Friday, November 29, 2013

Weekend Reading: The Thankful for the Internet Edition

In honor of Thanksgiving, this week I have some links that show why I'm thankful for the internet. (Yes, I'm old enough to really remember the time before the internet- I first fired up a browser in graduate school!)

There is a kickstarter for a role-playing game based on the novels of Jane Austen. I am not sure it would be prudent for me to get involved in such a game, but I love that someone is trying to make it. The internet makes it possible.

I find more quirky and delightful cartoons thanks to the Internet. Here is one that made me laugh recently.

I love this typewriter bench. I would go visit if only the internet would tell me where the heck it is.

I have learned a lot from things I've read on the internet. And I've found a lot of things that really make me think. Here is a recent example, which I probably should have found a way to include in Wednesday's post.

I am thankful for all of the delightful things I find on the internet, serious or not so serious.

I found The Cyberflâneur blog via my Tungsten Hippo twitter feed. It is delightful.

I found Strange Maps via The Cyberflâneur, and it is also delightful.

I continue to love Stochastic Planet. Recent photos have been beautiful and interesting.

And of course, I am thankful for all of you who read this blog and talk to me on Twitter. Thank you for the funny comments, interesting conversation, and for making me feel at home in my little corner of the internet.

Are you thankful for the internet? Tell me why in the comments.

6 comments:

  1. In the spirit of this post, I'm thankful for your blog!
    No, seriously. I recently wrote an entry on my (private) journal on how much I love that the Internet and especially Twitter expose me to discussions on social issues that I (ever the engineer) would otherwise have never thought about. Your blog ranks up high on my list of favorite thought-provoking sources!

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  2. Oh, thank you for the kind words! I love both of your blogs/sites and definitely agree that we should be thankful for the internet and the many amazing things it brings our way plus the micro-communities it creates (despite the fact that there are some annoying aspects as well).

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  3. Ode to the internet:

    To the streaming Netflix
    And the Hulu Plus
    To the background noise
    So much film and music to pick

    But there's more to movies
    Like the dear old memes
    And the Kickstarter projects
    And pics of puppies

    I wouldn't have finished my PhD
    Without input from the wiki
    Or met my spouse
    Or bought my new house

    But most importantly
    It brings us together
    Through YouTube and Blogger
    So thank you, internet
    You make my mind purr

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  4. Very late I know, but catching up on reading your blog, and I had to reply to this one.

    I have lots of reasons I'm thankful for the internet, of course, but the biggest has to be that my daughter might be alive because of it. I had Cholestasis of Pregnancy (http://www.icpcare.org/), and without googling my symptoms I might not have thought much of the itchiness or told my doctor, I sort of googled it on a whim. Well, it probably would've gotten bad enough I would've asked, but I wouldn't have realized the most important things to tell my doctor about it, the things that meant it wasn't normal pregnancy itchiness (all over, no rash, worse on the hands and feet, worse at night).

    It's a rare enough problem that I think knowing exactly what to tell my doctors was important for them to consider and test for it. And if they hadn't put me on medication and induced, would she have been born healthy? Maybe, maybe not, there's no way of knowing.

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    Replies
    1. People make fun of "asking Dr.Google" but I think it can be very helpful- as your story indicates! I am glad it all turned out OK.

      And I love comments whenever they come!

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    2. Yes! I'm sure doctors get the sort who google a headache and then think they have cancer, but if you're a little more intelligent in your use of "Dr. Google," it CAN be very helpful! Cholestasis was the one and only thing that really fit my symptoms, and sure enough, that's what it was. Thank you!

      Oh, and I forgot to mention, my "Maybe, maybe not" comment was perhaps a little misleading -- when untreated, the risk of stillbirth is pretty high, as far as I can tell -- hard to find actual numbers, everything I can find just gives the risk (very low) when diagnosed and treated. But undiagnosed seems to be pretty high-risk. The bigger question is whether or not I would have gotten a correct diagnosis if I hadn't gone in armed with my info from the internet.

      When I wrote my comment I was getting it a little muddled with the risk when given medication but not induced -- the hospital somehow lost and didn't run the most important test for a week, and they won't induce without it, but will give medication. And all the sites agree that it's riskiest at the end of the pregnancy, generally they'll induce at 37 weeks. My induction was at 39, because I suspected and went in at around 37, they lost my test for a week, and then it took another week to get the results back from the second test. So I did a lot of thinking about the risk on medication after 37 weeks! Anywho.

      tldr: My pregnancy was horribly eventful (preterm contractions too, and an irritable uterus, ugh - http://www.irritable-uterus.com/ ), and I am VERY GRATEFUL for the internet. :D

      Oh, and about comments whenever they come -- that makes sense, so do I! Sometimes I forget that most sites aren't like Whatever was before Scalzi started just closing old threads, where commenting late often seemed a bit pointless. :)

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