Friday--

I had intended to take a day off blogging but I found this item from Naked Capitalism.  I remember an old saying that "the bigger they are the harder they fall."  Well, you can't get much bigger than global networks.  And there are so many weak points in such networks:  long supply lines subject to disruption due to weather, to labor strife, to contamination of materials (deliberate or accidental); fragile financial institutions that may fail suddenly (AIG, Lehman, MF Global); social/political conflict (embargoes, boycotts, civil war).

According to this article from the Telegraph (UK) "low-tech living is back."  I can relate to a point.  I finally bought a Nook (Barnes & Noble's e-reader.)  I was definitely not an early adopter and I am still ambivalent about it though most of my reading is either on my computer or on the Nook.  I found some books are totally annoying on the e-reader.  The formatting on some gets totally screwed up and reading the material is totally annoying.  Going back to an earlier section isn't as easy as flipping back in a physical book.  And the costs are similar.  I don't use iCloud or any other cloud storage service.  I just don't trust the technology to be secure or to be there when I want my data.  I have read too many cases of government agencies taking down the cloud server and everyone losing access.  I use a digital camera and I think it was a godsend because old-fashioned photography had become way too expensive.  The digital camera brought back an old pleasure and the computer made it easier.  I had acquired a fair number of vinyl records over my life until the market phased them out saying new and better tech had replaced them.  I also have a fair number of tape cassettes which I have hung on to.  I was overjoyed a couple of years ago when we found a combination turntable/tape player/cd player/radio that allows me to enjoy all of the media.  My life is a mix of high, medium, and low tech. I rather like it that way.

I had only recently found William Edelen's blog The Contrary Minister and loved it.  I am sorry to lose it so soon.  Thank you for the pleasure of reading your blog, Mr. Edelen.

And this story shows the dark side of high tech.  The powers-that-be have become far more intrusive with the high tech tools and that doesn't bode well for any of us.