O Brave New World

I am getting braver in my use of Web 2.0 technologies. I have a blog at school [REDACTED] which I have used for the past two years to post information about my classes, but the school system IT people have comments turned off. Students and parents can e-mail us so the thinking is that comments are not necessary and would tend to slow down the server. (The server gods must be kept happy!)

Back in the old days before the World Wide Web, there were (and still are I think) listservs that had a similar function to blogs. If you were interested in hiking the Appalachian Trail then you would search for a listserv on that topic and you joined.

I joined a few way back then, but I was a ghost who looked on and never had the nerve to actually say anything. I watched flame wars and dumb questions that could easily be answered by the FAQ. I also watched some brilliant debate of the topics of the day. That impressed me. I didn't know anything about the writers other than what they said and what I could figure out from the e-mail address. Someone from .uk arguing with someone from .fr (go figure!) This was fascinating.

That is when I first learned to appreciate the power of the internet to transmit ideas. When the Soviet Union collapsed, I was reading postings from behind the crumbling iron curtain while the news services were struggling to get information from their reporters on the ground. I became a convert to the belief that ideas and knowledge can and do bridge the gap created by ignorance and fear.

Anyhow back to blogs.
I never posted to someone else's blog until today. Today I was reading Pogue'sPost at the New York Times and I posted a reply. Not much, but a first step.
FIRST POSTED ELSEWHERE ON MARCH 6 2007.