A Brighton-based information technology services company has installed a web cam to make sure an internet radio station has the sights to go with its sounds.

Applied Technology Systems (ATS) has teamedup with totallyradio.com, also based in Brighton, so the station's listeners can watch, as well as listen to, their favourite DJs.

The dedicated web radio site plays a wide variety of music, from alt.indie and leftfield electronica to lo-fi and world music.

Its shows include Claire Kember's The Daily Show, Papa Steve's Roots Garden Sound System and The New Jazz Spectrum with Russ Dewbury.

The live feed means fans can watch the studio and its occupants around the clock but, to make sure the station's camera and network don't get overloaded with traffic, ATS will manage the images on its web server, which will then rebroadcast them straight to the totallyradio.

com web site.

Simon West, project coordinator for Festival Productions, which runs the site, said: "Using the net cam will be of great benefit to us. It will provide us with additional rich media content for our site and allow our listeners to watch their favourite DJs in action.

"It will drive lots more traffic to the site and assist us in promoting our radio programmes around the world."

Earlier this year, ATS supplied a camera system for Hove-based nursery CBabiesafe, which allowed parents to log on for two hours at a time and check on their children.

The system, thought to be the first in Sussex if not the world, was a private and secure way for parents to see their baby.

Searching for other web cams in Sussex, which are available to members of the public, reveals a startling picture - or rather a lack of one.

Search engine marketing specialists Spannerworks'

used to have a web cam in their offices on the seventh floor of Intergen House, Western Road. The camera, which faced south down Holland Road towards the beach, ran live around the clock but has been offline for some time now.

A web cam at the Royal Pavilion was also offline, as were cameras in Kemp Town, Brighton Marina, Eastbourne and Worthing beach.

The Swan Watch site, developed by computer expert and part-time twitcher Robin Baker and available on West Sussex County Council's web site, is offline, as is the Sussex Heights Peregrine Falcon Watch site.

Although the falcons are expected to nest there again next year, this year they chose the Palace Pier, where there is no camera.

The lack of cameras around the county is despite the fact the technology has been getting cheaper and better.

Before web cams became more popular, closed circuit television was the norm but it was expensive.

Earlier cameras had a number of practical problems and getting them to perform a number of uses proved to be difficult.

They were just cameras you could view on a PC but they did not have their own internet protocol addresses so, without an active PC, they could not be seen.

They were cheap but the images were not so crisp.

Newer models, like ATS's Network Axis camera, have their own internal computer, which acts as a web server so they can be placed anywhere on a computer network.

The images they record can be viewed by anyone with an internet connection or those people with a password.

The system is about to be used at the Royal Albion Hotel,Old Steine, Brighton, to provide views of the seafront and the beach.

www.applied-tech.com
www.totallyradio.com
www.cbabiesafe.com
www.royalalbion.activehotels.com/DTB