# Sabbatical Over

I'm not sure if anyone actually reads my phlog posts, or cares, but
sometimes I think it's just good to put in writing the things that
are whirring around in my mind, if for no other reason than to 
clarify my own thoughts.

The end of last year was a bit of a rough time for me and I withdrew
from everything, including being online and doing anything computer
related, other than checking my email and RSS feeds maybe once a day. 
Maybe that's just what people should be doing rather than using 
computers in a non-deliberate and permanently connected way, as a 
distraction or for entertainment. Is there a difference?


## Permacomputing

I've been reading quite a bit on the subject of permacomputing the
last few days and have read a number of articles by Solderpunk[1], 
Viznut[2] and others. Orphans of Netscape[3] really resonated with me 
as I am one of those orphans. 

It's strange how there is a growing feeling among people that there 
is an inevitable shift coming in the availability of electronics and 
computing that we currently take for granted. No one is really sure
what that landscape will look like, but there is a tangible 
nervousness with people trying to predict and prepare for what is to
come.  Whatever it is, the change will be far wider reaching than 
just our personal computing abilities and maybe computers as we use 
them today will cease to even matter...


[1](gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/1/~solderpunk)
[2](http://viznut.fi/texts-en/)
[3](gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/0/%7esolderpunk/phlog/orphans-of-netscape.txt)