Blogging about a Blog

Blogging about a Blog. Meta-blog. Bloggity. 
 
Self-aware weirdo with way more technology available to him than should be 
allowed:  Picture an unbalanced, xenophobic middle-aged white guy in basement 
ranting about stuff. Well there is one success story, financially any way. He 
used to be on a cable network, scribbling on a chalkboard and twitching 
nervously while describing constant various threats to anyone within the sound 
of his oft-quivering voice. With tears streaming down his face he would then 
implore the viewer to rush to the phone and buy gold from his sponsor for the 
post-apocalyptic hellscape that was to come. 

Not from my basement. Luckily I have a nice view out a blurry window to the 
suburban street I call home. The window has a leak, which causes fog to form 
inside the double panes of glass and distort the view. I suppose a suburban 
landscape outside of a blurry window is an improvement over a myopic view from 
an underground bunker. I’m not that unhinged, I hope. Although I do tell people 
jokingly that I have a foil hat I occasionally wear around the house. I get a 
lot of funny looks. 

This new medium (for me anyway) called the blogosphere is way more than a 
novelty. It’s an amazing way to connect with other people and share ideas, and 
just about everything else. The idea of being able to call up information at the 
click of a mouse is really incredible. The magic of having access to mountains 
of information and resources through a humble internet connection has become a 
great equalizer. Internet connectivity has enabled those with the means to make 
use of information previously reserved only to those with close proximity to a 
college or municipal library, providing it was adequate. 

Of course there is a dark side to having scads of information. As mentioned 
before, there are those who have yet to identify the means with which to filter 
and gage some of the information available on the internets. This is 
unfortunate, but this problem predates computer access, as evidenced in the 
existence of tabloid, yellow, muckraking, and sensationalist journalism. Sadly, 
those monikers no longer have the significance they once had. 

I am fascinated by all the technology, and intimidated by the speed with 
which advances take place. We’re all plugged in in one way or another, like it 
or not, it’s here to stay. That’s why the simple act of opening a book has 
become more important to me as a way to relax and unplug from the busy world. 

There’s no disputing that technology has a great many advantages. Less paper 
means cleaner air and a hope for a greener future. The digitization of all types 
of information has to be seen as a having huge advantages over almost all 
aspects of our lives. If someone living in a remote place doesn’t have access to 
a library, is an e-book better than no book? Of course it is.  If the only 
chance to hear a symphony by Mozart is through a set of headphones from an mp3 
player, is it not a bad thing?