By Will Sturgeon, 19 January 2004 17:40
NEWS A website that claims to contain more than five million detailed aerial photos of major events during World War II has been crippled by demand on its first day.
EvidenceinCamera.co.uk is being run by the University of Keele Library and features some of the most harrowing and momentous events from the conflict, available for the public to see for the first time.
Among the gruesome images captured are aerial shots of Auschwitz concentration camp and vivid pictures of the US landings on Omaha beach.
The pictures, which pilots risked their lives to take, often flying at very low altitudes, are so detailed that it is possible to make out stricken bodies floating in the surf and other gruesome images.
Allan William, head of the Evidence in Camera project, told Reuters: "These images allow us to see the real war at first hand. It is like a live action replay. They were declassified years ago, but it takes days to find an individual image. Now they have been digitised and will be on the internet it takes seconds."
While morbid fascination may play a part in the high numbers of visitors the site is attracting, the historical significance of photos, such as the one betraying the location of the Bismarck prior to its sinking, will also be a major factor.
However, many surfers attempting to access the site throughout the day have been left disappointed, seeing nothing but error messages.
The site's popularity echoes that of the much-publicised census site, which was largely unavailable during the days and weeks after its launch. Eventually, as an emergency measure, the site was pulled down indefinitely as demand made it impossible to access.
Comments
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1. Peter Barnsley
I am entirely not suprised by this happening!
I graduated from Keele a couple of years ago in Computer Science, and the facilities offered by that university are below many (geeky) home users set-ups.
Their servers were often grinding to a halt just with the 70 students in my class using it
2. Cornelius F. Clay
This is really embarrassing. In Holland it was announced in the newspapers with some pictures as proof of the quality. At Keele University they should have known this would cause a run of thousands of interested people on this unique material. They have to install some more heavy equipment.
3. Rudolph Hess
Its public funding about history not corporate American about profits and exploitation
4. Tony
Article gets a re-write......
A website that claims to contain more than one error page has not been crippled by demand on its first day.
aconnectionerrirhasoccured.co.uk is being run by the University of Keele Library and features no pages.
The gruesome message is nothing like aerial shots of Auschwitz concentration camp or vivid pictures of the US landings on Omaha beach.
The error page, which programmers risked their jobs to make, often typing at very low altitudes, is so detailed that it is possible to make out each individual letter floating on a white background.
Allan William, head of the Connection Error project, told Reuters: "These erro messages allow us to see the real lack of pages at first hand. It is like a live action replay. They were declassified years ago, but it takes days to find a more reliable error message. Now they have been digitised and will be on the internet it takes hours."
While morbid fascination may play a part in the high numbers of visitors the site is attracting, the historical significance of the error messages, such as the one betraying the lack of connection, will also be a major factor.
Many surfers attempting to access the site throughout the day have been rendered jubilant, seeing nothing but error messages.
The site's popularity echoes that of the much-publicised census site, which was largely unavailable during the days and weeks after its launch. Eventually, as an emergency measure, the site was pulled off indefinitely which is a nice trick if you can do it.
5. anonymous
I feel that if you put on your site that anyone may see the pictures that's how it should be. I feel that this website is just a front to get passangers to come here. I think you should either make it possible for us to see them or take that massege off.
Thanks.