Sunday, August 02, 2009

Where the web shines

When Tim Berners-Lee first conceived of the world wide web and pondered the potential for such a thing, he made the hyperlink the center of the online universe. It was only able to be a web due to hyperlinks.

True to his vision the web has evolved into a vast, link connected source of information on a scale and impacting our everyday lives like no technology before it. The telegraph, telephone and television (Tim, thanks for not calling it the teleweb or telenetwork. "Tele" has been beaten to death) all pointed the way for technology to progress, but the web was a quantum leap forward in its immediacy and reach.

Discounting for the moment porn and games, the web really shines when it comes to making us aware of important and relevant information when we need to know it. Built-in to the structure of the web is a means to find out more, to explore a topic further and deeper. We can link to images and websites that broaden our understanding of those things we need to know.

When there's a tragic situation, the web allows us to link to details and inform others. In the case of missing persons, having more sites spread the word increases the odds that the situation will have a definitive outcome. We always hope for a positive one.

If you live in the following areas, please help by being observant and aware.






(images courtesy of LostNMissing)

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