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Regardless of what type of machine you are using to read this article (assuming it's not some new-fangled toaster), you are certain to see a barrage of error messages. Then again, I suppose that depends a bit on exactly what you're doing on your computer. Sometimes, the messages make perfect sense: "Do you want to continue?" Other times, it's tough to tell whether or not there's an error in the error message.
This morning, I was having issues accessing certain news sites that I always visit, including the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal and the Baltimore Sun. Of course, I figured it could be a million different things, from an Internet connection problem to an ad-serving issue to the hamsters not spinning their wheels fast enough to power the internets.
I recently added six months' worth of columns from my first job out of college, at the Crawfordsville (Ind.) Journal Review. The articles appeared both in print and online, and while some of them are obviously outdated, it's interesting to remember what was going on 10 years ago. Wow, I've been writing web articles for a decade! I don't think there are too many others who can say that. Google recently celebrated its 10th birthday, and the oldest index the company has available is from 2001.
The last day to register to vote in Maryland is next Tuesday, October 14th.
Are you registered? Are your friends and family?
We're down to the home stretch in the 2008 American presidential nomination. As usual, the television ads are full of interesting tidbits, many not even true, about the candidates. It hasn't always been this way. In fact, in the recent past, nominees actually created ads for reasons other than seducing the United States into a trance to vote for them.
Haha, just kidding. I mean, would this great country all a politician to just speak the truth and lay out the facts?
Boy it's hot outside. That's why I'm inside now. People keep talking about beating the heat. You've got to be kidding. You couldn't even beat the heat with a large frying pan. To avoid one silly cliché, I've decided to live by another — if you can't beat it, join it. Here's a short list of things to do to join the heat:
Start a fire — You can burn a lot faster, and burn a lot more for that matter. The folks at Woodstock 99 decided to light a few bonfires, loot shops and get really, really angry. Unfortunately, Willie Nelson escaped with few burns.
Update (09/28/08): The links in this original column no longer work. I suppose that just goes to show how fast stuff becomes obsolete online!
Everyone likes pictures: taking pictures, posing for pictures, ripping up pictures of exes.
Now that I said that, you're probably thinking you're one of those people who cannot stand getting your picture taken.
The deadline has past, but Internet radio is still on. Maybe it will stay that way for a little while longer.
Negotiations are still rolling since SoundExchange, which is the overseer of recording industry royalty fees, agreed to continue searching for new rates. The biggest issue, it seems, is coming to a suitable compromise between large and small webcasters. It appears that some of the major players, like Time Warner and Yahoo! will have to pay the royalties, just like everyone else.
Is civilization, as we know it today, invincible? Considering human existence since the beginning, it's a tough call to say how long we'll survive. On the other hand, it is feasible to review past societies to compare and contrast them to today's world.
To classify Jared Diamond's latest work, "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed," as just a book about the changing environment would be short-sighted. Diamond's focus is planet destruction, which ranges from damage to land and damage to life in general.
I've finally launched the new BenWoods.com. Yes, it looks a lot like the old one. I upgraded to Drupal 8 (from Drupal 7). I managed to go all of 2019 without writing anything on this site. I hope to write a little more, especially as I launch a new book in the upcoming months. Thanks for reading!