Blind specific.

Hermilia C. Banayat-Nas

(4th entry)

I would forever be grateful to the world wide web for information I have I get from it. This is because while hardcopy-Webster, for example, would always be a reading companion I find it more convenient to use Google: information at my fingertips. Literally.

While I am glad that the internet is here to provide information I make a Machiavellian musing and realize that the empowerment of people by giving them access to information is merely an incident to a means. The means to an end.

I am in the middle of a desert, physically away but in touch with people. When this mini-oasis was built, a list of necessities was made and among them were shelter, water, electricity, internet. While the distance is comforting to my paranoia, I know that the miles that keep me away from other people can easily be traversed by a click.

My TV does not work, and the cable company has added me to their service list--the only problem is that I am 3 hours away from the city. Good thing that I stuffed my laptop in my bag and brought it here, where the internet is more reliable than CNN signal. For days I relied on this laptop and wi-fi for knowledge and news.

Thank you, internet for the information.

The cold air is gone and I want to explore the salmon pink dunes. But I can't. While I am allowed to download shared music from this internet connection I cannot cross an invisible boundary line in the sand for security reasons.

I wonder how this government utilizes the internet to its advantage. As the richest country in the world, I would be naive to think that the internet service here, in the middle of this man-made oasis, was provided simply to give its visitors the power to know. Just like what the history of internet would show, the free wi-fi accommodations here is an intelligence move, a means to an end.

While I am allowed to do anything in the internet, I could possibly be sending combinations of ones and zeros that would trigger a security breach. Yes, like the invisible line on the sand that I cannot cross, I believe that this unlimited access to the internet is a security measure. Giving me the power to know is simply a means to an end.