NationStates Jolt Archive

For me it is stuff like this recent accomplishment.

Brigham Young University and The Catholic University of America have teamed up (surprise, surprise, look at those two playing together so nicely) to scan and host their collective ancient Syriac and out of print syriac books, the complete Libraries apparently, and post them for free on the Internet for anyone to browse...
http://www.lib.byu.edu/dlib/cua/

Search it by Author, search it by topic, search it by keywords... And now you can see the actual pages on your own computer screens, not a typed out version translation of what it says, but the actual print with torn pages and dirt stains and all, everything that is on the actual books themselves is there for your viewing pleasure. What used to take a lifetime to see in it's entirety, and then only while you spend time in special collection libraries, entirely unable to read at your leisure but scholastic needs only would induce a person to bother with all the hassle of trying to study books in the environmentally controlled back rooms where these ancient books are kept, but now they are available for expert and novice alike. The Internet truly does bring the world to your fingertips.

With all the waste on the internet, the silliness, the porn and distractions, every once in awhile I'm reminded why it's better to live in a world with the Internet instead of the one previous that did not have all of these research tools right at our fingertips.

For those of you that just don't get it, why this accomplishment is something to behold, I'll just assume you are too young to remember the world before the Internet ;)

So what say you, what have you seen on the Internet that you think changes the way the world works (for the better - there is enough anti-internet propaganda stuff out there, I'm looking for things that 'surprised' you or 'brought it home for you,' as they say.

For me?
Porn, streaming video/audio, new techniques, news, points about religion subscribers to them would otherwise ignore, and WYTYG.
But your thing isn't so bad either. In between/during porn searches.

We used to believe that if a billion monkeys typed on a billion typewriters, they would produce Shakespeare. Today, thanks to the Internet, we know that this is not true.

Brigham Young University and The Catholic University of America have teamed up (surprise, surprise, look at those two playing together so nicely) to scan and host their collective ancient Syriac and out of print syriac books, the complete Libraries apparently, and post them for free on the Internet for anyone to browse...

How dare they come together to do this. I am glad that they are doing this and I do enjoy being able to have a whole world of information at my fingerprints, my University recently extended its online database one of the new features is that we can read British papers from the early 1600's up to the present day, there is some interesting reading in that, and back then the British press was no where near as bad as it is today.

We used to believe that if a billion monkeys typed on a billion typewriters, they would produce Shakespeare. Today, thanks to the Internet, we know that this is not true.

:D

Free porn was a good selling point, but I can't remember precisely when I realized how much the internet kicks ass. :)

the internet never fails to bring porn. sometimes it does when i don't want it though.

a few months ago my internet cut out for the weekend and I can tell you that was the longest weekend of my life evar

I had absolutely no idea how to do things without the internet like the Borg when they lose that eye thing (protip: save funny internet pics)

It allows me to toy with the minds of people scattered all over the world, thus spreading my madness like an unquarantinable virus. :)

The internet is a good and bad thing. It greatly enhances young minds, but at the same time it poisons them too.

Its promise is fulfilled now that I'm finally contributing to it, albeit in a very small niche. My Blood Bowl blog is popular enough with my friends, even the ones who don't play.

We used to believe that if a billion monkeys typed on a billion typewriters, they would produce Shakespeare. Today, thanks to the Internet, we know that this is not true.
Siggable!
It allows me to toy with the minds of people scattered all over the world, thus spreading my madness like an unquarantinable virus. :)
In Soviet Russia, mind toys with YOU! :)

Don't worry LG. I've already taken the Vaccine. In some circles it's known as "Seriousness" In others, it's known as "Depressing news articles". In any case, you should set off to destroying these vaccines immediately.:)

i can now find out who is alive and who is dead in SECONDS. some people can do it from anywhere in the world at any second on their freaking telephone.

now THAT is progress!

Porn, swingers' sites, dating sites, books I can buy from all over the world, books online, information about just about anything, from recipe sites to tips on how to keep your seahorse happy...
Information and fun is freely available. Great stuff.

for me? it's a collection of hypocrits. how many times do you hear "Keep the Internet Free!" yet how many services and sites require payment!!! :headbang: ;) :D

for me? it's a collection of hypocrits. how many times do you hear "Keep the Internet Free!" yet how many services and sites require payment!!! :headbang: ;) :D

I only take the freebies ;)

Porn, swingers' sites, dating sites, books I can buy from all over the world, books online, information about just about anything, from recipe sites to tips on how to keep your seahorse happy...
Information and fun is freely available. Great stuff.

is there anywhere where swingers are not out looking for sex?

I only take the freebies ;)

Better stuff on the pay sites.


er...


or so I've heard... yeah... I heard that... really... :p

is there anywhere where swingers are not out looking for sex?

would this count as a swinger not looking for sex? (http://www.cedarworks.com/images/600/RL_kid_swing.jpg)

:D

is there anywhere where swingers are not out looking for sex?

I'm sorry to say it, but they are rather rare in the South of Ireland. :(

Better stuff on the pay sites.


er...


or so I've heard... yeah... I heard that... really... :p

Yes, that's what I heard, too. I'm just too tight-fisted ...

Yes, that's what I heard, too. I'm just too tight-fisted ...
*cough*

I think I'll let my imagination run wild... it kinda needs the excercise...

then it's off to the cold shower... :D

would this count as a swinger not looking for sex? (http://www.cedarworks.com/images/600/RL_kid_swing.jpg)

its only gay if you push back :cool:

I'm sorry to say it, but they are rather rare in the South of Ireland. :(

I always wondered why there was so many Irish on nsG...

With all the waste on the internet, the silliness, the porn and distractions, every once in awhile I'm reminded why it's better to live in a world with the Internet instead of the one previous that did not have all of these research tools right at our fingertips.
The searchable databases of academic papers, the pooling of information, up-to-the-minute blogging by researchers in countless fields of science, online libraries of fiction and non-fiction and all the rest make the Internet an irreplaceable resource. Nothing like it has ever been available to us and we still haven't fully grasped they way that it is changing our world. I simply cannot express how much I wish that I'd had it available when I was a child.

I don't see the "silliness" and "distractions" as being a "waste", though. It's just another facet of what the Internet makes possible. No matter how puerile or silly you might find it, it'll be amusing someone, somewhere. Some parts of the 'net are just the modern equivalent of "The Birdie Song"... throwaway tat that can be ignored if you want, or laughed at if that's your thing. I don't find that it detracts from my online experience, at all.

There seems to be a groundswell of criticism at the moment, despairing that the Internet is becoming swamped with mediocre blogs and social networking sites -- that it is somehow becoming dumbed down and that we are seeing content that is increasingly homogenised and samey, or that it is creating a sort of "look at me!" culture that will be damaging in the long term. I disagree. I think it's brilliant that so many people are able to find an outlet for things that they are creating, or a platform for the things that they wish to say to the world. It's the same argument as people used when independant TV broadcasting began (amongst other things). It's resistance to change and innovation just for the sake of resisting and is no more than an attempt to preserve the old ways that have been profitable for so many, for so long.

A few years back I remember watching a kids' TV show with my niece -- damned if I can remember it's name -- and one of the plot devices that they had was "The great big book of everything", which they could go to when they needed to find something out (a bit like the old "Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu" that I remember from my own days as a child, I suppose). For me, that's what the Internet is. I can find out pretty much anything I want, whenever I want, and it's absolutely marvellous.

for me? it's a collection of hypocrits. how many times do you hear "Keep the Internet Free!" yet how many services and sites require payment!!! :headbang: ;) :D

Your just mad because your too cheap to pay for porn...