Wishport Mirror

Something profound hit me when I opened up today’s edition of the Wishport Mirror, our backwards little hometown newspaper. I don’t subscribe to it. Why would I when I can get all the news I need online? But there happened to be a copy of it on the table when I sat down with my weekly double shot of espresso at Angel’s Cafe. I like having a hardcopy of the newspaper to read but not enough to pay for it.

I guess I should blame myself and others like me for the sorry state of the newspaper. It’s what they get for going online. But they didn’t really have a choice, either. If every other news source was online, how could they afford not to be? It’s like they’re leading themselves off a cliff…or it’s a black hole sucking them in and they have no choice but to go. I wonder how many businesses and lives have been destroyed or massively changed in a bad way by the Internet.

Anyway, what I noticed in that day’s paper is that very few of the articles were written by Mirror staff. Most were written by either one of the massive news syndicates or from another paper owned by the corporation that owns the Mirror. Only a handful of articles were written by Mirror staff and they were local-interest pieces like, “New Bar to Open Downtown”. Yea! We’re getting another bar! Break out the extra edition!

As I sipped my espresso with the perfect crema I thought about how such a cutthroat competitive environment might yield a better core of writers. Like, you’d think the people that didn’t get fired would be really good writers. Not so. Granted, a couple of them seem to know how to turn a phrase but the rest are lucky hacks that must know somebody important locally or work real cheap or both. The nationally syndicated articles are pretty decent, if for no other reason than that they’re concise and to the point with little to no fluff. I’m all for that when it comes to my news. I don’t care what the writer thinks, and don’t even get me started on the editorializing by TV news anchors or the choices in general of television news executives.

You’d think a small town like Wishport would be off the radar of national news corporations but it’s not. The local paper was snapped up around 20 years ago and has oh-so-slowly declined since.

At least there’s the Internet.

Trapped in a Money Net Made of Clouds

Wishport may seem otherworldly at times, but when you’re trying to live there without any money it’s as worldly as downtown NYC.

I still have all my things, at least; not the least of which is my trusty laptop. Due to not having any money, they could take my shelter, they could take my car, they could shut off my phone, they could kick me out of school; but they can’t take away my computer. I own it. Ha!

Something dawned upon my money-minded brain as my computer booted up this cold, windy morning. Suddenly I felt enmeshed in a net made of clouds and I saw all this money being sucked out of me, something else that could be taken away from me. I could lose my Internet access!

Without the Internet, I’d still have my computer but some of its capabilities would be useless. Those capabilities are the primary things I use my computer for. I wouldn’t be able to email, browse the Web, or blog. I’d lose touch with my precious Web-based calendar!

Granted, I don’t use my online calendar to totally schedule my life but it does help me keep track of things. My computer came with calendar/personal organizer software, but I don’t use it. I’m not sure why. It might be superior to the online calendar I use. I’m going to find out.

One thing my client-based calendar software has over an online version is that I DON’T HAVE TO PAY TO USE IT! I already bought it. It’s on my computer. I have the back-up disc. If all my utilities are cut off and I’m kicked out into the street, at least I’ll still be able to keep track of my appointments!

Broke-ness has granted me this realization: cloud computing is a means by which millions of people can be enmeshed and practically forced to give up a portion of their wages every month. It creates an endless, ever-expanding money stream. It can seems like money just somehow disappears into nothingness. Like, what happened to all our money? Well, that nothingness (the Nothing) looks like the Cloud to me.

It’s not enough that we buy a computer. Who gets a computer without subscribing to Internet access, too? Web-based applications are a way to further entangle you in the Net’s money-grabbing amoebic nebulous Capitalist Cloud.

Like the clouds that almost ceasingly congregate over hapless Wishport and suck the life out of its inhabitants, the Cloud is covering the Internet and sucking the money out of our wallets and bank accounts.

I’m going to go mess with my computer’s calendar software now.