PreDeparture

In an email from UCU, I was sent information regarding my on-campus room’s complete dependence on wifi. Within this email was the following statement:

“The new thing about [educational buildings] is that these buildings are bristling with eduroam routers, even deep inside your rooms. This means that your wall outlet has been disconnected and closed, the Wi-Fi is the future, ask your refrigerator.”

I must admit that my confusion stems from the requested act of asking my refrigerator why exactly Wi-Fi is the wave of the future. I guess that’s just how it goes in Europe; refrigerators are all-intelligent beings, and I should defer to their judgement regarding such matters as Wi-Fi connection.

An eponymous first blog post is always the best kind of first blog post, am I right? And just because Socrates didn’t think up a spiffier, 21st century saying doesn’t mean I can’t embellish a tad.

And to add some context to the whole scenario, Socrates’ quote – loosely, “the unexamined life is not worth living for a human being” – comes from Plato’s account in Apology of what Socrates said during his trial after choosing death over exile from Athens – a choice largely contested for answers, but basically coming down to preserving the belief of his own former choices, thoughts, and actions.

Thanks again, Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
And Wikiquote – http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Socrates