DSL dependance

My youngest had a math exam today, and last night, about 10 minutes after he was supposed to be in bed, he announced that his protractor was broken, and he needed one for the test. Typical. We searched the house, but couldn't find another one. What to do? It's not like I could just jump in the car and go buy one. No stores around here would be open at 9:30 at night, and besides, we have no car. So what did I do? I went on line and downloaded one, naturally. I found several, and luckily I had a few sheets of plastic for overhead projector transparencies, so I printed one and cut it out. Problem solved. What would I do without the internet?

It seems like almost every time I have a problem, I go look for the solution online. When I need the latest news, I go online. Want to talk to friends? Online. Need a recipe? Online. Want to listen to Qur'an? Online. Feel homesick? Go online. Need to learn Arabic? Look online. Want to watch the latest movies out in the American cinemas? Well, I heard that you can do that online. I seriously don't know how I used to manage without the internet. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistices, as of 2006, only 15.9% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have internet access at home, and only 32.9% of homes have a computer. In fact, only slightly over half of homes here have a land line phone. So I know I am one of the privileged few. We actually have 2 computers in our house. One of them is a Pentium 1 I put together from a pile of discarded computers, but it works!

But the coolest thing that the internet has done for me is to let me talk to you, who ever you are, where ever you are. Thanks for listening.