• Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here.
This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

Why no avatar?

hel&scott

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2004 St Jean - Santiago, 2008 &18 Seville - Finesterre, 2010 Ferrol - Lisbon, 2012 from Cartehenga.
I've noticed a lot of blank faces on the forum lately, with people identified by generic gender ID, or question mark. Why? When we first joined most of us used a photo, often it was a weary pilgramage in a rain coat, or grinning like mad (sometimes both). Others use a shell, favourite road sign, walking shoes, or significant ruin from the way. And some got creative with a sloth, falcon, whiskey bottle logo or for some unknown reason a heavily pruned plane tree. I find these personal selections just as useful to help identify the person behind the comments, sometimes even more so then a photo.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I think people are starting to crave privacy after the true breath and width of lack of privacy on the internet is starting to hit people. For me, as a criminal defense lawyer, I've known for years how little privacy there is in the modern age.

For example, the makers of Rumba have announced they are going to start selling the "maps" their autonomous vacuum cleaners make of your house. No couch in your living room? Expect Amazon to send you an email.

In Seattle, authorities bought a list of every Seattle resident who regularly bought dog food. The authorities then compared this list to the list of people who had licensed a dog. If you regularly bought dog food but did not have a licensed dog, they sent you a nasty letter. At first, Safeway denied selling the information, but later fessed up.

Smart thermostats and smart refrigerators know which family member is in the house. Did you tell the police that you were home on the night in question? Well, let's see what your thermostat has to say about that.

People who send off their saliva to Ancestry.com to find out their roots are now finding out that police are regularly sending the company subpoenas for DNA profiles.

Companies like WalMart are now deploying facial recognition on each customer that enters the store. If you have a criminal history, they are following you closely.

Google sells your search information to retailers. Do a Google search regarding the Camino and suddenly, advertisements for Camino related services shows up in your Facebook feed.

And speaking of Facebook, they recently got caught sending friend suggestions that caused trouble. For example, a psychiatrist had open Wi-Fi for her patients to use while waiting for her. Facebook gathered the information on all of her patients that logged onto her Wi-Fi and then sent friend suggestions to all of them. That sort of blew up that whole confidentiality thing.

Your cell phone tracks every movement you make. And the NSA or the FBI can turn on your cell phone speaker to listen in on your conversations. Your smart television can also have it's camera turned on so the authorities can watch you in your house.

For me, I fight back by Googling "lingerie" so scantily clad women show up in my Facebook feed.
 
In Canada, it is illegal for a potential employer to request a photo of a job seeker. You're busted at the interview of course, but up till then, its all a mystery. For my part, I find the pictures to be a distraction. It is very easy to misjudge a book by its cover. Reading the words seems a better way to find out what the author really means, without a lot of preconceived notions, biases, or prejudices coloring your thinking. I will inject these myself, quite unconsciously when I see your avatar. Then I have to remind myself that anyone could have any picture.....how would I know if the distinguished gentleman wasn't five ducks wearing a "Man-suit"?
 
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
I have wondered this same thing myself, especially when MY avatar turned into a question mark unbenownst to me and I was changed from "member" status to "guest". Even Ivar didn't know what had happened. I was also locked out and could not ask questions. I had to open a new account to get back in to the forum....Very strange indeed.
 
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 16-19
My adult son has been concerned about some of these same things and I assumed he was just over reacting and brushed it off, but your post is confirming what he's been saying. Yikes, sounds scary!
 
Andreia said:
Hi ! I am new here how do I post my photo please?
Thank you
Andreia
Click to expand...
Here is a quick way to do it. On the top of the screen, find the area showing various options including "Bookmarks, advertise on the camino forum, camino guide books" . . . and you ID [Andreia]. Place your cursor over your id, and select personal details, this will give you various options [you can update all of them later] including the avatar. Click on the current avatar to make the changes . . . . follow the instructions on the screen. Good luck, que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.
 
Camino wristwatch
Perfect memento/gift in a presentation box. Engraving available, 25 character max.
Could the concern about privacy also have a connection with some veteran members leaving the forum or reverting to guest status? Each time I return to the forum after clearing my search history I have to click a button to accept conditions about the use of my information, & as @notion900 helpfully pointed out, you can see who is on line & which threads they have been looking at.
 

Allowing people to see when you're online and what you're looking at can be turned off or on in the forum settings - just go to "Privacy" in your settings and you can change them if you want to.

I can (obviously!) understand people not wanting to have a personal photo as their avatar, and/or use their own name. But it's easy enough to use a photo of something else, as several on this thread do. Personally I would much prefer to see a photo of a tree or a shell (or a coffee cup!) than a dull grey box with a question mark. I don't find such images distracting - they're certainly not essential, just aesthetically more pleasant to look at.

Maybe it's simply that many people don't know how to load an image? The helpful instructions from @Sailor above could be a worthy "How to" sticky...?
 
Camino Jewellery
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.


honestly, I am not sure I know how to add a photo. My computer is pretty new and I do not have photos in it yet but I promise to try before I leave for my Camino on Sept 1.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
stgcph said:
I like real photos for the simple reason, that it makes it possible to identify people in real life.
How nice it would be to be walking on the Camino some day and suddenly see a "familiar face".
Click to expand...
Yes,
I agree, although you would not match me to my 'avatar'. (For all that I have been an avid reader since an early age, I cannot recall avatar as part of my vocabulary till fairly recently). In my time 'on the camino' I have only recognised one person, famous for guide books. He strode purposefully ahead without glancing to right nor left, so it didn't make a whit of difference to anybody that I recognised him. Maybe I will find a suitable profile photo and put it in. Don't hold your breath though. Imagine being recognised just when it least suited you...
 
Aw! I lost my original one! Never mind. The foot still in the boot was the one with the nail driven through it.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Whoa, a rush of responses...given I inadverently titled this thread "aviator" and then had to go off and find out how to spell "avatar" you can tell what a Luddite I am... That and I'm nieve enlough to use my own name and photo!
I have heard about tracking movement through cell phones and automated vacume cleaners (ok I saw it in a movie), but as we don't have mobile coverage and I use a broom, I think I am safe...
Still it's a sad state of affairs when modern living means we hide behind a grey box.
 

You are right.
Peoples choices about being identified or not should be respected.
 
stgcph said:
I like real photos for the simple reason, that it makes it possible to identify people in real life.
Click to expand...

Up until a few days ago I used a photograph of myself that I really liked. But it was nearly 30 years old and I was unrecognisable. I decided I really needed to update my avatar to something that more accurately represents me as I am now. And matches my forum name.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
stgcph said:
I like real photos for the simple reason, that it makes it possible to identify people in real life.
How nice it would be to be walking on the Camino some day and suddenly see a "familiar face".
Click to expand...

I understand that @stgcph but I prefer the guessing game and suggest that you rush down to Casa Ivar right now and buy yourself a Pilgrim Forum badge to sew on your backpack so others can look out for you to say 'hi'.
Sorry to sound a down note on this but it needs emphasising. Life away from the Camino presents safety issues that especially impact women and seemingly benign information, such as photos can be cut ad pasted and employed in malevolent ways. It's one of the reasons I don't use Facebook, not on the basis of paranoia but experience. Anyone can enter this website and, fortunately for us our online safety is a priority for moderators with regard to postings, what cannot be moderated however, is what people do with information they find here. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of stalking-related behaviour take care to try and keep personal photos offline.
 

So your general advice is not to use photos at all.

I understand that you have had bad personal experiences, which of course makes you alert. I have been working professionally with IT for half a lifetime, and I flatter myself that I am aware of the risks of exposing yourself on public sites. I don’t use Facebook either, for the same reasons and I try to pick the sites that I use with some care. I haven’t had any bad experiences (yet), so I allow myself the luxury of being a bit naïve.

And yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid enough
 

No @stgcph that is not my general advice, rather only upload images that you feel comfortable being able to share with others - not just forum members. The bad experience I had was a professional one and the related, but important point, is that women are more frequently the target of cyber nuisance than men. In my work using IT over very many years, it was invariably women who were 'flamed' by male colleagues, but I acknowledge that a troll is a troll and there is apparently no gender bar to those wanting to frighten or intimidate. As an alert to the variety of attitudes that can be exhibited in posts on this forum I recall a particularly odious contribution (short-lived because the moderators removed it speedily) was a reference to 'getting to know' women on the Camino being akin to shooting fish in a barrel. 99.9% of people coming to this forum are just the kind of excellent folk you would expect to be walking to Santiago, it's always the .1% that can cause problems, so I was simply suggesting ways to limit the scope to cause mischief for members and guests of the forum.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Earlier today I was just thinking about how this forum is so well moderated, and here we have another example of being on the alert to keep matters clear.
 

I am sure you are right about the ”gender imbalance” when it comes to intimidation on the web. It is very unfortunate – I mean both the imbalance and the fact that it happens at all.

I agree that the moderators is doing a fine job, and the members themselves generally are too, in keeping a civilized tone on this site. This is one of the reasons that I like it.

As I said earlier, I believe peoples choices of using photos or not should be respected, and I assure you there are no “creepy motives” behind my own position on using them.
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
peregrina2000 said:
I am one of those tech luddites who had to ask …
Click to expand...
Nitpicking: A Luddite isn't someone who has difficulty using technology. It's someone who actively tries to destroy it out of the real or imagined belief that it is harmful to him. Yes, I have also used the term wrongly in the same way, but …
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Camino wristwatch
Perfect memento/gift in a presentation box. Engraving available, 25 character max.
RobertS26 said:
Companies like WalMart are now deploying facial recognition on each customer that enters the store. If you have a criminal history, they are following you closely.
Click to expand...
Most of Robert's post is true. We have lots of "Big Brothers." Facial recognition, though: https://consumerist.com/2015/11/09/...acial-recognition-software-to-id-shoplifters/

But if that's not real yet, consider in its place that NSA's biggest competitor (Google) wants to sell you a car that drives itself—by being permanently connected to GPS and to Google Maps.
 
@Anniesantiago you will always be 3 shells to me, we joined the forum on the same day.... 9 years, and I have always enjoyed your many and varied postings. We may be a world apart but next Nov, have a beer for me (or bubbles) and let's toast the forum and all who sail on her!
 
Last edited:
I just wish that I still looked as well as I did in this photo of me and that I had the energy that I had eleven years ago when I joined the forum.
But let me rejoice that once I did look so well and did have energy and I did go on the Camino.
Also let me rejoice that I am still alive today and God willing will attempt to walk part of the Portugues Camino in October.
 
Promote your Camino Project on the forum
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.


Hey, Andreia reminds me of me!

I'm almost completely computer illiterate. I fluffed and stuffed around for ages trying to post an avatar, even following the instructions. Was about to give up in utter frustration when suddenly it happened! I chose this one because it was one of very few days when it wasn't wet and was quite hot, around seven degrees. Also looking backwards, around 20k past Castrojeriz, not a single pilgrim, and the only one I could see ahead was the one who took the photo. So much for crowds on the Frances!

Talking of computer illiteracy my 6 year old grandson is a quiet, gentle delight of a kid who goes to a Christian school and comes home occasionally singing the hymns they teach them. He pushed a button on the computer last week and got into some sort of loop. He corrected this by pushing something else and logged into a porn site. My suggestion that he knew exactly what he was doing didn't go down too well!

De Colores

Bogong
 
Anniesantiago said:
I don't have a photo avatar.
No particular reason except I love the avatar I have.
But here's my photo in case you wonder who I am...
View attachment 35801
Click to expand...
You're beautiful!
But I have to say if people changed their avatars I would stuggle. Maybe this shows that I'm not the sharpest tool in the box but it's the avatars vs the names that keep me straight on who is posting. I wish I looked like me avatar, I'd take those long thin legs any day... the bald , scalped head... not so much. My daughter drew that when she was about 4 of my going on my first Camino. This past fall at age 9 she did over 1,000 miles of her own.
I'm not certain I'd replace my avatar with one of her recent pictures of me... it's too accurate
 
Download free today.
Holoholo automatically captures your footpaths, places, photos, and journals.
So, they gave up on the program to recognize thieves and built one to recognize unhappy people. Hmmm.
 
Promote your Camino Project on the forum
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.

Thanks so much for your kind words.
I'll be in Santiago again in June - maybe we can have that beer someday!
 
KinkyOne said:
Hi, Annie,

Was this photo taken on Camino de Madrid in front of the bar/restaurant entrance in Cuenca de Campos???
Click to expand...

Dang Kinky, I don't remember.
HOWEVER, it WAS taken on the Camino de Madrid, so you could be right!
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Anniesantiago said:
Dang Kinky, I don't remember.
HOWEVER, it WAS taken on the Camino de Madrid, so you could be right!
Click to expand...
I'm almost 100% sure it was taken at that restaurant where the lady owner is taking photos of every pilgrim and hang them on the outside wall (under the porch). Ah, nice memories
 
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I changed my Avatar from, H B'day Cancers, all you could make out was cancer not a nice thought, to this new one.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Camino Jewellery
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
natefaith said:
I just changed my avatar a few minutes ago. Just now I saw it in passing, on another thread, and didn't realize it was me!
Click to expand...
Como un faro en medio de la tempestad. I like it! I used to live less than a mile from two lighthouses [that was many moons ago]. Que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.
 
Sailor said:
Como un faro en medio de la tempestad. I like it! I used to live less than a mile from two lighthouses [that was many moons ago]. Que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.
Click to expand...

Hola Sailor,
If you have time after your Camino this year, head to Muxía which is where my avatar was taken. I think you'll enjoy it, if you used to live by two lighthouses! The Muxía lighthouse is a bright contrast to the blue ocean behind it and the scenery is beautiful.
Buen Camino.
 
Camino Jewellery
A selection of Camino Jewellery
natefaith said:
. . . The Muxía lighthouse is a bright contrast to the blue ocean behind it and the scenery is beautiful . . .
Click to expand...
Sold! I don't know when or where my camino will end, but I plan to visit both, Faro de Muxia and Faro Fisterra this year, plus I plan to drop by your place to say hello. Thank you y que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.
 

Thanks for the info. I now have a photo from my Camino. Can't wait until the next...
 
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 16-19
jsalt said:
Why is everyone changing their avatar . . . . ?
Click to expand...
I just asked why there were so many that haven't got one, and it has spurred a few to add one which is nice, and a few other to change theirs... I guess we all like to mix it up from time to time... Love yours, by the way, windswept and intersting on a beach...
 
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Henry Appelt said:
My avatar is of a door knocker I saw in Santiago. It just appealed to me...!
Click to expand...
Ah, the hand of Fatima, I brought an old cast iron one of these at a market in Santiago and then had to carry it on to Finestere, not the smartest move weight wise but it now graces my front door.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
hel&scott said:
I've noticed a lot of blank faces on the forum lately, with people identified by generic gender ID, or question mark. Why?
Click to expand...

Due to OP's post, I have not only acquired avatar uploading skills, but I am now on third avatar since post. Methinks, I'll keep this image hijacked from a FB pic.
 
@nycwalking Your avatar is a good one, keep it [well, at least until you decide to change it].
Change is gooooooooood.
Good luck y que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.
 
nycwalking said:
Due to OP's post, I have not only acquired avatar uploading skills, but I am now on third avatar since post. Methinks, I'll keep this image hijacked from a FB pic.
Click to expand...
I had to get a young un to explain that OP, wasn't Old Person, but Origional Poster, I guess I can roll with that.
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I love reading through these threads. They make me smile and they wander all over the place, just like the camino. You have encouraged me to add a picture for my avitar
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
ivar said:
You can do so here:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/account/avatar
... it is not required. Remember that it does not need to be a photo of you. It can be anything, a photo of a flower.. your pack... anything.
Click to expand...

I've been trying for 3 days to upload an avatar, to no avail. I "browse", select, the yellow lines flash across the top of my screen, and then... nothing. Is there a trick?
 
Ahhh... I tried to attach the file here and got this answer "The uploaded file is too large for the server to process." Ceci, donc, explique cela, as the French say. You live and learn.
 
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Camino Photo

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Most read last week in this forum

Similar threads

LIVE from the Camino Practical observations from my October 2023 Via Francigena,
Replies
9
Views
2K
Rex
LIVE from the Camino Caryn on the Aragonés
Replies
75
Views
7K
winemakerfw51
W
G
Part 2. Ziggy, Me, and Rosti to the Wiffletree. Comes Perambulation, Articulation, and Tauredunum latterly.
Replies
2
Views
591
gerardcarey
G
  • Tags why the camino?
    • Locked
    Why you should not walk a camino
    Replies
    19
    Views
    12K
    ivar
    Nobody Beats The House: On Tarasteix And Lourdes
    Replies
    2
    Views
    1K
    Daibhidh
    D
    Menu
    Log in
    Register