Newfoundland in Winter?

Inverted Waves, originally uploaded by thedeciderints.

This is actually the same picture as in my previous post but edited using the Inverted process in Pixer. Looks like a bleak Canadian winter scene now! Pretty cool, huh? 1

Waves in Newfoundland Cove

Waves2, originally uploaded by thedeciderints.

I'm Canadian and most of my family is still in Canada very close to where I grew up. Last year my brother-in-law sold his business and he and my sister retired. They didn't just retire, however. They sold pretty much everything and moved to Newfoundland. Anyone who knows Canada well is probably already scratching their head and thinking, "You're kidding, right?" I'm trying to think of a location in the U.S. that might bring the same question to mind. All I can think of is moving up to the top of the "chimney" of Idaho where it borders on Canada. You're kidding, right? The Newfoundlanders (commonly referred to as Newfies) are the butt of many jokes. Take pretty much any Aggie joke you've ever heard and substitute Newfie for Aggie and you'll be on the mark.

They live in a little port town called Grate's Cove which, during the summer influx, swells to a population approaching 250! The full-time population is about 180. The closest place of any size is about two hours away. My mind still boggles at this! But they are enjoying retired life in Grate's Cove a great deal. They have embraced life in a small town openly and enthusiastically. I receive a regular batch of photos by email and you know what? I'm really looking forward to visiting them! My niece and nephew have both visited and are looking forward to returning for more visits.

My sister has sent me pictures from various places around the province and they have been incredibly beautiful without exception. (Well, OK, she's not going to send me ugly pictures, I know!) The flow of pictures has made me realize how I had judged the province based on the isolated location and the uncomplimentary Newfie jokes and deemed it an undesirable place. Lesson learned! I'm unlikely to ever consider moving to Newfoundland but it's definitely in my future travel plans.

Flickr Mashups

I played with Fastr. It's pretty cool. A group of Flickr photos appears on the screen, one at a time. The challenge is to try to figure out as quickly as possible what tag they all have in common. The photos aren't very big so it's really hard in some of them to even see what the picture is of. Given my tendency to get hooked on puzzle type games, I can see how I might get hooked on this one!

Life used to be a lot simpler! (Internet Safety...Sort of)

I'm old enough to remember when "safe" was achieved by telling my mother at whose house I'd be hanging out! Of course, all the moms on the street and the moms of friends around our small town kept an eye on us. We didn't get away with a whole lot! It was all a real, physical world. If there was an unknown (or sometimes known) person hanging around, they were visible. Everyone could see them.

That was a simpler time. With the growth of the Internet that safety and relative security of decades past is gone. The dangers, whether to one personally or to one's business and financial affairs, are alarmingly many. They are invisible and intangible. We hear so often on the news of people, both young and adult, who have been lured to meet strangers they have been communicating with online with horrifying results. Who hasn't personally experienced or had friends or family who have experienced the fraudulent use of credit cards and bank accounts? The incredible and immediate access we now have to so much useful information and entertainment online is wonderful. Unfortunately the same electronic network that makes this possible is also the means to a proliferation of illegal and unethical practices.

As the father of two now grown children I know that saying it is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children about Internet safety is a lot easier said than done! Although my kids can't conceive of the concept, I was once a young person! I know what my parents told me to do and not to do. I also know what I did. The two were not always in synch! Did it matter that I sometimes took a very long way around to get the friend's house where I said I was going? I guess that depends on whether the long way around meant riding my bike across planks spanning a river while the new bridge was being built was considered dangerous or not. I didn't think it was. My mother would undoubtedly have had a different opinion. It's the same with what we tell our kids about being safe when they are online. Our years of experience as adults affect our perceptions of what is safe when we're online and what isn't. Our kids don't have that same range of experience to use when making their judgments on what is safe online. It's a pretty scary time to be raising kids. It gives me no small amount of apprehension to think what it will be like for my kids when they are raising my grandkids!

As a rule, I am pretty careful about the personal information I give out online. If I'm ordering something and have to put in credit card and personal information, I always check for the 'https' in the address box first. I have different email addresses that I use for different purposes which helps me decide on the legitimacy of the requests that come to me by email. I delete without even opening any emails in any account that don't come from a source I know. There's probably a lot more I could do but I feel I'm making some good decisions about my online activities.

To go not so boldly where many have gone before

Well, this is my foray into the Land of Blog. You've all heard the old cliche that you have to walk before you can run. When it comes to blogging, I'm lying on my tummy on the floor of the nursery squirming around! To be honest, my staff have shamed me into joining the blogging community. I admit it. Most of them have charged fearlessly into the Land of Blog and not only survived but have found a lot of excitement and fun there. I know I must follow them for I am TheDeciderInTS!!