When I think about the Internet, I view it in the same regard as the right to own a telephone, a radio or television set. These mechanisms serve as tools for disseminating and receiving information. Denying one’s right to access this medium would certainly limit one’s ability to acquire information, especially since the internet is now the gateway to so many faucets that have become part of our techno-fabric, i.e. banking, shopping, social connections, libraries, entertainment, etc., creating a populated “global village.”(McLauhan)

Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee is credited for inventing the Internet in 1989. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee) This weaving madness of billions of links and interconnectivity seems to go on forever and would probably take a life time to read through every single page and posting. And, what would the Internet be, if you didn’t have the right to read my blog?

So, because the Internet exists, does this mean you have the right to access it? From the business professional to the prisoner in jail, everyone believes they are entitled. After all, living in this world gives us the right to just about everything that’s out there. If the purpose of the Internet is a commodity tool and serves as an information gateway, then by all means give us access. Colin Crawford argues, “A right of access, because it promotes the values of transparency and equal opportunity of use, would reinforce the Internet’s more socially useful aspects…What is required is to initiate a public conversation about the extent of the popular right of access to cyber-content, defining clearly the degree of openness required when a party offers its content to the public. In addition, it is essential to provide legislative guarantees that no individual can be denied access to cyber-content on the basis of membership in a protected class.” (Crawford, 2003, p. 259)

The Internet is a community, and rightly so a village. “In a matter of very few years, the Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way we do business, and the way we communicate. The Internet, as no other communication medium, has given an International or, if you prefer, a ‘Globalized’ dimension to the world. Internet has become the Universal source of information for millions of people, at home, at school, and at work.” (http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm) The web construction is credited to linking people together from every corner of the global. It is a powerful medium that has generated enormous interest, so much so that many people put their faith in this medium. They do online banking, submit credit card information, upload pictures of themselves and really become transparent. For me, I have reservations regarding this transparency, because with every technology there seems to be worms and we certainly have had our fair share of corruption on the web. Individuals have used this tool to manipulate and cause harm to others, secured systems have been broken into; private information such as credit cards and social security numbers have been stolen, and countless amounts of corruption have taken place.

There are many sub villages to the web, which I will refer to as “locations.” These various “locations” contribute information on an array of offerings, but each place that you visit, records your presence. There is actually limited privacy, if any on the web. Unfortunately, we are mesmerized by this limitless scope of possibilities and we take a lot for granted. I think we should adhere to the counsel of Neil Postman, “When we admit a new technology to the culture, we must do so with our eyes wide open.” (Postman, 1993, p. 7) Even though the medium was developed for positive renditions, there are not so nice people in our village that have found ways to corrupt it. So, beware!

While the Internet is a construction of a global village it is also the destruction of a community, mainly our kids. They spend hours on the Internet unsupervised, i.e. Facebook and other social networks, emailing, browsing sites, uploading pictures and absorbing unhealthy information. I have to agree with Bill O’Reily when he said, “The Internet is profoundly changing the behavior of American children and stunting their emotional growth…. It is a high-tech ‘Lord of the Flies,’ a free-for-all of destructive behavior driven by millions of innocuous-looking machines that sit openly in family rooms all across the country. Here’s an instant message every parent should understand: The situation is dire.” (http://www.billoreilly.com/newslettercolumn?pid=22471)

My grandmother used to call the television set the “idiot box” because to her, it was such a distraction and was not a tool for learning. She’s now deceased; passed away years before the Internet took off. I’m not sure what she would call this new medium if she were alive today, hopefully she would have seen the positive value in how the internet helped shape our world. “A new technology does not add or subtract something, it changes everything.” (Postman, 1993, p. 18)

In spite of the worms there are redeeming values. Many criminals have been caught thanks to the Internet; information is instant; this medium offers professionals, such as myself, the opportunity to further my education on-line without having to attend a “brick and mortar” classroom; and it has shrunk the world. Image, communicating with someone in “real time” who lives half way around the world and getting an immediate response. It is an amazing tool that if used correctly, greatly enhances our communication.

References:

Crawford, Colin. (2003) Cyberplace: Defining a Right to Internet Access Through Public Accommodation Law. Temple Law Review, Vol. 76, pp. 225-276, Summer 2003 Georgia State University - College of Law; Georgia State University College of Law. Retrieved May 30, 2009, http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=518525

McLauhan, Marshall (1911-1980) reintroduced the term, “global village.” McLauhan’s web site states it came from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake or else from P. Wyndham Lewis’s America and Cosmic Man. Retrieved May 30, 2009, http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/faqs.html

Postman, Neil. (1993) Technology, The Surrender of Culture to Technology. Vintage Books. A Division f Random House, Inc., New York.

It was to be a memorable weekend of fun, a relaxing drive through California’s wine country, Napa Valley. We loaded 240 people on five buses for a day trip through Northern California. Four buses left the hotel. My staff and three other colleagues stayed behind to board bus number 5; we waited a little longer for any stragglers who may have overslept. Finally the last two people showed up, grabbed their boxed breakfast and went on the bus. A total of 35 people including the driver, Vince, was on Bus number 5.

We left the hotel and headed on the freeway. Just as we approached the entrance to the city, we felt a thug as if someone had hit the bus. I was sitting up front close to Vince. I leaned over and asked Vince if someone hit us. His eyes were already glancing around as he also wondered what was going on. In his side view mirror, he detected that we had a flat tire, so he said he was going to pull over. He slowly and carefully moved over to the far right lane. Then in a few seconds, he said, “Oh dear, there is fire by the tire. We need to get everyone quickly off the bus.” He managed to pull off at an exit and stopped under a bypass. I shouted to everyone to get off the bus now. My colleagues and myself quickly moved everyone as far away from the bus as possible. As the last person exited, the back of the bus burst into flames. Within seconds the entire bus was engulfed with fire. Blazing flames and thick black smoke were seen rising above the bypass.

Everything happened within a very short time. If Vince had not acted quickly in moving the bus off the highway and getting all of us off the bus in time, it could have been a devastating day and lives could have been lost.

Angels were on bus number 5. A few people lost personal property, but overall everyone came away unscarred. We thank God for Vince and for his discernment, and we thank God for saving each of the 35 lives that day.

Last week I visited the Home Depot store. I love Home Depot. Every time I go there I can’t help but think of what new ideas to incorporate in my home. If I had the money and the time, the house would be remodeled and decorated new everyday. But on this day I had a specific purpose in mind… on a mission for floor tiles. Roaming through the flooring section, a sales person approached me and asked if he could help. I noticed a scattering of titles that were discounted, but they didn’t have enough of one color, pattern or size. The sales associate wanted to know if I had someone to install the tiles. I told him “sort of.” As a cost-saving factor, a friend of mine was going to teach me how to install tile. Well, “Mr. Sales Associate” decided to educate me on tile installation. Without asking for his advice he rambled off a doctoral thesis on what to do, including precise examples of the different tools and their purpose, gout colors, mud, etc, etc. I interrupted him and said he forgot to give me the textbook to read before hand or at least something I could follow along during the presentation. This didn’t stop him; he kept on going and going and going, like an energizer bunny. I glanced at the time and it was more than 30 minutes of loquaciousness and nothing I would remember. Finally, I informed him it was time for me to leave; my visit was not suppose to be this long. He wanted to know if I was available on the weekend to attend a tile installation class he teaches at Home Depot.  I told to him weekends were bad for me. I go to church. He looked at me a little strange, and in an appealing and soft voice he said, “Jesus can wait.” At that moment I knew it was time to leave. I thanked him for his offer.

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For those of you who may have had broken hearts, don’t blame him or her. Just remember that people come into your life for a specific purpose and once that purpose is fulfilled, there is no reason for them to stay around, at least that’s how God sees it. Feel free to disagree, but I am of the opinion that nothing happens by chance, and not all relationships are meant to be permanent. Here are two examples in my life that supports this conclusion.

I was very close to my father. The older I got the more I loved him.  He no longer viewed me as a nuisance, but now a competent, intelligent and capable adult whose mind challenged him to see things through different perspectives.  We would spend hours on the phone debating the issues of the day, discussing my life, and his redundant questions of “Why did you not pursue a business degree?” and “Are you sure you can support yourself living alone?” I always came back to the same answer, “Dad, I love what I do and I will be alright.”

Towards the end of 1996, Dad decided to relocate to Jamaica. He phoned me to discuss his financial matters and sort out his business issues here in the states. I hated to see him go, but now the shoe was on the other foot. He was going to be alone. So, being the “parent-daughter” I decided to tease him with questions about his singleness, and all those men-hungry women he would encounter, after all he was now a single 76-year old man living alone. It was only a matter of time before a floozy flashing her skirt tail would get his attention. So, it was my job to counsel him. He laughed and thought it was funny.

In May of 1996, I met a young man, Donald, a very handsome, debonair man. Read More…

My car runs on automatic pilot. It is programmed for work, church and the airport. So when the “check engine” light came on recently, it was a matter of concern because it hardly goes anywhere. With just under 84,000 miles it has been a well-behaved child for the past five years.

We first met in November of 2003, when my old faithful Saturn died. I was in the market for a new car and wanted to try a different automobile. A guy at work who has a “doctorate in car knowledge” convinced me that a Subaru Forester was the way to go. He had just purchased his after extensive research on the make and model. I was attracted to the car because it had a manual option (stick shift)- not an automatic; and only skilled drivers drive manual cars:) So, being a “skilled driver” I gravitated with keen interest to his “professorship.” I took the car for a test drive and loved it. I was sold!

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