The Last Post

Hello all my faithful readers,

This shall be my last post.

I am currently reading Ben Elton's new novel Blind Faith . It has convinced me that the Library 2.0 Program is an evil and pernicious attempt to secretly bound me to the internet in ways such that will be become impossible to extricate myself from it in the future. It should not surprise us that there is a saying "Oh what wicked webs we weave...".

I am now suspicious of a program that continually requires me to create more and more user accounts....how much more information about me does the world need! And as the accounts profliferate and the data entry increased expotentially how hard will it be for me to find all that data if I choose, as is my democratic and human right to remove it from others' eye's?

Thus dear readers, someone must stand up, in real space (my doctor tells me I need more exercise) and not in cyber space and say "Enough!" If you want to know about me or even better to know me then drop into the library and say hi. I am more than just the some of my html!

This blog will be removed in one weeks time.

In the meantime I leave you with these wise words from Ben:

"'Almost anything that we might wish to read could be located on the net instantly and traced straight back to us. The internet was supposed to liberate knowledge but in fact it buried it, first under a vast sewer of ignorance, laziness, bigotry, superstition and filth and then beneath the cloak of police surveillance. Now, as you know, cyberspace exists exclusively to promote commerce, gossip and pornography. And, of course to hunt down sedition. Only paper is safe. Books are the key. A book cannot be accessed from afar, you have to hold it, you have to read it.'" Blind Faith p.p163-164

With Gratitude
Martin

Just because it is doesn't mean we should

I appreciate the way the internet is a vibrant and generous mode of disseminating information. But... If we are swamped with images like this then how do we ever get to see the great art (however you want to define it). We still need to make choices and though I may want to choose to cover my gallery walls with an image of a vegemite jar, I still need to be able to discern whether it is worth my time, effort and money to do so. Just photographing an everyday item doesn't make it worth doing it, there has to be more than just the desire to document something's existence. As carriers of the memories of out lives and of others we need to be aware of the redundancy that can overtake our activity and so impair our capacity to remember the significant moments in our lives.

Original image found at http://l.yimg.com/www.flickr.com/images/spaceball.gif

My First Post

Writing a blog can be a daunting experience but it can be an exciting way of bringing people together. Here I want readers in Armidale to discover the joys of reading and the share their experiences.

Here I will post some of my favorite books and what it was about them that made me want to read them. Sometimes I will talk about what I didn't like to read as well. Not everything written is to everyone's taste and that's ok!

There are many sites on the web which can help you choose book to read. Somtimes its good to start with what you know, an author you like and see who else writes like them. This means that you can stay in your comfort zone but still have a bit of an adventure.

Just type "Who writes like?' in your search engine and see what appears.

here's one I found hosted bya library in Victoria:

http://www.erl.vic.gov.au/readers/who.htm

Try and see how it works for you!