On blogs, web pages, forums, E-mail, Internet discussion lists and other ways to communicate.

I’ve been using e-mail and Internet lists for some ten years and had published a web page way back in 1995, and thoroughly enjoyed their uses and advantages, learning, knowing new people and refreshing old friendships.

Somewhere along the line I felt I should save all that correspondence. At least to avoid repeating myself or, occasionally to remember some ideas. There is a long tradition of epistolary literature, meant for just one reader, that could be of use, interest o plain curiosity to some other people.

From my point of view, the only value would be as a testimony of communication. But with the added bonus of the glory of friendship.

Bringing one’s views to a discussion list, when a discussion is going on, adds new view points and may liven it. But posting texts that all subscribers receive may be an imposition not necessarily welcome. Good for technical and professional intercourses.

Chats are too time consuming to me and I somewhat resent the undercover intimacy some of the chats (and the chatters) exhibit.

As I said before, personal web pages , unless the contents serve a professional purpose, tend to be a bit narcissistic exercises.

Blogs are good records. In Spanish are called “bitácoras”, a nautical term referring to the logs kept by ships’ commanders. The actual term should be “cuaderno de bitácora”, as cuaderno is a book to write on, to keep a log. The bitácora used to be a box or little closet close to the steering wheel or rod where the compass was kept. Eventually in the “bitácora” sailors kept other sailing instruments like the sextant and then, the “cuaderno de bitácora”, the log book of the trip. In Catalan language it may be written “bitàcola”, with an “l” and the accent open, although “bitàcora” is also correct.

Anyway there you have my blog, http://xallue.blogspot.com, and you are welcome to visit it.

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