Monday I stopped by my bank to check my balance and get some cash. I ran into a fellow University employee, who took up the topic of the web as she worked the ATM. She mentioned that in a recent meeting attended by about 30 of the folks who run the University the question came up as to how many people used the web.

How many raised their hands? None.

She went on to conclude that the web is worthless unless the people running the show use it.

I disagree. While it would certainly make Richmond a more effective place if the entire administration started using the tools they've been given, they are not the ones who make the web valuable. The web is valuable specifically because it is a grassroots phenomenon.

People like me 'surf the web' on a daily basis because we find useful things there every day.

What's more, I've been reading the newspaper online for two years now. We're still subscribed to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, but I get my news online while the coffee's still brewing an the paper's still sitting at the top of the driveway. Only after I've found out the news and dressed do I venture out to get the paper for Jean to read. We've discussed dropping our subscription, but are holding on for now.

News on the net is addictive: you have to be careful or you'll find yourself scanning your favorite sources hourly to see what's changed in the world. I've now gotten to the point where I review news sources once a day and don't look back. It's good to be a little disconnected from the news, which finally is revealing itself to be the constantly forming, constantly changing (and correcting) medium that it is.

Another music resource is perhaps the largest, broadcast.com. Be very careful here: these guys can waste more of your time with stupid promotions than almost any other website I've visited. For a time I listened to Philadelphia's classical music station WFLN. Unfortunately they morphed into an adult contemporary station, no longer worth the visit. Now I listen to WFMT from Chicago. Nice programming. I also visit broadcast.com's CD Jukebox occasionally to see if they have anything but trash there. Other than George Winston's Linus & Lucy, they don't seem to have anything that great.

Guy Kawasaki spoke at a web builder conference earlier this year. This is one of the gems I hope never goes away. Kawasaki's keynote went over ten rules for revolutionaries. What he said was inspiring and thought provoking and if you ever want to make a difference in whatever world you inhabit, I strongly recommend you spend 40 minutes and listen to Guy speak. What he says is geared for the audience he addressed, but his message is applicable to anyone who feels a moral imperative to make the world better.

If you don't bother with another link on this entry, listen to Guy.

There are dozens more: places that inspire, places that draw outside the box. Right now they're either too difficult to find or apparently not the kind of thing that interest everyone. But every more stuff is added to the web, and search tools and techniques are becoming refined. In a short time I know that the content of the web will become necessary for every professional: without the resources available out here, those who run the show will be left behind.

When I started building web pages in 1995, I did so with the tools I'd been provided: Netscape 1.1 and Windows Notepad. Learning how to code HTML was simple (have you ever right clicked on a web page and selected 'View Source'?). The trick to the web is content: have something people want to see and they'll visit. Update your content regularly and they'll visit often. The most useful thing in the first two years on the Registrar's pages were the open and closed course lists. We still get thousands more hits in the weeks when registration occurs than other non-registration periods. Soon we're going to have similar kinds of information for faculty and staff: class rosters, advisee information and more. Then registration itself will move to the web.

Some on campus may not be using the net, but that's not stopping the majority of students and soon the majoritiy of faculty and staff from doing so. The web is here to stay and is already the most effective medium for interactive communication. I cordially invite one and all to boldy go where they've never gone before.