I haven't written here for a while. I did not know what I could contribute that
would hold any value. Maybe that is some faulty thinking on my part, where I
place some sort of pressure on myself as "contributor" to the gophersphere who 
has to provide value. It seems to me that perhaps my mindset around this is not
quite right. 

Perhaps I would like to see gopher as a genuine substitute for the modern web 
with its functions of actually providing useful, and often unique, information
on a wide variety of topics. I want to research something? My first instinct is
to search online for it, although that is becoming more and more difficult as
the web is filled with growing amount of noise of little value. It becomes
tedious and almost disgusting to have to put up with either useless websites
that contain only copies of copies of copies with SEO optimizations that make
make them appear as prostitutes that dress up as they stand besides the road to 
attract some attention and advertise their "store". As I write this I'm feeling
a growing sense of disgust and fatigue. Everything is made worse by irrational
greed that only wishes to use the world and others for their own gain. It is
then necessary to minimize the costs (providing as little value as possible) 
and maximize the scope, reach, size, to maximize chance of converting traffic
into money. 

I am no communist. I run a business myself. And the philosophy is simple:

Provide honest, transparent value at reasonable prices in the relevant category
of good/service and play the long game of building trust and relationships
that are mutually beneficial. 

Perhaps the most fundamental problem of internet is the greed that seeks to 
exploit it for its own ends. People without values cannot give value. They are
like black holes that seek to swallow what they can. Gopher is not a place to
make money and therefore it's not flooded with those greedy, valueless people
that ruin everything. 

But here again is the question of value on gopher. Just because you don't make
money from it does not mean you should not value it or seek to do valuable 
things on it. Not making money from something is not equal to the thing not 
providing you with something in return! I never made money from reading a book
or caring for my son or trying to do some academic research well. But I was
"repaid" amply by such things in the currency of becoming someone. As I wrote
this I could have been trying to make money at work but instead I chose to stop 
and think and share thoughts with others. I made zero money, but I feel I gained
some clarity and also rested my mind and soul more than if I went on some paid
trip with a mindless consumer mindset. 

Maybe you cannot do big things but you can do small things in big way: with love,
truth, integrity, honesty, humility, curiosity. It will repay you by making you 
more into someone you'd like to be.

Take care!