Wake Up And Smell The Roses @-'-,-'-,--

I downloaded a copy of my Facebook data. It was packaged in a 22MB file. The size was due to two 5MB+ video files I uploaded. It contain all video and pics I updated. It had a list of all friends and dates we friended. It included a copy of my profile (most I do not publicly share). I do not use Facebook apps. It also included all discussion in Messenger that I only used for a week.

The most interesting info was a list of all ads topics (suspect suggestions for ads I may like) and 2 months of ads I had clicked -not many. The last section was called "Advertisers who uploaded a contact list with your info". Some were political groups (right and left) but many companies like JCPenney, Allstate, and food places I never heard of such as Princi. Most of them I do not do any business with.

The simple explanation.

Here in Toronto and surrounding area, Rogers is one of our internet/email/TV cable providers. Rogers provides Yahoo as a "Free" and only email service. We are now receiving the new privacy agreement which looks like it will be controlled in the USA. Little explanation is given by Rogers and it seems to be like it or leave it. An article in the newspaper describes the agreement exactly like angore has outlined. I think the furor is just beginning.

Quoting: "Anyone who looks at philatelic lit from the 20's-70's knows there were a lot of dealers doing mail sales, there were a lot of stamp stores, there were a lot of shows. Except for the true rarities, almost anything was readily available because there was a lot more specializing by dealers in those days, and dealers were everywhere."

That's the way I acquired all my stamps, buying approvals through the mail, I even used to sell them that way too. It wasn't the best way as some people took my stamps and never were heard from again but that was the way it was.

Stamp clubs were everywhere when I was a kid, my dad used to take me to them and we would all trade stamps, sell stamps to each other, have auctions, raffles, I have some great stamps from those days.

Lots of stamp stores too. I used to take all my duplicates of good stamps to dealers and either trade or get credit. The great thing about all these venues, unlike the Internet sellers, is you could talk with these people and learn. Most people were more than welcome to share, it is a hobby that we love and we like to talk about it.

That is missing from online sales, the camaraderie and face to face talking with other collectors to gain knowledge and stories and information. I often got into stamps I previously had zero interest in because some of these other stamp lovers got me interested. Now it is a supermarket of anything you want if you have the money.

I agree, a great deal of stamp collecting for me was the hunt and hanging out and taking with other stamp collectors. The internet came along and kind of took that away. Hunt and you can find, it's whether you have the money or are willing to spend the money to get anything you want. Pretty much anything. If it is your budget. It's very different now.

It's the same with Tropical Fish Clubs which I have been a part of for over 40 years. It's all gone online, clubs are all going under, membership is pathetic, and now mostly people just want to bring their fish to sell at auction. The days of listening to a lecture, having fish shows, field trips, all pretty much pushed aside for selling fish.

It's the way the World is going, I wonder if pretty soon people won't even talk to each other in person. All text messages, emails, PM's, etc.

Very different World. Not bad, just different.

I would say that it is bad in different ways.

IfYouLoveIt --You hit the nail on the head .I like what you wrote. Agree with your ending "Very different World, Not bad ,just different ."

I grew up in the same world you did of stamp club meetings and visiting Stamp Stores .Got to talk to many key players in the stamp world thru the years .I enjoyed the shows and stamp bourses around Chicago,there was something going on 5 or 6 times a month.

That part of my life is a thing of the past .I learned a lot and took my share of pain ,well maybe a lot more pain as a learning experience than others .

But it is different now . Yes to world is different ...For me it is better .

To paraphrase Shakespeare's Hamlet "things are neither good nor bad, but the thinking it that makes them so."

Don

The problem is not having problems. The problem is thinking that having problems is a problem.
Don

I've discovered this while on medical leave post-transplant. At the start I thought "OMG I have 6 months away from work, I can get so much hobby stuff done." (I have 2 other hobbies besides stamps - music/DJing and historical grand strategy computer games both playing and modding).

With only six weeks left til I am back in the salt mines, I now realize that was just a pipe dream, because all my hobbies consume a lot of TIME when I focus on them.

Still fingers crossed I should be able to get all my Australia organized into albums before the end of my leave, so at least one goal accomplished.