Just getting into The Wire, and I was truly confused when the two cops (one homicide and one narcotics) used conventional typewriters. I started to wonder what decade I was in, and then they mentioned the Twin Towers.

That wouldn't date it too much. A minor theme in the show…

I know of one department down here where several of the professors still have general staff type out their papers and lectures.

Lazy sods!

Just getting into The Wire, and I was truly confused when the two cops (one homicide and one narcotics) used conventional typewriters. I started to wonder…

I know of one department down here where several of the professors still have general staff type out their papers and lectures.

Lazy sods!

"right here, right now"

Bleeding edge?

Yet many, even in Wellington, are excluded from all this because they cannot afford to access it, as even the public library charges an hourly rate which is too much for a beneficiary with no spare cash. So the next step is the real democratisation of information by making it…

Today I can follow elections in other countries instant by instant via live bloggers or twitterers

The day of the UK elections, I was following the news via Twitter and the web, while watching Channel 4 and the BBC via justin.tv, and receiving tweets from friends at the Chris Knox…

Once upon a time, every university dept had a departmental secretary, whose job was to type out the efforts of teaching staff. Now we do all this work ourselves.

I know of one department down here where several of the professors still have general staff type out their papers and…

It is interesting how work patterns have changed in education. Once upon a time, every university dept had a departmental secretary,…

only the crumbliest flakiest chocolate

Oh dear God, I thought I'd properly forgotten that one...

Actually, 80% of my friends can be traced back to that site

I love you Heather. And the many other wonderful friends that I have met on the internet. It is people, it is people, it is people. That's why I love the net.

And…

+Making friends with Heather and being duly pointed in the direction of this site.

Another thing we (I) take for granted – that we can watch amazing short films like this one with little effort.

That is indeed amazing. Thanks.

Actually,…

It also still amazes me that I get…

My need to share my daily missives in 140 characters

I believe it's presented misleadingly – it's who and what you are paying attention to, not "what you're doing".

Twitter can easily be about listening more than talking, and forwarding whatever most grabs your attention. You could look at it…

I don't want to "be in touch with people constantly". That's the whole point. :)

Umm, isn't that kind what PAS is all about too?

Okay, I really mean I don't want people to be constantly in touch with me! :)

I carry a primitive* cellphone in the van: it is never on until…

Texting= very small talk

Twitter=small talk

Facebook=medium-sized talk

Blogging (PAS in particular)=big talk

I use (and value) the last two but FB does have its drawbacks eg students who want to be my 'friend'

Have a great weekend.…

I don't want to "be in touch with people constantly". That's the whole point. :)

Umm, isn't that kind what PAS is all about too?

You'd love that!

I tweetered out. Something didn't gel. Even after a few attempts. My need to share my daily missives in 140 characters was…

Whilst on that subject, I'll confess to objectively getting a whole lot out of the much vituperated Facebook.

Is it the internet that has enabled you not to have cell phones, but still be in touch with people constantly?

I don't want to "be in touch with people constantly". That's the whole point. :)

Bloody true. I've never had – and still don't – a cell phone. Went looking for a pay phone recently, and there weren't any.

*cough* Really?

Oh, lor--there are now two of us.

*gulp* You're both officially my heroes. Or anti-heroes. Or something.

Well done, I guess. Is it the…

The good things about The Net: contact & information, as several other posters have noted.

If I hadnt checked on an internet site back in 2004, I would never have learned that I wasnt…

Went looking for a pay phone recently, and there weren't any.

The really annoying thing is that you now have to look up the address of unfamiliar shops before you leave the house.

Went looking for a pay phone recently, and there weren't any.

There's a lone payphone down on Don Croot Street in Kingsland, down near the various flats. Stands out in my mind because it's extremely brightly lit on a very poorly lit street. Presume it must still get some use…

loody true. I've never had – and still don't – a cell phone.

Oh, lor--there are now two of us. My old mum used to tell me that if you encountered someone walking down the street, talking loudly to no one in particular, they were probably mad. I see such…

A friend of mine

He's the guy who did the animation for the Wreck of the Diddlley? That would be Joseph's favourite video. Serendipitious awesomeness of the Web strikes again.

I had to explain to him about these devices called pub-a-lick tell-a-fones.

They seem to be disappearing – 2600 's project of documenting payphones is rapidly moving towards memorialisation as mobile devices take over all worlds (1st, 2nd, and 3rd).

making more strange food, playing more strange music, reading more strange books, and constructing more strange devices

and let's not forget meeting more strange people

Yes, and, as you mention in your later comment, those who only know the internet era will never understand the kind of social and informational isolation that many of us experienced in the pre-internet era (which sounds kind of mauidlin, but I only mean it literally).

That's true. A few…

If it needs to be said, one thing that seems blindingly obvious from this discussion and others recently, is that the best of the web is social.

Yes, and, as you mention in your later comment, those who only know the internet era will never understand the kind of social…

Have you gone and read all the back numbers of Bat Bean Beam?

You're too kind. But seriously, there will be a test.

They may have existed without the Internet, or they may not; but without the Internet it's highly unlikely that I'd even have heard of them in the first place.

I taught a politics and the media class yesterday, and explained to my undergraduates how before the 1990s, we had to…

The bits of the Internet that are truly awesome – Reading the Maps and a couple of my favourite web comics are the first examples that spring to mind – are that way because of the people who…

and this online community leapt into action.

and how!

heart warming stuff, thanks Nat, and our moderator [overlord].

:)

Shirky: Oh, that walk down memory lane is painful. Somehow, watching…

So I nominate Stephen Judd for best of the web.

I thought we weren't supposed to be suggesting the blindingly obvious?

BWAHAHAHAHA!!

FTW

I'll second Russell.

And it's mine. MINE, you hear!?

BWAHAHAHAHA!!

Oh. I'm sorry. I lost my composure there.