When Internet Pioneers go missing

This rather terse statement doesn't go into any further detail, so it doesn't shed any more light on what Agre has been doing in recent months, except confirming that Agre had indeed gone off the grid rather than being harmed. Nonetheless, the news should relieve Agre's family, friends and fans that he is indeed safe.

Missing Internet Pioneer Phil Agre Is Found Safe - All Tech Considered - Technology News And Culture Blog : NPR

Before Phil Agre vanished from the Internet Jorn Barger also staged a major "Grid leaving", a kind of virtual death marginal persons made famous by the Internet might engage in.

This should all not come as much of a surprise. The ritual of leaving the virtual community is a regular activity online as most long term Internet participants can tell you. In the world of the Internet the only real power an individual has in a flood of information and short attention spans is to "leave".

Barger, the erudite blogging pioneer known for his influential Robotwisdom weblog, has disappeared repeatedly over the years, each time prompting friends, family and fans to wonder what's happened to him.

Jorn Barger Has Left the Building

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