Frank quoted Don who had written;
> Especially when you consider that Keelynet is made possible by
> the internet (linked computer network) that could come to a halt
> within about 500 days.
Well, yes and no, in its current incarnation, yes, but......
KeelyNet originally sprang from the phone system as a BBS in 1988, years
before the 'public' version of the Internet and it had to be dragged
kicking and screaming to the Internet.
We had almost 2000 people before ever coming to the Internet, most from
word of mouth recommendations or being introduced by files or
information that was shared by others interested in such matters and
which sparked a desire to participate.
The main problem at that time was that most of the calls were long
distance. The sole benefit of the Internet to date in my opinion has
been that it allows many people to communicate cheaply over long
distances.
Unfortunately, like free 800 number phone lines, anyone can call and
create mischief at little cost. I have found that if people have to pay
for their participation in mischief (via long distance charges), it
rarely happens.
And like the quote 'Public opinion is but the average stupidity of
mankind', so too is much of the 'information' and comments posted on the
Net either as URLs or in discussion forums. If you doubt it, I suggest
you read through any discussion list or newsgroup and count the number
of useful posts as opposed to the number containing drivel.
My definition of useful posts (being myopic and a dictator as some have
called me..<g>..);
offering an insight or information that might help to explain or
understand a subject of interest to the reader, based on the
nature of the list interests, i.e. a correlation that illuminates
the list topics - everything is relative to the ambient environment
which would be the nature and topics of the list.
As to Y2K, like other end of the millenium stories, there is not much
anyone I know can do about it, so most of us are relegated to just
waiting to see if anything happens that will affect us directly or on a
personal level.
Like the survivalist philosophy of 'being prepared', maybe there is
something about money, food, shelter, etc..that a person or small group
can prepare for, but for my money, its mostly hype, just my opinion, we
will all see when the clock turns.
Not being a lemming or a follower, I choose not to get caught up in the
paranoia and hype that is used everyday to pull peoples attention from
what really matters. Its just the typical Machiavellian principle of
diverting the mass interest from what counts, used by politicians and
the media for many years. The more people who are distracted, the less
real and useful work, the work that changes lives, societies and
governments, gets done.
All the cranks and weird theories come out at the end of every century
but this one is compounded because it is the end of a millenium and the
prevalence of computers certainly will produce some mischief, but we'll
live through it.
-- Jerry Wayne Decker / jdecker@keelynet.com http://keelynet.com / "From an Art to a Science" Voice : (214) 324-8741 / FAX : (214) 324-3501 KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187