Growing up Alongside the Internet Part 2

When I got to college, the internet was in full swing. I was amazed when I first sat down in the computer lab and was introduced to broadband internet browsing. I was amazed to not have to wait 30 seconds to a minute to load a basic webpage. All my classes had some form of email or web based resources needed for them. By that time you had to pass basic computer literacy classes just to make it through school. Nothing was turned in unless typed and printed on Microsoft Word. Florida State University had campus-wide wireless internet. I spent hours in the middle of a beautiful field out under the blue sky surfing the internet while I studied.

I spent a scholarship check on a very good laptop when I moved on campus. This is when I really started enjoying technology. I became less afraid of technology and began embracing it. I had a desire to learn and changed my minor to IT. My IT classes became my favorite classes in school. I worked night staff security in the dorms, staying up all night and sleeping all day. Chatrooms, online video games, blogs, and social networking sites became the substitute for my social life.

When I left college I immediately got a job where I used technology every single day to manage the distribution of over 2 million hunting and fishing regulations for the State of Florida. After that I got a job as a site administrator for a blog site. My very livelihood and sustenance hinges on the technology that grew up along with me. We are like brothers, who didn't get along well at first but learned to be best friends.

Growing up Alongside the Internet Part 1

I grew up alongside technology. When I was born, personal computers were just starting to appear. As I started my education, some of the first affordable computers started being used. In my third grade classroom, my teacher had the wondrous and groundbreaking technology of the early internet. He would browse lists of text using text based commands, then start a download of a picture. After leaving it on all day long, we would end up with a very low quality photo which was probably about 50kb in size. We were all amazed.

As I went on through middle school, Windows started to become more and more prevalent. I finally got my dream computer with Windows 95 running towards the end of middle school. At that time the internet was up and running, but still very young. It was full of spam, and you couldn't search anything safely without wading through piles of garbage. Once you gave anyone your email, you might as well give up on the account because it would soon be full of spam. Hackers were rampant and viruses were devastating. Computers were glitchy and extremely difficult to manage. I started out thinking I must be terrible with computers, until I realized it was the computers that had the problems.

By the time I got to high school, the web was much more manageable. Most schools and libraries had a computer lab and you could accomplish much more online. The internet was still VERY slow, but it worked. I actually took a computer programming class in late high school and learned to make better use of the technology at my disposal.

To be continued...

A Free Bike

Last weekend I was headed out the door to take my best friend to Olive Garden for dinner. On the way out, my neighbor caught me and asked if I could take a look at her computer. It was a brand new computer and the keyboard wasn't working. I figured out pretty quickly that one of the pins had been bent and was now crushed at the bottom of the plug. I grabbed my pliers and bent the pin back in and got the keyboard working. My neighbor was so happy about it she offered to let me use her bike since she recently got a new one. I was thrilled. I used to love riding my bike all the time and it's so much nicer riding around the neighborhood than it is in the gym. I'm going to have a lot of fun with it. It really pays to extend acts of kindness to strangers. Sometimes you even get repaid with things.

Wireless Mouse

I have a wireless mouse that I absolutely love. I used to have a very good one that I was used to but one of my friends dropped it and the thing died on me. It was originally a $50 mouse before the discounts I got a year or two ago.

So I went to get a new mouse. I ended up finding a new wireless Logitech mouse that was the updated model of my old one. The only real difference is it's more sensitive, more comfortable, much better looking, takes half the batteries, and is half the price. It also fits perfectly with the look of my laptop. So now I'm glad my friend dropped my mouse.

Like a Kid on Christmas

I'm now 24 years old. I hold a regular 9-5 job where I handle very big responsibilities. I have my own house and I pay my own bills. Yet I still feel like a kid on Christmas as I install my new Spore game. As funny as it sounds I'm really excited. I've been waiting for this game since I learned about its development two or three years ago. I always wanted a game like this and now it's finally in my CD drive on its way to completing an install. I guess I should go get breakfast before it hits noon.

Spore

Spore finally came out today. While I'm installing it, I'm writing about it to curb my excitement. It's probably the most complex and innovative computer game to date. It allows you to take a single-celled organism and slowly evolve it into more and more complex forms. When you have a fully evolved intelligent organism, you get to create a tribal society. When your civilization grows even more, you can take over the whole planet and build massive cities and technologies. When that's done, you can launch into space and conquer the universe. It's so immersive and huge. I hope I don't get too addicted.