The Internet continues to feature in the news. The American courts have apparently blocked a bill which would have restricted some items appearing because it is unconstitutional. The American government is appealling; the political consequences of enforcing censorship outweigh their responsibilities to uphold the constitution.
I recently read an article in a supplement of the Daily Telegraph on the different Internet Service Providers (ISPs). I thought of typing it in but I am so late with EUG that it would take too much time. Suffice to say that there are a lot of providers, each providing something different. The commercial providers might allow you to join free of
charge but then whack you if you use the service for more than the alloted time each month. This is apparently easy since access can take some time and of course there is so much out there to see.
The conclusion seems to be to start with a commercial service to get used to it and then move over later to one of the others. Compuserve is quoted at £6.50 per month and gives five hours free access, after which they charge £2.00 per hour. UK Online offers unlimited access but costs £15 per month.
The prices might not be relevant to our non-UK readers but the principle is. See what you are getting before you buy.
I saw a cartoon the other day where a dog was strapped onto a bed, a mean-looking man was nearby holding a sharp knife and another dog was holding a bucket saying to the first dog, "Spit in the bucket, spit in the bucket!". I told this to one of the men I work with who has three young children. He immediately recognised the cartoon in question and said his kids watched it and thought it was great. I must just be getting old.
It's sad really. I always promised myself that I would never lose touch with young minds and ideas - but now that I seem to be doing just that, I'm not really worried. I don't think I can bring myself to enjoy hearing one dog telling another to spit into a bucket. But that is probably the point. When I was a teenager my peers either wanted to grow
their hair or did so, we listened to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Wishbone Ash and The Maharishi. Nixon was vindication of what we had been saying all along, the seeds of the environmental movement were being sewn and we thought we might just control the world after all,which of course we did and still do. The "older generation" seemed to be shocked and worried that we might one day take over. We enjoyed this but didn't admit it to ourselves and really this was all part of the process of growing up, trying new ideas and thinking.
I just don't understand why that dog wanted that other dog to spit into a bucket.
I have amended the infomation section giving details of sending submissions to EUG. Please keep them coming in. They, no you, make EUG. Without what you do, there is no EUG.
1st June 1996