I read through a transcript of the Barack Obama speech today which I found quite interesting. Considering it was just a direct transcript I didn't feel like too much was lost in translation. I have included the link below.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/29/america/28textobama.php?page=1
Being an english lad the American presidential campaign seems more incidental than anything earth shattering for me at the moment but for the first time ever I think it's actually interesting me in politics which is rarity considering i've only ever excercised my right to vote once, and to say that I was poorly informed on the candidates would be an understatement to say the least. As this progresses I have a feeling I will continue to pay a bit more interest.
It's also made me think about democracy and social responsibility on a smaller scale. Particular with reference to the Internet. Social responsibility has always been something that could be easily avoided over the Internet with anonimity so easily gained. I've taken part in a lot of large net based communities in my time be they games like this or large MMORPG's through to technical support forums and it has always intrigued me at realistically how few people abuse these communities. Sure there will always be the spammer, the troll who likes to initiate flame wars, the immature child who swears and abuses for kicks but in the whole these little self governing bodies of peers and well intentioned spirits hold together and produce an environment that encourages people to actively care.
Being relativly new to fumbbl this was something that hooked with me straight away, both the combination of nice friendly forum response, good documentation and a nice mix of socially active, responsible characters. So far I've only found the spare time for three games but I've visited nearly everyday and it's become a regular stop on my daily little Internet journey from community to community.
So i'd just like to say Hi, it's nice to be here ::wave::