Around The World (Wide Web) + Back Snap

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It’s hard to imagine life today without the World Wide Web.

Tim Berners-Lee wrote his proposal for “the Web” in 1989 and formally published—or republished, depending on which source you believe—it on this day in 1990, sparking a revolution that has transformed our world for better and for worse.

Before the Web, the Internet had existed since the 1960s, but it wasn’t exactly accessible to the average person. Berner-Lee’s proposal changed all that.

In 1990, I was a college freshman, completely unaware of how this new “Web” would soon change everything. I’d heard some rumblings, but it wasn’t until late 1994 that I experienced it firsthand, thanks to a friend who had dropped out of college to design and develop websites. I didn’t know what a website was, but he was more than happy to share his excitement—and work—with me, a fellow tech geek.

The Web back then was clunky and slow by today’s standards, but I was hooked.

The next morning, I signed up for AOL. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The Web has inspired boundless connection, convenience, and creativity.

The worlds of art, education, finance, media, and technology quickly collided and overlapped, again for better and for worse.

As Tim Berners-Lee once said, “Things can change so fast on the Internet.” Much of that change has been positive, but there is a literal Dark Web too.

The same Web that brings us together can just as easily divide us. Misinformation and “news” spread at lightning speed, making it harder than ever to separate fact from fiction. Algorithms pull our attention in a hundred directions and reward outrage and overreactions. And let’s not even get started on privacy, now a near-impossible feat in this chronically online world.

Not since Gutenberg’s printing press has the world changed so fast—and so profoundly. The Web has redefined what it means to connect, create, and even live.

Whether you see it as a blessing, a curse, or something in between, there’s no doubt that Tim Berners-Lee's “little” invention has reshaped the course of human history, opening a world of communication, information, and opportunity that my younger self couldn’t have imagined.

Here’s to remembering when Pandora first got out of her box—and here’s hoping she remains more friend than foe to you, me, and everyone we know.

Thanks for reading!
Clint

P.S. A few asked me what I think of my new Mac mini. This video thumbnail says it all:

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ON THIS DAY = NOVEMBER 12

BIRTHDAYS

• 1840 = Auguste Rodin = French sculptor and illustrator, created The Thinker 🌈

• 1929 = Grace Kelly = American actress, later Princess Grace of Monaco

• 1930 = Bob Crewe, American singer-songwriter and producer 🌈

• 1943 = Wallace Shawn = American actor, comedian and playwright

• 1945 = Neil Young = Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

• 1958 = Megan Mullally = American actress and singer 🌈

• 1976 = Tevin Campbell = American R&B singer-songwriter and actor 🌈

• 1980 = Ryan Gosling = Canadian actor, producer and singer

• 1982 = Anne Hathaway = American actress

EVENTS

• 1880 = Best-selling American novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ is published.

• 1927 = Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.

• 1936 = The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.

• 1954 = Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.

• 1966 = Buzz Aldrin takes the first “space selfie” during the Gemini program.

• 1968 = In its unanimous Epperson v. Arkansas decision, the US Supreme Court declares the Arkansas law banning the teaching of evolution unconstitutional.

• 1969 = Fallout from Time magazine’s October 31 cover story, “The Homosexual: Newly Visible, Newly Understood” results in a protest at the Time-Life Building.

• 1970 = The Oregon Highway Division unsuccessfully attempted to destroy a rotting beached sperm whale near Florence, Oregon, with dynamite.

• 1976 = The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, starring John Travolta, premieres on ABC.

• 1990 = Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

• 1992 = Absolutely Fabulous premieres on BBC2.

• 1999 = Kevin Smith’s Dogma is released in theaters. (watch on Internet Archive)

• 2012 = Catfish: The TV Show premieres on MTV.

• 2021 = The LA Superior Court formally ends Britney Spears’ conservatorship.

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PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.”
Auguste Rodin

RECOMMENDED READING

• You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin (Rachel Corbett)

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