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Overwired in a Word

"Was there gridlock before there were automobiles? Was there jet lag before there were airplanes? Who was the first person to say "I Googled it" or "he's cyberstalking me"? At what moment did a "web log" turn into a "blog"?

Language makes things official. Change in the pace of life over the last decade can be measured by change in our vocabulary. We I.M., we get phished, we have PIN's. We HotSync, therefore we are."

The New York Times in its Life Works column has an interesting article on how technology has caught up with everyone in 2006 - and in the process spawned a new lexicon of words to match. Read the article here - and probably nod sagely, and sadly, that the writer is all too correct.

If you want to follow up that article there is a second part [also in the NYT] on the topic here.

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