The dumbing down of the Internet...

For example, whatever's happened to Slashdot these days? This is not the first time I'm making my disgust for the 'new' slashdot plainly known, but yes, I still do care, because /. was a geek institution once upon a time. For that matter, 'the Internet' was a geek institution once upon a time...

There are just so few geek institutions left, unless of course you want to lurk around Lisp blogs and SGI forums *wink*. Where's the common geek meeting ground these days?

Every time I come across a webpage plastered with "Welcome Slashdotters, we hope you enjoy your visit", I get an uncanny sense of deja-vu, the closest memory being of waking up blinking at 3 AM and staring at the bright lights of a highway convenience store blaring "Welcome Greyhounders, we hope you enjoy your visit"...

*sigh*