opinios

yeah cuz, and your discussion forum got me through my time in China in one piece too! I've also been getting a greater appreciation of Japan as well as China the last few years, and with Hammy watching over Korea we've got the whole area covered!

havent seen it yet, waiting for the video to come here, last place on earth it arrives and yet its the backdrop for the movie. had a very limited run here. oh well at least there is that tv show that a certain couple got me hooked on.

i see your point Matt and I partly agree.... after all the net has helped me cope with the loss of my neighbours sniff sniff. theres lots and lots of good points to the internet which you described well here. and i guess you could say the main benefit of the internet is communication in all its various forms, including your fine site.

BUT on the other hand some psychiatrists and therapists are now arguing that computers have now become a kind of serious addiction and a method of withdrawal for people who are depressed, as well as a means of being anonymous and doing less than decent things, rather than a simple coping mechanism. care to retort?

You are a competitive beast, Al. I shan't retort, just further the discussion.

I'll make what is perhaps an unexpected analogy and suggest that the internet can be a lot like religion.

• It is possible to get a lot of good things out of it


• It is also possible to use it for, as you say, less than decent things, as well as positive things


• It can be consoling to some, but it can also feel isolating and foreign to others


• If you spend too much time with it you are bound to end up addicted/brainwashed

You're right, the internet is more than a simple coping mechanism. It's up to you how you choose to use it, or let it use you.

PS. When are you gonna get on MSN, I have been lookin' out for ya!

That was an unexpected analogy but a good one. I like it. The analogy I had more in mind was something along the lines of any kind of drug or alcohol, something that at first can be very exciting and fun. It lets you relelae your stress and forget all your worries. When used responsibly and/or socially it does not cause major problems. However, there are those people out there that do not know when or where to draw the line. It then becomes a problem. I think that's what happens with the Internet for a lot of people out there, more people than we realize.

Perhaps you heard this story out of Finland? http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5859447§ion=news

To me, this is a sign of things to come in other countries as Finland was one of the first wired nations and has a high rate of Internet usage. Maybe it seems like an exaggeration but i think it is quite interesting. There are a lot of qualified doctors out there claiming we need to take this more seriously and I tend to agree with them. Basically as you put it, it is the individual's choice of how they use the net and what they use it for but I worry about kids who are using the Internet now at such a young age. Where are we headed? Who knows? Stay tuned. It would be interesting to revisit this post a few years down the road, wouldn't it?

I look forward to seeing Lost in Translation (someday) and giving you my take on it. Hope to see you online soon as well. Use the email address above eh.

I am pretty much on the Internet ALL day at work. I probably read many more blogs/sites than I should be, BUT I think that if you have a life apart from the Internet - I do very little surfing at night and on the weekend - then you can be balanced. I like the alcohol/drug comparison. If that's all your life is about then you've got problems. The Internet is the same. Good things in moderate doses.

Couldn't agree with you more, Matt. For one, "Lost in Translation" struck a chord deep within me, having also had the ex-pat Japan experience myself. And re. the internet..... For the first few years I was in Tokyo it was only geeky I.T student types that even knew about the internet and email, let alone used it on a daily basis. The ONLY contact I had with the English-speaking world was the Japan Times which I could buy from the local train station, some 20 minutes walk away (I lived in Shakuji-koen) and the other teachers at Berlitz. I felt incredibly isolated. My apartment didn't even have a telephone (and I couldn't afford to buy the line) or a T.V (I eventually picked one up on "large Gomi night"!!). Had the internet been available, I would have been much more in touch with Tokyo and it's goings-on right from the start..... on the bright side, I had many an interesting 'learning experience' as a result:)

I think bill murray is wonderful in this film. and there were some very funny scences because of him. my favourite one is the tv spot shoot where the photographer asks him to act like different members of the rat pack (the roger moore number was also very funny).
Great movie!!