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Around the world in 80 webcams
Flat and anti-climactic, the New Year is traditionally a time when we start planning our summer holidays.
The advent of webcams allows us a try-before-you buy glimpse of places we might like to visit - or even just a bit of escapism from bitter, bleak old Blighty.
Consumer magazine Which? has put together a compendium of 80 websites from around the globe for a very modern take on Phileas Fogg’s circumnavigation.
Andrew Stucken dons his virtual rucksack to road test them:
A trip to an Alpine ice haven for a White Christmas is something of a personal dream. And now I can monitor the white stuff via the Swiss Alps cam at www.swisspanorama.com - with views over three of Switzerland's highest peaks.
Moving east, www.praguewebcam.com shows the charms of the Czech capital - while EarthCam Moscow at www.earthcam.com/russia/moscow offers some of the best views of the Russian capital.
For a view of Israel’s major tourist attractions, from its beaches to Mount Hermon’s ski resorts, see the www.isracamera.co.il cams.
On the other side of Asia, try www.thaicam.com for a reminder of how summer looks, and even sounds…the Lamai beach cam has audio so you can hear the waves lapping against the shore.
More prosaically, a glimpse into how our consumer goods are manufactured is to be found at http://tinyurl.com/2qt4hj with a peek into a factory in Dalian, China.
Not forgetting Antarctica, march with penguins at http://tinyurl/2gpaby for a selection of views from the British Antarctic Survey.
For an Antipodean view see the 'croc cam' at Sydney Aquarium on http://tinyurl.com/237cw9. These are online while the creatures are awake too.
Cross the Pacific for some shots of Latin American city life in the Brazilian port of Santos at www.exibir.com/camevid before another ocean hop to the heart of the BBC in London. The cam http://tinyurl.com/yv52fb gives a view of TV and radio programmes being made and a chance for some celeb-spotting.
The web address of the relevant article on the Which? site is as follows: http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/ computers_and_internet/reports/accessories/ other_accessories/Webcams/ webcams_product_report_574_104855_8.jsp