funny, i was just thinking about the whys and hows and ifs of friending or not friending today -- i've just joined myspace (for teh seoond time) b/c i wanted to be able to see the pics of a very good friend; i'll have no-one to talk to on myspace, and no interest in that kind of very very quick relationship involved in there. but still i just did it. somehow, i like the format of LJ, the way one can share her/his thoughts with whoever she/he wishes to, and the easiness in doing so. i remember friending a guy once b/c i really loved a comment he made on a community and found out 20 minutes later he was an obnoxiously disgusting racist c***; i promptly erased him of my friendlist and added a 'racist beware' on my profile. i understand being 'removed' of a flist can hurt. but then, internet relationship are very illusory, aren't they? although some can lead in very beautiful things.
The internet itself is this odd thing - it is very illusory - you kinda only ever see bits of people - and yet in some ways it can be loads more honest. I know I'm much better at expressing myself here in some ways than I am in person. Odd and tricksy.
Myspace is this complete mystery to me. I just don't understand how it even works. There seem to be about a million different little sections to every page, and I never know what I'm meant to click to do what. Most confusing...
I think actually you and I share a lot of the same views on this.
I never friend random people who have found me unless they a) either have a seriously interesting journal or b) have taken the time and trouble to introduce themselves as I ask people to on my info page (and have an interesting journal).
LJ is actually pretty important to me. I don't have many close friends in Japan, and it's an important thing to know there are people out there who I do like and value, and the fact that I'm not in the same physical location as them doesn't change that.
(p.s. haven't forgotten about your five questions - it's just proving harder than I thought at the mo because I'm in an I hate Japan mood at present :/)
No worries about the five questions. I am quite forgiving when it comes to memes :p
It must be said, I do sometimes really wish LJ had existed when I was in my teens and living in Nepal, but the internet in general just wasn't as accessible as it is now. It's weird how things have changed in ten years - when I was a nineteen year old in Nepal, most people didn't have personal e mail addresses. There were two internet cafes in Kathmandu, and the way they both worked is that you could use the e mail address belonging to the internet cafe to send an e mail. Any replies you got would be printed out, and next time you went in, you could search through this pile of print outs to see if there was anything for you.
I can only imagine how many internet cafes there are in the tourist area of Kathmandu now!
email in parts of Asiamangochutney04March 24 2007, 09:52:19 UTC
Interestingly though, when I was working in Singapore, I was doing some research on email use with a guy based in India (an Indian himself) and he said that in India, because literacy rates are lower, the internet cafe does still work like a village Post Office in the way that you describe, at least when it comes to the smaller villages. Older people in the villages can't read or write so well so they use a common point for email - which is written for them - and when they get a mail back it is read out to them. I found that fascinating.
In complete contrast to Singapore that is which is installing free wireless broadband all over the city in a bid to attract tourists and has a gazillion internet cafes.
Re: email in parts of AsiaannwfynMarch 24 2007, 10:21:04 UTC
So, it sounds like the small villages (which normally had a single communal telephone when I was out there) now work a bit like Kathmandu? I'd guess Kathmandu has more internet access - tis the capital, and used to be a massive tourist hub.
Singapore is, from what I've heard, very very different!
I get around that sort of worry by never checking the list of who has me 'friended' today. I write down what's in my head and if people want to read it, then hurrah. If they don't, then hey ho. I'm writing for me, not for other people.
Well, I liked it enough that I'm going to see it again at the imax.
On the other hand, I did get some very inappropriate giggling fits throughout. It was daft in places - the Spartans running into battle wearing only their leather speedos, the way Gerard Butler got more and more Glaswegian whenever he began to shout, the mysterious way that the bad guy somehow carried all those gold coins on him whilst wearing only a loin cloth and a blanket, the sheer craziness of some of the Persian orcs bad guys - but it was superbly, magnificently daft. I think in some ways I liked it as myth put on screen - it's not history, but then I think the Spartans would probably have preferred to be remembered as myth and legend anyway.
And I've gotta admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Doomed Last Stands (tm).
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i understand being 'removed' of a flist can hurt. but then, internet relationship are very illusory, aren't they? although some can lead in very beautiful things.
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Myspace is this complete mystery to me. I just don't understand how it even works. There seem to be about a million different little sections to every page, and I never know what I'm meant to click to do what. Most confusing...
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I never friend random people who have found me unless they a) either have a seriously interesting journal or b) have taken the time and trouble to introduce themselves as I ask people to on my info page (and have an interesting journal).
LJ is actually pretty important to me. I don't have many close friends in Japan, and it's an important thing to know there are people out there who I do like and value, and the fact that I'm not in the same physical location as them doesn't change that.
(p.s. haven't forgotten about your five questions - it's just proving harder than I thought at the mo because I'm in an I hate Japan mood at present :/)
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It must be said, I do sometimes really wish LJ had existed when I was in my teens and living in Nepal, but the internet in general just wasn't as accessible as it is now. It's weird how things have changed in ten years - when I was a nineteen year old in Nepal, most people didn't have personal e mail addresses. There were two internet cafes in Kathmandu, and the way they both worked is that you could use the e mail address belonging to the internet cafe to send an e mail. Any replies you got would be printed out, and next time you went in, you could search through this pile of print outs to see if there was anything for you.
I can only imagine how many internet cafes there are in the tourist area of Kathmandu now!
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In complete contrast to Singapore that is which is installing free wireless broadband all over the city in a bid to attract tourists and has a gazillion internet cafes.
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Singapore is, from what I've heard, very very different!
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No review of the 300? Or have I missed it? :)
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Have you seen it yet?
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On the other hand, I did get some very inappropriate giggling fits throughout. It was daft in places - the Spartans running into battle wearing only their leather speedos, the way Gerard Butler got more and more Glaswegian whenever he began to shout, the mysterious way that the bad guy somehow carried all those gold coins on him whilst wearing only a loin cloth and a blanket, the sheer craziness of some of the Persian orcs bad guys - but it was superbly, magnificently daft. I think in some ways I liked it as myth put on screen - it's not history, but then I think the Spartans would probably have preferred to be remembered as myth and legend anyway.
And I've gotta admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Doomed Last Stands (tm).
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