Testing blog posted via email

A father's view of his son hiking the PCT.

(this is a test of sending an email to my blog for posting).

By helping my son, Adam, post daily updates to his blog while on the PCT does take time.

It also is not without worry and concern.

When yourchildren grow up, leave your home and become independent adults, you do not get visibility into their daily activities.  You don't get to see them make mistakes, take risks they shouldn't, fall down, get hurt, encounter danger, or do things that would drive you crazy.  The adage: "What you don't know, won't hurt you." applies.  

If they don't share these things with you, you can assume they are safe, happy, and healthy.  Of course, you can assume the opposite but that will drive you crazy, so often, we assume they are OK.

So, when one of them takes on an adventure like hiking the PCT, you know it is dangerous.

Many people deal with this by asking the child to give them frequent updates  as to their safety. Since many trails do not have cell phone coverage, it is not possible for them to call or text you.  A common solution to this is to have them us a device to 'spot' their where-a-bouts with an "I'm OK" message.  When they spot, you get a email and a pointer to a website showing their exact location.

My son, who hiked all the 14, 000 foot mountains in CO did this when he hiked. I would see this spots and know where he was and that  he was OK.  If he escaped death on the mountain, I would know it after the fact by reading his blog about it.  But, since it was after the fact, I knew he was alive and safe. 

But, his hiking the PCT and asking me to do his daily blog updates is different. It is like having a window into his risky activities that I can watch and worry about his safety.  Because he does encounter bears, mountain lions, bad weather, falls, raging creeks, and relationships issues on the trail, I see daily that he is at risks. And, I worry daily for him.

So, I suspect many parents of thru-hikers have these worries and thought that maybe I should start blogging about a parent's view of a thru-hiker.  

What do you think?

Posting updates on Adam's PCT blog

Before Adam, my son, started his 2600 mile hike on the PCT, he asked me if I would update his blog for him.  Wanting to help and keep track of him, I agreed.

We did some prototype tests. He gave me access to his onedrive cloud storage where he would store photos.  He would send me emails and I would create a post and add pictures.

Even though we did prototype tests, when he started it was painful. I have a slow internet access. On good days it runs 4 - 5 meg download and .5 upload.

Initially I would download his photos in a zip file (that was over 20 meg), then I would insert each picture that was anywhere from 2 - 6 meg.  That took forever!.  I can't just copy and past his email for Google's blogspot makes assumptions as to the background color and it comes out crappy.

So, it took me a while to learn to copy text only, resize the pictures before I upload them and other tricks.  I created a Google map to show his location and update it nightly from either this spot or I determine the location from his blog content.

About two weeks into doing updates, it got interesting. There were so many people he would write about, I was having a hard time keeping up.

 So, I created a page to keep notes of trail names.

Then I was curious about the people and tried to tie their blogs, vlogs and facebook posts to Adam's.  This is interesting to see how different people view the same part of the trail differently.

How come he gets to sleep with five woman?

Stay tune for this may get more interesting.

It is not just Facebook

There is a lot in the news about Facebook's use, or abuse, of user's data.  Discussion of invasion and rights of privacy, companies tracking our online footprints and use, our ability to control our privacy and software or user agreements.

This has recently come up because of Facebook and Cambridge Analytical's use of over 80 million Facebook users' online data.  Today, is the second day of hearings where congress pretends to be angry at Mark Zuckerberg testimonies and apologies.

But, it is not just Facebook and Zuckenberg. Microsoft, Google, and yes, Apple, also capitalize on using data they collect about you.  Some are more open and above board about it than others. The whole technology industry needs to get their act together.

Microsoft recently sent out an updated user agreement. They said they want it to be clear. It contains over 130 pages of text the size of this blog entry. I would bet my farm that less than 5 % of the people actually read and understand these agreements. Those that do probably have to because they are lawyers who write them and it is their job. 

As we approach enough AI sophistication to create more serious issues than the next generation of zombie kids that today's technology has created,  the lack of morals in high tech companies is really scary.  Don't get me wrong, I suspect there are some good people with values in high tech.  

But the guys making the decisions on what data to use, how to addict users to spend time on their apps, the influence on their users behavior have one goal: to make money. If they have human interest in front of making money, they don't get to run big companies and make big decisions, because people with values that align with humans best interest at heart don't get into those positions.

History has proven this. Look at the tobacco industry that killed millions, Chemical companies that pollute the waters around them,  the oil industry that is destroying our earth, and high tech that has taken control over our kids lives.

It is time we start to question is there a  better system than one the is driven by money and profits.

So, this is a rant, but that is OK. It is my blog and nobody reads it.