The Low-Tech Times

The Low-Tech Times previously reported that a 101 year old man would be attempting to complete the London Marathon thus becoming the world’s oldest person to finish a marathon.

To follow up on that story, the good news is that Buster Martin completed the race. According to an article in The Mail on Sunday, Buster finished the marathon in approximately 10 hours; however, he may only be 94 years old:

As he stumbled over the finish line at the end of yesterday’s London marathon, “Buster” Martin was on course to make history.

But his claim to be the oldest man to complete the 26-mile route is now in doubt after it emerged he may not be quite as advanced in age as he has claimed.

Buster, who works for Pimlico Plumbers, had told organisers he was 101. It now appears he may be a slightly more sprightly 94.

The article goes on to state that Greek runner Dimitrion Yordanidis continues to hold the official Guinness World Record for finishing a marathon in about 7 hours in 1976 at 98 years of age. Nevertheless, The Low-Tech Times congratulates Buster Martin on his remarkable human-powered achievement.

Last week, hi-tech blogger Robert Scoble wrote about increasing his productivity by spending time off-line while on a long flight.  He writes:

Want to get something done? Turn off Twitter. Turn off Facebook…

The Low-Tech Times applauds his discovery that he can be more productive when he ceases his Twitter and Facebook activities.  However, Mr. Scoble could be even more productive if he expands on his idea.  Instead of only temporarily stopping Twitter and Facebook participation, The Low-Tech Times recommends that he should stop Twittering and cancel his Facebook account.

Join the Low-Tech revolution!

The Low-Tech Times recommends for people to stop twittering and to stop reading other people’s postings (aka tweets).  If you’ve never heard of Twitter, then my advice is to not bother signing up.

Twitter is a service allowing hyper-connectivity between people.  Twittering is the process of using the service to post about what you are doing by way of cell phone text messages, instant messages, and various other methods.  Typically, users post many times throughout each day about what they are doing.  According to the Twitter site:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

My take on this service is that it is totally unnecessary and probably results in large amounts of wasted time.  Why do I need to know everything that my friends, family, and co-workers are doing all of the time?

In related news, cartoonist and Web 2.0/marketing blogger Hugh McLeod cancelled his Twitter account last week.  He says he liked Twitter, but feels his time would be better spent using other means to express himself.  The Low-Tech Times applauds Hugh’s decision.