Freebies
I’m a sucker for anything free. I just get this wonderful feeling that I’ve got the better of someone – so who cares if it’s a nameless, faceless someone? If there’s a sale, that’s where I am and when I’m back home I wonder what on earth made me give into temptation and pick up the things I did!
Can you wonder how my eyes lit up when I saw that Google was giving away free websites? Not one but 5 of them. Sure there are a number of places in the virtual world where you can go get a free website. But this was Google! I just had to be there. So off I went and registered. It’s called Page Creator and you’ll find it if you go to your Google Accounts – you know where there’s more freebie stuff like Picasa and the calendar and more.
Well, it’s as easy as pie! Just go in there and pick a template and start writing. Then hit publish and whoa! you’re out there making a mark in the virtual world!
So many people who write swear by their blogs. But if you have something to sell – say, like me, you’re a freelance writer – the Page Creator is a good place to start. No hosting fee, your choice of templates is right there in front of you and all you need to do is type in or copy-paste your stuff and in a few minutes, your whole portfolio is on the Internet for anyone to see.
Now any work I apply for, I add a link. My Google link. I know all the person has to do is to click on it and it will take him straight to my site and it will give him a fairly good idea of what I am capable of writing for him. And of course, it’s free. Major advantage!
Oooooooh…Orkut!
The green dots on Google chat were bad enough. Then I had to go and discover the pleasures of a message board where everything you said could be seen by the whole world. Was that why it’s become so hugely popular? It’s not just the ‘scraps’ that are a magnet – though I must admit that as soon as I get a message on my gmail that I’ve got one, I just can’t resist going there and replying. It’s also the many communities, the threads, the posts. Suddenly in a whole big ocean of diverse people, you can, if you want, find your own level. You want music, you got it! You want a particular type of music, you got that too. You want to talk about world politics, start a topic on one of the communities where you are a member. No sooner do you do that than everyone who has an opinion on the subject comes running. Many who don’t too. But that’s OK because if you get bored, you just don’t need to go to that topic or that community anymore. You do just what you want to do. Such a relief from everyday life. The masks are off, it’s what you like and what you want to do that matters.
Suddenly, you’re existing on two very different planes and it feels good. The real plane could just get a lot richer because you’ve met really great people who you want as part of your flesh and blood world too. And there’s another world out there where, like I said you can be yourself and yet it is a kind of a dream world. One which you can switch on and off. Pushbutton living at its very best. Or very worst? Because it can be addictive let me warn you. And unless you are very strong willed, you’ll be hooked – day after day, night after night. If that world out there sometimes seems more real than the one you’re living in, I don’t blame you!