Another one from the World is Random file:
Seven months ago, Dick de Bruin, a Royal Dutch Navy sergeant stationed in the Dutch territory of Aruba, was salvaging an anchor from an American World War II ship that was to be used in a monument. De Bruin’s bright-red Nikon camera, protected in a waterproof case, floated away.
According to the Telegraph and the AP, six months later, Paul Shultz saw what he thought was a rotten tomato floating near rocks in a Key West marina. After a closer look, he realized, underneath a bunch of sea muck that had collected on the case, it was actually a digital camera. Amazingly, the case had protected it and Shultz was able to view the contents of the camera. The only problem was finding out to whom it belonged.
Shultz posted pictures on a scuba diver message board, and they were identified as being taken in Aruba. He then posted on local message boards, and one woman recognized a child in a photo, de Bruin’s son, as being a classmate of her son.The camera was then returned to de Bruin.
Turns out the camera snagged a turtle along the way. The reptile turned on the camera and there’s video . Follow that first link and you can see what was recorded during its journey. This should be an Internet hit.
And if you go to Youtube, or any other social networking site, you’re liable to find a “Friend BP” ad, asking you to get the latest on their Gulf cleanup efforts. The beautiful thing about social media, as has been discussed here and elsewhere at great length, is the ability for one’s agency to speak directly to the public. In this instance, though, that’s going to look more like spin. I did not friend them.
If anything BP needs good press — if that’s possible for them — just to get back a shred of credibility. The company has already been painted as woefully negligent in preparation, safety and clean up. Social media isn’t going to fix this for them.
Speaking of BP, this is unfortunate. President Obama doesn’t say that in the story, but the headline assigns it to him all the same. I propose a moratorium on assigning blame. It is tiring and counter-productive. What’s more, there’s plenty of blame fir everybody.
Two World Cup games today. Worked out — broke an eight-minute mile for the first time in years and biked a while. Did a little work grading exit assessments of recent graduates, recorded three voiceover projects. Not a bad effort for a Monday.
