In October Bern's new BearPark resident Björk started making a "nest" out of materials provided her. By February, there were twins. The Bern Tourism bureau supplied us with the first pictures of Bern's new residents. See: Bern Bear Pictures to see the cubs.

More: Bern Travel Guide | Switzerland Map

Photo: ©Rando, used with permission.

When we released our Scotland Attractions Map last week, we asked readers to tell us their favorite places to visit. So far, we've had 7 travelers respond with tales of the good life in Scotland. Take a look: Scotland Travel Tips - Where to Go, What to do, What to Avoid

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little queasy about living in a world so obsessed with a few "terrorists" that they are allowed to control every aspect of our lives in the name of "safety." With impeccable logic it is argued that terrorists take pictures, so taking pictures should be illegal, or monitored at least. Post office boxes are used by terrorists, so I can't get important mail here in the US. Shoes are used by terrorists, so every traveler taking a plane from the US has to take them off and let them be diddled with by fellows in uniform.

I'm sure glad I'm not only old enough to have fond memories of the "free world," but have, in the past, taken some decent pictures of London without incident. These may be the last. From Photography under threat: The shooting party's over:

Perhaps I exaggerate a little: nevertheless, the days when you could photograph freely in public spaces are disappearing fast. In the eyes of many, the camera has become an offensive weapon, as Peter Dunwell discovered when he travelled from Grimsby to London in January. Coming down by train with a work colleague, Dunwell planned to make a photo-journal of their trip. At King's Cross he took out his Sony Handycam and started to photograph the arrivals board and station. Two police community-support officers approached and told him to stop.

Ah, yes, who remembers the Volunteer Militia for National Security? Do chills run up and down your spine?

The article cited above outline some of the broad powers of the Terrorism Act of 2000 ("Section 44 of the act gave police more power to stop and search people in specified areas" meaning places where tourists go). Be careful out there. You must be aware that it isn't only the "normal" thieves who want to take your camera and "film" from you.

Picture of a reporter holding a fuzzy thing over his nether regions in front of the Royal Courts of Justice in London © James Martin, licensed to About.com

Glasgow has been revealed to be the least tech-savvy city in Britain, according to EveningTimes.

Research by Stuff magazine into the use of gadgets has shown that Glaswegians use just 42% of the functions available on their appliances.

This has me a bit scared. Who uses more than 42% of all those buttons on all those clickers? But then:

In contrast, gadget experts living in Wolverhampton got the most value for their money, utilizing almost 80% of their gadgets' abilities.

So I'm thinking' that we've stumbled across a great way to pick the best tourist destinations. Everyone's heard of Glasgow, right? But few outside of Scotland, I would surmise, know of Wolverhampton.

That's perhaps because the folks of Wolverhampton have little to do other than reading manuals and pushing worthless buttons on their appliances. Conversely, we might say that the folks of Glasgow, the Glaswegians, have more interesting things to do than to memorize which buttons control which obscure appliance functions. Thus, between the two places, Glasgow would be the logical place for fun people to vacation.

Now that we've solved that problem, isn't it creepy that there are folks looking so closely at our button-pushing?

Don't know where Glaswegians live? See our Scotland Map.