Check your sources

The Internet has given us a wealth of information.  We can find current and historic documents - archives of ideas - from the comfort of our own home, at the convenient time of our choice.  It is here now - more information than we can process in our lives.  My advice is to know your sources.  Teach your children.  Learn yourself.   How to detect when a man is talking rot. 

here's a neat little paradox, nobody gets hurt, everybody wins

"Friends had e-mailed it to friends, who e-mailed it to more friends, all of whom were told it was the commencement address given to the graduation class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The speaker was allegedly Kurt Vonnegut.

"Imagine Mr. Vonnegut's surprise. He was not, and never has been, MIT's commencement speaker.

"Imagine my surprise. I recall composing that little speech one Friday afternoon while high on coffee and M&M's."

June1:  The column that started it all
"Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates."

August 3:  When the Internet meets reality
"... out in the lawless swamp of cyberspace, Mr. Vonnegut and I are one. Out there, where any snake can masquerade as king, both of us are the author of a graduation speech that began with the immortal words, 'Wear sunscreen'"

August 8:  Whither cyberspace?
"My editors -- I swear -- asked me to write this column exploring the cyber issues of the story. They were as sympathetic as concrete when I whined that I was too busy exploring the issues on the nightly news and "Nightline," though they seemed happy to know why, for a change, I'd combed my hair."

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