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  • Monday, March 26, 2007

    Internet-organized (and encouraged) littering

    Okay, so that might be a bit of hyperbole, but it's not far off. And even though I stringently despise littering, I have already participated.

    What can I say? I was curious to see what happened. Wanted to join in.

    I know. I know. If all of my friends were jumping off of the Brooklyn Bridge, would I go too? What would my mother say?

    Well, my mother (an ardent anti-litterer as well) is the one who started all of this. She bought me the acoutrement for my birthday.

    Since the "WTF? factor" is probably rising now, I'll explain. I'm talking about Bookcrossing, an internet site as well as a newish word in the dictionary and a global practice.

    Not only can you share books by leaving them in public or passing them along at an organized event or by mail, but you can also hunt for books "released into the wild". Kinda like Scooter and his geocatching geocaching. Kinda, but not really.

    So far, I've released two books. With one more to be released today. I bet all of them end up in the garbage. Oh well. It would be too bad -- a waste of several good books -- but still an interesting experiment. The fun is in seeing if someone does "catch" my books. I've done this kind of thing before (e.g., I picked up a book in the Philippines, read it, wrote my name and the place where I got it and then handed it off to another traveller, asking her to do the same), but the internet takes this to a new dimension.

    Anyway... if nothing else, it's interesting to peruse the website to see what kinds of books have been left around your hometown.

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