Legion Magazine Blog

Until today, I was not aware that there was a LEGION MAGAZINE BLOG which provides a good update between the LEGION MAGAZINE issues.

Here is the link:

http://blog.legionmagazine.com

There is a current posting regarding the return of the Kandahar Memorial to Ottawa:

Breaking News! The Kandahar Memorial is Home

 

Canadian combat engineers dismantle the memorial this November in Kandahar.

Published on January 6, 2012

Despite the Pakistani ‘blockade’ on Canadian cargo being shipped out of Afghanistan, the memorial to Canada’s Afghan war dead has arrived safely in Ottawa.

According to sources at Canada Command, the memorial was flown into Trenton and carried to Ottawa, under escort, on two flat bed trucks.

The memorial, which was disassembled in Kandahar this past November, is now resting inside its shipping crates at an undisclosed location in Ottawa.

At some point in the future — likely around 2014 — the memorial will be unveiled at its new permanent home somewhere in the national capital region.

2011 In Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,100 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

New TWITTER!

The original Twitter Account for My Milton Legion Blog was abandoned last year due to a flood of spam. The new secure Twitter account has now been established. You can read or follow the My Milton Legion Twitter account here:

http://twitter.com/br136rcl

Important updates and changes are posted via Twitter. Sign up to have the tweets sent to your computer or cell phone. Any questions on how to do this – just ask – or check out their HELP and SUPPORT page here:

http://support.twitter.com/

Comments Are Welcome!

I am not sure why but I have found two (2) comments that were sent in to the Milton Legion Blog that were deemed to be “SPAM”. From my quick review, I do not think that they are spam – but to be sure I am going to download them and check them before I post them here. If you are one of the authors, rest assured they will be posted if they are not offencive and are legitimate.

If you are a BLOG READER you need to know to go to the COMMENTS at the bottom of any posting to see if there have been comments submitted. My intent is to have the full COMMENT appear at the end of each post but so far all I see is that there is a notice that a comment has been made. If you have posted a comment, as is the case of these two (2) examples, and it has not appeared here – please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail to miltonlegion@gmail.com and I will see to that correction.

Richard

Unwanted Advertising – Opt Out!

I don’t know if others have noticed it, but a lot of advertising is starting to appear on this blog again – at least on my computer. That is probably because I upgraded to WINDOWS 7 and in doing so I trashed all the old settings.

You may have seen that there is a WIDGET on the right side (panel) for OPTING OUT of advertising. This is for YOUR COMPUTER and it works on all the related advertisers (including the big one – GOOGLE) so you might want to consider taking a look at the options.  It is a simple process and it takes less than 2 minutes to complete. The first thing to do is read the page and then SELECT ALL as your opt-out option. You can always go back and add some of them back to your list, if you really want to have advertising flood your computer.

Here is the direct link to their OPT OUT page – so give it a try – very simple!

http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp

If you want to know more, click on the image below to watch the YOU TUBE video about the service. I have used it before and it does work!

click on the image to go to the video!

If there are any problems with that, try the direct link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOje-N90P38&feature=player_detailpage

Any questions, just ask. You can post a question or comment at the end of any topic or send me a direct e-mail.

Richard (miltonlegion@gmail.com)

Historical Facts for Members

I was asked this week if I could suggest a source of basic information on the Military History of Canada. To begin that process, I have transcribed and added to the blog pages (see the list on right panel “MILTON LEGION WORDPRESS RELEASES“) the Speakers Guide and Fact Book prepared by the Royal Canadian Legion.

You can click on this link to go there directly: Take me to the FACTS!

If you required any additional information on any of these topics, please post your request in the COMMENT BOX at the end of this post. If you would like to see more detail on any aspect of the Military Actions during any one of the Canadian Missions, post that request in the COMMENT BOX as well. For example, you might want to ask:

1. Why was Corporal Coppins awarded the Victoria Cross on April 9, 1918?
2. Why was the Battle of Vimy Ridge so important to Canada?
3. Where can I get information on my Grandfather who served in World War I?
4. I have 3 medals from my Dad in World War II – what do they mean?
5. Do we have any Legion Veterans at our Branch that served in Korea?

There are a number of us at Branch 136 that study Canadian Military History and so between the group we will do our best to answer any questions. We can also provide you with on-line references to almost any topic – or direct you to the best resource in the new library on the 3rd Floor.

The other items in the Milton Legion WordPress Releases are:

1. Welcome to Branch 136
2. You are now a member!
3. The Legion at a Glance
4. The Organization
5. The Legion Branch
6. Get Involved!
7. Vimy Ridge Day, April 9th
8. Speaker’s Guide and Fact Book (just added)

Anything else you want to see added to that list?

2010 in review (by WordPress)

The following information was provided by WORDPRESS who operate the system where “My Milton Legion Blog” is located.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,100 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 90 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 136 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 127mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was November 8th with 97 views. The most popular post that day was Service Officer Announcement.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were mail.live.com, cefresearch.com, search.virginmedia.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, and twitter.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for milton legion, milton legion blog, laurie macnab, halloween pot luck, and ken gullis.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Service Officer Announcement June 2010
1 comment

2

2010 Poppy Campaign & Remembrance Day October 2010
2 comments

3

New Years 2011 Party & Levee November 2010

4

October-November 2009 March 2010
4 comments

5

May 2010 Election of Officers and Executive May 2010

Access to Blog Pictures & Albums

THIS POST WAS UPDATED ON DECEMBER 23, 2010 TO REFLECT CHANGES ON PHOTOBUCKET:

(the new information is posted at the end of this message in red)

A number of Veterans indicated that they are now regular followers of the Milton Legion Blog – and many have mastered the art of getting through the system to the Photobucket Albums where the parade and ceremony photographs and videos are located. However, some have indicated that they are having trouble finding the photographs. I hope this posting will help solve that problem.

Although there are a FEW photographs on the Milton Legion Blog itself, the vast majority of the photographs and all the videos are on a separate site called “Photobucket” (http://photobucket.com/). You can go to that site directly and then search for the “Milton Legion” but it is best if you follow the links that are within the individual blog postings.

If you want to go directly to the main Photobucket Page for the Milton Legion Blog it is located here:

http://s466.photobucket.com/albums/rr24/miltonlegion/

There you will notice there is only ONE IMAGE and that is says “Please Read Me“. That image explains that the Milton Legion Photobucket Site is made up of a number of folders and sub-folders and so if you do not see any images on the page you have to look for the directory of the sub-albums. They used to be on the left side of the page but I see now they are on the right side and that you must scroll down the page. That change just took place this weekend as part of their site upgrade, so the notice is no longer correct. It appears this is all to make more room for advertising, which is what pays for the free Photobucket account.

At the bottom of the list of albums and sub-albums (on the new site) is a link called “View All Albums” and you can click on this to get a complete list of all the albums in a new POP-UP window. That is good – once you get there, but I can no longer link to that window so you have to get there on your own! However, once you get there you can see all the PUBLIC ALBUMS and then click on one of those links (use the scroll bar on the right to see all the albums). Unlike the old process you can now go directly to a sub-album, such as the HALTONVILLE 2010 under REMEMBRANCE 2010.

Just in case anyone is having trouble and wants to get to the REMEMBRANCE 2010 albums directly, here are the direct links that you can click here to end the misery!

Evergreen 2010: (78 photos, 5 videos)
http://s466.photobucket.com/albums/rr24/miltonlegion/Parades%20and%20Services/Remembrance%202010/Evergreen%202010/

Haltonville 2010: (96 pictures, 4 videos)
http://s466.photobucket.com/albums/rr24/miltonlegion/Parades%20and%20Services/Remembrance%202010/Haltonville%202010/

Victoria Park 2010: (196 pictures, 5 videos)
http://s466.photobucket.com/albums/rr24/miltonlegion/Parades%20and%20Services/Remembrance%202010/Victoria%20Park%202010/

In most instances the VIDEOS are at the end of the list and they have a TRIANGLE / ARROW (Play Button) in a circle in the middle of the image. All the DIRECT LINKS to the videos are also in the individual postings previoulsy made to the Blog.

If you are looking at all the IMAGES in a folder on the Photobucket site you are seeing only the THUMB PRINTS (small versions) of the photographs. To see the larger image you must LEFT CLICK on the image. For a number of other options (such as to SAVE or PRINT the image you must RIGHT CLICK and then chose the option. Please also note that at the top of the page is an option to VIEW AS A SLIDE SHOW so you can click that and just sit back and watch all the pictures (but you must still later select the VIDEOS). Once in the slide show you can use the Computer Mouse to make changes to the way (size, speed, etc.) that you see the show.

When I started this post this evening it was just to explain how to use the basic system on Photobucket. I did not know they had changed (upgraded) the whole system so this was a learning experience for me as well! If anyone has any questions, you can post them as a COMMENT at the bottom of this topic, send me a direct e-mail (miltonlegion@gmail.com) or come talk to me in the Club Room.

As soon as we get an Internet Link set up within the Legion I can bring my Laptop and demonstrate all of these processes. Until that time, we have to do it with written instructions only.

Good Luck to all, and Enjoy!

UPDATED INFORMATION December 23, 2010:

Once you are in any one of the ALBUMS you can go to any of the other albums without going back to the links. For example, if you were in the 2010 Album for the Evergreen Cemetery Service you would be here: 

http://s466.photobucket.com/albums/rr24/miltonlegion/Parades%20and%20Services/Remembrance%202010/Evergreen%202010/

 

Now if you look in the TOP LEFT HAND CORNER of that page you will see the words in large text EVERGREEN 2010.  Immediately above that you will see smaller text that says “miltonlegion’s album / Remembrance 2010”.  If you click on the “Remembrance 2010” it will take you to the main folder for the 2010 ALBUMS – and you will see all the albums in the LOWER RIGHT of the page (you may have to scroll down the page depending on the size of your screen). If you chose instead to click on the “miltonlegion’s album” you will see a listing of ALL THE MAIN SUB-ALBUMS on the site. Choose any one of those and you can go to the next level down, and from there the next level further down – and so on to the bottom. 

When they changed the layout of the site a few weeks ago my READ ME notices lost their value as the instructions were wrong. I have now removed those and so if you go to an ALBUM that is EMPTY you should now see an IMAGE of the recent SUB-ALBUMS. You can just click on one of those.

 

This morning I have also added a SHARE button that now appears on the BLOG below each post. If you move your cursor over that you will note that it now shows an option to E-MAIL, PRINT or TWEET the post. That way you can e-mail any post directly to someone you want to see that information. If you PRINT the post you will also get all the side banners which may mean you end up printing more than just the page you want. If you want to be able to print copies of posts later, the best way is to SIGN UP for the blog notices. This OPTION is on the RIGHT BANNER of the Blog, immediately under the image of the HALTONVILLE CENOTAPH. Just enter your e-mail address and you will get a message asking you to confirm that you want to receive updates by e-mail. You can then save, print or forward that e-mail. You can OPT OUT at any time in the future. 

Hope that helps – please pass this around to the other lads if you know their e-mail addresses, or forward it to any family members – actually to anyone you think will find this information valuable.

Thanks for Visiting the Blog!

Thanks to all that are making the “Blog Worth Doing“, as during the first 2 weeks of November there were 510 visitors, from outside our server. Obviously a lot of these were people going to see the pictures of the Remembrance Services but most of the other topics were visited as well.

Here is how it looks at my end:

Thanks to all the visitors to My Milton Blog!

Blog and Photobucket Shortcuts

Information for those that want to move about the BLOG and the PHOTOBUCKET quickly.

Here is the direct link for the BLOG if you want to “cut & paste” it to give to others:

 http://miltonlegion.wordpress.com/

When you enter the BLOG from that address you can see a complete list of all the sub-blogs by scrolling down the page. You can also go directly to any individual sub-blog by clicking the title of that blog. For example, if you move your mouse cursor over the APRIL UPDATE you will see it turns blue and is “clickable”. When you click it, that page opens in a separate page, particularly useful if you just want to forward or print that one page, not the complete blog.

At any time, you can return to the full BLOG listing at the main page by clicking the photograph title at the top of any page.

There are a number of links on the BLOG to the PHOTOBUCKET account, within which there are PUBLIC and PRIVATE albums. For example, this is a private album that you would get to by clicking the link in the BLOG under this sub-blog:

 http://miltonlegion.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/saturday-january-23-2010-poker-run/

There you will see, between the text and the picture, the following:

The Great Poker Run – January 2009

If you click on that link you will go to that specific PRIVATE album on the PHOTOBUCKET page, where you will be asked for the PASSWORD. If you do not have the member password, you have to send me an e-mail to obtain that password. You must provide your name, home address, e-mail and a valid membership number (off your card) for the Milton Legion. You must be a valid member of Branch 136 to receive the password.

At any time you can go DIRECTLY to the PRIVATE Photobucket album on the site, which contains a number of sub-albums for the various events (i.e. Club Room, Tours, Poker Run):

http://s466.photobucket.com/albums/rr24/miltonlegion/Private/

If you just want to go to the PUBLIC ALBUMS, then use this Photobucket address:

http://s466.photobucket.com/home/miltonlegion/allalbums

Note that list does not show the PRIVATE albums.

If anyone has any other questions, just send me an e-mail and I will answer you expeditiously. Remember that you do not need to know (or remember) all these links, as you can get to all these places by using the embedded links within the BLOG page.

If you want to receive notification when a new BLOG entry has been made, look on the right side (column) of any page and enter your e-mail address where it says “Get my Updates by E-mail“. You can reverse that at any time if you decide you do not want to receive updates.

There is no cost to join or receive any of the information that is presented on these web sites. You may also leave any of the sites at any time.