Our relatives in Detroit called to tell us that their power was out but they were fine; we thought this was kind of weird until we were told by another caller that there were power outages across the Northeast. I'd seen online that NY was having some problems but hadn't been back to Instapundit since people needed to use the phone (darn dialup).
Anyway I went back to Instapundit and via him to news sites and the Command Post. I had the basic gist of the story with option to go deeper into any aspect (like terrorism fears, how it happened, estimated restoration time, etc.) within a minute (would have been seconds if, again, I didn't have dialup...). Meanwhile Grandma and Mom are watching the talking heads yammer on.
Behold the power of the Internet. It's truly revolutionary. And amazing how much more I know about issues and current events from reading blogs than I did when I read the paper every day. (I only read the editorial and local sections and the cartoons now, the rest I've already heard and just pisses me off since they leave out important information).
Problem is, 98% of the electorate get their minds shaped by the conventional media. That's a scary thought.
Posted by Tim at August 14, 2003 06:46 PM | TrackBackMe and the wife tried to find out what was happening from the TV news. You're right, I'd have been better off looking online. The Fox news report was the worst - they just kept repeating the same basic assumptions over and over without really telling us anything, and all the while they kept scrolling other stories across the bottom of the screen concerning fresh Al Queda allegations and threats of 'imminent attack'. Are they trying to worry us or what?
Jim. Toledo, OH
Posted by: Jim at August 14, 2003 07:08 PMGlad you've got power, Tim--the maps they were putting on TV made it look like all of MI except the UP was blacked out...
Posted by: Susie at August 15, 2003 12:06 AMWow and I didn't even see the pun in my title "Power of the Internet...". I was just thinking about beholding the power of cheese.
Mmm, cheese. Especially the spicy kind. You butter two pieces of white bread, put cheese on 'em and stick them in the toaster oven (butter-down, cheese up). Then you put the pieces together for double-layered cheesy goodness. Your sides are a nice golden brown, unburnt because of the butter's melting but the butter has all melted and you're left with a grilled cheese sandwich better than the resturant's. And I made up the recipe myself. mm. i'm going to bed now but if i had time....
(u can tell i'm tired because i start writing in all lower case, as if i were iming. also the apostrophe use drops off significantly.
Posted by: Tim the Michigander at August 15, 2003 12:52 AM