I conclude my three-part series on things I love with a short list of things I love about the Internet:
- It’s a wellspring of information that you aren’t likely to find elsewhere (except when the mainstream media pick up on something that becomes huge, like those JibJab videos. Where else can one learn that Sept. 19 is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, or that yesterday was International Talk Like Bob Dylan Day? (Hat tip to Courtney for the Dylan thing. If you click on that link, I highly recommend you watch the mockumentary “No Direction, Period.”)
- Mashups. The Internet is the perfect vehicle for DIY video and audio bricalers to deliver their video and audio mashups (definition (YouTube video)) to a global audience. Whether it’s a video of a Tony Blair tribute to the Clash or the musical mixology of the Kleptones (samples), you can find all manner of creative mashup artistry on the web, if you know where to look.
- Memes. Those little virtual parlor games that propagate like kudzu all over the ‘net. They range from the five bloggers who make me think-style pass-alongs to the ubiquitous “which ______ are you” quizzes (about which more later).
- Online quizzes. I love me some online quizzes. Through these quizzes, I know that if I were in Star Wars, I would be Boba Fett (“Because of your dark past you don’t say much, and you don’t have many close friends, but man do you look cool!”), and that of the ensemble of The Office characters, I am most like receptionist Pam Beezly. If I were a theologian, I’d be Calvin, and if I were a Calvin and Hobbes character, I’d be Hobbes. The path to self-enlightenment is as close as AllTheTests.com.
- Blogging. I love blogging. Isn’t it obvious?
Andrew Careaga 