Category Archives: Communications

To Infinity and Beyond

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As we get older, we start to think about getting our affairs in order. We do up our wills, tell our loved ones our burial wishes and we make sure they have all the necessary banking information. But have you thought about what happens to your online identity after you die? Who owns the information? Your estate or Facebook and Google?

While this might seem like a trivial thing when facing death, it’s something to think about. We spend so much time online cultivating our brand, that it seems only natural to have a plan for what happens to it after we leave this life. If you don’t have a plan, most of your social media accounts will remain live, unless a family member requests it be removed. And even then, it’s not a sure thing.  For example Google’s policy for accessing a deceased user account on Gmail plainly states that even with a death certificate, it may not grant your loved ones access.

Here’s something else to think about:

Over 10,000 deceased people on Facebook can still receive friend requests, be tagged in photos and wished a happy birthday.

I can personally speak to this as I have two friends who have passed away over the past five years whose profiles still pop up in my Facebook feeds for birthdays and other notices.

However, if your preference is to keep some form of online presence after death, Facebook can turn your profile into a memorial page so your friends can still post and look at pictures; but it removes you from the birthday reminders and the “People You May Know” prompts.

My point here is that it’s important that you take change of your online life after death. Think about what you are leaving behind and how you want your ‘online estate’ to be handled.

Here’s a great visual from WebpageFX that outlines what happens to your online self after death.

Digital-Demise-Infographic

Picture Perfect Tuesday: Barn Storm

Posted in Communications, photography, Picture Perfect Tuesdays by

This week I am sharing one of my favourite images from rural Alberta, Canada. This was shot with **gasp** film – Tri-X 400 to be exact – then hand printed by yours truly in the darkroom on colour paper to get the sepia tone, then scanned. BAM! That’s how we used to do it.

Rural Alberta

Picture Perfect Tuesday: Catacombes de Paris

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Today I am sharing an older image that I took while in the Catacombes de Paris. I had to use the available light from a flood light in the tunnel as no flash photography is allowed. This isn’t because it’s a mass burial site, but rather because the light degrades the bones. So this was taken hand-held, while bracing against a passage frame for stability on a 3 second exposure.catacombes_de_paris

 

 

I love that song…

Posted in Communications, Lifestyles, music by

Have you ever heard a song that just makes you stop what you are doing and start dancing? Or a song that compels you to crank up the volume and belt out the lyrics at the top of your lungs? Do you wish your volume went to 11?

Whether it’s a great beat that appeals to your need to ‘dance it out’ or lyrics that beg to be belted out, music can be profoundly evocative and can draw out memories of a long-forgotten time. Socrates said “when the soul hears music, it drops its’ best guard.” I agree. It’s the experience of being transported by the beauty of a song. It’s suddenly finding yourself in tears, not knowing whether they are of joy or sadness. It’s the feeling of exhilaration and the sense of calm. We turn to music for joy and comfort. We need music because of its ability to move us.

Ask ten people to describe a scene and you’ll get ten different accounts. Ask a 100 people and you’ll get 100 different versions. Yet ask those same ten or 100 people to sing you a song and you’ll get one version. This is because our recall of music tends to be close to the original piece. Yes, we all listen with different interpretations and emotions; but we tend to remember the basic characteristics – tempo, rhythm and pitch — with remarkable accuracy. Think of how many songs you can sing right now; or back to the last time you heard a song on the radio that you hadn’t heard in years, yet sang along word-for-word. Basically, we’re hard-wired to respond to music.

I love music. Whether it’s my new favourite “gangsta chick’ Iggy Azalea singing Fancy or my longtime friend Iggy Pop with Candy, music has been there to provide a soundtrack to my life. Here’s some songs that would make the soundtrack:

  1. Hot House Flowers – Think of Beauty
  2. James Taylor – Fire and Rain
  3. Billy Idol – Rebel Yell
  4. Katy Perry – Roar
  5. Corey Hart – Never Surrender
  6. Alphaville – Forever Young
  7. The Cult – She Sell’s Sanctuary
  8. Allie X – Catch
  9. Deadmau5 – The Veldt
  10. Journey – Don’t Stop Believing

Think about the songs you’ve loved over the years. If you could only pick ten songs to be on your life’s soundtrack, which ones would best recount your life?

Carpe Diem!

Posted in Communications, Lifestyles, photography by

tornado saskatchewanIf you read any books about career, life choices or any type of business book, most will tell you to seize the moment when opportunity presents itself. Here is a picture by photographer Colleen Niska who did just that when she noticed a tornado while taking a client’s wedding photos in Saskatchewan. Thanks to her creativity and quick thinking, she took some pretty outstanding images that have garnered worldwide attention.

On her Facebook page, she posted: “I’ve dreamed about a day like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Could NOT wait to post these! Pretty sure this will only happen once in my lifetime!”

I’m gonna have to agree with her on that one. But what a day indeed! When I hear about stories of chance and opportunity that are seized and rewarded, I always feel inspired to do the same in my own life. Do you have the courage to face a tornado (figurative or literally) to make your moments happen?

Here’s five tactics from Tiny Budda for a motivational kick in the derriere:

  1. Live your life with purpose.
  2. Stop making excuses.
  3. Choose not to be a victim.
  4. Stop comparing yourself to others.
  5. Take action now.

Carpe diem!

Picture Perfect Tuesday: Hydrant

Posted in Communications, photography, Picture Perfect Tuesdays by

One of my goals when taking a picture is to take something we see everyday and give it new life, like this hydrant. The next time you are out and about taking pictures, try lying on the ground for a different angle, or even just tilt your framing. Taking a different angle can add interest to almost anything – as can the PS Express app. I used the “super-punch” filter for this one.

20140617-095004-35404144.jpg

The Nostalgia Factor

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This past week I took a walk down memory lane seeing Canadian artist Corey Hart’s final concert in Montreal, Quebec. Corey Hart is not an artist that people talk about anymore, other than to say ‘yeah, I used to love him as a teenager’ when a song is occasionally played on the radio. Yet, there I was with one of my besties, belting out every song along with him, word for word, not missing a beat – just like old friends who easily fall back into a rhythm. Some songs made me a bit teary but all of them made me nostalgic for my youth.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. It evokes feelings of happiness and rose-coloured memories of a time when everything seemed simpler – even if it really wasn’t.

In marketing, nostalgia is designed to trigger the positive feelings that we associate with the past. The reason this type of marketing is so effective is because it’s easier to put a positive spin on the past than on the present. With our current social and economic climate still hovering in uncertainty, people want to recreate the feelings of security that the past seems to offer – and they are ready to open their wallets for it.

At the same time, for today’s youth, retro is considered cool. (Yay! I’m cool.) Look at the products we have today: headphones have shifted back to the ginormous look from 70s; acid wash jeans are in fashion magazines again (why!!!??) and new artists are mashing up retro songs to make their name (*cough* PitBull).

The good news is that while our wallets might be taking a hit, research on nostalgia has shown that nostalgic thinking actually increases self-esteem and feelings of optimism. I agree. For a brief moment, I was once again a carefree, invincible 18-year-old as we walked back to the hotel after the concert wearing our sunglasses at night.