 Nude & Natural Magazine Naturism is the Way. |
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Nude & Natural Magazine Naturism is the Way. |
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Smile!—You’re On Candid Cell Phone!
CLICK CLICK, chirp, chirp, chirp. “Kirk to Enterprise…two to beam up, Scotty!”
The words are a part of the vernacular now as Capt. James T. Kirk actuates his communicator and talks with the starship orbiting above. Certainly no one suspected back when Star Trek first aired that we would have such communication devices in our own hands in such a short period of time. Early cell phones were rather clunky, but today’s are smaller than the palm of one’s hand. The technology to be immediately connected wherever, whenever, is already here. Most cell phones now allow you to say “Phone home,” and it will, no fingers necessary.
These days, text messages from the Internet to your cell phone and back are possible as are Internet browsing, e-mail, and more. A more recent advance is the ability to take a digital photo and, with a properly equipped cell phone, instantly transmit that image via e-mail to another computer or cell phone.
Because a person can have all appearances of dialing or talking on a cell phone while in reality taking a picture, the use of cell phones is slowly being banned in some health club locker rooms, swimming pools, and other venues where people may be nude or partially dressed.
This raises a number of issues for naturists regarding privacy at nudist parks and public nude beaches. There have always been gawkers and creeps trying to hide video equipment and cameras in a box or cooler, but now the person next to you with a cell phone becomes an instant suspect.
Should naturist clubs ban the use of cell phones on grounds? Some may say so, simply because they can be an annoyance to one’s quiet time. However, what about the doctor on call or parent needing to hear from a babysitter? The advent of cell phones has made it possible for people to get direct communication wherever they are, and not have to worry about messages relayed through a club office. And as we all know, not all clubs are willing or able to offer such services. In any event, this is an issue that will be addressed at many clubs this summer and into the immediate future.
Live Web cams already broadcast to the Internet images from a number of beaches where skimpy wear or topfree women are the norm. Such Web sites draw the exhibitionists to the beach and the voyeurs to the dark recesses of their computers where they can drool in relative privacy. As to the issue of public beaches, does a person have a reasonable expectation of privacy from such cell phone-wielding shutterbugs?
The answer to the privacy issue on nude beaches is becoming more complex. In the past, the easy response may have been that a person nude on public land is there at will, and therefore anyone, even the daily newspaper, can photograph him as a matter of public record. However, when that same image appears on the Internet where someone (the Web site operator) is making a profit, do you have any recourse?
The simple answer most of the time is yes, if you are willing to sue. Some naturists will not, due to costs or to potential publicity. And unscrupulous Web site operators are indeed banking on just that possibility.
In any event, know your surroundings. If someone on a cell phone at your favorite nude beach is talking to their cell phone and it’s not next to their ear, take heed. You may very well be the subject.
“Best Beaches in New England”
http://travel.boston.com/seasons/summer/beaches/stories/061703_nude_beaches.html
After a referral by Nicky Hoffman at The Naturist Society office, I was interviewed by a reporter from Boston.com, a well-established Web site operated by the Boston Globe. The article was a part of a “Best Beaches in New England” feature that went on for several Web pages. The author wanted to suggest the best nude beaches in the six-state region as well. We were happy to oblige.
Among the pages is a very positive article on the press team’s visit to The Ledges, where a couple of them saw the futility of their clothing on a hot day and joined in with the rest of the nude crowd. The Ledges is the Vermont site that saw nudity banned last summer but reestablished in the fall after a monumental effort by the Naturist Action Committee and the Friends of the Ledges group to get out the vote in a referendum that overturned an anti-nudity ordinance.
The story was posted in late June and is slated to remain active at the Boston.com site through the summer and possibly beyond.
[ Ed Note:-By the time we posted this edition of NIFOC at the web site this link was no longer available. Sorry about that.- DMK]
John’s Outdoor Naturism Page
http://www.sitemouse.com/users/swim_n_paddle
John Purbrick, coordinator of the TNS Outdoor Recreation Special Interest Group (see Naturist Network pages at the back of this N) has established his own home on the Internet. While the pages have a unique New England focus (John hails from Massachusetts) you can also obtain information on his Yahoo Groups discussion list where like-minded outdoors hikers and nude explorers can interact. You will even find an image of John “skinny-skiing,” a somewhat underrated naturist activity, but often reserved for the more adventuresome.
David Beal’s Naturist Host
A small but growing site; its Webmaster, David Beal, is offering Web design and hosting of naturist sites at a reasonable rate. David is a well-established denizen of the naturist Internet. Among his customers is Maine Coast Solar Bares (www.naturisthost.com/mcsb). Dave also has a message board available. User registration is free and approval by David or his appointee is required before access is granted. Check it out.
Prodigy Message Board Gets a New Home
agesstages.bb.prodigy.net
Ever since Prodigy was acquired by Southwest Bell Corporation (SBC), naturist users of the service knew that the naturist message board was in for trouble. SBC had also partnered with Yahoo to offer a combination Internet access service and online content amalgamation. This placed the Prodigy message boards in direct competition with Yahoo’s own topical communities. In July, the naturist message board on Prodigy went dark.
Thanks to the efforts of Cheri Alexander, the naturist board’s moderator, another forum within SBC/ Prodigy agreed to pick up the naturist message section. This section has numerous topical posting areas, including naturism. Anyone can read the messages but in order to post you must be a SBC customer. A list of qualifying domains (Prodigy being one) is provided in the user registration screen.
[Ed note:-By the time this article was posted, we learned that this board will go dark about mid-October 2003 due to Prodigy closing all of its message boards. A replacement has been set up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/P_N_R/ as a place where former Prodigy Naturist Board users can congregate. We will once again update this in the next published edition of NIFOC in print.
Tiny URL
As the Web becomes ever more complex, the length of Web addresses (Universal Resource Locators, or URLs) is increasing to the point of confusion. This is especially true when one visits news outlets, banks, and even a few naturist sites. You may have noticed the problem when you try to e-mail a long Web address to a friend; if it’s too long, it wraps around to several lines, which Web browsers don’t understand. So you (or your friend) have to spend time cutting and pasting to get the thing to work properly.
Enter tinyurl.com, probably the greatest innovation since the invention of the Web browser itself. One can visit this site and copy (cut and paste) a long URL into a Web form. Their free service creates a new URL that is much shorter. Their database then maintains that data for a period of time so your friends can click away to get to the info you were sending them. The site can be easily bookmarked in your browser for quick access.
DENNIS KIRKPATRICK built an electronic music synthesizer when he was in high school from a used electronic organ and circuitry built into a six-foot army surplus relay rack. He was known in his family for building such monsters in his room. He later settled down and became a family man. However, since DSL went in, he’s been trying to hook up everything electric to his router, including the refrigerator. Now if he can only get the little light to stay on when the door is closed…Comments, complaints, pats on the back, and general kibitzing about NIFOC are welcome at nifoc@sunclad .com. Back editions of NIFOC are available at www.sunclad.com/nifoc.
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