Mon 17 Sep 2007
Today I was thinking about how much I love the internets. For one thing, they have allowed me to regularly make high-stakes bets on trivia that can be instantly verified. “NO, mushrooms do not contain vitamins! Wanna make a bet? I’ll let your dog lick my entire face if they have vitamins.” We rush to the computer and do a search. It makes conversation just that much more entertaining.
I no longer have to troll all the big stores in town to get enough boxes to move. No more begging surly liquor store clerks and damp produce managers. We just set up an rss feed to alert us via email whenever anybody posts free boxes to craigslist or freecycle.
I get surprise books in the mail since we joined paperback swap. Dr. G orders them for me but the effect is the same.
Yesterday an old coworker and I sent a flurry of IMs back and forth containing youtube clips related to rodents, which I consider an extremely valuable use of time.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:07 am
Imagine 40 years from now when we’ll be among the few who can remember life before the internets. The grandchildren will marvel at tales of written letters, mail order, cds, phones attached to walls, and searching for answers in books.
By the way, the “dramatic chipmunk” in the link is actually a dramatic prairie dog according to the longer source video on youtube.
September 18th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
“You should Google it,” is a standard reply from my children whenever they ask me something that — surprise! — I don’t know. They truly think that everything and anything of interest to them, no matter how obscure and unlikely, is available for verification via the internet. Fortunately/unfortunately, it usually is.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:22 am
God bless Al Gore! And all those tubes.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:30 am
Clearly I need to come up with better ways to use the internet . . .
September 24th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Dr. G– “Back in my day, we didn’t have no word processesors. We wrote our fourth grade science reports with number two pencils!”
Karen– see, this is why kids know they don’t have to memorize things any more, since it is instantly available if they need it.
Kate– what would we do if he hadn’t invented it? I tell ya!
Julie– Now you will have lots of time, in your new job-free state. if you want to feel really good about your dental health, look up pictures of extreme tooth decay.