Virtual Moving Day: July 17, 2018

UStream stops offering its free live streaming option on August 1, 2018. "Free" is the most I can afford, so I started using YouTube's streaming service. Then I got smart, and asked my son to help me move. The webcam works now, and so does the live stream. More accurately, it should work.

Information technology has changed since the last time I tried doing 'tech' stuff. Back then all we had was wood burning computers, and that's another topic.

I've updated the old Brendan's Island webcam page. It will be basically static, other than the live feed itself.

The current 'live page' is on my new-since-2016 blog, A Catholic Citizen in America. The webcam's live page there is "Webcam: Sauk Centre MN:" an unimaginative but informative title.

Down For Maintenance: September 29, 2015

My computer's hard drive would probably last another few months, or a year or so. Then again, it might not. Either way, it's time for a newer, higher-capacity, and less-likely-to-unexpectedly-crash hard drive.

The good news is that my son plans to install the new drive, set me up with Windows 10, and get the odd bit of maintenance done, tomorrow. Having a certified technician under the roof has its advantages. I'm taking advantage of the situation, and started a one-week-plus vacation from my regular schedule: starting today. That doesn't affect the webcam, of course

The not-so-good news is that I'll be without a computer for several hours, at least. He and I both know that stuff happens when complex equipment gets a 'routine' once-over.

More to the point, this webcam will be offline, starting some time during the day on September 29, 2015 — until the job is done.

If, for reasons I can't imagine, you want to read a somewhat rambling blog post about this, on another blog, check out:

• "Taking a Week Off. Maybe Two"
  (September 28, 2015)

Ustream Server is Down

First, the good news: Ustream, the service I use for this wecam, will probably get their servers running again.

Now the bad news: Ustream is offline right now. (www.isitdownrightnow.com)

Back Again

This webcam was offline for several hour today: not by choice.

A few minutes ago, my son resolved the issue. He tells me it has something to do with a DNS server. I hope that we don't have more trouble like this. At least, not any time soon.

Hummingbird Feeder: First Hummingbird of 2014

A few minutes ago I saw my first hummingbird of the season at the feeder. That's a quick response: from yesterday afternoon to this morning. Maybe it helped that it's raining: or maybe I was just looking at the right moment this year.

Related posts:

• "Hummingbird Feeder: First Day, 2014"
  (June 14, 2014)
• "Hummingbird Feeder Filled"
  (June 29, 2013)
• "First Hummingbirds of 2013"
  (May 27, 2013)
• "Calling All Hummingbirds"
  (May 26, 2013)
• "Hummingbird Feeder: Filled and In Place"
  (May 17, 2012)

Hummingbird Feeder: First Day, 2014

I generally get the hummingbird feeder out during the last half of May. I'm late this year: but then, we had an unusually rough winter, so maybe the little hummers are running late, too.

Related posts:

• "Hummingbird Feeder Filled"
  (June 29, 2013)
• "First Hummingbirds of 2013"
  (May 27, 2013)
• "Calling All Hummingbirds"
  (May 26, 2013)
• "Changing Seasons"
  (September 22, 2012)
• "Hummingbird Feeder: Filled and In Place"
  (May 17, 2012)

Banned by Ustream! But it Didn't Last

My webcam's 'home' page is back in operation: Small Town America: Central Minnesota.

That's the good news.

The odd news is that earlier this evening, after a routine check of the Ustream feed, I found this message: "You were banned!"

Ustream's help, like so many other corporate "help" pages, is good at explaining why they're nifty, and that I should pay for their premium service. I found nothing about "ban," "banned," or "banning," apart from something that might have been useful if I'd been banned from someone else's chat area: or wanted to ban someone from my chat.

The webcam feed is working again: for the moment, anyway.

Maybe someone found the snow offensive.

Distinctly Unsmooth stream? There's a Reason for That

Maybe you've noticed a lack of smoothness in this webcam's stream.

Sorry about that, but there isn't much I can do about the situation: short of either shutting down the webcam entirely, or providing an image that's a few dozen pixels across. Even then, I'd probably get the "Your computer or your internet connection cannot handle your current quality setting" message.

I've tried.

Aside from that message from the service I use to broadcast the webcam's stream, my computer is working fine. Every few minutes, a website will load at a rate suggestive of chilled molasses oozing out of a bottle: and then load normally.

We've had quite a bit of rain lately, which almost certainly accounts for the sluggish Internet. There's a very new data cable just south out town, but other parts of the regional network are distinctly not-new: and may not have been top-quality when originally installed. Or maybe they were, and time has had its usual effect on equipment.

Anyway, I've cranked back the 'quality' settings on my webcam, will keep on noting the "cannot handle" message, and get back to work.

Related posts:

• "Off Again, On Again"
  (October 26, 2013)
• "Back Online"
  (October 2, 2013)
• "AIII! Frozen Computer"
  (August 2, 2013)
• "Frozen: in July?!"
  (July 16, 2013)
• "Back Online"
  (June 25, 2013)

Off Again, On Again

The webcam's back online.

It's been unavailable since before dawn last night. I found out this morning. My computer was frozen, thoroughly. Not even the manual power/reboot switch on the 'tower' worked. Walking around to the back and unplugging it did, of course, and I was back to normal in a few minutes.

The culprit this time was probably a routine malware sweep. The software I use is a 'resource hog,' and may have grabbed too much this time.

Now that I've got my other morning routines out of the way, I'll check the log of that last malware sweep. If things go well, I'll find nothing unusual.

Related post:

• "Off For Five Hours: There's an Explanation For This One"
  (October 19, 2013)

Off For Five Hours: There's an Explanation For This One

Sometimes this webcam is offline, and I can't figure out why. I just shut my system down, reboot: and generally that's enough to get the picture back.

Sometimes there's nothing I can do. My household's Internet connection is on the fritz, or my computer needs skills I lack.

There was no streaming video from the north window for over five hours: and I knew exactly what the trouble was. A routine overnight sweep for malware found two troublesome objects. Dealing with that involved software that's thorough, but slow. That took care of the first two bits of malware, found two more: and a final sweep with my virtual equivalent of a seek-and-destroy team showed that all four were gone.

I've put the webcam back in operation, caught up on the five hours writing that I'd lost, and finally remembered to write this post. I'm hoping that this will be the last unexpected outage for a long time.

Somewhat-related post:

• "Back Online"
  (October 2, 2013)

Back Online

The webcam was offline for a few minutes, or maybe an hour, this afternoon. I noticed the situation when I returned home, and got the picture back in a few minutes.

My guess is that we had a temporary interruption in Internet service here. There's been rain, lightning, and thunder since roughly 2:30 local time.

Filled the Feeder

I let the hummingbird feeder get unusually low before refilling it this time, but the hummers don't seem to mind.

AIII! Frozen Computer

The first thing I noticed about my computer this morning was that the screen was black. That's not unusual: at all. My 'screensaver' is a plain black screen.

Moving the mouse gave me an unusually dim screen for a second or two: and then one where I could move the mouse, read 'not responding' messages on the two windows I leave on 24/7: and that's about it.

My son and I decided that the computer was frozen: and that the usual 'push and hold' restart procedure wasn't working either. Eventually we coaxed this thing into 'wakefullness,' and so far it's behaving well.

I've had intermittent trouble with getting the webcam's feed working: but this is the first sincere 'freeze' that either of us has seen in years.

Related posts:

• "Frozen: in July?!"
  (July 16, 2013)
• "Back Online "
  (June 25, 2013)
• "It's Back"
  (April 30, 2013)
• "I'm Back: So is the Webcam"
  (April 19, 2013)
• "Spring, and the Usual Internet Problems"
  (March 21, 2013)

Street Work and Sinclair Lewis Days Parade

Sunday, July 21, 2013. A crew dug a hole in Main Street between South 5th and 6th on Wednesday. My guess is that they were doing some unplanned utility work.


That was quick. Main Street was patched up, with nothing to show for the previous day's work except a sandy patch and traffic cones. July 18, 2013.


Minnesota's four seasons: fall, winter, spring, and road work. Or, in town, street work. July 18, 2013.


The folks at Arvig had some sort of major get-together on Thursday. My guess is that it was part of Sinclair Lewis Days. July 18, 2013.

Sinclair Lewis Days ended yesterday, with the usual parade. There's a street dance on Sinclair Lewis Avenue, downtown, after that: but for me the parade is the grand finale.


Some folks have their spots picked and folding chairs in place by late afternoon. By the time the parade starts, at 7:00 p.m., the route is packed. July 20, 2013.


A somber start to the parade - - - July 20, 2013.


- - - followed by sunshine and clowns. July 20, 2013.

I've got quite a few pictures from the parade, but those will wait until another day.

Frozen: in July?!

The webcam 'froze' some time last night, well before sunrise. Restarting it was simple, once I noticed the situation

Related post:

• "Back Online"
  (June 25, 2013)

Hummingbird Feeder Filled

I filled the hummingbird feeder again a few minutes ago. There hasn't been much use of it so far this year, but I'm hoping that will change, now that summer is warming up.

Back Online

My son discovered why the webcam wasn't working. Basically, nobody had told the software that it was okay to get information from the camera. It's fixed now, and I've got another 'look for this' item for the next time there's technical difficulties.

Related post:

• "No Picture, No Clue"
  (June 19, 2013)

No Picture, No Clue

I'm hoping that the webcam will come back to life on its own. I've checked the connections, rebooted the computer, done all the usual 'maybe this will work' stuff. But the result is the same: absolutely no picture.

At all.

I'll keep trying, though, so stick around or check back later - or, not.

Still here? Thanks for your patience!

Related posts:

• "It's Back"
  (April 30, 2013)
• "I'm Back: So is the Webcam"
  (April 19, 2013)
• "Webcam's Back"
  (March 21, 2013)

Hummingbirds, Again

It's been some time since I saw hummingbirds at the feeder. There was a little less nectar than I remember putting in, so I figured that something was feeding there.

A few minutes ago I had the pleasure of seeing two hummers perch on the feeder and get an evening fill-up.

Related posts:

• "First Hummingbirds of 2013"
  (May 27, 2013)
• "Calling All Hummingbirds"
  (May 26, 2013)
• "Hummingbird: Yep, That's Definitely a Hummingbird"
  (May 20, 2012)
• "1st Hummingbird"
  (June 15, 2011)
• "First Batch for the Hummingbirds"
  (June 12, 2011)

First Hummingbirds of 2013

Yesterday I put the hummingbird feeder out. This morning #1 daughter told me she'd seen a hummingbird use it: around noon, I saw a hummer perch on the feeder. In a few minutes it was joined by another, briefly.

Related posts:

• "Calling All Hummingbirds"
  (May 26, 2013)
• "Another Month, Another Round for the Hummingbirds"
  (September 3, 2012)
• "Hummingbird: Yep, That's Definitely a Hummingbird"
  (May 20, 2012)
• "1st Hummingbird"
  (June 15, 2011)
• "First Batch for the Hummingbirds"
  (June 12, 2011)