It wasn't an easy call to make this time.

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When I finished last month's column I had enough material left over for another column that would examine additional aspects of the weblog phenomenon. I wasn't sure it would be for this month, but not because of junk mail, but because material on another topic had been accumulating as well. On the other hand, the fast-approaching start of the academic school year meant that a number of tasks had to be attended to, and that left less time than I might have desired for a more "serious" column.

And then, on yet another hand, there were the events of September 11. Non-internet related subjects have crept into these pages in the past, but I've purposefully, and so-far successfully, steered clear of using them for political commentary. If the Boidem has any readers at all, they don't read it in order to learn that I too was shocked by the attack on the World Trade Center, or that I think that an American attack on Afghanistan would be counter-productive and wouldn't contribute toward making the necessary changes that might isolate pockets of terrorism. So more than two weeks after the attack, I can comfortably, though perhaps also with a certain feeling of discomfort, get back to business as usual, writing these columns as though nothing has changed.

If that leaves any hands leftover, the web already seems totally inundated with articles on how the internet dealt with the September 11 and its aftermath. Most of these are either self-congratulatory or void of any real interest (and usually both), and I think that if I ever do deal with that subject, it will have to wait until the air clears, not only of dust, but of hyperbole. So for now, why not write about junk mail.

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Go to: My inbox runneth over.