This is not a political diary. It's not an important diary. It will, in the course of human evolution, have nary an effect on the future of the universe.
This diary is "My list of things that are Incredibly Cool about the net".
So if you're looking for argument or intellectual heavy lifting.. probably not. If however youd like to show your fellow kossacks the incredible awesomeness that are your favorite places/things/beings on the net/about the net do it here.
#1: (not dailykos) Lolcats!
I actually dont like cats, though to be fair my dogs do. With mustard. But no matter how bad your day a Lolcat can make it better. I credit Lolcats with the survival of true leftists through the Bush admin.
#2.(not dailykos) MAKE magazine
It was Make the rekindled my electronics hobby again. Make will teach you to do everything from be greener to turning a microcontroller into a cool pov display for your car/bike wheels to making gunpowder for fun and amusement. Added to that they highly encourage experimenting with incredibly dangerous chemicals and contraptions that make the DOD shiver.
#3.(dailykos!) Dailykos. Duh. DK imho has literally led the charge to bring the democratic party and more importantly the left from the verge of extingtion at the hands of the uberrich. Thanks markos and company.
#4. Instant Messaging. I was around when the pc was first introduced. Back then only the upper middles had them or went to schools with them. My first computer was an atari 400 and BOY did we not see "computers as the ultimate communication tool" coming. See we had grand plans for Super-ai's solving all the problems of medicine, engineering, science. And of course their most important purpose.. games. My pageflipping ad&d character roller was going to revolutionise the WORLD i tell ya!
#5. Friends. Noone could have predicted it surely. But on the net you make friends on an intellectual level it doesnt seem possible too in real life. I have friends of fifteen years on my IMs'. Would any of us have thoguht we could have a friend in Nigeria, one in Canada and one in Australia we talked to several times a day? The world is infinitely smaller now .. and that is a wonderful thing.
#6: EBAY! Online shopping of all sorts! My most recent purchase was an oscilloscope for the grand total of: $25 ..and $30 in shipping. Twenty years ago a hobbyist simply didnt have one if he didnt have $1000 or more in his pocket for a very dusty very ancinet one... or a heathkit catalog. You just couldnt buy a book of wiccan spells, erection pills , a bible and a booby ball at the same place back in the day. And a $1 laser printer (plus 40 shipping)? Fugeddabout it!
So what are your favorite places. Our hangouts tell something about ourselves. And of course... that means our real hangouts.. not the places (Dailykos and websitecontainingonlyimportanthumanitarianandscientificinfo.com) we like to pretend to ourselves are our real coolest places/things/stuff on/about the net.