As I scour the news pages of the world looking for exciting and interesting topics to link to and comment on, I'm coming to the realisation that the level of "buzz" associated with this industry has declined significantly.

For the past 6 months or so we've seen little to talk about except:

• Microsoft's ability to screw a dollar out of a static market while simultaneously stumbling to patch security holes in its code.
• The recording industry bitching, moaning and suing over unauthorised copying of its content.
• New worms and viruses winding their way around the Net

Where are the exciting new technologies?

Where are the industry figures who make the air crackle every time they talk thanks to their boundless enthusiasm and charisma?

Where are the exciting new content sites that give us a new window on the world?

Okay, I've said it before -- the industry has matured and this naturally means that the suits are taking over from the enthusiasts.

After a long period where excitement and speculation pushed common-sense and good practice out the window, everyone is now profit-focused and this leaves little room for the type of quirky excesses and fringe activities that made the Internet like no other kind of media we'd seen before.

It's even getting harder and harder to find good material for the Friday's Lighten Up section. Even the real whackos are deserting the Net because it's just too "yesterday."

Readers Say (updated hourly) Nothing Yet Have Your Say

Right now I'm racking my brains trying to figure out how this appalling state of affairs can be remedied.

How can we put the fun back into the Net?

One idea I've been considering for some time is the creation of a parody site.

Long-time Aardvark readers will recall that I have a love of parody and have engaged in such things before.

The idea is that each week, a new website would be parodied -- in a nice, caring manner of course ;-)

Submissions of suitable quality would be gratefully received from contributors and sites could be nominated for parody by readers.

However, before I begin investing my time in such a venture, I have to work out how to cover the costs and possibly even make (gasp!) a profit from it.

Okay readers -- get your thinking caps on.

Would you find such a site a worthy addition to your bookmark list?

How do you think such a site could make a profit? Blackmail perhaps? (pay up or you'll get parodied? -- pay up and we'll parody you?)

Oh... and if you have any other ideas for putting some life back into the Net, let me know.

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