Chris goes to Paddyland

Reading an New York Times article about the metadata search system flamenco, today I came accross the term "moblog" for the first time (although apparently already in use for some years). A quick stroll to the English wikipedia got me this definition: "A mobile weblog, or moblog, consists of content posted to the Internet from a mobile or portable device". Emphasis is on the first syllable, thus stressing the possibility that several people participate in populating the moblog with entries.

Immediately the following image flashed to mind: a throng of people rushing to an event wielding their camera-equipped mobile phone and metaphorically shooting the protagonists ("victims") and thereby submitting them to instant exposure by publication on dozens of moblogs. Quite a powerful instrument if used in the right spot. Like a mediaeval pillory - only not operated by authorities but a kind of hive-mind...

I'm very sorry to learn that actor James Doohan has finally gone to infinity and beyond. I remember that TNG episode, when the Enterprise-D crew found the Dyson Sphere and he was reconstructed from a year-old transporter signal and unlike Captain Kirk in "Generations" he was really a modest, likeable fellow. Top me up, Scotty, so I can have one more on you!