droning in the background.
That’s in Greenland. Some of the stops are “fast forward.” That one usually is (though not always). One of the bars in St. John’s is sometimes and you get to see a speeded up sunset while folded patio umbrellas vibrate in the time-lapse wind. And also somewhere in Quebec does a time-lapse-- boats coming into a harbor.
The albatross cam doesn’t show much and the picture isn’t great. But it’s the idea. 
That bird has a worldwide audience.
The beach in Thailand with the hammock is one of my favorites…dreamy…sometimes people there, sometimes deserted.
If you poke around YouTube some channels show just one of those cameras exclusively.
That’s a good one! I’ll have to check that out.
My refrigerator was acting up and the compressor was running almost all the time. Even that soft sound was an annoyance.
Before turning in last night, I decided to check in on this site. It came up on a cam in the 80s, so I hung around to check in on the albatross. (#108)
It was a hotbed of activity! The albatross stood up! And spread her wings a bit and sort of ruffled her feathers. Then she turned around about 180 degrees and settled back down into the nest.
I’m sure she’ll need a few hours rest to recover from that bout of exercise.
But the big surprise came right after that: there was a cam 109! And 110! and finally a 111 before #1 showed. Guess they’ll have to update the subheader in the site name.
Whew! So will you! Such excitement! 
I’ve been watching this site so long that I recognize right away when they add new locations. (Note to self: Get a life. Self: Remind me later.)
I was poking around this morning and found a site by the same organization that’s all beaches. Very tranquilizing.
My father likes to keep the noise out of the car when manoeuvring like that, but instead of turning it off he turns the volume right down to nothing. Drove us mad as kids, because then we’d turn the volume back up having missed 10 or 20 seconds of music.
What’s weird is I don’t need silence and don’t mind background noise. Our house in the city is near a bus stop and a hospital. All night, we hear the buses loading and unloading people, ambulances and medivac helicopters coming in to the trauma center, plus the usual street noises of people talking, police sirens, etc.
At our cabin where we spend a lot of time, we hear birds and the stream, wind in the trees, etc. and I like that too.
What I find unsettling about a tv on is that the noise is incongruous. There are little people in a box of glass and plastic having a conversation and we’re just kind of ignoring it. I find it creepy, depressing and unsettling.