it's rather shocking to me..

[charan]

I was just responding to another discussion, and I realized how dependent we have all become on the Internet. The discussion I responded to asked the question: What would you do if the Internet had to be shut down for a month?

After thinking about this, I immediately responded that I don't think I would be able to go an entire month without the use of the Internet, that maybe I would be able to go a week or so.

Then another thought occurred to me: Isn't it depressing to see how far we've come with the Internet that we can't even imagine what it would be like to live without the Internet for one whole month?

Ten years ago I would have been able to answer this question and respond confidently that I could most definitely live without using the Internet for an entire month, if not longer. Now, however, for me to say that after a week I would run out of other things to keep my mind occupied...it made me laugh at myself.

It's just so shocking to me to realize how much of an addiction the Internet has become for everyone, myself included.

[Semigourmet]

I have to agree Charan. I too am very dependant on the internet. I spend a lot of time on it and using it in different ways. I would be able to keep myself and my mind busy as I LOVE to read, but it would be a loss in my day and would really be difficult to deal with.

[mcnerd]

Try being a user for over 30 years, even before Dial-Up connections were invented, and even before it was the Internet and the "World Wide Web". Of course back then you had to have a phD to understand how to communicate since there were no "browsers" or convenient English words and website addresses.

Most people are also not aware of the many levels of the "Internet" and only think about the "www" (hypertext protocol) one. Another you use occasionally is the "ftp" (file transfer protocol) and some nerds know about the "UseNet". There are many more and used for the original purposes of the ArpaNet.

I'm concerned about the loss of the Internet also. It has definitely become an integral part of our electronic lives, perhaps too much so because there are ancient prophecies out there that seem to have predicted it and the problems resulting.

However, I'm more concerned with current scientific events, two in particular: 1) the movement and weakening of our planet's magnetic field and expectation that its polarity will "flip" (North becoming South). This will effect all electronics on our planet; and 2) increasing solar sunspots/flare activity on our Sun. "Cycle 24", as NASA reports it, is an 11-year cycle that will hit its peak in about 5 years and is expected to be the worst in hundreds of years. That means ever increasing radiation spikes towards us that will not only knock out electronics (especially satillites), but will be life threatening. They are even talking about putting up a form of metallic powder or flakes to give some reflective protection.

Yah, try not to get too dependant on the internet if you can. :D

[Big Daddy's House]

That ALMOST DID happen.

Remember the Y-2K thing? Things were supposed to shut down and stop working at the stroke of midnight or not too much longer after that in '00. We only had dial-up back then, and that was even before DSL & High-Speed Broadband service.

Because, at the time, it was thought that the computers in use back then, wouldn't work or even be able to keep up for the beginning of the new century.

People were crazily buying up bottled water, canned goods, bathroom tissue and anything else they can get because they thought
and feared the worst. That there would be no water, electricity or gas. Imagine going to an outhouse to relieve yourself!!

The things and services that we have, we almost lost back then! Water, gas, electricity, food, hospital / medical care, even banking and financial co's, we were about to lose all that stuff, up to and including the World Wid Web.

People were even thought to become stuck in elevators in tall office buildings.

Because today as was back then, everything or nearly everything functioned with the use of computers. Modern technology was about to crash back then and sent us plummetting back into the Dark Ages!

[mcnerd]

That ALMOST DID happen. Remember the Y-2K thing?
Yes. The media had a field day with that. In the 60's and 70's we were concentrating on conserving memory space. It was no major problem updating the PC-type computer systems, but the mainframe programmers had a bigger problem and it took awhile and some computers could not be tested in advance. The rest is history. I so love the media and how they blow things out of proportion to get a story.
People were even thought to become stuck in elevators in tall office buildings.
Yes, people have a tendency to become irrational when events occur that they don't understand and they panic. And, no, modern technology was not going to crash and plummet us back into the Dark Ages, not from the Y2K programming glitch anyway....and it didn't. Many Unix systems have never been updated because its too much of a hassle. It messes up the date so they change things in the browser and such to work around it.

But I'm sure the government and other agencies learned something with that, if they didn't know it before, and will keep totally silent in future scenerios until it cannot be kept silent any longer.....because of what people will do, rational or not. Well, not totally silent. People are being conditioned in subtle ways. Some of us realize something is not quite right and have strange feelings. If you don't, don't worry about it. Life goes on.

[Big Daddy's House]

Had we lost the five most essential things to help sustain life; water, food, a place to stay, electricity and gas, we might have at least FELT like we were in the Dark Ages.

Imagine being stuck without power & gas. You couldn't cook, keep cool during the torrid days of summer without a fan or a/c or stay warm in the winter without heat, and you'd have to bathe in ice-cold water! You couldn't even watch TV, listen to music, watch movies or go online. And most tragic, you couldn't keep your food from spoiling!! You'll need to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

There would be no gas for your vehicle or to run gas-powered lawn mowers or trimming equipment. You couldn't see in the dark except by using a flashlight. You'd just be stuck hopeless! Yeah, we'd enter the Dark Ages without these things because that exactly how it would feel.

Actually, the sixth thing as well, medical care. Without that, people would get even sicker than they already are and start to die off.
I'm on a ton of medicine that I'll more than likely have to take for the rest of my life!

And yes, the media DOES have a very bad habit of stretching the truth, exaggerating and making things seem worst than they actually are! Just to get a story in.