{"id":1058,"date":"2011-11-23T22:10:09","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T22:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/11\/23\/how-the-internet-changed-my-life\/"},"modified":"2011-11-23T22:10:09","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T22:10:09","slug":"how-the-internet-changed-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/11\/23\/how-the-internet-changed-my-life\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Internet Changed My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

The phrase \u201clife changing\u201d is used an awful lot when talking about technology and the Internet in particular seems to get this more than any single item of modern technology. <\/p>\n

I for one totally believe technology can change lives. <\/p>\n

When using the the phrase \u201clife changing\u201d in this context though it\u2019s usually meant in the collective\/global scale.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not something you can dispute. Children growing up now will have no concept of what an encyclopaedia is. If there is something they want to know everyone’s first instinct now is to look it up online. <\/p>\n

Media and entertainment as we know it is totally different to where it was ten years ago in that it\u2019s not limited to radio, television or the cinema. We now consume media on a multitude of devices and screen sizes whenever and wherever we want.  <\/p>\n

So how did the Internet change my<\/strong> life specifically? <\/p>\n

While it may sound a bit extreme everything that\u2019s good in my life at the moment I have the Internet to thank for. <\/p>\n

This.<\/p>\n

\"Family<\/a><\/p>\n

My family.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

So how do I have the Internet to thank for this?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m writing this post to mark a bit of an anniversary. It\u2019s 10 years since I met my significant other, Bryony. <\/p>\n

A big milestone generally, but when we met there was about 200 miles between us. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s because we met online.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s really interesting about that is that anyone reading this will probably think,  \u201cso what?\u201d<\/em> as it\u2019s not really that big a deal anymore. <\/p>\n

It happens all the time and people get married and have children after meeting on the Internet so often now it\u2019s just one of those things. But remember i said this was 10 years <\/strong>ago. There was no Facebook or Twitter and actually just chatting to someone on the Internet was still quite a big deal for the average computer user back then. There was a real taboo about it and for some time afterwards we didn\u2019t tell the entire truth about where we met when we were asked. <\/p>\n

But we finally met in person and found out neither of us was a crazy lunatic (well she wasn\u2019t anyway\"Smile\" )  and the rest is history! We got married, bought a house and had a couple of children just like any other couple who may have met through more conventional means.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m very thankful to the Internet for that! <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also met lots of other great people virtually and in person via the Internet. Considering there is a stereotype of people who spend a lot of time behind a computer not being all that sociable I\u2019ve met a lot<\/strong> of people entirely because of the Internet. <\/p>\n

My involvement with AMITPRO<\/a> and the SBSC community came through this blog. This still has a massive influence on my professional life and I\u2019ve met some amazing people who I\u2019m lucky enough to call friends as well as business acquaintances. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe that this picture \u2013 the very first time I met anyone from the SBSC community<\/a> \u2013 was taken in August 2007! \"SBSC<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also had some really great times all in the cause one of my favourite pastimes \u2013 gaming!<\/p>\n

I was in Cambridge for the first ever UGVM meet<\/a>. I was pleased to get an invite even though I\u2019m more of a UGVM lurker! <\/p>\n

\"ugvm<\/a> <\/p>\n

I was in Blackpool again recently for Replay Expo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"blackpool<\/a><\/p>\n

and at the Retro Computer Museum<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"RCM<\/a><\/p>\n

All this as well as trips to Bletchley Park<\/a> which in turn led to my recent involvement in Pecha Kucha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every single one of these things came about because of contacts and communities I\u2019ve been involved with online and it\u2019s difficult to picture what my life would look like if it wasn\u2019t for Tim Berners Lee!<\/p>\n

So I have the Internet to thank for having a huge impact on my family, friends and career.<\/p>\n

Life changing enough?<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t change a thing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The phrase \u201clife changing\u201d is used an awful lot when talking about technology and the Internet in particular seems to get this more than any single item of modern technology. I for one totally believe technology can change lives. When using the the phrase \u201clife changing\u201d in this context though it\u2019s usually meant in the<\/p>\n

<\/span>Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal"],"yoast_head":"\nHow The Internet Changed My Life - Andy's Techie Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/andyparkes.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/11\/23\/how-the-internet-changed-my-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How The Internet Changed My Life - Andy's Techie Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The phrase \u201clife changing\u201d is used an awful lot when talking about technology and the Internet in particular seems to get this more than any single item of modern technology. 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