THE AWESOME power of the internet has been front page news this week. The revelations from Wikileaks keep coming. And the tit for tat attacks followed with online hackers managing to disable major financial websites. Is this the first Online War, commentators asked. In response let me take to a kinder part of the world wide web; the Projects page of the Norfolk Broads Forum. For the last two months Projects has been dominated by Callum and his boat Half Pint. Since the autumn Callum has been giving Half Pint a complete makeover. It’s his first boat, he’s working on a budget, but he’s got the bug. Like all good engineers, Callum can’t spell for toffee, but that somehow adds to the charm as he tells us of his latest breakdown on Rockland Broad because the “torttle cable had gone brittle and dicintigrated”. Early on one member of the community had a pop at him, but everyone else quickly put the critic in his place. Since then he has been carried along on a wave of online goodwill. From a new engine and anti-fouling paint to a great “curved paint job on the bow” a fleet of older boaters have rallied round offering their advice and enthusiasm. So far 6,800 people have had a look and 133 have added their suggestions. Wikileaks? You want to get a better bilge pump, mate.
* The picture belongs to Callum.
Well said, sir or madam. Callum is an excellent example of a budding marine engineer who, in times past, would have been snapped up by a local company as an apprentice. He has identified the part time course of study that will lead him to qualification, now all he needs is a placement.
ReplyDeleteAnyone out there with a suggestion?
Regards,
goodfortune, Lancashire and Norfolk Broads Forum