I'm looking at a drawing of a blonde woman with the caption "1 Rule of a Flat Stomach". Do you see it, too? It's on the right of my screen, one of those pop-up ads that's so annoying on the internet. At the bottom, impinging on my blog site and making it difficult to edit until I zap the strip away, is the "Web Promotion Tools" toolbar. Why are these people trying to take over my screen or at the very least, my thought processes?
It's bad enough that the Amazons blast me every day with books I'll surely want to purchase. (That's what happens when you cave and buy something from their sites!); that every store where I've added my email address sends me daily reminders of sales (ok, my fault, I know -- but sometimes really great coupons appear); that Expedia, Air Canada, Travelocity and every other travel site I've used feels I need a holiday (although, they may be right); and that in a fit of curiosity, I signed on to several writing digests (my fault, I know)and now I'm inundated with the messages that I sometimes quickly scan, at other times just delete.
It is addictive, this wanting to know what others are thinking, reading, experiencing and it's the reason the internet is taking over lives. I read today that Facebook is looking at more ways to generate income -- watch out for more onslaughts of ads, etc. and even if you don't read them, they're an annoyance that needs to be dealt with before you can get on with the real stuff, like checking on 'Friends' and posting the most exciting moments of your life. Otherwise, it's all to easy to accidentally click on one of those tiny spots that then morphs into an entire screen.
And that, my internet friends, is my first rant of the new year. I've now totally forgotten what I wanted to blog about but maybe you can relate more to this. Either way, I wish you a year of interesting internet experiences.
Linda Wiken/Erika Chase
READ AND BURIED
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
A KILLER READ, also available at your favourite bookstores and online.
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