Light Posting

I'll be taking a break over the next few days. The Command Post and Winds of Change are great sites, if you haven't discovered them yet and there are links to many others in the sidebar. The Internet has made is easy for many who have never written before to try their hand. The real impact of blogs and similar sites has been to tap into a large pool of people who would never have written otherwise. It has brought people -- doctors, engineers, businessmen, soldiers, teachers, etc -- who would otherwise never been accounted 'writers' into the public discourse. Whatever their stylistic failings, this huge access of participation has rewritten the rules on what it means to be a 'public intellectual'. When Greyhawk or Austin Bay file from the battlefield; or when recognized experts in computer fonts can instantly participate in the analysis of fake documents proferred as genuine a huge reservoir of previously untapped intelligence suddenly becomes available to everyone. Well, bye for now.