It seems like only yesterday when we were anxiously awaiting news that we'd passed the five million page mark since justFRED.ca went live in November of 2006. And now we're watching the counter rapidly approach 6,000,000...

In fact, unless something goes haywire with our web servers - which has happened before - we'll get there sometime Saturday. And that means we'll have hit another significant figure: a million pages served in a single month.

So why the obsession with numbers? It's all about survival.

As anyone who's spent any amount of time on site knows, we provide our photos and videos and calendar entries and forums and blogs and contents and business directory for free to our visitors. No subscriptions, no buying your daily copy at the corner store, and no filling up the recycling bin.

FREE, FREE, FREE...and nothing gone to waste.

So the numbers are how we convince advertisers and sponsors that we're worth supporting. They're the people who give us the pizzas and ballcaps and MP3 players and sweatshirts and event tickets and CD's to give away. They're the ones who pay for the one-banner-ad-per-page commercial messages that make this happen.

In nearly every case, they're locally owned and operated businesses, just like us.

So as we near another important milestone, we'd like to say Thank You! to our loyal visitors for showing your support of justFRED.ca by visiting us often, saying Cheese! for our cameras, and telling your friends about our window on Fredericton...and to our advertisers and sponsors for recognizing the value of all of those visits.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/happy-holidays-120x180.jpg" title="happy-holidays-120×180.jpg">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/happy-holidays-120x180.thumbnail.jpg" alt="happy-holidays-120×180.jpg" />

We're preparing the site for the upcoming holiday weekend - and that includes some new recipes, additional photos and - with some luck - relaxing in front of the fireplace with a cup of mulled cider.

Our graphic designer, Mila J0nes, created a justFRED.ca virtual fireplace that you can run on your PC as wallpaper or a screensaver. And we've also included a version of our virtual fireplace that will run in a browser window on just about any computer. Enjoy.

• http://www.justfred.ca/flash/HappyHolidaysWallpaper.zip">PC Wallpaper


• http://www.justfred.ca/flash/HappyHolidaysScreenSaver.zip">PC Screensaver


• http://www.justFRED.ca/flash/justFREDHolidayFireplace.swf">Virtual Fireplace

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/11/shelter2.jpg" title="shelter2.jpg">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/11/shelter2.thumbnail.jpg" alt="shelter2.jpg" />
We still have a somewhat scattered approach to communicating with you:

• email - preferred by the majority, partially blocked by Aliant


• blog - some read 'em, some don't


• forums - same as blogs


• on-site graphics

jennifer rightly says we should do them all...and efficiently. She's right. We're working on it.

The contests will also change as we move out of the holiday season. And we'll begin to introduce more non-profit organizations and family related activities to justFRED.ca members and visitors.

As you'll see in the calendars, Child Find NB is holding a fingerprint / ID clinic at WalMart in the Regent Mall on Saturday, January 13, 2007. Any volunteers? (You'll have to undergo a police check, which generally takes a few days.)

We've reached an agreement with the Fredericton Emergency Shelters that will combine support for their important work and some unique prizes.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

PS - I know it's time for a day off when I write posts, then forget to publish them. Duh.

One of the features we've been working on - and which went into operation yesterday - is the ability to create and send an ecard directly from our photo galleries. So if you find a picture of you or a friend or family member and want to email it directly to someone else, follow these simple steps.

1. Go to the http://www.justfred.ca/cmine/index.php">Photo Gallery (You might want to keep reading before you click on that link...)


2. Select the individual gallery - which takes you to the thumbnail view of the photos in that gallery


3. Click on the photo you want to use for your ecard


4. Click on the envelope icon in the green bar above the photo (circled in red below)http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2007/01/ecard-added.jpg" title="ecard-added.jpg">
   http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2007/01/ecard-added.thumbnail.jpg" alt="ecard-added.jpg" />


5. Follow the instructions on the page that comes up.

You'll be able to see a sample of your ecard when you've completed the process.

Cheers,
George

http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_7174.JPG" title="img_7174.JPG">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_7174.thumbnail.JPG" alt="img_7174.JPG" />
We finished the last of the Winter Wonderland Santa photo packages today with a few exceptions - a couple of prints were flawed are being redone, there are two addresses we're trying to confirm, and we still have the dog pictures from Santa and the fashion show.

It's such a shame that our photo printer went into hibernation the day before the event. The plan was to do the prints at the show for people to take home. It was a lot more time consuming doing them afterwards. Not to mention how much it costs to package and mail that many bubble-packs.

We couldn't find enough of the paper quality we wanted in 8 x 10 sheets, so we went up a notch to 8 1/2 x 11. Which meant a slightly bigger envelope. Which barely misses what Canada Post considers an envelope, despite weight slightly more than a postcard. The mailing cost - for a $9.99 photo - was $8.85. No wonder the world's going digital.

Cheers,
George

http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/11/leaves.jpg" title="leaves.jpg">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/11/leaves.thumbnail.jpg" alt="leaves.jpg" />

We've been taking photos - mainly for testing purposes - for a couple of months. We needed content to try out various parts of the site, and it seemed logical to take the kinds of pictures we planned to take once the site was live.

And with all this snow around - and facing the expectation that it could be with us for the next four or five months - you're going to see a retrospective of fall photos as we start to upload the backlog.

That's what photos are for, after all...to look at and remember. What it was like when you could walk around in shorts and a t-shirt. When there were leaves on the trees. When you didn't have to pry open the car doors.

Cheers,
George

http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6862.JPG" title="img_6862.JPG">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6862.thumbnail.JPG" alt="img_6862.JPG" />

J0anne writes that we got the name of the church where we took the photos of the nativity scenes on the weekend. Mia culpa - and it was right there on paper in front of me.

So - it wasn't Saint Andrews United Church, but Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church. Our apologies for such a dumb mistake. And thanks, Joanne, for pointing it out.

We're looking for all the improper references and correcting them. (Though there's another school of thought that says we should retain the evidence of our errors online for all to see, instead of trying to purge them.)

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6862.JPG" title="img_6862.JPG">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6862.thumbnail.JPG" alt="img_6862.JPG" />Another hit with the younger set - but not without some older fans.

A collection of nativity scenes of all shapes and sizes. Just right for our photo galleries.

Cheers,
George

http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6764.JPG" title="img_6764.JPG">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6764.thumbnail.JPG" alt="img_6764.JPG" />
Between the tree lightings at the Legislature and City Hall, and the tree decorating contest at the forestry complex, it's virtually impossible to avoid the aroma of balsam fir.

And it makes for lots of smiling faces - particularly among the younger members of the community.

Cheers,
George

 http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6695.JPG" title="img_6695.JPG">http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/files/2006/12/img_6695.thumbnail.JPG" alt="img_6695.JPG" />

We went to the Legislature this evening to take in the tree lighting ceremony. And we really did plan to take in the march to City Hall and the second tree lighting there...but after a long day and the better part of an hour in freezing rain, we weaseled. It's tough weather on humans and cameras.

But Santa was obviously a hit with the kids - and everybody oohed and ahhed when the lights were turn on.

We're thining as the weather descends into winter, we probably want to be considering a whole lot more indoor events.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca