April 3, 2006

Biobytes: Adeline Svendsen

Adeline Svendsen's involvement with computers started a decade ago when she got hooked by computer classes – in Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Word, Photoshop, Excel – at the Community College Continuing Education program in Point Loma. Determined to share that experience with others, Svendsen, 92 – with some help from her son, Carlos, whom she adopted from Chile and raised alone – runs a computer club at St. Paul's Manor, a retirement community in San Diego where she lives. Her interests include square-dancing, photography and music. She has designed several Web sites, including one for the Norse Federation (http://norsefederation.org), a Norwegian cultural organization.

Recommended Web Sites:

Classical Net www.classical.net
I am fond of classical music and like to use it occasionally on my Web sites. It also has a useful section on the composers and on performers.

Blue Mountain www.bluemountain.com
This e-card site is always fun to look at and makes it easy to cover up for the fact that you almost forgot that special occasion.

Self Help For Hard of Hearing People www.shhh.org
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People has become a comforting source of support for me in my increasing fight with deafness.

Official site of Norway www.norway.org
This is a good source for the latest information on current events in Norway.

What value do computers add to your life?
My life would be absolutely meaningless without my computer. At 92, my body is not up to much physical action, but my mind is still alert and when I am at the computer I can “visit and travel” with a host of relatives all over the world. I can see Victoria Falls in South Africa and Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. I get to see the new babies almost as they enter the world and I can watch them as they grow up. I can go shopping or check my bank account or do my income tax without leaving the house.