This is awesome. What is used to connect the remote spot to the internet? Who is paying for the traffic from the site?
Live Stream from the Namib Desert
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Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
The word "Namib" means "place where there is nothing" in Khoekhoegowab, spoken by the people who live right next to the desert and assuredly explored it.
Wikipedia states that your interpretation is not 100% certain. It says that there is also believed to mean "vast place," which is not in dispute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namib#Etymology
So, a vast nothing
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#103This also works well for safari lodges. They worked out you can just put a pond there and elephants etc will come while guests are having breakfast. Reliably present fresh water in a dry area = animals
Lodges will also add salt to ensure animals keep coming back:
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#104This is awesome. What is used to connect the remote spot to the internet? Who is paying for the traffic from the site?
It’s run by a travel agency called Gondwana Collection. The watering hole is at the Namib Desert Lodge [1] so it’s not really remote, they just use whatever internet provides wifi for guests. The watering hole is set up to attract wild animals for the tourists to see so that’s often who runs them. The livestream is a cheap way for them to attract guests.
[1] https://gondwana-collection.com/accommodation/namib-desert-l...
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#105Amazing and thank you for sharing!
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#106Look around where the camera is:
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
People tend to think that deserts are lifeless wastes to be readily exploited because who cares, right? If you've ever actually lived in or explored a desert, you quickly learn that they are full of life. More than most urban landscapes.
They are empty places. The biomass per square area is a pittance compared to any other habitat. Water is life. Places with less water have less life. Not all places are equal.
A chicken farm has more biomass per square meter than just about anything else, but I wouldn’t advocate replacing the Mojave with a chicken farm. There is simply more to it than that.
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#108Fellow fan of the Namid Desert waterhole here! As it happens, I made this wrapper for it https://waterhole.genmon.partykit.dev This single-serving waterhole: - makes the YouTube stream fill the browser for an Immersive Experience(TM) - shows how many people are watching in real-time - provides ephemeral chat with other people present I know at least one team at an unnamed big tech co who would all have it open on the…
Nice :-)
Fyi the page is not rendering well for me on an iPhone Pro Max (latest iOS 26, Safari browser.) It's basically cut in half...
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have a ton of idea about how ambient live streams are the Next Big Thing and how to lean into that.) Are you me? It's crazy that these giant screens spend most of their time as black rectangles when they could be windows to the world (with very tasteful/quiet/no-motion advertisements). Happy to pitch to Netflix, Roku, or other streaming services and/or TV manufacturers. :-)
My old Sony TV, just a cheap model, had a (custom for Sony) “Lofi Girl” ambient screensaver it would go into if you configured it to, with quiet music. It was one of my favorite features.
I tried to find this on Youtube... I'd love to see and hear it if you can find it. Sounds interesting.
Re: Live Stream from the Namib Desert
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think GP meant that the ambient content could be accompanied by a “tasteful” static sponsored message. Imagine a black stripe at the bottom that said “Sponsored by Home Chef” Given how much ads on the web escalated in intensity though, I don’t think anyone would buy sponsor spots like that though.
We understood what the GP was thinking in terms of ads. The objection is that any form of advertisement, regardless of how tasteful it might be presented, is the polar opposite of the intended purpose of tranquil windows into nature. People like these kinds of live streams because it offers a relaxing form of escapism. Dumping even a static ad only serves to add distraction from that atmosphere and thus undermines th…
I think I agree with you tbh. Then again I go pretty far out of my way to not see ads, other than billboards and maybe those on the sides of buses and bus shelters! To me it’s worth paying not to have them. So I bet a screen would be no different for me.