General Commentary concerning YouTube videos

[Edena_of_Neith]

What I'm seeing on YouTube, sometimes defies belief.

One of those things that defies belief, is how traffic is handled in a number of countries. Or, rather, not handled.

My fellow Americans, you wouldn't imagine that a super-crowded rush hour situation could be made to work, without traffic lights, without traffic cops, without traffic rules ... without lanes, without markings on the road ... with cars, buses, motorcycles, mopeds, bicyclists, and pedestrians all trying to cross an intersection at once, would you?
Surely, that wouldn't work, right?

Uh ... have a look at any YouTube video of traffic out of India, Vietnam, Egypt, or many other countries.

This is something that makes our Libertarians seem like Orwellian Rule-Your-Life types. I don't even think our Anarchists could dream this one up. Even those John Wayne Wild West films didn't go this for ... but this is Real Life.

Do a search. Have a look! Or multiple looks (there is aplenty to see.)

[Dacke]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxeu0dzNUiY

[Edena_of_Neith]

That particular one, just has me ... amazed. I mean it. It beats any of the Reality Shows.

Can you imagine if that was tried on your typical CSX Railroad line?
Assume that the Railroad Police and Local Authorities allowed it. Assume people set up shops, made the line into a market and crowded pedestrian walkway each and every time a train had passed by. How many casualties, before the day was out?

I have to shudder. I grew up in Plymouth, where 2 major CSX lines cross. I've watched those 10,000 ton juggernauts go through. We know the drill. It's a regular earthquake, an overawing thundering roar ... and, as we know, a constant traffic outrage. (CSX has been nicknamed both Constant Outrage and Can't Outrun by the people of Plymouth.)

I wouldn't set up a shop on those tracks. Just me. I wouldn't.
Is that train that we just saw pass by ... isn't that a regular 100 ton passenger rail car?

[Dawnstar]

Youtube has so many interesting but also scary things on it. It sure is fun to look at and do searches.

[Name Lips]

Edena, you seem very fascinated by the availability of tons of information on the internet, particularly streaming video. Did you know that NetFlix (which is a pay site, but it's a nominal amount for a basic account) has started offering full versions of movies and TV shows online? Its called "Watch It Now." I sometimes put on a cartoon for the kids. I'm also working my way through the new incarnation of Dr. Who and a few documentary series. The quality is downsampled to match your connection - the faster your connection, the better the picture. My only complaint is that I can't turn on subtitles if I want to.

And though it's not high-speed, increasingly libraries are putting their collections online. Our local library lets you "check out" ebooks and download them directly to your computer. They disable themselves after 2 weeks, but you can always "renew" them by redownloading them. And these are new books that you can buy in the bookstore, as well as the older "classic" stuff you'd expect.

Historic documents are also being scanned and made available to anybody who cares to download them. Original ancient maps, manuscripts, and parchments that used to be only available to specialized researchers because nobody else could be trusted with them.

I once found a site with fully 3d rendered maps of each tomb in the Egyptian Valley of Kings. Down to precise measurements and pictures on the walls and descriptions of the architecture written by the archeologists who are exploring the are.

You've seen Google Earth, right? Aerial and satellite photos of everywhere on earth, spliced together into a single monstrous globe. I can see my front yard. I can click "ground view" and see my street from the perspective of a car driving down it. I can make out the license plate number on my car.

The amount of information out there is dazzling. It's amazing. And it's virtually free for anybody in the US to access.

[Edena_of_Neith]

Thank you for the info. I did not know about NetFlix.

Sorta sounds like the IPod, except this is for video.

Now, with those All Fiber Services, with 50 mb/s download speeds, I would think 720p would be possible concerning the quality. Get it up to 200 mb/s, and you could have 1080p. 400 mb/s, and the 4 megapixel video that is the limit of the current Internet (hey, it would beat out those Blu-Ray Discs now being sold in stores.)

Yeah, yeah, I know ... there is a serious loss of quality due to the 100 fold compression ... I refer to 1080p using the current, latest compression system.
3 gb/s is needed for true 1080p, or 400 mb/s, but that isn't happening anytime soon on the internet.