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How has the internet changed the world?

I was thinking about what I wrote here, and how message boards have become a major source of entertainment and companionship for people.

And then I read a statistic that in 1 out of 8 marriages, the couple met online.

It got me to thinking about how amazingly different life is in 2010, compared to pre-internet days. Could anyone have every imagined all this? Certainly, I doubt anyone could have imagined all the effects it would have.

Just for me, the internet pretty much made it possible for me to hold down my last job for quite a long time. I literally had no coworkers, so boards like the Straight Dope and Mellophant gave me someone to talk to around the watercooler, in a manner of speaking.

Facebook has kept me in touch with friends who otherwise I probably wouldn't hear from much. On the other hand, I think it killed my 25th high school reunion. There was a very bad turnout, and it makes sense when you think about it...anyone who cares about seeing people from HS is already in touch with them on FB.

The news stories of 2010?

This was the year that was. A few remainders of what has happened in 2010

January: A magnitude 7 earthquake hit Haiti resulting in devastation.

February: Winter Olympics held in Vancouver

March: Healthcare reform passed in America

April:
The Deepwater OilRig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico
Eyjafjallajokull erupted in Iceland bringing air traffic in Europe to a halt.

May: Greece gets a €110 billion bailout package

June: The World cup kicks off in South Africa

July: Blizzard backed down over its attempts to get all World of Warcraft players to use their real names

Do you wear a watch? How old are you?

They say that the under-30/GenY/Millennium crowd isn't wearing watches anymore, due to their ubiquitous use of cell phones, and I have noted this phenomenon among my friends. The thing is, I carry my cell phone all the time too, but cannot get used to checking it for the time...seems a lot more difficult than just glancing at my wrist. Don't think I'll ever give up wearing a watch. So I was just curious if anyone here has done so, and if so, how old you are.

Zsa Zsa Gabor to have leg amputated

Story here.

She's 93 years old and has cancerous lesions on her leg, with gangrene imminent. She's also been "pretty much confined" to a wheelchair since 2002. She hadn't wanted to undergo the surgery and I can sympathize. It has to be devastating to lose a leg and it might not add any length to her life. A surgery like that on someone so frail could in fact shorten it.

The mystery of the falling birds

For those who missed it, up to 5,000 red-winged blackbirds and starlings fell from the sky just before midnight on New Year's Eve in a one-mile area over Beebe, Arkansas.

Arkansas game officials probe mystery of falling birds

Unfortunately, it doesn't turn out to be as "mysterious" as the news are trying to make it sound. That area of Arkansas has much more violent weather than the rest of the region and blackbirds are known to fly in giant flocks. If a flock was startled by fireworks and took flight, it's not a huge leap to say they may have run into some weather and part of the flock was injured and fell to earth.

But then again, maybe I'm just a tool of the conspiracy...

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