Look What ARAPANET Became

Checking out the news, I see that Dubya is in my home state today - up in Appleton. I wonder if Tommy came with him. (Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, is our former governor.)

And there's the big hubbub about Condy Rice testifying. Outside of her actions regarding 9/11, I have to say that I think it's great that there's a black woman in the Cabinet. There was, perhaps, a bit of "tokenness" to her appointment but, still, I think it's wonderful. Women have been fucked over in this country for far too long by half and black women doubly so. I hope to be alive when a woman is elected President but I think a black woman being elected won't happen until I'm long gone, unfortunately.

I found a newsgroup that has mp3s of various people's testimonies before the 9/11 Commission. There really is some wonderful, enriching, as well as important stuff to be found on the Net. Sometime you just have to know where to look. Thinking about this made me laugh as it seems that history has repeated itself.

When radio came along, many people had this utopian vision that it could be used for the common good. High culture like opera could be available to everyone who had a radio. Educational programs could be broadcast and lisened to by those unable to afford formal schooling. But these ideas went down the shitter in favor of Lux Theater and so on. (Not to say that there weren't some great programs like Hear It Now.) Then TV comes along and these same ideas return. But it too became a vaste wasteland. PBS was created here in the States in an attempt to stave off vulgarity. Nowadays, it has to beg for funding and is seemingly always under attack from some group in Congress that wants to cut its funding or privatize it. Then, in the late 70s, the promise of cable TV appeared. More utopian bleatings. Benjamin Barber even wrote a book espousing the technology as a way to achieve a true democracy. But, after the lessons of radio and broadcast TV, did anyone really believe that cable would be any different?

Then in the 90s, the Internet became a phenomenon. Again, utopian rhetoric flourished. While there are definite differences between radio & television on the one hand, and the Net on the other, it still seems like the latter has fallen prey to commercialization. But it may be too early to tell what will happen in the long run. The Internet is decentralized and anyone with a connection and an ISP can present themselves to the world. Unfortunately, it seems like the Net is more known as a haven of pornography, shopping, and music theft more than anything resembling a decentralized forum for average Janes and Joes. Instead of getting our news from CNN on the TV, we go to their web page. Instead of going down to the convenience store to pick up the latest issue of Hustler, we just find porn on the Net. It's like the medium has changed but the content remains the same.

But there are the equivalents of C-SPAN, NPR, and PBS on the Internet. (Apologies to all you non-Americans out there.) Access to smaller publications whose views are outside of the mainstream media is now available to those that never had it previously. A wealth of classic literature is available for free at the Project Gutenberg web site. The Internet also serves as encyclopedia and dictionary. Hell, nearly a whole reference library. Governments from all levels have a presence on the Net and, in my opinion, it is easier to navigate their web sites than their phone systems. Instead of having to call and request a form be mailed to you, one can just download it. Many people can avoid the long lines and waits at the DMV by using the Internet. Geneological research has become easier as well. And, right now I'm downloading Richard Clarke's testimony he gave to the 9/11 Commission to help me understand what the hell is going on with my government. The one of, by, and for the people. And let's not forget email and chatting - keeping in touch with friends and family is easier.

Of course, there's the dark side. That is, illegal stuff. Music can be downloaded as well as movies, books, etc. Don't wanna pay $25 for the new Dan Brown novel? Don't worry - it'll be downloadable for free shortly after its publication. Do you like just one song on the new Evanescence album and don't feel like paying $15 for it? It can be had (and probably even before the album is released.) One flipside to all the porn that is readily available is that erotica is also easily obtainable. As is Viagra. And so too is absinthe. Just about everything is out there waiting for you - if you know where to look.

There's just so much of it. Sure, there are tons and tons of crappy blogs but there are some interesting and insightful ones as well. You can download an audiobook of a Danille Steele novel easily enough but you can also snag mp3s of public lectures given by physicist Richard Feynman. You can watch a stream of celebrities showing up at an awards ceremony but you can also watch independent movies and documentaries. Of course, you wouldn't want to make a life out of this. You should still see movies on the big screen as they were meant to be seen. And nothing beats connecting with people face-to-face. Still, there's a lot out there to help enrich your life. But, in the end, that's still something you have to do.