Posts by seattleniceguy

17

Do you capitalize the word "internet"?

by seattleniceguy in

jw
friends

this is a total fluff thread.. technically, i think it is supposed to be capitalized because it represents the internet, the worldwide network of networks, as opposed to any old connection of networks.

but to me, capitalizing it seems somehow...archaic, as if we're still in awe that it even exists.

at some point, doesn't its existence become so routine that we treat it as a normal noun, like "radio"?

seattleniceguy

LOL @ AlanF...

Well I suppose I am a bit archaic, since I most certainly am still in awe of the capabilities of the Internet.

Sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate anything. :-) What I meant was that, it seems like when technology is first introduced, we give it a name that is meant to mark its novelty, like "horse-less carriage" for the automobile. The name "horse-less carriage" suggests, to me, some degree of surprise that a carriage could exist without a horse in the front. But after people have become used to the technology, I think it starts to feel affected and perhaps a bit backward to keep marking it off as so special a word. Imagine the reaction you'd get today if you used that name instead of car.

Internet I can certainly see, because it is a proper name for a specific network. But e-mail, with the dash, seems more and more yesterday's news to me. It seems to contain an element of suprise that mail should be e-. Mark it off with a dash, it's special! That's how it feels to me, anyway.

talesin,

Actually, the two are different. The Internet refers to the infrastructure - the worldwide network of networks. The World Wide Web refers to a web of documents delivered via HTTP, using the infrastructure of the Internet. (See: http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2002/Web_vs_Internet.asp)

SNG

(Edited because I forgot to sign my name)
(Edited because I forgot a comma...dammit!)

17

Do you capitalize the word "internet"?

by seattleniceguy in

jw
friends

this is a total fluff thread.. technically, i think it is supposed to be capitalized because it represents the internet, the worldwide network of networks, as opposed to any old connection of networks.

but to me, capitalizing it seems somehow...archaic, as if we're still in awe that it even exists.

at some point, doesn't its existence become so routine that we treat it as a normal noun, like "radio"?

seattleniceguy

This is a total fluff thread.

Technically, I think it is supposed to be capitalized because it represents the Internet, the worldwide network of networks, as opposed to any old connection of networks. But to me, capitalizing it seems somehow...archaic, as if we're still in awe that it even exists. At some point, doesn't its existence become so routine that we treat it as a normal noun, like "radio"?

Do you think we will stop calling it "the internet" at some point, just like we stopped calling TV "the television"? At least in my part of America, no one really says, "I saw it on the television." It's just, "I saw it on television / TV." On the other hand, we do still hear things on "the radio."

What about email? There are several choices available: E-mail, e-mail, email, etc. Myself, I prefer the latter, for reasons similar to my preference for internet. Using a dash makes it sound like it's some kind of novel word that hasn't become fully assimilated into our language yet. Like, "My friend just sent me an e-mail about photo-typesetting to-day."

What do you think?

SNG

21

Prognostications of the decline of J.W. and WTBS

by dostprefer in

jw
friends

.

truth is on the march, who can stop it now?

emile zola

seattleniceguy

Excellent article, Carmel!

SNG

34

JWD has given me....

by jgnat in

jw
friends

hi, my name is janet and i love jwd.

if there were any doubt, it has been blown away by my 5000?th post, making me a supreme one.

for newbies, i am a non-jehovah?s witness married to one.

seattleniceguy

Congratulations, Janet!

I want to hear it, what has JWD given you?

JWD gave me access to a lot of really cool, intelligent people who thought in ways sometimes congruent, and sometimes totally perpendicular, to my own. It's given me many very cool real-life friends. And it's given me a great place to bounce ideas around and figure out what I think about a lot of things that us ex-JWs think about.

SNG

21

Prognostications of the decline of J.W. and WTBS

by dostprefer in

jw
friends

.

truth is on the march, who can stop it now?

emile zola

seattleniceguy

Truth Is On The March, who can stop it now? Emile Zola

Precisely.

SNG

16

When the Heck Are We Gonna Be Free?

by dostprefer in

jw
friends

1. when we post to this forum?

best answered by the reader.

2. when we don't post to this forum?

seattleniceguy

When we have the courage to question what we have been told all our lives.

When we see what is there, not what we wish were there.

When we live to the best of our ability not because someone told us to, but because we value ourselves and others that much.

SNG

60

The org is going down----I can feel it!

by stopthepain in

jw
friends

.

my brother called me today.he is 20 ,3 years younger than me,and out of the religion.he still has fear though that it could be true,but thats another story.. he told me he heard my mother and father talking upstairs.my mother said about the org "ive put 26 years into it,i think i'm done with it,i might just go sunday from now on".this is huge ,because she was a devoted nutjob witness.she made my life horrible for the 1st 17 years of my life.i had been trying to suddly tell her the truth about the troof,but i didn't expect this.i'm happy and yet i want to know where she stands with the borganization.. this along with what seems to be an outpouring of similar stories,i have a gut feeling the jehovahs witness mind control cult is on the brink of implosion.everyone is so burdened by it.the jig is up,gb,good riddance when you fold.the rank and file have had enough.my 2 younger sisters are on the edge of mental freedom.i hope they can fully get free of it.. this is a milestone in my families long and strange trip in mental enslavement!!!!!!!!!!!!

!

seattleniceguy

Hey dost,

Nice to see you again. The growth you speak of is almost entirely in countries that do not have free access to information. If you look at the trend lines (see: http://www.jwic.com/stat.htm) for developed countries, you'll see that they have gone flat. Several in Europe have rounded the top and are headed down. Denmark peaked in 1992 and has been headed down ever since (see: http://www.jwic.com/04n_euro.htm).

It all has to do with access to information. And with a couple companies prepared to offer ultra-low-price internet machines to under-developed nations, it won't be long before access to the internet is ubiquitous across the world (see: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/maney/2005-02-08-maney_x.htm) . We'll see what happens to WTS growth then. For now, I'm happy to see people snapping to in the developed nations.

SNG

(of the "in the information technology field and damn proud of it" class)

10

How is Quotes and his site doing since the legal fuss?

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

.

last i heard his lawyer sent a letter replying to the wts's own legal letter.. is there any new news?.

seattleniceguy

Web hosting for 10 years: $3600.

Setting up an awesome web site that beautifully and tactfully exposes the WTS's hypocrisy: Lots of time.

Receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the big boys: Cool.

Going to court, winning expenses and a dismissal of the suit, and watching WT lawyers eat crow in the public media: Bloody priceless!

SNG

60

The org is going down----I can feel it!

by stopthepain in

jw
friends

.

my brother called me today.he is 20 ,3 years younger than me,and out of the religion.he still has fear though that it could be true,but thats another story.. he told me he heard my mother and father talking upstairs.my mother said about the org "ive put 26 years into it,i think i'm done with it,i might just go sunday from now on".this is huge ,because she was a devoted nutjob witness.she made my life horrible for the 1st 17 years of my life.i had been trying to suddly tell her the truth about the troof,but i didn't expect this.i'm happy and yet i want to know where she stands with the borganization.. this along with what seems to be an outpouring of similar stories,i have a gut feeling the jehovahs witness mind control cult is on the brink of implosion.everyone is so burdened by it.the jig is up,gb,good riddance when you fold.the rank and file have had enough.my 2 younger sisters are on the edge of mental freedom.i hope they can fully get free of it.. this is a milestone in my families long and strange trip in mental enslavement!!!!!!!!!!!!

!

seattleniceguy

stopthepain,

Great news about your family. I have a lot of family that I hope is able to make a similar shift.

The only fear I have for people like that is that they slow down a little but still believe. They are still burdened by fear and guilt, and this prevents them from being able to look at information that might help them. I've seen this happen a few times, where someone was on the brink of mental freedom, but the fear reeled them back in.

So I hope you're able to help your brother and mom to break the mental chains. Be careful with them, one step at a time. Not that I know your situation at all - that's just my two cents.

Good luck and congratulations!

SNG

10

Do you witness more now?

by cyberguy in

jw
friends

i just got off the phone with a young, x-pioneer, after a lengthy discussion (3+ hours) about the truth about the ?truth!?

he?s married, with 3 young children, but is very confused as to what to do, as his family hasn?t been activity supporting the kingdumb hall (i.e., borg)!

i believe, i might be ?witnessing?

seattleniceguy

Hi curlygirl,

At first, my plan was to place anonymous, three-line ads every week that gradually, mostly inoffensively, encouraged thinking. By using WT buzzwords, I planned to make the messages especially significant to JWs. Here's the thread where I was thinking about that out loud:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/72522/1.ashx

However, what actually happened was I was driving to work one morning, thinking about it, and I was listening to a news program about terrorist ideology. My mind made this connection that the JWs have as hate-filled an ideology as any terrorist group, and it made me angry. I decided to nix my warm and fluffy ad concept and write some copy with teeth. The ad that actually ran was in the Stranger (which I thought the perfect venue) of July 26, 2004. The ad said:

The Watchtower: A "hate-filled ideology"?Ask JWs about the gruesome fate they see for 6 billion non-JWs close at hand!

Here's the thread in which I talk about that ad:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/75556/1.ashx

I don't think this ad was of much assistence to current JWs. However, this paper is extremely well read, especially among the young urbanite crowd in the metro area. My thinking was that this ad would be helpful in a secondary way, because JWs who read the ad would know that the people whose doors they would be knocking on would also likely have read the ad, and they might expect to hear something about it. Since there is no good way of weaseling out of the fact that they really do believe most non-JWs will be obliterated shortly, I thought it might make the thinkers of the bunch a little nervous about going out in service. I know it would make my stomach sink.

If it were simply a bold-faced lie, like, "JWs eat children," or something absurd like that, it would be easy to refute. However, pointing out something that is true but normally downplayed makes it impossible to deny effectively. I thought that this might prompt some to think more about the rightness of their ideology.

In the end, though, I decided it was not cost-effective to concert my efforts in this way. You can lead a Witness to water, but you can't make 'em drink. Just make the water available, and when they themselves are ready, they will drink.

SNG