With the click of a mouse, Wayne Goodnature can view a parking lot in Rochester where he has set up a surveillance camera.

With another click, he's observing a parking lot in Austin.

Goodnature, owner of PST Computer Connection, set up these cameras about two months ago in order to try a technology that is mostly new to rural Minnesota.

Instead of video tape, the information the cameras record is fed into software on a computer. The information can be put on a network and on Web pages on the Internet.

Whatever the camera records can be reviewed on the computer -- without having to deal with a number of videotapes.

"It's pretty awesome technology," Goodnature said. "We're actually developing some software to make the recovery of images much easier."

Goodnature is looking to make the cameras a part of his computer business in the first half of 2003. He said there are many possibilities for their use, including businesses, schools, homes, but most of all -- law enforcement.

"This technology -- if used properly -- is pretty effective," Goodnature said.

Goodnature said he would have liked this technology when he worked in law enforcement because fewer officers would have had to be on surveillance. He said it's easier to prove someone committed a crime if it's on tape and with the technology, it's easier to review the images.

He also thinks it has a use in neighborhood watch groups.

"Our hope is eventually to find a credible application with the neighborhood watch process," Goodnature said.

He thinks the cameras would be able to catch vandals and thieves that residents have complained about in their neighborhoods.

The technology of these types of cameras has increased over the past few years. Previously the camera images bogged down the computer, but now he said the camera doesn't slow the computers in his office.

He and an employee are working on software to make the cameras more efficient.

Goodnature has purchased cameras from Axis Corporation International. The cameras he purchased cost about $280. Those cameras remain stable, but others that can be moved and zoom in and out cost about $500.

The software to operate the cameras costs between $800 and $1,200. Viewing the images on the Internet works best with high-speed access, although it is not needed, he said.

Goodnature said he likes that the software will work on an existing network. That way people in a business, for example, would have access to the camera's information.

Goodnature said he is aware of the civil rights issues involved with surveillance, but emphasized it is legal and there are ways to ensure it's used fairly.

"I'm a rights guy, too," he said.

The cameras have the capability to record sound, but he shuts that off. The Web sites with the camera's recordings are restricted by passwords.

The law enforcement officials he has talked to are excited about the technology and are eager to have a chance to use it.

"There's no doubt we're going to use this technology very well," Goodnature said.

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at :mailto:cari.quam@austindailyherald.com