Using a webcam to spot a wrong 'un

One of the most consistent themes running through the reminiscences of old folks is the belief that, in the old days, we had a sense of community that has now been lost.

Like many nostalgic tales it has some grounding in truth, but it's also hopelessly exaggerated. While many communities have broken up, neighbourhoods are created all the time either by accident or design.

When people see my address in an apparently dodgy part of south east London, they have been known to remark that I must get burgled a lot. In fact (touch wood) I've been untouched in seven years.

The reason is the best burglar system in the world: the next-door neighbour's mother who lives across the road.

Every day, rain or shine, she sits and watches the patterns of the street go by and she's brilliant at spotting what she calls "a wrong 'un".

Now the US government is getting the message and talking about hiring the public to log-on to webcams for a few hours a day and help guard national security sites against hoards of swarthy attackers.

There's nothing new in this. Genius futurologist and author Neal Stephenson proposed a similar idea for community residents nearly a decade ago.

There are good and bad sides to this. The neighbours aren't silent watchers and I've learnt to expect half a dozen people on our street knowing when I've brought home someone new, or what's inside the latest big box being delivered.

At this point someone usually parrots: 'If you've done nothing wrong you've nothing to fear!' forgetting that this was the motto of the East German Stasi.

From a corporate standpoint, it's a good time to start thinking about how you can use this kind of technology.

If you get a call in the middle of the night saying that the server is down, would it not be useful to see whether it's a physical problem via a small wireless webcam?

On a personal basis there are already kits allowing you to do this for your home as well. Building a good neighbourhood, inside or outside work, is usually a good thing.