The literature at the time in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, describing the contempt that the learned establishment had for the rise of the novel – and then of course later with the rise of the penny dreadfuls and sensational literature as more and more people came to read it – again there was a great cry of despair at how there would be nothing but illiteracy in the world, or at least a kind of refusal or inability to engage in proper, serious study.

Additionally, the barely-English abbreviations that I despise in text messages are nothing new. “You look at a letter written by a 17th or 18th century letter writer, and you’ll see far more abbreviation.” Paper and ink were expensive then, just as text messages are outrageously overpriced now.

So, no longer do I fear for future generations. Well, I still fear, but it is for reasons other than the demise of literacy brought on by texting and Facebook. Check out Stephen Fry’s other thoughts on the Internet, including MySpace and Facebook snobbery, what Twitter is, and where the web can take you.

As a side note, I wish that I could pay a licensing fee if it gave me access to the iPlayer in the US. Obviously, I would hope the fee would be less than a standard household license, but if it was a reasonable cost it would be much more convenient than relying on less legal methods.

Also, Chris, I am hoping that with the speeches out of the way we can spark some discussions about the readings in class. This is something I am a fan of, but doesn’t work with every group of students. Sometimes you need someone to play the role of devil’s advocate, and sometimes nobody is willing to pitch in two cents. I don’t feel like there has been a lot of debate in class so far. Even though some of the readings are old, they are clearly relevant and would lend themselves to a good discussion, not only in comparison to today, but also about the state of things today. There are other areas, like file sharing for one, that I am sure you have great insights on, and are always good for discussion. In my opinion, discussion is good, tangents and rat-holes are good, and deviating from a ‘rubric’ can be good.

Speaking of Twitter, two men were arrested for tweeting to alert G-20 protesters of police movements in Pittsburgh last month. They will likely have to defend their right to free speech against charges of “hindering apprehension, criminal use of communication facility, and possessing instruments of crime.”

Finally, to continue my weekly congratulatory theme (without anyone in mind to really congratulate), congratulations to Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté who became the latest space tourist last week.

I am a huge fan of public libraries, so this is great news to me. There may be some people who would cringe at the thought of another “bailout.” But this is far from a bailout; this is the funding of a public institution that provides much more value to the community than is invested in it by the state. Granted, libraries are more expensive than one might think. In fact, the Seattle Public Library closed their many doors for a week at the beginning of the month to help meet a $1 million budget reduction (the closure saved them roughly $655,000).

Do you use the public library system? How valuable is it to you? Try out this nifty calculator at the American Library Association. According to it, in the past year or two the Madison Public Library has saved me somewhere between $300-$600. And in an exciting development, Mayor Cieslewicz wants to invest a ballpark of $24 million in a new Central Library.