DATE: 31/10/2009
TITLE: LOST SOUL

ABSTRACT
--------

Once upon a time a long way away the internet was interesting in a nerdy kind of way, but
those days have long gone and commercialism has blackened the heart of the medium. So many
sites I have forgotten and so many names have washed away and grown old much like myself. 
Now the greybeards are lost and liveing in the corners of the internet like moles in the 
dark underground tunnels never seen and never seeing for never caring so never evolving. 

Custodians of Diversity
-----------------------

The sameness of facebook  and myspace , I must tm those names of course nowadays the mere mention
breaks copyright law and attracts lawyers to the scent of compensation, and all the other 
descendadents of the BBS blanket the world in a beige canopy blocking the view of the 
people to the wonderful diversity of the internet. Deprecated is the word that is uttered
when the venerables are trotted out for reminiscence or toted for usage even by some more
thoughtful users. But millions are made by offering webalized versions of old inventions
without compensation for the original thinkers in the name of advancement, however these
forums are mere advertisement boards as ad revenue is the driving force of the commercial
internet.

Behemoth, think Google, once the hacker and now the monster dictator even warring against 
that other tyrant, once hacker Microsoft. Perhaps this is the way of things. Trust for the 
Open Source crowd then? Why when all others who reached success before them dissembled
into their true form at the altar of greed? Who can you say is the true spirit of the 
internet?

Those who tend the eternal flame? Those who worship at the forum, those acolytes? Those
who liver forever in it's comforting shell or those who seek knowledge from the global
community? Those whose aims are true and fair in the pursuit of purity in form, those
who are obsessed with perfection, truth and beauty? The poets who express the true
medium, the expression on the electrons and quanta? The joe soaps and jane does who
inhabit the hideaways and log cabins of the internet furtively cataloging the conversations
and rants. Hackers, crackers, flamers, noobs and users. The 3L33T, uber-hackers, the 
text writers and guide writers.  All commercialised and all gone to soulless grey. 

Autumn
______

Outside the wind blows leaves from hte trees into hidey holes under bushes where they 
join brown brethern and wrinkle and crinkle up in the dessicating cold. A few greens
remain on the branches but suffer lonely up on high while their forebears decay together
in death as in life. 

And the tree, the structure that succoured them and nutured their dreams and kept them safe
has closed her eyes and has welcomed sleep away from the brutal winter ahead. The wind roars 
and rages about her but she even now is nurturing the next generation, the children of the
future. After the cold war they spread their wings, the children of tomorrow play in their
dreams and yesterdays' children shed their tears for this moment is the moment they shed
their wings and go back to dreams.

Forgotten Sites
---------------

Once, when I was a budding programmer learning my trade on the internet I came up against 
the initial high cost of entry for using certain tools from a certain behemoth. having 
searched and searched i eventually came across a site releasing commercial compilers
from varios companies. The site was run by a pseudonym Joe who operated using a mailing
list. I downloaded tons of stuff and moved with the site as it was taken down at 
various stages and resurrected. He or indeed she was attemting to vreate so some
of warez community when i look back at it. I admit I was a leech rather than a contributor
but it did teach me something: that there are people willing to steal and manipulate
illegal communities ir at least communities of illegal activities for no gain whatsoever.

That's what I thought, but once again loloking back it's probable that he was attempting
to create an army of zombiees...