Living Beyond the Television

Tonight slipped away before I even realized it.  As the afternoon wasted away, my roommate sat reading homework while I considered doing laundry or dishes.  We had discussed going to a restaurant or bar to watch the second half of the football game, Green Bay Packers vs Chicago Bears.  It's not that either of us is a huge football fan; but I'm from Wisconsin, she's from Illinois and this is only one of two games a season that we can agree to disagree.

Note: we need to go to a restaurant or bar to watch the game because we don't have television.  We have a television for DVDs, PS2 and such, but we don't get cable, dish, etc.

Then, it happens.  Up until this point we were following the game and score by checking online every so often, but this was to keep us in the loop before we got to watch some of it.  However my night was ripped away from me when the headline pops up on the computer screen about Taylor Swift winning her first moonman just to have Kanye West interupt to tell the world he thought Beyonce deserved the award.

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What to blog about...Web 2.0?

I am rarely consistent about my postings. Often when I do write, it is about how I don't write. I'd like to call it irony, but I think a more appropriate term is lazy.

So recently I've been pondering the wide array of topics I could write about. My blog does not have a theme, so there is no good reason for a lack of topics. I could address books I'm reading, recent movies I've seen, crazy or less intelligent people I interact with and so much more. Now, while I would like to address each of these entertaining topics, I want one that I can regularly turn to for an immediate blog post idea. Here is where Web 2.0 comes in.

I love the internet. I could spend all day on it. I read the news, browse Facebook and Twitter, track my calories, listen to music, and then go back to the news to start it all over again. I am spending most of my time interacting with what people call Web 2.0.

Now Wikipedia's article (linked to above) is a bit obscure as are most of the websites on Web 2.0. And, that's because it hasn't really been defined. That leaves you with my definition...in the past we used paper. There was an upgrade to computers with software. Internet connected us, but that was for surfing product sites, getting directions and stuff. Now, we've progressed to Web 2.0; we're not using software on our computers or paper notes. The websites themselves are interacting with us and serving as our tools for connectivity and communication. The desktop of the computer screen is no longer our "homepage," but the browser (what you're using to "browse" the web) is!

When I haven't finished a book or movie or run into some amusing characters on the street, I'm going to introduce you to another Web 2.0 tool I use and why. Perhaps it'll be something you've heard of or are using. But, there is always a chance I can introduce something new to you.

What tools do you use online that are most likely part of Web 2.0?