A new friend from Japan recently asked what was most important to us about the Internet or the Web. She thought it might be finding what is newest fast. As I have continued writing and sharing on Google Plus through my comments and posts, my mind has changed about what is most important for me. It used to be finding the new and knowing about it fast, but that has changed dramatically as I've built a community of friends.
For me, it is just as
important, perhaps more important, to find a community of friends who I am able
to grow intellectually and ethically with rather than to find the newest.
I did share the best article I could find yesterday on that big 55 feet in
diameter meteorite which exploded over Southern Siberia. That was new,
but it was of twelve of the best videos out there along with some very good
commentary and news. It came from an unusual news source, PC Magazine,
but it was a lot of work by the staff there and many people appreciated my
sharing. Often, we share interests in science, current events, history,
and man and womens' search for meaning. We find our voice together and
think about how we can make this world and our places in it a better
place.
My emphasis these days is on citizen science projects and
distributed computing. I search for a way to be engaged and
participate. I've been making some posts recently about citizen science
projects here. One very good site is OpenScientist.org Here is a
post that I found particularly useful. http://www.openscientist.org/p/distributed-computing-project-open-for.html
Personally I am very engaged in Seti@Home and in several disease fighting
distributed computing projects and turn my powerful computers and their unused
CPU and dedicated graphics processors loose to find new cures and new medications
as well as find new molecules that may take advantage of molecular weaknesses
in disease bacteria, viruses, and dna/reproduction. It is
very rewarding although being dedicated has a cost in additional
electricity. Right now those big powerful Intel i7 cpu's and Nvidia GTX
550 Ti graphics cards consume about $60 or so per month of extra
electricity. I can afford it and it is well worth it because I have
learned a tremendous amount on how to use my computers more effectively and
solve sticky issues with conflicts between my OS Windows 7 and some of
Nvidia's software upgrades.
I think to sum it up, I try to learn
effectively; make sense of my place in the world, and try to share what I have
learned. I use it most as a learning, discovery, and sharing
tool. That's what my very best friends on Google Plus as well as on the Internet, and elsewhere do too. What do you think?
You can find additional posts and comments by me at my Google Plus Blog. The url is:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108713721375842222592/posts
Posts
