UpAlong.org has been serving Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans, both in the province and outside of the province, for a few years. Now, we have ventured into the wonderful world of Facebook.  

If you have a Facebook account, then you can become a fan of UpAlong.org.

Check it out!!

iGoogle lets you create a personalized homepage that contains a Google search box at the top, and your choice of any number of gadgets below. Gadgets come in lots of different forms and provide access to activities and information from all across the web, without ever having to leave your iGoogle page. Here are some things you can do with gadgets:

• View your latest Gmail messages
  
• Read headlines from Google News and other top news sources
  
• Check out weather forecasts, stock quotes, and movie showtimes
  
• Store bookmarks for quick access to your favorite sites from any computer
  
• Design your own gadget.

Gadgets can be added to iGoogle home pages, or can be embed anywhere on the net with some code provided by google. (Under the "For webmasters" heading). The easiest way to understand iGoogle gadgets is to make a google account (It's free) and add some gadgets to your homepage.

A young internet programmer in St. John's has just developed and released a Google Gadget with a Newfoundland theme. Matthew Newell's hobby is designing things for the net. Matthew is available for developing web based things (such as gadgets) and that can be contacted by email.

Matthew told UpAlong this week, "I started this project because I noticed that there were no gadgets in the iGoogle gadget directory about Newfoundland. So I decided to make one. I wanted to try and make something people would like, so I chose to make a gadget that tells Newfie jokes. This is a actually my first iGoogle gadget."

With all this tallent at suce a young age, we asked if he was planning to make a career of this.

"I am unsure that I am going to make th ....

The Ocean Ranger

On February 15th, 1982, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians witnessed the worst offshore drilling accident in Canadian history with the loss of 84 lives.

The Ocean Ranger was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan and first operated in the Bering Sea off Alaska in 1976. From there it moved to New Jersey, then Ireland and in November 1980 arrived on the Grand Banks. The Ocean Ranger was a massive oil rig touted as unsinkable and able to drill in areas too dangerous for other rigs. She was the pride of the offshore oil industry, the biggest rig of her day. On February 15, 1982 the semi submersible drilling rig the Ocean Ranger capsized and sank on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, 170 miles East of St. John’s.

On Sunday, February 14th, a vicious storm developed south of Newfoundland and headed for the Grand Banks. By sunset that very day, winds were up to 90 knots and seas were building rapidly. At around 7pm, with seas over 30meters (100feet) high, the main deck of the Ocean Ranger reported an especially huge wave. Sometime after 7pm the Ocean Ranger reported to the mobile shore base in St. John’s that a giant wave crashed over the rig smashing a porthole in the ballast control room. Water rushed in and shorted out circuits and the rig began to list. No one on board could stop what was happening. At 1:05am they requested that the supply ship come close and to stand by. At 1:09 it sent an SOS signal to search and rescue. "We're listing badly and we need to get the seamen off the rig.." Another call from the Ocean Ranger states, "We may not be able to hold the rig, rig might fall over..." At 1:30, the Ocean Ranger signaled it was sending its crew to lifeboats. That was the last time anyone heard from them. Two hours later at 3:38 a.m Coast Guard and other rescuers watched their radars as t ....

Looking down the slipway - Pouch Cove, NL

Nancy Hawkins, from Torbay, is now settled in Calgary. Every time she gets back to her home province, Nancy travels around and takes photographs... very good photographs. You see, over the years, Nancy has taken it upon herself to learn the art of photography, and now her work speaks for itself:

Enter the Gallery

Have a browse through her many photo galleries and, if you see something that you like, contact her at Nancy Hawkins to arrange to purchase high-definition photographs.

Nancy is working to establish a website; we'll let you all about that when she has it ready.

Outport dart player Tom Clayton announced at the Hotel Newfoundland that he was joining the Canadian Pro Dart circuit, effective immediately, if not, sooner.

After 20 some-odd years of carrying his various teams to victories of home-made knitted socks and frozen turkeys, Tom figured that his skills are on par, if not more so, with the pro’s.

“I’m WAY beyond the days of tearing up me flights, and jumping on me darts”, said Tom, “and my ulcers have all healed, so I figured its time to take playing darts to the next level.”

Some of Tom’s old team-mates are excited that he has finally decided to turn pro.

“He’s some good, bye”, relates Joe Keeping, “We’ve been telling he for years that he’s much better than those guys on the CBC. Sure those guys don’t even drink a beer while their playing. Ole Tom only gets better with the more beer he drinks. Either that, or we all gets worse.”

Canadian Pro Dart officials published on their website this: “We are excited and proud that Tom Clayton has finally joined our ranks. We look forward to bearing witness to his multiple tuns.”

We here at UpAlong.org wish Tom all the best.

Charlestown penitentiary paroled one of its most notorious inmates today, the infamous Boston Burglar.

Rising to superstar-like fame in the early 1990’s with a string of bank robberies in the Boston area, the Boston Burglar was appended shortly after his successful breaking of the Union Bank in Boston’s business district.

Convicted by a jury of his peers, the judge sentenced him to 20 years at the Charlestown penitentiary, however, due to overcrowding at the prison, and the fact that the Boston Burglar’s bank robberies were non-violent, the Charlestown parole board decided to set the Boston Burglar free after his serving of 14 years.

“I am very happy to be a free man again.”, the Boston Burglar told UpAlong.org in a phone interview, “ and let me offer this word of advice to anyone who is considering doing something wrong:

Oh, you who have your liberty,
Keep it if you can,
And don't go midnight rambling,
You'll break the laws of man;
And if you do you're sure to rue,
And end up just like me,
Oh, you'll find yourself for twenty years
In the penitentiary.”

The Boston Burglar, a very poetic man indeed.

We’ve all heard the old saying, “If you don’t like the NFLD weather, then wait five minutes”.  This week, a man from the mainland is planning to be in St. John’s to do just that – wait five minutes for the weather to change.

Joe “Buddy” Notfrhere said, “I was caught in a downpour the other day and I thought that it would be really nice if this rain would stop in the next five minutes. Well, it didn’t. It wasn’t till later that I heard that if I was in Newfoundland, there is a good chance that it would have.”

Buddy continues, “Five minutes to get a new forecast. What a deal!! If I don’t like the weather, I only have to endure five minutes of it.”

We’ll keep you posted on Buddy’s progress and let you know what happens after five minutes in weather that Buddy actually likes.