Overly-hyped sites are a dime a dozen for today's savvy Internet user. We
hear the press via: usenet, mailing lists, email, banner ads, radio spots,
billboards, and even television. However, only a handful are innovative.
There are so few that I feel are actually testing the boundaries of things
as they currently stand. So, when I hear about a site non-stop I'm rarely
eager to go about promoting it from a personal level.
I'm skeptical and in the end come away from the sites usually thinking that
there was little to offer, almost no creativity, and they couldn't leave me
with a sense of excitement. This morning at 6:47am I finally made my way to
I had heard the rumors, complaints, and praises of this site for days on
end. I went in with my normal benevolence and came out a believer. Now for
those of you that don't know about the idea, it is pretty simple although
very ingenious. This man believes in the Internet (specifically e-commerce)
so much that he is willing to spend a year in house and buy and do
everything online. He started up Jan 1, 2000 with only the clothes on his
back and a computer with a connection. That was it.
Now, for me to say, "That was it." hardly goes into my fascination with this
whole stunt. I just got the sense that this man was not only happy about
life, the net, and the world around him. He is ready to put his whole
existence on the line (no pun intended ;) just to prove how amazingly great
technology is.
I won't say the site is all together so interesting at this point. It's
still in the growth stages. I did enjoy the live cam that allows you in
streaming form to not only see what he is up to but hear him as well. He was
being interviewed this morning and showing a reporter around his house. One
of the neat things he mentioned was, that he has a bedroom that has a green
wall like a weather man would use. He will be able to project sites on to
that wall and he will show people how to use the sites and so forth. He is
one man promotional machine, and companies adore this media darling.
My point with all of this is to say that, fresh ideas are out there. A
handful of people are ready to push limits and explore new areas of
themselves and the Internet. I know that the people that are have these
ideas are almost always Extropian in nature. So, I encourage you all, to
venture out. If you have had a crazy idea floating around in your head for
week, months, years on end, do it. And if you do, know that I'll be right
there ready to support you all the way.
Jasmine
http://www.jasai.com/journal
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