Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

The Offline Internet

created by FroshKiller Jones

(idea) by FroshKiller Jones (4.6 y) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 1 C! Wed Apr 25 2001 at 6:24:17

I remember being addicted to the local middle school's bulletin board system in eighth grade. I would stare at the COMit screen while I downloaded the coolest new DOOM levels. My best friend and I had horrible 14.4Kbps modems, so I would often store the levels on 1.44MB floppy disks and take them directly to his house. We didn't know then that what we were doing was called a sneakernet, but we could certainly appreciate its convenience. Recent rememberance of those days has inspired this idea.

I went to the local OfficeMax a few weeks ago to purchase a box of floppies. Knowing that I'd never use all 50 disks due to my vast hard drive space, I considered starting a sort of chain letter by leaving disks in random locations around town, such as gas station bathrooms and the library. On the disk I could place my personal philosophies and perhaps some innocuous bit of contact information, as well as instructions to pass on the disk after enjoying its contents and urging its discoverer to duplicate my experiment. I dreamt of my idea catching on and spreading across the country (until the usual crushing realization sank in). I have nonetheless gone forward with this plan and encourage you, the reader, to help me develop this idea. What follows are some things that must be established for this to succeed:

1. An abstract code of honor that will prevent intentionally malicious activity such as virus propagation and that can be easily understood and upheld by the common man.

2. An established standard for sharing information on these disks, such as a limit on the size of included graphics, textual document format, etc.

3. Some method of getting the public over its collective fear of the unknown.

Please help me flesh this idea out.


printable version
chaos

sneakernet I can't have an original idea anymore There should be laws requiring electric cars to make the Jetsons flying car noise The computer is not a medium
T.A.Z.: Poetic Terrorism Ack! Do not cook this! I am just noding this in a state of shock! Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of quarter-inch tapes Hypertext Theory
node offline It's too bad that Everything has 5205700 errors Why is "Being There" Considered Better? How to tell when a journalist has no idea what they're talking about
Warning signs that your child may be a Goth BBS Internet GTKYN
The Stile Project Cool Man Eddie old school Bulletin Board System
Philosophy information chain letter Fear of the Unknown
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Cool Staff Picks
Nodes your grandpa would have liked:
Essay on Silence
William Goldman
emits showers of sparks
Alexander the Great and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good Very Bad Day
The Healing Place
If someone wants to do something and it isn't hurting you... DON'T BE A FUCKING DICK
Josie and the Pussycats
Nuclear Weapons Do Not Function Without Yellow Tape
Franklin
hops
St Paul's Cathedral
September 6, 2006
Dave's Insanity Sauce
New Writeups
Heitah
Anarchy is Order(idea)
jessicaj
July 26, 2008(dream)
Berek
ABBA(person)
devolution
k-hole(place)
Nadine_2
The Sound Of Madness(review)
Twin Eclipse
Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue(idea)
SwimmingMonkey
Conversations with Fo Fo- the Loneliest dog in Purgatory(fiction)
locke baron
lynx(thing)
Simulacron3
Reality, Dimensions and the Natural Ontology(essay)
SubSane
Making Love to a 9-Foot Woman(person)
Ouzo
Thoughts(idea)
antigravpussy
I fall silent, listening. The breadcrumbs are talking about us(person)
calgon
Buffalo Bill by the pool(poetry)
gate
Anarchy is Order(idea)
ushdfgakjasgh
Scribeling(thing)
Everything 2 is brought to you by the letter C and The Everything Development Company