The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Did you ever keep a diary as a kid? In our time and space, childhood seems to be the most popular time to do this. In the past, it was common for adults to keep diaries of their lives, which were often kept secret and only published after death. Our culture, obsessed with reality TV and tell all shows such as Jerry Springer is using the Internet to roll the opposite direction even with our diaries. Weblogs, or blogs as they are commonly called, are fast becoming mainstream and many people have at least one or two on their "must-surf" list. A blog is just that, a website that someone, or a group of someones, sets up and keeps as a diary space where they dump their thoughts, concerns, photos, and web links for the world to see. Many blogs are personal and capture the mundane details of daily life. Many are terrible, containing the worst writing you could ever hope to run upon in a public space. But some blogs are diamonds, a look at life through the eyes of another person, living in a space different from your own, often in a different culture or with different concerns. They can be fascinating. Blogs can be found on almost anything. Search Google for a specific topic and you will probably find a weblog. Interested in daily life in India? Iran? Southern California? It's there. The lives of almost anyone can be found online. Accountants, famous musicians, actors, and politicians all write weblogs. Controversy struck several weeks ago with the "discovery" of a weblog written by a woman calling herself Belle du Jour who writes about her daily life as a prostitute. Avril Lavigne, Dave Barry, Moby, Beck, Kylie Monogue, Anna Kournikova, Jeff Bridges, Melanie Griffiths, and William Shatner are a few of the most famous bloggers, but many others can be found. Blogs are also the best space to keep current with advancements, rumours, and new developments in any area. Community blogs like slashdot.org, boingboing.net, and plasticbag.org all report every single new development and rumour circulating the technology world. Many things posted are rumour, but if you want to stay current, there is not better place to begin for news than a weblog. Just as ham radio used to be a way for people to have an glimpse into the world of an unknown culture, weblogs let us into far-away lands. A perfect example is the blog of Salam Pax. This blog rose to quick fame in the weeks before and after the American invasion of Iraq last year. Salam Pax was a young man who began writing about life in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. He lived in Baghdad and wrote about the preparations the city was making for the invasion, how the people were feeling, and what it was like to live in this ancient city at this point in its history. Even as the bombs fell and troops rolled into the city, Salam Pax continued to post entries for the world to read. Rumour has it that weblogs are becoming so popular that several sports teams are considering adding blogging to their players' contracts as a way to keep people hooked up and tied into the team, sort of as a new marketing tool. If you are interested in seeing what its like to live in someone else's shoes, Google the "bloggies." These are the annual awards honouring the best of many different types of weblogs. An easy place to start for some interesting reading.
