The high tech flag was flown at half mast this past Monday. I snapped on the TV at 6:00 to check the weather (7º that morning!) and suddenly the image went fuzzy. The cable service went out.

For the entire day I endured with no television and no high speed Internet. It was weird, like some post-apocalyptic silent desert. Or you could say it was like the 1940s. The ironic thing is that I got a ton of work done! Seriously! I accomplished more before 2:00 than I do in a typical day all day. I even cleaned the toilets!

It got me to thinking whether or not the Internet was truly necessary. I believe it can be argued that the Internet is not vital to the survival of mankind. Civilization today, perhaps, may rely upon the Internet. But its absence, at least in my case, was survivable and met with considerable productivity.

Naturally, I forgot all my philosophical musing and returned to my less-than-productive self once the cable system came back up around 3:30 that afternoon. Still, it made me wonder — and you may too. The big issue is called Net Neutrality and I’ll be writing more about that on Monday.

Wambooli Updates Dept. I’ve added a new feature to my Fun Department. It’s a review of some of the humorous images that have graced the pages of my Word For Dummies book over the past dozen or so years. Check it out.

Windows Dept. Windows Vista SP1 is supposed to be foisted upon us on February 15. Maybe. I assume that it will be automatically downloaded to Windows Vista users who have Automatic Updates set.

Total Nerd Tip. If you have a Sony television, turn it to channel 777.