NIC HARALAMBOUS

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To shutdown or not to shutdown

Would you be able to go an entire day without your computer/laptop/macbook/ibook or whatever the hell it is you use?Shutdownday is an initiative that is calling for people to switch off their computers on the 24th of March.Well the odds are in favour of those who think they can. Let's be honest, there is no way to actually prove that anyone has switched off their computers. It is a nice thought though.I must be honest, I think I can, I'm just not sure I want to!This is what shutdownday.com has to say:

Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate!

Um, lets be honest, if 50 000 people shut down there computers there will be another potential billion who wont. I think that if the experiment is purely for research sakes, then the organisers might come up a bit short. I may be printing this post out and eating if there is some substantial effect on the world if people stop using their computers for a day.In fact I will go so far as to say that if there is some major effect on the world from the shutdownday I WILL PRINT THIS POST OUT AND EAT IT. You can hold me to that.