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November
2, 2003
Here's
some interesting trivia - we tend to think of the Internet as a product
of the 90’s. In fact, its beginnings go back to 1958, long before
many of the so-called tech generation were even around. It all started
with ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) and in 1961, the first packet-switching
paper was published. It took eight years before the ARPAnet came
into being, when the first four nodes were set up at University of California
- Los Angeles, University of California - Santa Barbara, Stanford Research
Institute, and University of Utah in 1969. Two short years later,
the first email program was invented. For the next twenty years,
the basic technology was confined almost exclusively to scientists and
the military. Then, on December 11, 1991, Paul Kunz, launched the
first public web server and the World Wide Web was born. Kunz didn't
invent the Web - credit for that goes to Tim Berners-Lee, an English researcher
who was employed with the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.
Berners-Lee built the first browser. But it was Kunz’s demonstration
of the Web's potential that set off a chain of events that took the technology
public, turning the Web into what we know today as the Internet.
With
that preamble out of the way, I bring you one of the Internet's longest-standing
web sites - ANONYMOMMA'S
WORLD, and a beautiful THANK
YOU GIFT she sent with her response to my
request to use her images on the review page. She even went so far
as to create a brand new graphic. |
August 28, 2005
A friend of mine was in
the habit of sending seemingly unrelated links to various web sites, all
of them quite fascinating. Knowing that she worked full-time, and
also spent a substantial amount of time with her granddaughter, I inquired
as to how she managed to locate all these interesting places. Her
answer … she received a daily newsletter from KIM
KOMANDO. I recall hearing about Kim's
radio show several years ago, on a televised computer show, but was never
able to locate a station that carried the broadcast close enough to my
home. My friend sent me one of Kim's email messages, and I was pleasantly
surprised to find that you can sign up for several newsletters, including
a Weekly Newsletter, Tip of the Day, Cool Site of the Day, and News of
the Day. Well worth requesting one or all - even an experienced user
will find valuable hints and suggestions.
And lastly, I've expanded
the personal side of the site somewhat. I've added a mini MEMORIAL
to a couple of my little hamsters. Cleo, the "middle child", will
have her own page eventually, too. |
September 25, 2005
A while back, I had asked
the rhetorical question "Where did everyone go?" in reference to the loss
of such sites as The Widow's Web, Williamsholler, Fantasy Realm, The Staffords,
and Bernadette Hurley, to name a few. The answer has become readily
apparent. They just plain got fed up with all the nonsense out there
today. Since its inception, the entire premise of the Internet was
to promote the sharing of information. Now, it's just become one
huge commercial advertisement, and merely another tool. There was
a time when people looked forward to receiving email. It kept them
in contact with friends and relatives separated by distance. Now,
most dread having to open their mailbox because of the proliferation of
junk mail and attached viruses. Once upon a time, the web pages on
the internet were a dizzying assortment of creativity, both professional
and amateur. Everyone - from the new mother down the block to the
retired, world-renowned artist - was building web sites. It was new,
and exciting, and people helped each other. Now, people just help
themselves to each other's work and creations.
So that's what has happened
to all those beautiful, creative sites - the ones where the creators freely
shared their thoughts and discoveries at a time when the knowledge of HTML
was still a sought after skill. Their owners just plain got fed up
with the garbage and the thankless lot who just took, and took, and took,
and claimed someone else's work as their own. And that's why today,
when you do a search through any of the indexing engines, the first web
pages that show up generally have absolutely nothing to do with what you're
looking for. Your results are primarily advertisements for sites
who have bought up the abandoned domain names of some of the most frequented
artistic sites from the past. They are capitalizing on something
they did not earn and taking advantage of the thousands of personal pages
that linked to those sites. Where you used to be able to spend hours
wandering from one art experience to another, you now spend hours trying
to find one art site.
And that is why you will
no longer find my personal photos of a lion dance demonstration, taken
by me, at an outdoor free event, posted here. My intention was to
share an event that I felt could use a bit of exposure with those who have
become regulars to this site over the years. As a result of those
photos, I received an email from an individual who claimed to be with the
organization responsible for the exhibit, asking if I would consider photographing
next year's event. I expressed my interest, whereupon, the sender
of the original request accused me of displaying photos taken by two other
individuals. He did later recant his statement - after I advised
that whoever was laying claim to my work was in violation of national and
international copyright laws and that I would not hesitate to take legal
steps to protect my work. I guess I'm now falling in with the ranks
of all those sites mentioned earlier. It's just becoming way too
onerous, instead of the pleasurable hobby it has been for so many years.
It's amazing how one individual can take the fun out of something and spoil
it for so many.
Does anyone remember GreyDay.org?
Don't bother looking for it … it, too, no longer exists. What you
get if you type the URL into your address bar is an advertisement that
the domain name is for sale. The Grey Day group started a grass roots
movement in the 90’s whereby October 1st of every year was designated as
Grey Day - a day in which the artistic community attempted to raise awareness
within the general public their concern over the growing proliferation
of unauthorized use of copyrighted works. Participating web sites
“closed” their pages for that one day, displaying instead, a simple grey
page with text or a button linking to the GreyDay.org web site. That
site implored you to imagine what the internet would be like if all the
artists and musicians “went home” and explained in simple, easy-to-understand
language, why it was so important that we honour the rights of those creative
individuals who chose to display their work, free for all to enjoy.
I do believe the predictions of the Grey Day group have come to full fruition.
When you find yourself having to continually defend, on a regular basis,
what you have created, it kind of takes away the pleasure … |
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