Hello everyone.

Today's blog entry is going to be an editorial.

I
hate
what the internet has become.

I remember about six years ago when I was in sixth grade. Every day I used to go to the library and would wait for my parents to pick me up or wait for the next bus to come so I could go home. Back then, the Internet wasn't as mainstream as it is today. In fact, the library was my first exposure to the world wide web. I remember having to teach myself how this strange new information highway worked. I had the ability to go online at home (Prodigy), but I had a pitiful modem (like 2.5K) and I hadn't even touched the INternet features that came with it. I was content to explore the Prodigy community features, especially the bulliten boards (AKA forums). However, I found myself spending more and more time at the library after school, especially on Fridays. I was amazed at how much information you could find on the INternet. I could do research for school, find infomation on anime and video games, chat with other people, and even build my own website! It was all very new, very informative, and very very exciting.

Then came the big Geocities brouhaha. Back then, Geocities was the main web space provider. However, after merging with Yahoo, the company felt the need to advertise like a mofo. I immediately became disheartened at the fact that if I ever visited a Geocities site, I would have to close a popup. It instantly became very annoying. There was the option of putting the advertisement on your page, which would eliminate the popup from occuring, but I found taht many users were simply too ignorant or too lazy to do it. It was irritating, but it was only a start...

Little by little, the Internet grew in popularity. This was due to two factors: 1) big companies discovering that the internet is a viable medium to do their business and spread advertisement. 2) AOL. However, the growth of the internet led to the downfall of its reliability. Nowadays, it seems like the Internet has become nothing more than a huge billboard for big corporations. What happened to the days when you could just go about your business on the Internet and not have to be bothered by various popups demanding that you check out a company's website for their new product? What happened to the days when you could check your e-mail without having to close 5 million windows? What happened to the days when you could download and install a program on your computer without having to download 5 other programs that are designed to show more advertisements or spy on what you've been downloading and what pages you've visited? What happened to the days when you could use AIM and not get people IMing you for porn advertisements? And let's not forget about the idiots. Perhaps the saddest thing about the growth of the internet is that its so easy and so accesible that even the stupidest of idiots can set up a website and bother people. Why is there no law requiring a set amount of intelligence to be able to use the internet??? It boggles my mind sometimes how some people I meet on the internet can walk straight, much less use a computer and go online.

Now that's not to say that the Internet has become defunct. The internet has been corrupted, but that doesn't mean it's defunct. It's still good for many things. However, it also has unlimited potential to screw up your computer in ways that you've never dreamed. So take care out there, it's a dangerous world. And remember the times when the Internet was a much simpler place? That's where I'll be waiting.

In other news, I'm glad Korea won the third place match. Yep....won the third place match....Good job Korea....Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiird place.
In all seriousness, it's too bad they lost the third place match, but it was still an excellent run this year and a tremendous accomplishment for Korea. Fourth place out of like 200-something nations is nothing to sneer at, and I hope to see them go all the way in the next World Cup.

Quote of the Day: "I've been trained to explode and rematerialize, if need be." - Me, in a very strange AIM conversation