Bubbles in the Bathtub

So Matthew asked me "How come Dewie has elephant feet?". So I asked the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). A kind public servant provided the following reply...

===================================================
Michael,

Thanks for your email. We saw all the great information that you have on your site about Leatherback Turtles, Kemp's Ridley Turtles and others. Dewie's an amalgam of many kinds of turtles; he owes as much to the classic Warner Brothers turtles and Mutant Ninja Turtles as to the turtles of the sea and land. We've also been told that he looks a lot like Franklin the Turtle, but none of his creators were familiar with Franklin, so that's a coincidence. I guess you could say that Dewie is an everyturtle, but he's also unique as the Information Security Turtle.

By the way, if you'd like to like to link to Dewie's website at http://www.ftc.gov/infosecurity/ or distribute any of our materials that feature Dewie, please do. Thanks for your question. I hope this helps.

Nat Wood
Assistant Director
Office of Consumer and Business Education
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Ave., NJ-2267
Washington, DC 20580
===================================================

Fair enough.

In the continuing interest of public service here is the link:

http://www.ftc.gov/infosecurity/

Good luck to you Dewie!

Posted by Michael Coyne at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Cool! I just found a reference to seaturtle.org in another blog (ResearchBuzz).

I'm so proud.

Don't worry folks, the novelty will wear off soon...

Posted by Michael Coyne at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was just reading another blog and came across a humorous reference to a new campaign that the US government has started to promote internet safety to kids.

The introductory website is here.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Thanks for asking. I am still working out the answer. I am talking about the narrower sense of "why am I here", as in on this page, not the "why am I here here". I came across a couple of "blogs" on the web recently and found them very interesting reading. Not that I would go back and read them everyday, but it did get me thinking... I bet a lot of visitors to seaturtle.org would be interested to know what's going on in the minds of turtlers. What do they think about day-to-day? What makes them tick?

So, I have enlisted the aid of a few turtler friends that I find extremely entertaining (take that as you will :) and asked them to pontificate on these pages.

But that still doesn't answer the question. Clearly, Matthew, Brendan and Kartik are interesting guys. But why the heck am I writing here? I am sometimes entertaining, but I hate writing (look at ALL of my pubs). I think basically what it boils down to is that sitting down and writing things down helps me work things out. A good example is when I am having a programming problem. I'll go to an online support forum to ask for help and as I am writing up the question I work out the solution myself. Mostly because I research as I write because I don't want to sound stupid :) So I guess I am hoping that jotting down my thoughts here will help me with the development of seaturtle.org. Even more so that readers will comment on what I am thinking about. I've also been know to rant about things every now and again. Not sure if that will happen here, we'll see. Or maybe I just like to hear myself talk...

So that's it in the proverbial nutshell.

Incidentally, I do plan to include additional authors. My hope is to get a wide range of folks from around the globe and different backgrounds to contribute on these pages. If you are interested please let me know.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

This resource is seaturtle.org's version of a weblog or "blog". For those unfamiliar with the idea a blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically - like a "what's new" page or a journal. Blogs are excellent communication tools. They can help small groups communicate in a way that is simpler and easier to follow than email or discussion forums.

The idea in this case is to provide an outlet for sea turtle researchers, conservations and enthusiasts to share their thoughts, musings, philosophy or gripes with others interested in sea turtles.

Author's postings and reader comments do not necessarily need to be about sea turtles. The rest of seaturtle.org covers that. This is as much about the turtler as it is about the turtle.

I hope that visitors to seaturtle.org will enjoy this resource and find it useful, educational and entertaining.

Posted by Michael Coyne at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)