My Web

On my personal web site, SpeedmetalPhil.com, I recently made a page entitled My Web.

The purpose of this page was to aggregate the pages on the World Wide Web that hold special meaning to me. But beyond accumulating a list of favorites (as anybody can do with their web browser), I desired to graphically organize these sites in such a way that I could examine them for possible relationships.

There are billions of web pages on the Internet, the vast majority of which we will never see. That is not to say that most of those billions of pages will not be seen by anybody, but rather that no one person will see the vast majority of pages. We all have our favorite sites that we go back to time and time again. Occasionally, we allow ourselves the time to surf -- to randomly click links to pages we've never been to before. Sometimes, we even discover something quite amazing in one of those random ventures into hyperspace.

Nevertheless, I find myself visiting a few particular web sites on a regular basis. As well, there are certain web sites that have been important to me over the years, regardless of how often I have visited them. All told, I figure that somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty web sites hold special meaning to me. Why those twenty?

I believe we construct meaning of the world around us by the way we relate various pieces of information. Since everyone 'connects the dots' a little bit differently, every person tends to construct a slightly different world view. It is a reason why being human (and, thus, having the capacity to think) is so interesting, not to mention aggravating at times.

In my case, I tend to visit news information sites everyday. These include ESPN, CNN, and Weather.com for the basic everyday news I desire. As well, I like to keep abreast of technology developments, so I visit CNET for in-depth coverage of the latest tech toys, and I subscribe to the Engadget blog for up-to-the minute information (or rumors) about the latest devices that are under development.

Additionally, there are my own web sites that I have created. They reveal my efforts to contribute something to cyberspace, mostly unread by any kind of audience, I realize, but there nonetheless. Then there are the web sites of the companies I have worked for in recent years, as well as the universities I have attended and will be attending. And of course, I've become a bit of an Apple fanboy in recent months, so I visit that site often just to gaze at the cool new gadgets.

So, I created My Web with direct links to these sites. Generally speaking, my personal relationship with cyberspace and its connection to my life experiences is contained on this one page. (I decided to add a link to my friend's blog about his efforts to build his dream in Panama -- namely, an eco-resort for travelers looking to try something off the beaten track. It's an inspiring story).

Now comes the interesting part: examining My Web to see if there are any relationships to be discovered. If there are some relationships there, what will I learn from them? Is it possible for me to be able to add some cool new insight to the digital world consciousness?

I've learned about the immense value of analyzing ideas from two or more sources at the same time. For example, giving a book report about one book has marginal value as far as I'm concerned, but reading at least two books that are related, and considering the implications of each in relation to each other yields very interesting perspectives about the world. I have done this in the past year with a number of different resources. (In fact, my digital world consciousness essay is a case in point.) Now, I wish to do the same with my web of favorite Internet sites.

I'll stop here for now. This posting has been meant as an introduction to a process I hope to engage myself in for the next little while. It's a process that other people should follow, I think, and many people already do (journalists, specifically).

As William Gibson said in the prologue of Multimedia - From Wagner to Virtual Reality:

"I recommend this book to you with an earnestness that I have seldom felt for any collection of historic texts. This is, in large part, where the bodies (or, rather, the bones of the ancestors) are buried. Assembled this way, in such provocative proximity, these visions give off strange sparks. Think of it, if you like, as a cut-up in Burroughs’s best sense, an interleaving of histories intended to open intertextual doors, some of which, given the right reader, have never before been opened. Perhaps you are that reader."

"If not, keep it handy: you may be that reader one day, be you geek or artboy (of either gender, please) or (more likely) some evolved hybrid of the two."

"Someone, it seems, always has to be."

Hey, maybe it'll even be me.

;-)