By a strange turn of events, I have not stepped out of the house for more than a month already. No, I am not ill. The thing that amazed me is that even without going out of the house, I could still survive.

Of course, I have family members to run errands for me but for a lot of other things, I resorted to the web, especially shopping. Even I am amazed at the wealth of goods and services I could purchase online, from apparel to home medical supplies to personal care items.

I am so grateful for this convenience, you know. I wonder how people from my parents’ generation survived without this convenience and freedom to shop even at home and have goods delivered to their home!

And I am not missing it! I don’t think that I have ever used it before, actually, since its launch in August, 2004. Perhaps it is just the way I am connected to the internet. I use my desktop or laptop most of the time and both have MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger installed and ready to connect once my systems are connected to the internet.

When I am on the move, I have my mobiles with me and I would hardly use MSN or Windows Live Messenger. If my battery could withstand being connected to the internet for long hours, Fring would be the order of the day.

Today, 30th June, 2009, not only is Microsoft retiring MSN Web Messenger, we will also see the retirement of Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Money and sadly, Microsoft OneCare.

Following news of Michael Jackson’s hospitalization and subsequently, death, Google, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and even Wikipedia servers were all tested to the maximum thanks to web queries from fans of Michael Jackson who all wanted to know the latest updates. My friends on Facebook were all trying to provide “breaking news” and there was no need to search for news on media sites or entertainment blogs.

Music websites like Amazon and iTunes all saw a tremendous surge in sales of Michael Jackson albums and tracks which strangely, propelled Michael Jackson with the the kind of popularity that has eluded him for years and which he has continuously tried to recapture even till the end of his days, culminating to a 50-night show in London which would now never happen.

I also grew up listening to Michael Jackson and I guess like everyone in my generation, we are all web savvy people now who treat Google, Twitter and Facebook as our online homes, who would hit the web whenever we are looking for information, especially when we needed confirmation on big news like the death of Michael Jackson.