Is Hawaii really that far away? I guess it is...

It's a rare day that you read any gaming news that has anything to do with Hawaii. We're not exactly known to be a mecca of video games or anything like that. We're known for white sand beaches, sunshine, and rainbows.

So today I read on a couple of sites about the fact that Mayor Mufi Hannemann will be signing a law that prohibits handheld device use while operating a motor vehicle. Smart, really. I don't know how many times I've seen some idiot on their cellphone run a stop sign or something. With the new law, people can still use hands-free devices, so it's not THAT big of a deal.

Anyway, one website stood out to me: Joystiq. And I swear, I'm not picking on them. Here's the link to their post:

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/06/honolulu-mayor-bans-mobile-electronic-devices-while-driving/

Now here's the part that stood out to me:

So, if you're looking to game and drive to the beach, head on over to Kailua. The beaches are better and there are far fewer tourists to inattentively run over.

Yes, I realize the author is being sarcastic, facetious, or whatever. That's not the issue. But if he's going to make a funny like that, he needs to use a different city. It's true that Kailua is a separate city from Honolulu. It's also true that it has nicer beaches and fewer tourists. Only one problem: Mayor Hannemann is the chief executive officer of the City & County of Honolulu. The ENTIRE island of Oahu (which is where Kailua is located) is the County of Honolulu.

I'm not complaining that the author didn't do their homework or anything. I just never really thought about how far away we are. Oahu being the County of Honolulu seemed so obvious to me, but it's actually not obvious at all. I think the point that I'm trying to make is that although the internet has shrunk the world to the point where someone halfway across the world is accessible as though they were next door, we are still so very far away.

I've really grown accustomed to this internet technology. It's brought me closer to things that were so out of reach when I was a kid 30 years go. So sometimes I forget how far away people really are.

I guess it was just a shock to me that I had adapted so much to the internet that I actually forgot about reality.