How easy it is to squander internet use. Read one semi-interesting page, and let your mind follow links until you're trapped in a cyber rat-hole.
The increasing 'real time' nature of social media recommendations only makes this worse and I'm as guilty as anyone for following the trend and sharing frivolous links.
Of all websites YouTube is the timewaster's utopia. I try hard to discipline myself NOT to act on 'you've got to see this -- classic!' messages and forum posts, not because I suspect I won't be interested. The chances are I will be vaguely entertained and before I know it I'll have clicked a 'related' video, googled the subject and inevitably ended up at wikipedia.
This discipline had led me to avoid the Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat meme until a lapse in my self-regulation a few days ago, when I clicked a 'recommendation' from Kevin Rose.
I've now watched dozens of these things and learnt about the origin. To save you looking, I can report that the cat was called Fatso and is now deceased, the video of him 'playing' the keyboard was made by Charlie Schmidt and the first mash-up to play off another video was by Brad O'Farrell with his man in wheelchair falls down escalator clip.
I've seen enough that I can now express a preference for the clips which show Fatso appearing briefly to anticipate the mishap/reveal/outtake/'fail'/man falling over, with his paws hovering above the keyboard. Ok then some examples of this pointless yet engaging video meme. These are not the best but I'm not going to revisit them all again to pick highlights for this blog – I've wasted enough time already. The first one is the original.
(With apologies for the surreal context, let me just say here rest in peace Bea Arthur)
No doubt technorati trend-setters will say that Keyboard Cat is, you know, so over. Ashton Kutcher has sent it into the mainstream so it has probably jumped the cool shark already.
Things could be worse. At least I'm not following the tweets and blog of a cat or watching otters hold hands.
Honest, I'm not.