Kicking it off...

Well, Monday isn't the "official" kick-off for those of us who have "Conference Only" badges, however, we were allowed to attend "Ignite" which is kind of a sponsored event for Web 2.0. To be honest, I think we were hoping for free drinks and hors d'ovres, but what we were treated to was 45 minutes of sitting and waiting and when they finally kicked it off, it was about 11 people sharing some ideas that were... interesting... or not.

I was interested in the idea of onemilliongiraffes.com. I'd suggest participating. Another worthwhile endeavor was put forth by a young lady from NASA and offers the use of Microsoft's planetarium software (free download) and instructions on how to make a small planetarium for schools. The idea still costs roughly $1200 with materials, computer, projector, etc, but it's a neat idea.

I think one thing that is hitting home for both Gamage and myself is the idea of how much having an internet connection or not having one impacts our lives. We're in a hotel that requires payment for internet that doesn't really work. So, we're in a Thai restaurant enjoying Thai Fried Rice (Pork) and using their free Wi Fi. I had thought earlier that I could work a bit on a project, but then when I didn't have a css solution at the tip of my fingers, I couldn't "Google" what I wanted and therefore, was stuck.

In 10 years, the internet/www/whatever, will be so integrated into our society that we won't be able to use 99% of the products without some type of connectivity. Sometimes I think it wouldn't be so bad going back to a time when we didn't rely so heavily on this type of technology. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I also think about simpler times. Times when we didn't get frustrated by not having a cell phone signal, times when we didn't carry our laptop/mobile device/etc around and expect to be able to find a way to connect to all of our facebook friends, e-mail, blogs, etc.

So, as I'm sitting here thinking about the idea of simpler times, eating around the pork strips in my Thai Fried Rice (saving them so I can eat them one after the other, yummmm!), it brought back a question that was asked at the "Ignite" seminar. WDYDWYD? (Why do you do what you do?). For some the answer might be very simple, for others, not so much. For me, I'm not sure I want to share my answer publicly because I'm afraid that I may not like the honesty of it.