The Null Device

According to this test, I am 45% Internet pure. Though had I taken it some years ago, it would have been lower, as back then I did spend much more time online, and didn't get out quite as much. Then again, back then (a) I did live in an outer suburb where there were no live bands worth seeing (and all-ages bogan-rock shows don't count), no arts/spoken-word nights and no cafés with groovy decor and chai tea (and even if there were, everything's so spread out that you'd probably have to drive for ages to meet a friend there anyway), and (b) back then, USENET was actually something other than a sewer of spam and random newbie questions. (I remember those days; I spent way too much time in alt.religion.kibology.)

When USENET went down the toilet (some time around 1995; it coincided with my Honours year, which probably contributed to my dropping out of USENET), I did what a lot of people did, and retreated to mailing lists. I formed one of my own, inviting various people to it from across the net; that is still going, though not as fiercely as before. I also joined a number of other lists, some of which have been host to some quite stimulating discussions.

My posting to mailing lists declined somewhat when I began blogging, some time around 1999. Looking back, I'd say this blog largely took over the role that lists have held before that, and USENET before that: of providing a forum for me to exorcise the voices in my head post links to articles I find interesting, observations and miscellaneous thoughts.

Curiously enough, I also have kept a journal/diary since 1989/1990 or so. And when I started blogging, that has also declined, as I am more likely to have said what I meant to say before actually writing in it. Or maybe as I'm further and further away from being an angst-ridden adolescent.

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