Adam On…

Why I love the Internet, Reason #2:

You Never Know What You Will Find

The ability to follow your train of thought on the Internet is amazing. I can, and often do, jump from topic to topic to topic as different web sites trigger different memories. During these journeys, I often run across some amazing stuff that without the Internet I would never have found. I had one of these journeys as recently as last night.

For some odd reason I started thinking about Dungeons and Dragons and wanted to find some fan fiction I remember reading years and years ago. Yep, you read that right. I played D&D, I have read fan fiction, and I did indeed spend my Friday night alone, searching for D&D fan fiction online. Hello, my name is Adam and I am a geek.

Anyway this D&D fan fiction quest lead to me trying to remember the names of the different AD&D realms I used to play (Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms and Dark Sun for anyone interested). Remembering the different realms had me looking up all of the fantasy authors I used to love reading such as Weis and Hickman (I was a super fanboy not only the Dragonlance chronicles but also the Rose of the Prophet, Darksword and Death Gate Cycle series)  as well as Ed Greenwood. 

Then I came across “What It’s Like to Play D&D“ by Roger M. Wilcox and I was again reminded of why I loved the Internet. This essay is quite funny and I urge anyone who still plays or used to play some D&D go read it.

The ability to go from looking up information on Forgotten Realm fan fiction, to reminiscing about some great book I’ve read, to discovering a humorous essay on D&D in an easy, smooth manner is another reason that I love the Internet.

Why I love the Internet, Reason #1:

User Generated Content

That’s right, I did say user generated content. Sure there is a mind numbing amount of content that is pure trash. I often find myself willing to write off the entire genre because of this mountain of mediocrity. Just when I’ve had to stomach about as much garbage as I can take I stumble across something that sucks me back in.

The latest such video was Daft Bodies - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. This video is absolutely brilliant. Great idea, skillfully executed, simply awesome.

As long as users keep creating content that exhibits this level of creativity I know I’ll always love the Internet.