Scientists oppose new space station mission
NASA Launched Mission Despite Warnings

Well, at least it's pretty up there.

I'm no longer sure that technology is what it's cracked up to be. I mean, sure, without it I would die, or more likely never be born, or even represented among the species of Earth, lions being not as discouraged by semi-clever apes as they are really clever ones. Sure, maybe homo erectus could get by for awhile, but where are they now? But the survival of humanity aside, I'm faced with the fact that I've been off the networks for a week now and am suffering from hardly any withdrawal issues. My fingers don't click phantom mouse buttons in the night, hoping to call up the latest headlines. No funny/indescribable Flash animations have come to my attention, and none have been missed.

Sure, there are some people I talk to primarily or wholly via technologically mediated means that I'd like to be in touch with, but then, I don't even have a phone number or an address, or rather, not one that anyone knows. In theory, almost anything could happen out in the world and I would be unaware. If an event isn't taking place within walking distance, it isn't likely to come to my attention.

At the moment I'm in a computer lab on campus, for the first time in the three years that I've been here, "coding" in Java. Typing in Java, really, because aside from a rather embarrassing hour or two spent trying to figure out how to convert pounds to kilograms (I have no future.) everything was already there on the assignment as it was given to me. So I've got internet access now, though it comes without any messaging capabilities. (I don't even remember the password for the bulletin board where I spent the bulk of my online time.) And I've hit a few regular websites; Boing Boing, Pitchfork (Just in case, say, The Dismemberment Plan decided to get back together while I've been away.), and Usenet via Google. DVD news too, since having money is such a bore.

Anyway, I'm going to be momentarily online again, all the way this time, over the weekend, so if you, reading this, are one of the people I tend to get in touch with, I will probably be getting in touch with you then.

And now I've got a paper to write for tomorrow, so I guess I'm going to wander off somewhere to do that. (The printer in here doesn't seem to work, or at least didn't print when the computer led me to believe that printing was likely.) I wish I was more interesting.

For kicks, here is an article by Bruce Sterling: Ten Technologies That Deserve To Die. Manned spaceflight? Sigh.