A Bug's Life

If this were, say, 1989, and I was spending up to 3 hours a day reading newspapers and magazines, I would think that was a lot of time. I often spend that much time (and hardly notice the time passing) on the Internet, following people's links to interesting/funny/social justice blogs and newspaper articles, and then the comments. What's the difference? Part of it is that it's not self-contained, I never get to the end of the magazine, as it were, to put it down. Part is that it is things friends recommend, so I know they're worth a look, and it in some tiny part of my brain it feels a bit rude to ignore them. Must change this for the better and put a good way to limit (or at least be mindful of) this Internet equivalent of sitting-around-with-a-cup-of-tea-and-a-magazine, so I don't look up at 11pm (or 1am) and say "Whoa, where did the evening go?"

This post brought to you completely unironically after reading an interesting article in one of nwhyte's link posts.

I'm going to Whittlesford for an IT certification test thing. The test centre is so close to the station that they give directions "black door on left next to railway platform". If you want to drive, they recommend parking in the train station carpark.

And yet - I am not to bring any books or papers to the test centre. I may bring a small bag no more than 12"x12"x12". There is no room for large coats. Presumably I'm supposed to leave all my things in my car, or not plan on going anywhere else directly afterwards like back to work.