You're special to me ...

Screw that! They should send US some money! I asked about a finders' fee. No luck.

 

Moddy, I just wanted to thank you for leaving that top line in your sig. I know it has a deeper connection for you, but it means a lot to me. So thank you.

 

I think he was posting under Ilmago at one point.

 

He could be a real bastard when it came to some points he would argue for on here. But I do give credit to him that if you had a good point, even if it weakened his stance, he would give you full credit.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that, as long as you are using surge protection.

 

It's only a matter of time before there's a "two posters one plug" video ...

 

It's interesting to consider how technology and the internet is changing how relationships occur. I've spent a ton of time on this site with others from all over the continent, and world at times, yet I know very few personally, and still we share a strong common bond, a devoted common interest. And when someone like Ron passes, it's like a family member has gone.

Which, in a real way, it is. Because we spend a lot of time together, because we challenge each other’s point of views and ways of thinking, because we make each other laugh or cry or yell in anger, because we draw out in each other emotions and feelings we might otherwise not experience, we are indeed a family, or at least a band of cyber brothers/sisters at the least.

If you add up all the time I’ve spent here and the 6,000+ thoughts I put forth and probably the million + thoughts I’ve read, I’ve definitely invested more and engaged more with this group here than certainly with distant relatives and friends I’ve known in real life. Years ago, that might have seemed wrong, anti-social perhaps. Even now, those of us born pre-internet at times may have a harder time grasping the non face to face interaction value. But, today, connecting on the internet chat room or discussion board, it seems more and more the norm and acceptable every day. And I’d certainly make no apologies for hanging out virtually with a gang of brethren who share the same passions, the same interests, bring the same zest for those things I like.

So even if we don’t know each other’s name or wouldn’t recognize each other’s face, we are a deeply rooted, tightly bonded family, in a lot ways, tighter even than those we make personal acquaintance with in our journey through life.

Of course, this was never a possibility a quarter century ago. But, now I wonder if this phenomenon of cyber families of people connecting through a computer monitor or smart phone in ways stronger than one could expect, yet never quite meeting in person, if that becomes almost an expected addition to one’s extended family in life: my cyber buddy from this site, my chat partner from that one

It's a muddled up, twittered up, Facebook world, I guess...

One final note: Ron’s final post was at 3:30am Sunday morning and he passed sometime early that morning. So, he was with family, the SportsJournalists.com family, during some of his final moments.

 

The New York Times Magazine published a cover feature last month on what happens to your Internet accounts and posts and effluvia after you die. I wanted to post it here, rather than the memorial thread, but it might be worth a read, just to get an idea of what we all have to look forward to.

Of course, it also offers a celebration of a life in death, thanks to a vibrant online community. That, more than anything else, is what I took away from those 8,000 or so words.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/magazine/09Immortality-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=all

 

I had mine taken out when I was seven. Got all the ice cream I could eat for a week.

 

Ah, the beauty of a well-placed ellipsis.

 

We just had to get Facebook accounts through work, and I've been busy "friending" current and former co-workers, among others (Hi, Slappy!).

Anyhow, it was weird going to the common friend listing, or whatever they call it, and see two former co-workers who no longer are with us and one who is in prison. Kinda spooky, if you ask me.